Who wants to band up and make a Middle Earth RPG?

I was wondering if anyone would like to help me and a buddy a Middle Earth like RPG. I already have a plot and me and my friend can do all the writing and sound. Plus, we can do web stuff and maybe code the whole thing. All we are really looking for are some good 3D people.

Please post if you're interested.

------------------

"some good 3D people"

Isn't that what everybody needs...

------------------
A large group of empire soldiers guards the bridge to make sure no slimes reach the city. Not being slimes, you are allowed to pass without comment.

Ditto.

------------------
"Si hanc sententiam legere potes, tum es
et optime educatus et vitam non habens."

Oh dear... What a dangerous idea...

------------------
Why are you not my englishness be understanding?

::in his slurred russian accent::

what ees thhizz "Middle Earth, bah ??

------------------
unseen...
unwanted...
unlawful...
undead...

/me hasnt been around for awhile.

chill pill: middle earth is the land where the books The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings take place.

------------------
The Absolute Destiny: Apocalypse

Quote

Originally posted by Phoen’x:
**/me hasnt been around for awhile.

chill pill: middle earth is the land where the books The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings take place.

**

YEAH !!! A great dungeon with some half-gods to kill with my +323 bastard sword and my AC of -72 !!! Great !

NB : I DO love AD&D;, it still stays as the best RPG in my mind...

------------------
"- No ! Not the wooden box that eats everything ! Noooo !
- Here ! Luggage ! " - Terry Pratchet's Discworld

so? does anyone want to band up?

------------------

Quote

Originally posted by Phoen’x:
**/me hasnt been around for awhile.

chill pill: middle earth is the land where the books The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings take place.
**

::materializes::

you'll have to be more specific, I don't do PC RPG's
...so really what sets it apart from other RPG's (what so special/different about "MiddleEarth"????

...oh, and simply Chill will suffice...

.... So Says The Chill!)

::dissapates, to the beat of Pharoahe Monch's, "Simon Sez"::

------------------
unseen...
unwanted...
unlawful...
undead...

A distressing number of people seem to equate D&D; with Tolkien's world. Nothing against either one, but they don't have all that much to do with each other. AD&D; borrowed a few things from Tolkien, but only a few. Most of its idiosyncracies come from pulp fantasy. The infamous fire-and-forget magic system came from Jack Vance's Dying Earth series, for example, and the rubbery, regenerating troll is borrowed from Poul Anderson(?)'s Three Hearts and Three Lions (which also yielded the Paladin). The Thief class was inspired by Fritz Leiber's Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser books. Etc.

Back to topic, if you do go through with this idea, make sure that either your game is not too much like Middle-Earth or work out a licensing deal with the Tolkien Estate. A game that has hobbits, ents, mithril or balrogs in it will get you a letter from their lawyers. That's why D&D; has halflings, treants, mithral and type VI demons (or balors). 😄

There are some concepts from Tolkien that aren't widely explored - probably because they're too "backgroundish," or they don't translate into game mechanics easily - that I'd like to see someone riff off of: The Miltonesque idea that a Big Evil Being is actually needed to have meaningful free will in a world created by an essentially Good divinity, for example - the only meaningful freedom an all-powerful god can give you is the freedom to disobey it - or the idea of a world sung into existence by music and words, lending an intrinsic "magical" power to both. (Magic in Tolkien is a fundamental part of the nature of the world; men called it "magic" because they didn't realize that, and elves and dwarves, who were tied more closely to the world, were confused by the term "magic" because setting a password on a doorway was no more strange to them than carving the doorway in the first place - it's all shaping the raw material of the world to them.)

This sort of baseline detail requires a great deal of sitting and thinking and writing and resolving, which is another reason I suspect I don't see it much. 🙂

Well, this rambled and flew off on tangents, but I hope it was helpful to someone.

------------------
James
dystopia, n.: A utopia, in practice.

eh... I don't know. I'm pretty sure that I don't have the drive to make my own game, so I might help somebody else out. I'm a 3D guy, but I'm not really sure if I wan't to band up with a Middle Earth game. I love the concept of doing a Tolkein RPG, but like Amorph said, you'll have a lot of laweryin' to do if you ever want to finish or distribute it.

My personal problem is with the game design though. In order to really make the game stand up to the name you're trying to give it, you'd need to sit down and go straight on through the Silmarillion a few times before you even started doing game design. As I doubt there are many people out there willing to invest that much time in something that they will likely make no money off of, I'm skeptical. There is a whole lot of mythos behind Tolkein's world, and I doubt that there are many people out there skilled enough to recreate it for a game. Who knows though? Maybe you'll pull it off stunningly.

