On Converting Your FRP Rules System

One of the intriguing sections of the old Iron Crown Enterprises modules for Middle-earth using MERP or Rolemaster (MERP/RM) was the section that sometimes appeared in the introduction: "Guidelines for Using Your FRP System with this Module: Conversion Notes". Not the snappiest title, but the table for converting between d100, d20, 3d6 stats, and even 2d6, contained the suggestion, even if impractical, that the mechanical bones of the module could in some way be translated and adapted between game system, providing a way into ICE's resources for Middle-earth without their cumbersome house system,

The best of ICE's modules were packed with detail and context, including excellent maps and locations, but they were often thin on actual scenarios. These materials were more like a campaign overview or a sandbox setting that assumed there would be a great deal of GM design and adaptation to draw out playable adventures from the details. If you could adapt to a simpler system, how much easier would it be to leverage to module content?

Of course, Basic Roleplaying, now in the new Universal Game Engine edition, would be an excellent solution and provide for extended campaign play. But what about a simple, universal, free-form system like XD20? Could this allow you to dive into the ICE Modules – and even capture the tone and style of MERP/RM – without the overhead of a point-by-point mapping to BRP.

Here's some tinkering with the idea.

Running ICE Middle-earth Modules with XD20 2ed

MERP Characters in XD20

XD20 characters have far fewer stats that MERP or Rolemaster, so the key is to approximate not to calculate equivalence.

For the key XD20 stats:

• TAC: record as ST (Strength/Toughness) – this is the prime characteristic for a warrior or ranger
• PSYCH: record as IT (Intelligence/Intuition/Initiative) – this is treated as the prime for scout/bard
• WAH: record as PR (Presence/Resolve) – prime characteristic for mage/animist

Although the standard roll for STATS is d8 (1–8), I prefer to roll "first-level" stats on a d6 (1–6) so there's still a maximum stat to work towards (although stat raises are very, very rare in XD20).

Animist is an odd profession for Middle-earth, but conceptually is something more like a seer, loremaster, natural magician, or healer, than the cleric of a established religion, which are thin on the ground in Middle-earth.

Other characteristics

Hits (concussion hits): 10 base hits plus the lowest two of ST, IT, PR

It's a nice balancing factor that your hits in XD20 are circumscribed by your weakest stats. You might be strong, but too slow to dodge incoming strikes. (This is actually a little lower than Health in the XD20 book, but critical hits always counted more in MERP/RM.)

Level: corresponds loosely with MERP/RM levels, mainly as a way of estimating the challenge comparatively.

In XD20, levels don't confer much mechanical benefit but explicitly indicate greater skill, experience, and power.

Profession: use the MERP/RM professions in place of XD20 Character Type. Since there are no explicit skills in XD20, profession stands in for the skills and knowledge the character can most likely apply.

Background: Use the MERP/Middle-earth backgrounds to fill in the XD20 Story and Backstory.

Additional details

These are fun to add, especially if you want your character sheet to capture more of the feel of the old school systems with their abbreviations and numbers.

• AT: Armor Type, not strictly necessary in XD20, but the RM system had a neat chart converting armor worn to a 1–20 value that could stand as a handy to-hit target number.
• Melee OB: the close combat to-hit modifier (offensive bonus) – use ST
• Ranged OB: the ranged combat bonus –  use IN
• Spells OB: the "directed spells" bonus – use PR

Roll on

The old MERP/RM descriptive modifiers, from Routine to Light to Medium to Hard/V.Hard, and my favorites Sheer Folly and Absurd, would suggest a difficulty scale for XD20. But my aim is not to get the systems to scale each other, but to leverage the rich content of the classic modules for interesting gaming. If you roll it out, and it works, let us know in the comments.

Alone on the range: Strider Mode

 Recently, the tinkerage picked up Strider Mode, the solo rules for The One Ring RPG. Strider Mode, as you might think, contains rules for playing a single player-hero in Middle-earth, adapted from the system of The One Ring.

Now, The One Ring Second Edition is a fine system with many thoughtful and atmospheric touches, but it still isn't the game I would choose to run adventures in Middle-earth. As per my review of the first edition, the system is still too programmatic and committed to phases and counters of all sorts. It feel sometimes as if deep down it's a board-game, where your character's engagement, reactions, and choices are shuffled off to dice-rolls on a table. As readers might gather, my instincts for gaming in Middle-earth are either to strip everything back to a free-form core in the style of the Green Dragon, or to use the clean, flexible structure of Basic Role-Playing.

Strider Mode, on the other hand, is a great resource for playing through a solo Middle-earth experience. It contains two elements that are essential to solo play (and darn useful for group play also): a chance resolution system and a semantic generator.

