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[iapetus]

Now that ICE have stopped publishing MERPS, and no longer have the rights to create new gaming material based on the LotR books, the whole damn lot is up for free download at http://www.merp.com

That's all the Tolkien-inspired gaming goodness you can eat, for no dollars and no cents (or none of your local currency if you're outside the US - currency conversion may be charged at up to 5% of nothing).

Enjoy...

Edit: Even if you're not a RPGer, there's plenty here for the Tolkein freak as well. I'm just downloading >200MB worth of supplement on Minas Tirith, damn it!

 

[RevenantKioku]

Holy shit, I have the MERP book somewhere. That system was fucking awesome, but no one would play it.

 

[iapetus]

I played it a few times back in my school days, and I have a friend who's planning on running a series of MERP weekends at some point in the not too distant future. Looking forward to that, I must admit.

It's the level of detail that put people off it, I think. Heck, the standard ruleset has a table of average precipitation by area by month of the year. In the month of Lothron, in a humid area, you can expect 4.5" of rainfall, with an 80% chance of precipitation (the type of which depends on another chart, combining the temperature with a random modifier to determine whether it's rain, snow, sleet, hail or a full-blown ice storm). And don't forget the four full pages of critical hit/miss charts, depending on the type of weapon.

 

[Vennt]

Last PnP I played was the awesome Paranoia.

Unfortunately it so successfully mocked the whole PnP experience that not a single member of our group could bring themselves to play any other PnP game & take it seriously and the group dissolved into a drinking, drugs & music social circle.

I approved, of course

(Although I have fond fond memories of Runequest & Traveller PnP'ing once upon a tme )

 

[iapetus]

Paranoia is great for that (and has recently been re-released as Paranoia XP).

Other games that are great for anarchic one-shots include Ninja Burger and Pokethulhu.

 

[SD-Ness]

On first glance...no.

Even if you're not a RPGer, there's plenty here for the Tolkein freak as well. I'm just downloading >200MB worth of supplement on Minas Tirith, damn it!

On second:

YES.

 

[shoplifter]

I highly recommend that anyone who like the MERP system (which is essentially rolemaster lite) to try out ICE's new system, HARP. It's really good.

 

[iapetus]

Rolemaster LITE? Ouch.

 

[Jim Bowie]

Pfft, maybe later. I'm still trying to wrap my head around Shadowrun.

 

[Ecrofirt]

how different are these things from traditional DnD? That's the only pen/paper RPG I've played.

 

[Jim Bowie]

Well, from experience, I can tell you that Shadowrun uses only d6s, and Mage uses some weird "try to convice the GM" system.

 

[Teknopathetic]

You know, I'm probably the only one in my group of buddies that would even care to try DMing, and I've never really had an interest in DMing ever. Sucks .

 

[Jim Bowie]

DMing... is SO HARD. Jesus. I mean, the characters never do what you think they'll do, so you have to draw up every possible solution for every problem and for every failure to every problem... also, trying to get the rest of the group to stay in-character and actually freakin' rp is a chore.. I suppose that has to do with the people you play with, though.

 

[Teknopathetic]

Well, luckily, my group of pals isn't very serious so none of us really mind when we slip in/out of character, because we're all funny as hell. Good times.

 

[Jim Bowie]

Well, luckily, my group of pals isn't very serious so none of us really mind when we slip in/out of character, because we're all funny as hell. Good times.

hehe.. but it's annoying when all of us have personalities like wet sponges (spongi)?

 

[Teknopathetic]

Yeah, that doesn't sound very fun, then .

 

[cubanb]

what the hell are u guys talking about. I have no idea what most of this means outside the word lotr and tolkien. what exactly is this? what is PnP, Merps and DMing?

 

[iapetus]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Role-playing_game

PnP = Pen aNd Paper
MERPS = Middle Earth Role Playing System
DM = Dungeon Master (see also GM, GamesMaster)

 

[shoplifter]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Role-playing_game

PnP = Pen aNd Paper
MERPS = Middle Earth Role Playing System
DM = Dungeon Master (see also GM, GamesMaster)

You crazy Brits and your quaint 'Games Master.' I love seeing that in the Brit-published books I own. Come on, everyone knows it's "Game Master."