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Adventures in Middle-Earth RPG #CB72301
Adventures in Middle-Earth: Loremaster's Guide
The quest that began with the Player’s Guide continues in this lavishly illustrated, hardcover. The Loremaster’s Guide presents inspiration, guidance and additional new rules to help you create and run encounters, adventures and campaigns in the world of The Hobbit™ and The Lord of the Rings™, using the 5th Edition OGL ruleset. Packed with information, this volume is an invaluable resource for your games.
Adventures in Middle-earth Loremaster’s Guide contains:
• Extensive setting information for Wilderland
• A comprehensive guide to Lake-town
• Advice on theme and building your character group before the game begins
• Notes on the Adventuring phase, inspiration, rests and more!
• Expanded journey rules, including guidance on narrating Middle-earth journeys
• Information to help you create your own journey tables
• A guide to creating and playing NPCs, and a gallery of NPCs for your games
• A Wilderland bestiary of adversaries
• New rules for customising monsters and using scenery in battle
• Notes on treasure in Middle-earth, magic items and weapons
• A guide to offering expanded magic options
• Advice on running the Fellowship phase, patrons, sanctuaries and undertakings
The Loremaster's Guide is best used with the Adventures in Middle-earth Player’s Guide, and the latest edition of the world’s favourite
roleplaying game.
Adventures in Middle-earth Loremaster’s Guide contains:
• Extensive setting information for Wilderland
• A comprehensive guide to Lake-town
• Advice on theme and building your character group before the game begins
• Notes on the Adventuring phase, inspiration, rests and more!
• Expanded journey rules, including guidance on narrating Middle-earth journeys
• Information to help you create your own journey tables
• A guide to creating and playing NPCs, and a gallery of NPCs for your games
• A Wilderland bestiary of adversaries
• New rules for customising monsters and using scenery in battle
• Notes on treasure in Middle-earth, magic items and weapons
• A guide to offering expanded magic options
• Advice on running the Fellowship phase, patrons, sanctuaries and undertakings
The Loremaster's Guide is best used with the Adventures in Middle-earth Player’s Guide, and the latest edition of the world’s favourite
roleplaying game.
155 pages, Hardcover
Published May 3, 2017
2 people are currently reading
42 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
December 23, 2017
This is a well written, nicely illustrated book. Maybe it's sad they recycled the illustrations from their other RPG: 'The One Ring'. The Loremaster's guide to Adventures in Middle-earth, the equivalent of the dnd 5e dungeon master's guide.
Since this book uses the OGL 5e rule set, the book expands on what is already known from the official dungeon master's guide and adds new rules also recycled from 'The One Ring'. The only part of DnD that is totally different and changed is the magic system.
The book starts with a very nice description of the main setting. The game is called adventures in Middle-Earth but it mainly focuses on the Wilderlands, or Rhovanion. That compromises the Misty Mountains, Grey Mountains, Blue Mountains, Mirkwood, The River Anduin, Long-Lake, The Lonely Mountain with Erebor inside it, lake-town or Esgaroth, Dale,... You know, the places from The Hobbit.
The main town of the game is Esgaroth, the new town after Smaug destroyed the old one (at the end of the Hobbit). This town is the starting point and main base for the players to start the game. The description of the town is very detailed with different districts, important NPC's described and stats for the town-watch etc... It's all you need as a master to get this town alive.
Throughout the book there are pop-ups which give you 'adventure seeds'. These are inspirational tips for side-quests. Which are pretty cool and make it easy when your players don't know what to do, or are stuck in the main quest and need to do something else.
The game takes place 5 years after 'The Battle of the Five Armies'. In 2946. As a gamemaster it is necessary to known all the events taking place before and after this event. So this book also features a timeline with the history of middle earth, even going back thousand of years. In this timeline it is made clear which kind of characters know or remember certain parts of history. Some of the most important events are big secrets. For example the explorations of the necromancers castle, Dol Goldur, by Gandalf is only known by members of the White Council. Very awesome.
Additional there is a new bestiary with 4-5 kinds of trolls, orcs, spiders... Since the lord of the rings has many different subraces, which the dungeons and dragons' bestiary doesn't have. Also there is a list of NPC's you can use throughout the campaign: guards, thiefs, chieftains, sages,...