By a chance resolution system, I mean a way to pose the question how likely is a certain thing to come about, roll, and resolve that question. In Strider Mode, that's a d12 roll ranging from a "certain" chance to an "unthinkable" one, with an extreme result on either end. I often use the same sort of roll to determine the severity or intensity of a certain condition, so a low roll is hardly at all and a high roll is extremely so. This can range from the friendliness of an inn to the severity of the weather on a given day. And chance resolution also provides a basic action resolution system, as you can check whether, given current conditions, a character's action is likely to succeed or not.

What I call a semantic generator is the "oracle" in other systems. The semantic generator allows you to randomly generate words or phrases that you can use to attribute meaning to an uncertain or open situation. Strider Mode calls this the Lore Table. In my play all the books approach, this would be the library of tables and generators that you can call on to frame an otherwise open encounter or scene. In fact, as you travel in Strider Mode there are "Event Detail" tables that provide descriptive seeds for events along your journey (from mishaps to chance meetings), as well as the atmospheric lore tables which suggest the Action, Aspect, or Focus of the moment.

These two tools provide the adventure and discovery for the player that the GM's preparation or the written scenario usually deliver. If you lost your way, did you stumble on a ruined tower or a bandit camp? What is the tale of that ruin? The task for the solo player is to deliver these questions to the dice and then play the options they suggest.

As I mentioned before, I don't use the core rulebook for The One Ring for resolution, but rather a free-form approach using the chance resolution system. Of course, there's nothing wrong if you enjoy using the published rules and engaging with the variables of the full system, but I find that a lighter, more adaptive system allows me to engage with the scenario at hand rather than the intricacies of the rules. 

One might think that this adds another kind of challenge, switching between the GM's mindset of making assessments and calls on the fly and the player's mindset of responding to the action without the support of firm procedures. This isn't what I find. Consider that even with a complete "system" in play, the GM or the scenario author has already prepared the encounters and considered the modifiers and relative difficulties, and this means neither setting dead-end tasks that are too difficult nor challenges that are too simple. All you need to do to GM yourself is be open to the chance of success and failure, which means that you sustain the uncertainty and hence the drama of the moment, and estimate chances fairly. For any given roll, there's always a chance of a wildly high or low outcome; and if you're rolling for yourself, that wild result is bound to come up. Finely-measured probabilities are not really required. And as Hickman et al observe, in the end it always comes down to a probability, assessed as a number on the die or dice that is constrained to a given range. Call it fairly as you see it, check the result, and keep going.

In my test of Strider Mode, I found myself bushwhacked by bandits in an abandoned farmstead, trading words with stiff-necked dwarfs, and battling orcs and a cold-wyrm in a ruined tower. The Lore Tables in particular do a good job of pushing your to engage with Tolkien-like tropes and challenges. For something that's either in one's own head, or in the dice and the tables on the page, that's a pretty good trip, alone, across Eriador.

Hwaet! Review of Beowulf Beastslayer by Jonathan Green

The early Fighting Fantasy gamebooks, in particular The Warlock of Firetop Mountain, had a strong influence on both my gaming and my reading. Up until Firetop Mountain, I preferred science-fiction, and while the gamebook made it easier for me to imagine role-playing as a hobby, it also suggested fantasy as a genre, which lead me eventually to The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. Tolkien, as a scholar and writer, studied and taught Old English, and so by a curious confluence we find, years later, a gamebook based on the Old English epic poem Beowulf, and if you throw in illustrations by the inimitable Russ Nicholson, there's really no reason to resist.

Beowulf Beastslayer, by Jonathan Green, is the most fun and interest I've had in a gamebook since finishing Steve Jackson's magisterial Sorcery! series decades ago. Perhaps the reason Beowulf Beastslayer is so engaging is that by going back to the Old English heroic sources, Green is able to make the world of the gamebook fresh and fantastical again. The first time you read The Warlock of Firetop Mountain, orcs and trolls and ghouls and skeletons and underground mazes are new and intriguing; but after a while the tropes and inhabitants of the fantasy world become familiar, and therefore less exciting. Translating the Old English world-view and poem into gameable format refreshes the experience by creating that sense of the unfamiliar again. Monsters like Grendel, giants, sea serpents, even dragons take on a new immediacy. Riddles based on Anglo-Saxon sources present a new challenge.

To his credit, Green also adapts the Old English alliterative verse to his prose sections, which makes each passage of the gamebook poetic and even evocative of the sense of the source poem. The passages that one would usually skim to find the next fight or choice point are also a pleasure to read. And, the gamebook uses kennings – compact poetic figures from the period – as progress markers and resources: another evocative turn that makes each achievement more memorable.

