There was a really, really, really dumb LotR video game a while back called Lord of the Rings, The Third Age. It was a turn based game like Final Fantasy where you played as group of poorly written characters (with some cringeworthy internal party romance moments) who basically were following the Fellowship around and just kind of being useless in their wake.
The plot could best be described as “bad fanfic”, with random elements like somehow going from following the Fellowship to fighting the Balrog with Gandalf, or fighting that Witch King, or, and this is not a joke, the game ending with you teleporting to the top of Barad-dûr to fight Sauron. It had a multiplayer campaign mode that felt more like “watch the other person play most of the game, then make a few clicks every so often.” It had that classic Final Fantasy problem of “step, step, now you’re in yet another random encounter with things you can easily one-shot.”
That’s all to say it was a hot mess. Still, I found it’s unapologetic “we know this is kind of terrible and we pumped it out to capitalise on the movies’ success” better than whatever nonsense was happening in Shadow of Mordor.
I have a friend who actually told me about that game lol.
There was a really, really, really dumb LotR video game a while back called Lord of the Rings, The Third Age. It was a turn based game like Final Fantasy where you played as group of poorly written characters (with some cringeworthy internal party romance moments) who basically were following the Fellowship around and just kind of being useless in their wake.
The plot could best be described as “bad fanfic”, with random elements like somehow going from following the Fellowship to fighting the Balrog with Gandalf, or fighting that Witch King, or, and this is not a joke, the game ending with you teleporting to the top of Barad-dûr to fight Sauron. It had a multiplayer campaign mode that felt more like “watch the other person play most of the game, then make a few clicks every so often.” It had that classic Final Fantasy problem of “step, step, now you’re in yet another random encounter with things you can easily one-shot.”
That’s all to say it was a hot mess. Still, I found it’s unapologetic “we know this is kind of terrible and we pumped it out to capitalise on the movies’ success” better than whatever nonsense was happening in Shadow of Mordor.
I have a friend who actually told me about that game lol.
Honestly, it bordered on being a fairly good game. Final Fantasy turn-based combat is a blast, and some parts of the story - the parts divorced from the Fellowship - were not bad. Some of the levels involved you exploring parts of Rohan being attacked by raiders or running into orcs in forests, while accomplishing objectives that could conceivably exist alongside the Fellowship’s story. Some of these stories even bordered on being good, and might have been much better if they could escape thr looming shadow of “let’s shoehorn your characters into someone else’s story and jam cutscenes from the LotR movies down your throat” (because what’s worse than long cutscenes? Long cut scenes you’ve already seen in a movie!).
Many of the game’s problems stemmed from the lack of legal rights to the books; they were really only able to reference things that were mentioned in the movies because LotR’s legal rights are a mess… which meant that the entire game ended up having to track but not track the films… leading to the jumbled mess of a plot it ultimately ended up with. Always interesting to see how reality might warp an interesting concept into something that’s just kind of silly.
In early editions of D&D, haflings were called hobbits, treants were called ents, and balor were called balrogs. The Tolkien estate sued over the use of these terms, as well as the terms elf, goblin, orc, and dwarf.
Elf, goblin, and dwarf were all pretty clearly public domain, being phrases that predated Tolkien by generations. Orcs are problematic from a rights issue - Tolkien pretty much invented the modern concept of the orc, taking only the name from fragments of old texts. But the D&D orc is vastly different in character from Tolkien’s corrupted elves, even if their general mannerisms are similar. That likely was enough to save them from being transformed too terribly by the dispute.
Hobbits were changed to the pre-Tolkien term “halfling” and references to hairy feet were removed. Ents were also changed to reference a much older mythical creature. Balor had their name changed as well, and the description updated to less directly reference Tolkien (it helps that Tolkien is a little vague about what balrogs look like).
In early editions of D&D, haflings were called hobbits, treants were called ents, and balor were called balrogs. The Tolkien estate sued over the use of these terms, as well as the terms elf, goblin, orc, and dwarf.
