A BALROG IN BREE [PbP] | Lord of the Rings 5e | One Ring

How to prepare

Access to Discord and a D&D Beyond account (any tier) is required, but other than that, I'd love for you to be able to just jump in and play! However, if you've never played D&D, I do recommend at least reading the Free Rules (2024) on D&D Beyond. If you have access to The Lord of the Rings 5E book, you could read the player portion of that, but that will never be required.

What I provide

You'll get access to a private Discord server with an out-of-character (OOC) lobby with links to our D&D Beyond Campaign, Owlbear Rodeo, and audio/video channels for play. We will use 2024 D&D rules or 2014 D&D rules (as long as you stay consistent with one or the other). However, there are some quirks with the LotR roleplaying game — the magic system is much different, for example, but this will all be covered during session zero! Players will receive maps and custom playlists for each location, shared access to tons of content on D&D Beyond, and even a master-tier D&D Beyond login if you need it. As a GM, I focus on two things: the story, and you, the player. I make them work seamlessly with each other and encourage emergent storytelling as much as possible to make this a memorable, worthwhile experience for all involved. As a former high school English teacher and a current children's librarian who runs D&D frequently for children and adults of all interests, styles, ages, and ability levels, I make my focus centered around you, the player. I am constantly working to find what makes this game fun for you and maximize that component(s), and I strive to make this as fun, creative, challenging, and fulfilling as possible. I balance the social, exploration, and combat aspects of D&D, though I tend to focus on the social and exploration aspects a bit more as they lend themselves to the narrative more fully, which is my other primary goal. I do fun voices in my live plays, but my focus is on characterization and personality, as well as story and your characters' motivations. My combat tends to be intense but swashbuckling (yes, please do swing on the chandelier!) and not as tactical, though I can adapt to your playstyle quite easily.

Gameplay details

The content will not push any further than the material shown in the Peter Jackson Lord of the Rings and Hobbit films or the Amazon Prime Rings of Power show. Think mid-to-hard PG-13. We will do a Lines & Veils survey, which will be compiled and shared as part of a campaign one-sheet for each player. It incorporates many of the resources listed above. X, N, & O's can be privately messaged to be on Discord, or opened messaged if the player feels comfortable.

Content warnings

Safety tools used

How will character creation work

Characters will be created on D&D Beyond once invited to the campaign so that players will have access to The Lord of the Rings 5E rules on D&D Beyond (unless they already have access and a character ready!). We will briefly walkthrough the character creation process in our first session as it's a bit different from standard 5th edition D&D. All characters will begin at 1st level. I suggest sticking to The Lord of the Rings 5E book, but I'm very flexible; I mostly just want to be fair to all players.

Combat / Tactics

Medium

Roleplay

High

Puzzles

Medium

Experience level

Open to all