Green uses the ACE system for the gamebook series, adapted from the original Fighting Fantasy rules, where the ACE scores Agility, Combat, and Endurance are used in a familiar fashion with standard dice, and includes a Hero Points score which functions much like Luck. It's a familiar and highly workable system, although if you're familiar with Fighting Fantasy in general, it's pretty clear where you should allocate your character points for maximum effect, and, if a criticism can be made of the mechanics, I've never felt in much danger during a fight, or worried greatly about missing a roll.

This, on the other hand, could be intentional. With the earning and spending of Hero Points to overcome key challenges in the book, and initiative providing a bonus in a fight, the best option is always to act like a big-darn hero. This is fun, but also, from the perspective of someone familiar with the Old English heroic mode, sort of educational. Playing the heroic values of Anglo-Saxon epics – bravery, boastfulness, generosity, cunning – is a way to immerse yourself in the mindset as well as win the best outcome.

In early 2021, Green also launched Heorot, a kickstarter campaign for role-playing in the world of Beowulf Beastslayer, based on the same rules as used in the gamebook. Given the ease and simplicity of the system, and the potential of the setting (with the chance that it could even fit Tolkien's view of Middle-earth), I'm following this project with great interest.

Narrative adventures at the Green Dragon pub

#Repost#

A speculative sketch, loosely inspired by the (rumored?) free-form, improvised gaming of early designers and players. 

What if other great world-builders took this path?

A game and story at the Professor's table

Professor T--'s group meets at the Green Dragon pub at least once a week. They play a curious game, which resembles more a story or a piece of theatre, inspired by German "free" Kriegsspiel, and best described as a sort of guided adventure in an imaginary realm.

Materials required are: plentiful supplies of paper (exam booklets are common), pens, pencils, common dice, and occasionally chess pieces and chequers, to mark the places of all the participants in a combat.

Each of the players brings a notepad and a sheet of paper dedicated to their "character". On this sheet are many notes, including the character's name and particulars, their salient characteristics, story and lineage. There is also space for lore regarding the history of each kindred, intermixed with notes on quirks, such as the dwarfs' ability to light fires wherever needed, and snippets of common knowledge, including fragments of elvish legend. Room is set aside for lists of gear and other trinkets that the character carries. We have seen characters described as elves, dwarfs, burglars, woodsmen, rangers, knights, hunters, and wizards, among many others!

The professor also arrives with several notebooks, closely filled with extensive notes, glossaries, and background materials, and many maps and sketches.

When play begins, the professor outlines an intriguing situation, continuing an adventure that clearly started some time ago. Each player replies with their preferred course of action, and the professor then responds with whatever happens next, prompting another player to reply, and so on. Journeys, skirmishes, traps, discoveries, and many curious encounters are all resolved by discussion, plain common sense, and the turns of the story. If the players are wise and attentive, they will usually overcome such difficulties. If they are foolhardy or proud, then their situation will deteriorate.

From time to time the outcome of some action is at issue or more than reasonably uncertain, and then the professor will call for a roll of the dice, and perhaps consult one or more of the many small tables scattered among his notes. One table, labelled "Luck or Craft", is often referred to, thus:

2-3... Horrible
4-5... Poor
6-9... Tolerable -- well
10-12... Marvel. elvish! [sic]

When the dice roll, ones are to be feared, and called "the evil eye". Sixes are highly prized, and sometimes called "the crown".

A thoughtful player who demonstrates the great resolve (or skill) of their character, is sometimes permitted to roll three dice and tally the best two.

Brief and intense fights take place from time to time. Such skirmishes rarely continue for more than a few "turns", with the rare exception of protracted battles. The professor is not sentimental about armed combat, and such scenes are short and deadly. The players will usually prevail (although combat always involves rolls, and so an element of risk), but if they misjudge their position, challenge dreadful foes, press their luck too far, or succumb to blood-lust, even the strongest will fall, memorably.

Another curious table, much used, is kept at hand during such battles:
5... goblin, spider, wolf
6... orc or grt. goblin
7... man-at-arms, grt. orc
9... troll, giant, fell beast
10... capt., wyrm, wraith
12... drake, horror

Now and then, the professor will make a "secret roll" of his own design, to judge how things go by chance, or to see if the characters blunder into, or across, something unseen, or are taken by surprise, or put in an interesting situation by happenstance.

Character may indeed be dazed, poisoned, wounded, enchanted, wearied, and so forth, and must make note of these effects and bear the consequences until the matter is resolved.