But the big addition to the dungeons and dragons games are some rules and concepts from 'The One Ring'. These are the phases in which this game is divided. You have the fellowship phase, Journey phase and adventuring phase and then there are also audiences, sanctuaries, patrons, etc...
The adventuring phase is 'normal play', as known in every other RPG. It expands with extra rules for rests and inspiration. Rest are mainly taking place in sanctuaries or safe places while traveling. The inspiration rules are now the same as in DnD, since DnD also uses the concept of inspiration.
The Journey Phase is a sort of fast-travel system. Where you can undertake a long journey without having the need to describe and plays weeks of travel. Sort of like in the Baldur's Gate computer game, where you travel between map markers for 4 - 8 hours without actually playing it. But this time the travel time takes weeks. The Journey Phase has it's own rules and players need to prepare and plot their journey. Scripted and random events can occur, players have to assign tasks to each other, etc etc... It's almost a game-in-a-game.
Then there is the Fellowship phase. That is a phase between the game sessions. When you end a game session you can have your character live on by giving him or her a task to complete. So when your group of friends can't play for a certain amount of time, it doesn't feel like the world was set on pause. These rules are so expanded it's also a game-in-a-game.
Audiences are new rules for when you get an audience with an important NPC. For example a Chieftain, a steward, a wizard, a king, a lord. For example: an audience can give you the opportunity to unlock a new sanctuary where you can rest.
Next are Patrons, important NPC's, like for example Gandalf or Elrond, who give you, the master, the opportunity to let your players feel connected to the main events taking place in middle earth and build important relationships with important figures.
Magic is totally different from in DnD, since in DnD spells are too powerful. In the movies, magic is very rarely used, and when it's used everybody stands in awe or it's so powerful, the 'normal' folk and warriors are literally blown away by it. But wizards can't machine-gun magic missiles around. The timing and effects are different than in DnD. So there is a list with new spells for the game and a list of dnd spells who are middle-earth appropriate. Druid, Cleric, Sorcerer and Warlock spells all go towards the wizard since these classes don't exist in this world.
Overall, very good book. Enjoyed reading it. Sad that it has a different dimensions (literally the book is 1/3 inch wider) than the Player's Guide.
Since this book uses the OGL 5e rule set, the book expands on what is already known from the official dungeon master's guide and adds new rules also recycled from 'The One Ring'. The only part of DnD that is totally different and changed is the magic system.
The book starts with a very nice description of the main setting. The game is called adventures in Middle-Earth but it mainly focuses on the Wilderlands, or Rhovanion. That compromises the Misty Mountains, Grey Mountains, Blue Mountains, Mirkwood, The River Anduin, Long-Lake, The Lonely Mountain with Erebor inside it, lake-town or Esgaroth, Dale,... You know, the places from The Hobbit.
The main town of the game is Esgaroth, the new town after Smaug destroyed the old one (at the end of the Hobbit). This town is the starting point and main base for the players to start the game. The description of the town is very detailed with different districts, important NPC's described and stats for the town-watch etc... It's all you need as a master to get this town alive.
Throughout the book there are pop-ups which give you 'adventure seeds'. These are inspirational tips for side-quests. Which are pretty cool and make it easy when your players don't know what to do, or are stuck in the main quest and need to do something else.
The game takes place 5 years after 'The Battle of the Five Armies'. In 2946. As a gamemaster it is necessary to known all the events taking place before and after this event. So this book also features a timeline with the history of middle earth, even going back thousand of years. In this timeline it is made clear which kind of characters know or remember certain parts of history. Some of the most important events are big secrets. For example the explorations of the necromancers castle, Dol Goldur, by Gandalf is only known by members of the White Council. Very awesome.
Additional there is a new bestiary with 4-5 kinds of trolls, orcs, spiders... Since the lord of the rings has many different subraces, which the dungeons and dragons' bestiary doesn't have. Also there is a list of NPC's you can use throughout the campaign: guards, thiefs, chieftains, sages,...
But the big addition to the dungeons and dragons games are some rules and concepts from 'The One Ring'. These are the phases in which this game is divided. You have the fellowship phase, Journey phase and adventuring phase and then there are also audiences, sanctuaries, patrons, etc...
The adventuring phase is 'normal play', as known in every other RPG. It expands with extra rules for rests and inspiration. Rest are mainly taking place in sanctuaries or safe places while traveling. The inspiration rules are now the same as in DnD, since DnD also uses the concept of inspiration.
