The Lord of the Rings™ Roleplaying Game and Roleplaying Adventure Game: A Design History and Progress Report

By Steven S. Long

"There are some things that it is better to begin than to refuse, even though the end may be dark." – Aragorn, The Two Towers 43

With the end of the year fast approaching, and The Lord of the Rings TCG released, Decipher fans and gamers everywhere are eagerly looking forward to the company's other two major Lord of the Rings products: the Roleplaying Adventure Game, due out in December; and the Roleplaying Game, scheduled for the spring. Here's a brief review of the design process to date, and an update regarding where things currently stand as of late October, 2001.

First, a brief explanation of what the two products are. The Roleplaying Adventure Game is a boxed product containing character sheets for the members of the Fellowship of the Ring, a "Through the Mines of Moria" adventure booklet, a booklet providing general information about Middle-earth, and play aids like full-color maps and cardboard miniatures. Players take the roles of the Fellowship as it makes its way through Moria, fighting or avoiding various dangers in their quest to get the Ring-bearer safely through. Designed for thirteen- to fifteen-year-olds and fans who are new to the concept of roleplaying games, it uses a simplified version of the rules in the Lord of the Rings Roleplaying Game. The Lord of the Rings RPG is a full-fledged roleplaying game in which players create their own characters and take part in bold, heroic adventures throughout Middle-earth. Featuring Decipher's simple yet flexible Coda System rules, it's going to be a 288-page rulebook jam-packed with information, rules, and excitement.

Planning and Preparation

The first stage of the work for both products involved research and planning. The goal for both products was to create games that were not only fun to play, but true to the nature and "feel" of the Middle-earth setting and all its lavish detail. That required both design teams to return to the source–the saga itself–and conduct thorough research.

For Matt Colville, Ken Hite, and Owen Seyler, the writers and designers creating the Roleplaying Adventure Game, their research focused on the chapters of The Fellowship of the Ring depicting the Company's adventures in Moria. Reviewing those chapters line-by-line, they began outlining possible adventure options, sketching maps, and getting a feel for what the product needed to include.

For Steve Long, the project leader (chief writer and developer) for The Lord of the Rings Roleplaying Game, the research was a little more extensive. He read all of Tolkien's primary Middle-earth fiction–twice–and took extensive notes. Using those notes, he drafted a 23,000 word outline for use by himself and any other writers assigned to the project. Needless to say, this took a couple of months.

Creating the Adventure Game

After finishing their research, the AG team got to work in May, 2001. Ken concentrated on drafting the "Welcome to Middle-earth" booklet while Matt and Owen focused on the rules and adventure booklet, but all three of them contributed to every part of the process. Using character write-ups drafted by Steve, they also prepared character sheets for each member of the Fellowship, stats for Orcs, and the like.

At this point, George Vasilakos, art director and layout wizard for the Decipher RPG Studio, became part of the process as well. Given the nature of the product, the AG was going to be graphics-heavy, with illustrations taken from stills of the Fellowship of the Ring movie, so it was important to get George involved early. He created templates for the character sheet and other elements, helping the team refine their ideas about what the product needed to include.

Over the course of the summer and early fall, the team worked and re-worked, and playtested, eliminating parts of the product they didn't like and re-writing others to make them fit better. By the time of this writing, it's all come together wonderfully. The rules and adventure text have been tested and improved until they're as good as can be, and George has used graphics and layout to make the product beautiful to behold. Once the licensor approves everything, the product is set to go to print. If all goes according to plan, it will be available in stores for you to purchase in early to mid-December.

Creating the Roleplaying Game

The Roleplaying Game isn't quite as far along, due to demands on Steve's time from Decipher's Star Trek™ Roleplaying Game, which has also been in development. By mid-September, though, he was back on the project full-time.

During the summer, he gradually worked on the character creation chapters for the book, adapting the Coda System rules to better reflect Tolkien's world. Starting with the Attributes and Races, then progressing to Skills and Traits, he established the basic framework for how players build characters. Working from that, he was able to construct the orders (character "classes" or professions) and, last but certainly not least, extensive rules for magic in Middle-earth.

With those tasks essentially complete, Steve now plans to turn to the section of the book intended for use by the Narrator (gamemaster): narrating advice and guidelines, writeups of monsters and fell beasts, and character sheets for major NPCs from the saga. Playtesting will begin soon, and the game remains on schedule for release this spring.

Want to know more? Visit Decipher's Lord of the Rings RPG message board.

November 21, 2001