Elf, goblin, and dwarf were all pretty clearly public domain, being phrases that predated Tolkien by generations. Orcs are problematic from a rights issue - Tolkien pretty much invented the modern concept of the orc, taking only the name from fragments of old texts. But the D&D orc is vastly different in character from Tolkien’s corrupted elves, even if their general mannerisms are similar. That likely was enough to save them from being transformed too terribly by the dispute.
Hobbits were changed to the pre-Tolkien term “halfling” and references to hairy feet were removed. Ents were also changed to reference a much older mythical creature. Balor had their name changed as well, and the description updated to less directly reference Tolkien (it helps that Tolkien is a little vague about what balrogs look like).
I actually knew that lol. Older D&D stuff is my area of (not quite) expertise (moderate competence. That's it). I should have put, in 5e.
Since it looks like everyone is inclined to agree that halflings are the biggest effect of Tolkien on D&D, let me pose this question: What is y’all’s favourite small-scale (i.e. not general fantasy themes and tropes) Tolkien element incorporated into D&D?
Personally, I would pick the word “dwarves.” I think I’ve probably mentioned the entomology before, but I just find it fascinating that Tolkien was so influential that, to use his own words, his “piece of private bad grammar” has become solidified as the correct plural of the species in fantasy contexts.
Since it looks like everyone is inclined to agree that halflings are the biggest effect of Tolkien on D&D, let me pose this question: What is y’all’s favourite small-scale (i.e. not general fantasy themes and tropes) Tolkien element incorporated into D&D?
Personally, I would pick the word “dwarves.” I think I’ve probably mentioned the entomology before, but I just find it fascinating that Tolkien was so influential that, to use his own words, his “piece of private bad grammar” has become solidified as the correct plural of the species in fantasy contexts.
I'm gonna do the same for "elves" as opposed to "elfs"
Since it looks like everyone is inclined to agree that halflings are the biggest effect of Tolkien on D&D, let me pose this question: What is y’all’s favourite small-scale (i.e. not general fantasy themes and tropes) Tolkien element incorporated into D&D?
Personally, I would pick the word “dwarves.” I think I’ve probably mentioned the entomology before, but I just find it fascinating that Tolkien was so influential that, to use his own words, his “piece of private bad grammar” has become solidified as the correct plural of the species in fantasy contexts.
I'm gonna do the same for "elves" as opposed to "elfs"
While “Dwarves” was a conceptualisation of Tolkien, “elves” is a much older plural. Just doing a quick look at the OED, we see spellings of “elves” (elvis, elues, elves) dating back to at lest 1513.
Etymology is one of those things I get weirdly fascinated by.
Since it looks like everyone is inclined to agree that halflings are the biggest effect of Tolkien on D&D, let me pose this question: What is y’all’s favourite small-scale (i.e. not general fantasy themes and tropes) Tolkien element incorporated into D&D?
Personally, I would pick the word “dwarves.” I think I’ve probably mentioned the entomology before, but I just find it fascinating that Tolkien was so influential that, to use his own words, his “piece of private bad grammar” has become solidified as the correct plural of the species in fantasy contexts.
I'm gonna do the same for "elves" as opposed to "elfs"
While “Dwarves” was a conceptualisation of Tolkien, “elves” is a much older plural. Just doing a quick look at the OED, we see spellings of “elves” (elvis, elues, elves) dating back to at lest 1513.
Etymology is one of those things I get weirdly fascinated by.
Me too.
Same. But I don’t have the attention span to focus on it for long.
In early editions of D&D, haflings were called hobbits, treants were called ents, and balor were called balrogs. The Tolkien estate sued over the use of these terms, as well as the terms elf, goblin, orc, and dwarf.
Elf, goblin, and dwarf were all pretty clearly public domain, being phrases that predated Tolkien by generations. Orcs are problematic from a rights issue - Tolkien pretty much invented the modern concept of the orc, taking only the name from fragments of old texts. But the D&D orc is vastly different in character from Tolkien’s corrupted elves, even if their general mannerisms are similar. That likely was enough to save them from being transformed too terribly by the dispute.