Despite all these warnings, don't give up -- just be aware of the task you're undertaking. If you do wind up trying to make this game of yours, I'll keep checking back, and if it looks like you're doing the whole concept justice, then I'll help you out if I can.

------------------
Do not follow me for I may not lead. Do not lead for I may not follow. Do not walk beside me, either. Just leave me the hell alone.
-Jedi

its probably not a good idea to undertake something that large at this point anyway

------------------

Quote

Originally posted by jmitchell:
**eh... I don't know. I'm pretty sure that I don't have the drive to make my own game, so I might help somebody else out. I'm a 3D guy, but I'm not really sure if I wan't to band up with a Middle Earth game. I love the concept of doing a Tolkein RPG, but like Amorph said, you'll have a lot of laweryin' to do if you ever want to finish or distribute it.

My personal problem is with the game design though.
**

<A mouse enters carrying an awsome picture of a humanoid face.>
Jmitchel - You said your problem is with game design, and my problem is 3D graphics. Maybe we could make a (small?) game together? Or at least you could help me make my drawings show up on my screen? I can draw great on paper. I just can't afford a tablet or scanner.
<The mouse leaves.>

------------------
Idiot-
A member of a large and powerful tribe, whose influence in human affairs has always been dominant and controling
Beware of strong drink - It can cause you to shoot at tax collectors and miss.

hey mouse! i had him first. 🙂

------------------

Quote

Originally posted by daimyo:
**Hey Mouse! I had him first.

**

<A mouse enters.>
1st - Capitalize, please. I'ts kinda annoying.
2nd - Wait till he responds, then complain that you 'had him first.'
3rd - We can share him, if he wants to help both of us. But really, let him decide.
<The mouse leaves.>

------------------
Always remeber to pillage BEFORE you burn!
Isiot - A member of a large and powerful tribe, whose influence in human affairs has always been dominant and controling
Beware of strong drink - It can cause you to shoot at tax collectors and miss.

yum yum, bile...

at this point I'm not really ready to commit to any game at all. I still havent given up hope on my own game (my brain/wallet may say no, but my heart still says yes...). If I do work with somebody, I'll only decide to devote my time/energy to them after a whole lot of discussion of the game that I'll be working on. I don't just want to do graphics: I'd really like to contribute to the whole of a game. but, this is all very hypothetical right now. CS isn't going to be out for a long, long while, and I've got more PoG beta testing to do, so I'm just going to leave it at that.

------------------
Do not follow me for I may not lead. Do not lead for I may not follow. Do not walk beside me, either. Just leave me the hell alone.
-Jedi

Quote

Originally posted by chill_rx:
(B
::dissapates, to the beat of Pharoahe Monch's, "Simon Sez"::

(/B)

Brothers in the back shootin crack now whassup?!
Girls, rub on ya titties, yeah, **** it, rub on ya titties!

Classic Monch. Finally, an Ambrosia SW member who apprieciates hip-hop.

------------------
Ladies and Gentlemen, as you know we have something special for you at
Birdland this evening. A recording for Blue Note Records...

Let's take it back to the concrete streets, original beats and real live MC's...
----------------------------

Quote

Originally posted by jmitchell:
**CS isn't going to be out for a long, long while.

**

I sincerely hope you're wrong about that...

What do you consider a long, long while? All I know is that if they spend too much more time on it, unless they revamp the engine, the whole technology will be obsolete by the time we all get copies and finish our masterpieces. I really don't want that to happen.

BTW, is anyone else annoyed by some of this spam? Perhaps they should get their own topic to talk about stomach acid so that everyone else can ignore them. Please, if you're gonna post something like that, at least post something worthwhile somewhere in there.

Saphfire

------------------

Sorry about the ball of fur. My 'brother' got online again. {Mouse takes the ball of grey fur away from the webboards.}

------------------
Guilt, fear, and mass insanity...three cheers for forge!!!
Cotton Mouse to htjyang: "You strike me as the kind of guy who would hit me with your car and then sue my family for damages.
You're just jealous because the voices talk to OctoberFost.

Quote

Originally posted by Mouse:
**Sorry about the ball of fur. My 'brother' got online again. {Mouse takes the ball of grey fur away from the webboards.}

**

If he wants to post on the boards, show him how to create his own account.

------------------
Ladies and Gentlemen, as you know we have something special for you at
Birdland this evening. A recording for Blue Note Records...

Let's take it back to the concrete streets, original beats and real live MC's...
----------------------------