The Journey Phase is a sort of fast-travel system. Where you can undertake a long journey without having the need to describe and plays weeks of travel. Sort of like in the Baldur's Gate computer game, where you travel between map markers for 4 - 8 hours without actually playing it. But this time the travel time takes weeks. The Journey Phase has it's own rules and players need to prepare and plot their journey. Scripted and random events can occur, players have to assign tasks to each other, etc etc... It's almost a game-in-a-game.
Then there is the Fellowship phase. That is a phase between the game sessions. When you end a game session you can have your character live on by giving him or her a task to complete. So when your group of friends can't play for a certain amount of time, it doesn't feel like the world was set on pause. These rules are so expanded it's also a game-in-a-game.
Audiences are new rules for when you get an audience with an important NPC. For example a Chieftain, a steward, a wizard, a king, a lord. For example: an audience can give you the opportunity to unlock a new sanctuary where you can rest.
Next are Patrons, important NPC's, like for example Gandalf or Elrond, who give you, the master, the opportunity to let your players feel connected to the main events taking place in middle earth and build important relationships with important figures.
Magic is totally different from in DnD, since in DnD spells are too powerful. In the movies, magic is very rarely used, and when it's used everybody stands in awe or it's so powerful, the 'normal' folk and warriors are literally blown away by it. But wizards can't machine-gun magic missiles around. The timing and effects are different than in DnD. So there is a list with new spells for the game and a list of dnd spells who are middle-earth appropriate. Druid, Cleric, Sorcerer and Warlock spells all go towards the wizard since these classes don't exist in this world.
Overall, very good book. Enjoyed reading it. Sad that it has a different dimensions (literally the book is 1/3 inch wider) than the Player's Guide.
December 14, 2018
As someone who is fond of the universe of Tolkien's novel's, and of tabletop roleplaying games in particular, I suppose it was only a matter of time before I came across this particular dice-based roleplaying game based on Middle Earth. And judging from this book--where the Loremaster has the equivalent position that the DM has in Dungeons & Dragons--Middle Earth makes for a very compelling environment for fantasy adventures that are high on heroism and light on the sort of magic that many people find most objectionable about role playing. If you too are a big fan of the Hobbit or Lord Of The Rings, then it is worthwhile to note that this particular game sits between those two books in the chronology of Tolkien's writings, and that it pays a great deal of attention to that large body of lore while also allowing for creativity and flexibility within that existing lore that allows for compelling and original adventures among the body of heroes who are part of the larger universe that Tolkien created without being the main characters that everyone is already familiar with. This game looks like a good one, definitely worth trying out with the right group of people.
Taking up a bit more than 150 pages, this book is certainly not a large volume, and is designed to supplement (and also correct) the player's guide (review forthcoming). The book begins with the setting of the game and its initial location in Laketown, where the summoning of various members of the five armies that defeated Smaug allows for a convenient jumping off point for a group of adventurers seeking fame and profit (1). After this comes a discussion of some precepts, some of them rather melancholy, that undergird the playing of the game (2). Then comes a look at the adventuring phase and rules involving rest, inspiration, and multiclassing (3). There is an expanded look at journeys that allows for a great deal of adventure in the midst of one's travels hither and yon (4) as well as an expanded look at non-player characters and audiences with others (5) designed to help the loremaster with these important elements of gameplay. There are discussions of adversaries and battle and the importance of scenery (6) as well as wondrous, legendary, and healing items for use by the party (7). The book concludes with a discussion of magic in Middle Earth and its general subtlety (8) as well as a discussion of the fellowship phase where xp is given and where the group decides whether to split up or stay together in search of more adventures (9).
For those who might think of a game like this as simply another version of Dungeons & Dragons, the creators of the game have done a good job of making the gameplay distinctive. By immersing the reader in the lore of an existing universe with a melancholy undertone of long and uncertain struggle with the likelihood of defeat, and by having creative classes that correspond to the world of Middle Earth as well as a more subdued focus on healing and lore as opposed to flashy spells, this book does a good job at helping someone to create compelling campaigns for a group of players set in Middle Earth. Not only does this sort of book help someone to organize a party of players in a series of campaigns based out of Laketown and surrounding areas, but it may even inspire some wonderful fan fiction based on the world of Middle Earth, and that is something to appreciate as well. This book gives the reader a good enough basis of the way that life in Middle Earth works that it is likely to be a very compelling and popular volume among fantasy roleplayers.