When the adventure (or chapter) is concluded, it is time to rest, tend to wounds, and divide any treasures found.

BRP for Middle-earth

Over the last few years, I've had great success running a Middle-earth campaign in Basic Roleplaying (BRP) using the compiled rules from the BRP "Big Gold Book" (BGB).

Why BRP? Because it's a very flexible rules-medium system which runs smoothly at the table and makes sense even to beginners, and once the rules are understood in principle there's little need to frequently reference the rule book. The relatively realistic rules fit with the tone of Middle-earth, the details and the sense of hardship, but there are still opportunities for heroism. Combat is swift and decisive. And most of what a player and the GM need to know is located on the character sheet.

But because BRP is such a broad collection of options, here are the particular options I use for adventures in Middle-earth.

I'm also sharing my BRP-ME character record sheets, as character sheets in BRP contain a lot of rules information, as well as my thinking on this adaptation.

Character creation

• For skill point allocation, use the BRP heroic option (325 points), so that character can be highly capable in at least a few areas. However, no skill should begin at higher than 75%, as 80% is the point were success begins to feel almost automatic. 
• Use the personal point pool (INTx10) for custom and cultural skills. 
• The extra skill points from personality type option (Step 6) are not used.
• I also use skill category modifiers to add a connection from ability to skill for characters, but prefer the simpler bonuses (based on INT or DEX, see p. 31). In future, I plan on basing Communication on APP/2, Physical on CON/2, and Combat on STR/2).
• For typical Middle-earth races, such as elves, dwarves, or hobbits, I use the stats in the creatures section of the BGB or the old Runequest 3 Creature Book, making adjustments on the fly as necessary. As a rule, the tall Edain get a bonus for SIZ.

Skills

• Obviously, many of the BGB skills, from Psychotherapy to Science to Demolitions, are not suitable for Middle-earth, so strip these out.
• Not caring for the clunky skill name Fine Manipulation, I use Devise to represent tampering with locks, traps, and other small mechanism (in any case, mechanical locks will be very rare in Middle-earth).
• All characters have a knowledge of their own culture equal to their Own Language skill.
• I use the skill Bearing rather than Etiquette. Bearing represents how well characters carries themselves in social situations, whether the rules of etiquette are known to them or not: think of the first meeting with the Riders of Rohan, or Frodo greeting the elves in the woods, or even Bilbo welcoming unexpected dwarves into his parlour.
• I allow martial characters to train in the Martial Arts skill, representing their combat discipline, be it the Dunadan longsword or elvish blade. This is a very powerful skill, which should advance at no more than 1% a step, to a maximum of DEX+STR. It reflects the fearsomeness we see in characters like Boromir or Aragorn, who can slay many foes with a single strike.

In general, characters make the most use of their weapons skills, as well as Spot and Stealth and Track. First Aid is often in use. Insight is a popular skill with my players, for getting a read on NPCs.

Combat options

• To speed combat, use Hit Points with Major Wounds (not location hit points).
• My players, however, are particularly fond of aimed shots with missile weapons. I assign these a difficult rating, but adjudicate a Major Wound like effect if the shot hits a particular target (such as the knee joint of a troll).

Fatigue

The RuneQuest 3 fatigue points option being too cumbersome to track, I use a simple fatigue check, to represent the weariness that often afflicts characters in Middle-earth. Fatigue is based on a Stamina roll. The first failure inflicts a -10% weariness penalty. The second failure makes all rolls difficult due to fatigue. The final failed roll brings exhaustion. This Stamina roll is adjusted by whatever amount current encumbrance exceeds STR (if Enc is not more than STR, there is no penalty).

Magic

Magic can accomplish grand and marvellous things in Middle-earth, but it is also rare and often subtle. And it is not clear that the mortal races, such as common men and hobbits, can inherently use magic of any sort. Hence, the magic options in the BGB are not well-suited to Middle-earth. The simplest option is to restrict magic to figures other than adventuring PCs. However, if you think it necessary to introduce limited magic:

• Elves use spells similar to RuneQuest spirit magic, with effects that could be taken for extraordinary skill or grace (such as bladesharp or sure-shot or silence). A simple Luck roll is used to activate a spell. The spells add bonuses (5% /+1 per magic point) to actions.
• Wizardry, if used at all, should be skill-based and centred on certain skills or areas of study, such as Smoke and Fire, Silence and Disguise, Beasts and Birds, and so on.
• All spells that dominate the will of others are sorceries, and inherently corrupting.

Finally, the BRP Central site downloads page has a wealth of options and rules for BRP styled Middle-earth, based loosely on the Decipher Lord of the Rings RPG and many other sources.