Hobbits were changed to the pre-Tolkien term “halfling” and references to hairy feet were removed. Ents were also changed to reference a much older mythical creature. Balor had their name changed as well, and the description updated to less directly reference Tolkien (it helps that Tolkien is a little vague about what balrogs look like).
Also, the hobbit race was split between gnomes and halflings
And hairy feet were removed :(
I will never be Frodo
Or Sam Gamgee
The real hero
That's just the joy if D&D though, isn't it? Wizards might not be able to publish LotR-style hobbits (currently--more on that in a second), but you can homerule anything you want!
Interestingly, however, there is a non-zero chance we will see a LotR D&D expansion or a Wizards product that utilizes the D&D system for a tabletop game (and thus could be transplanted into D&D without modification). Next year, Wizards will be releasing a LotR supplement (based on the books, not the films) to Magic: the Gathering under their "Universes Beyond" product line--official Magic cards made with non-Wizards' intellectual property. On an investors call a couple weeks ago, Hasbro indicated they wanted to expand this "Universes Beyond" model to the D&D system. I expect they will start with other Hasbro-owned properties, like GI Joe and Transformers, but it is not inconceivable that they would license other non-Hasbro IPs, like they are presently doing with Magic. Considering Hasbro was able to secure the licensing to make LotR book Magic cards, it is well within the realm of possibility that they can or already have secured rights in such a manner that a LotR D&D/D&D system product could be produced.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
That seems like it would be messy. Don't lounge on ranch.
I have a weird sense of humor.
I also make maps.(That's a link)
What if the ranch lounges on you?
Call me Blond. James Blond.
😂😂😂😂
I have a friend who actually told me about that game lol.
I'm the Valar (leader and creator) of The Lord of the Rings/The Hobbit/Anything Tolkien Cult!
Member of the Cult of Cats, High Elf of the Elven Guild, and Sauce Priest & Sauce Smith of the Supreme Court of Sauce.
If you want some casual roleplay/adventures in Middle Earth, check out The Wild's Edge Tavern, a LotR/Middle Earth tavern!
JOIN TIAMAT'S CONGA LINE!
Extended Sig
Emojis don’t answer the question: What if the ranch lounges on you?
Call me Blond. James Blond.
That would be really annoying lol.
😂😂😂😂
How do you like it?
Call me Blond. James Blond.
Honestly, it bordered on being a fairly good game. Final Fantasy turn-based combat is a blast, and some parts of the story - the parts divorced from the Fellowship - were not bad. Some of the levels involved you exploring parts of Rohan being attacked by raiders or running into orcs in forests, while accomplishing objectives that could conceivably exist alongside the Fellowship’s story. Some of these stories even bordered on being good, and might have been much better if they could escape thr looming shadow of “let’s shoehorn your characters into someone else’s story and jam cutscenes from the LotR movies down your throat” (because what’s worse than long cutscenes? Long cut scenes you’ve already seen in a movie!).
Many of the game’s problems stemmed from the lack of legal rights to the books; they were really only able to reference things that were mentioned in the movies because LotR’s legal rights are a mess… which meant that the entire game ended up having to track but not track the films… leading to the jumbled mess of a plot it ultimately ended up with. Always interesting to see how reality might warp an interesting concept into something that’s just kind of silly.
Fun lol
You’re funny 😄
Oooh, here’s a good one. What is the most obvious Tolkien thing in D&D: Halflings, Mithral, Rangers, or Balors.
I'm the Valar (leader and creator) of The Lord of the Rings/The Hobbit/Anything Tolkien Cult!
Member of the Cult of Cats, High Elf of the Elven Guild, and Sauce Priest & Sauce Smith of the Supreme Court of Sauce.
If you want some casual roleplay/adventures in Middle Earth, check out The Wild's Edge Tavern, a LotR/Middle Earth tavern!
JOIN TIAMAT'S CONGA LINE!
Extended Sig
I’m gonna say Halflings.
I'm the Valar (leader and creator) of The Lord of the Rings/The Hobbit/Anything Tolkien Cult!
Member of the Cult of Cats, High Elf of the Elven Guild, and Sauce Priest & Sauce Smith of the Supreme Court of Sauce.
If you want some casual roleplay/adventures in Middle Earth, check out The Wild's Edge Tavern, a LotR/Middle Earth tavern!
JOIN TIAMAT'S CONGA LINE!
Extended Sig
In early editions of D&D, haflings were called hobbits, treants were called ents, and balor were called balrogs. The Tolkien estate sued over the use of these terms, as well as the terms elf, goblin, orc, and dwarf.
Elf, goblin, and dwarf were all pretty clearly public domain, being phrases that predated Tolkien by generations. Orcs are problematic from a rights issue - Tolkien pretty much invented the modern concept of the orc, taking only the name from fragments of old texts. But the D&D orc is vastly different in character from Tolkien’s corrupted elves, even if their general mannerisms are similar. That likely was enough to save them from being transformed too terribly by the dispute.
Hobbits were changed to the pre-Tolkien term “halfling” and references to hairy feet were removed. Ents were also changed to reference a much older mythical creature. Balor had their name changed as well, and the description updated to less directly reference Tolkien (it helps that Tolkien is a little vague about what balrogs look like).
Definitely halflings
I actually knew that lol. Older D&D stuff is my area of (not quite) expertise (moderate competence. That's it). I should have put, in 5e.
I'm the Valar (leader and creator) of The Lord of the Rings/The Hobbit/Anything Tolkien Cult!
Member of the Cult of Cats, High Elf of the Elven Guild, and Sauce Priest & Sauce Smith of the Supreme Court of Sauce.
If you want some casual roleplay/adventures in Middle Earth, check out The Wild's Edge Tavern, a LotR/Middle Earth tavern!
JOIN TIAMAT'S CONGA LINE!
Extended Sig
Since it looks like everyone is inclined to agree that halflings are the biggest effect of Tolkien on D&D, let me pose this question: What is y’all’s favourite small-scale (i.e. not general fantasy themes and tropes) Tolkien element incorporated into D&D?
Personally, I would pick the word “dwarves.” I think I’ve probably mentioned the entomology before, but I just find it fascinating that Tolkien was so influential that, to use his own words, his “piece of private bad grammar” has become solidified as the correct plural of the species in fantasy contexts.
I'm gonna do the same for "elves" as opposed to "elfs"
I'm the Valar (leader and creator) of The Lord of the Rings/The Hobbit/Anything Tolkien Cult!
Member of the Cult of Cats, High Elf of the Elven Guild, and Sauce Priest & Sauce Smith of the Supreme Court of Sauce.
If you want some casual roleplay/adventures in Middle Earth, check out The Wild's Edge Tavern, a LotR/Middle Earth tavern!
JOIN TIAMAT'S CONGA LINE!
Extended Sig
While “Dwarves” was a conceptualisation of Tolkien, “elves” is a much older plural. Just doing a quick look at the OED, we see spellings of “elves” (elvis, elues, elves) dating back to at lest 1513.
Etymology is one of those things I get weirdly fascinated by.
Same. But I don’t have the attention span to focus on it for long.
That's just the joy if D&D though, isn't it? Wizards might not be able to publish LotR-style hobbits (currently--more on that in a second), but you can homerule anything you want!
Interestingly, however, there is a non-zero chance we will see a LotR D&D expansion or a Wizards product that utilizes the D&D system for a tabletop game (and thus could be transplanted into D&D without modification). Next year, Wizards will be releasing a LotR supplement (based on the books, not the films) to Magic: the Gathering under their "Universes Beyond" product line--official Magic cards made with non-Wizards' intellectual property. On an investors call a couple weeks ago, Hasbro indicated they wanted to expand this "Universes Beyond" model to the D&D system. I expect they will start with other Hasbro-owned properties, like GI Joe and Transformers, but it is not inconceivable that they would license other non-Hasbro IPs, like they are presently doing with Magic. Considering Hasbro was able to secure the licensing to make LotR book Magic cards, it is well within the realm of possibility that they can or already have secured rights in such a manner that a LotR D&D/D&D system product could be produced.