Taking up a bit more than 150 pages, this book is certainly not a large volume, and is designed to supplement (and also correct) the player's guide (review forthcoming). The book begins with the setting of the game and its initial location in Laketown, where the summoning of various members of the five armies that defeated Smaug allows for a convenient jumping off point for a group of adventurers seeking fame and profit (1). After this comes a discussion of some precepts, some of them rather melancholy, that undergird the playing of the game (2). Then comes a look at the adventuring phase and rules involving rest, inspiration, and multiclassing (3). There is an expanded look at journeys that allows for a great deal of adventure in the midst of one's travels hither and yon (4) as well as an expanded look at non-player characters and audiences with others (5) designed to help the loremaster with these important elements of gameplay. There are discussions of adversaries and battle and the importance of scenery (6) as well as wondrous, legendary, and healing items for use by the party (7). The book concludes with a discussion of magic in Middle Earth and its general subtlety (8) as well as a discussion of the fellowship phase where xp is given and where the group decides whether to split up or stay together in search of more adventures (9).
For those who might think of a game like this as simply another version of Dungeons & Dragons, the creators of the game have done a good job of making the gameplay distinctive. By immersing the reader in the lore of an existing universe with a melancholy undertone of long and uncertain struggle with the likelihood of defeat, and by having creative classes that correspond to the world of Middle Earth as well as a more subdued focus on healing and lore as opposed to flashy spells, this book does a good job at helping someone to create compelling campaigns for a group of players set in Middle Earth. Not only does this sort of book help someone to organize a party of players in a series of campaigns based out of Laketown and surrounding areas, but it may even inspire some wonderful fan fiction based on the world of Middle Earth, and that is something to appreciate as well. This book gives the reader a good enough basis of the way that life in Middle Earth works that it is likely to be a very compelling and popular volume among fantasy roleplayers.
September 1, 2020
I loved this loremaster’s guide! I have enjoyed 5th edition DND as a player but wanted to try my hand at DMing as soon as I had heard of this. I’m planning to DM a (virtual) one shot, using a campaign from the Wilderlands Adventure campaigns, for my fiancé and our friends for his birthday. This book gave me the confidence to tackle such a big challenge, and I’m very excited to start putting it together. I loved the freedom this book gives with planning, while providing ample resources to create your own campaigns of any length. Of course being a huge fan of the books I got some crazy ideas pretty quick! The art is also incomparably awesome, I would have these framed in my living room they’re so beautiful. Even if you don’t want to play this edition to it’s fullest Middle-earth extent, it has awesome creatures and ideas for everything from NPC motivations to item enchantment.
March 15, 2019
I was close to rate this one only three stars, but decided against it in the end.
I think, there is a lot of unimportant, but to some people maybe interesting and helpful information in it. In my opinion, a lot of it could have been left out and the rest incorporated into the Player's Guide, which certainly would have made that book into a five star candidate.
As it stands, I'm giving this one four stars as well, and will wait until I actually played the game, before readjusting my ratings.
I think, there is a lot of unimportant, but to some people maybe interesting and helpful information in it. In my opinion, a lot of it could have been left out and the rest incorporated into the Player's Guide, which certainly would have made that book into a five star candidate.
As it stands, I'm giving this one four stars as well, and will wait until I actually played the game, before readjusting my ratings.
August 11, 2019
The advice here is the stuff I wished were in the D&D DMG: how to tailor encounters to your players, how to keep a consistent campaign tone, terrain features to spice up combat, minor enemy abilities to add flavor to the 5th time you've fought goblins, and modular ways to create magic items. (For instance, Sting is a Luminescent Foe-slaying (Orc) short sword.)
December 2, 2022
If you are adamantly determined not to explore non-D&D systems, I guess this is fine, but mangling 5E to this extent is much less elegant than just using a system designed for the job from the ground up. Full review: https://refereeingandreflection.wordp...
January 5, 2018
See my review of Adventures in Middle Earth. Much the same, except this is the GM's guide as opposed to the Player's guide.
April 23, 2022
Again, wish they'd included information for those new to RPG 5e.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews