The Fellowship of the Ring remains a brilliant source of inspiration and guidance for GMs. From an opening that reads like an excellent 0 level adventure to how to dungeon crawl in the Mines of Moria, the book covers so much GMs need to know. It also serves as a reminder to slow adventures down, let the player characters take in and appreciate the world, and reminds GMs to contrast the actions of the brave and self-sacrificing against those that are craven and selfish.
There are more examples in The Fellowship of the Ring than I can cover in one article. I’m going to start with Book I and connect what is in the first half of the novel to an example from an RPG. My thanks to J.R.R. Tolkien for creating Middle-earth.
0 Level Adventure
Three to four Hobbits wandering cross country is the perfect 0 level adventure. Pursued by mysterious black riders, trapped by an angry sapient oak, and captured by a wight, the Hobbits experience adventure. They also befriend Farmer Maggot and Tom Bombadil. If you’ve only watched the movie recently, the book is a nice contrast with the Hobbits being fully grown adults (no stealing fireworks or vegetables) fully capable of planning a long journey and devising plans to avoid enemies. They are still inexperienced though and get in over their heads more than once.
The One Ring Starter Set provides a similar adventure along with rules, pre-generated PC Hobbits, and even dice. A group of Hobbits on an adventure is an excellent way for GMs to introduce roleplaying in Middle-earth to a group of players.
How Big is the World?
When Sam gets to Bree, he seems human houses for the first time. He sees Men for the first time. Think about that for a moment. Many fantasy RPGs feature a baker’s dozen of species of all shapes and sizes. But imagine Sam, seeing human habitation for the first time and not finding it to his liking. Slowing down getting to world spanning travel and cosmopolitan mixing of species lets PCs grow and take in things in their world more slowly.
Again, The One Ring Starter Set is a great way to start much slower and focus on a small forgotten corner of Middle-earth. The Hobbits in the adventure may have never met Men, Dwarves, or Elves. Players can share the wonder of their characters as they interact with the bigger world for the first time.
How Folk Get Along
Bree is an interesting contrast to the Shire. While Shirefolk think of themselves as normal and others as odd, it is the people of Bree who really show how folk get along. Men and Hobbits not only live in the same settlement, they consider themselves all Bree-folk. This harmony leads to their settlement being a crossroads or perhaps it is the crossroads that makes them welcome Dwarves, Men, Hobbits, and even Wizards to their settlements. While modern fantasy RPGs show many cultures hanging out together, it is more likely that suspicion and mistrust would exist between different peoples. But not in Bree. Although they aren’t too keen on Rangers, which is ironic considering it is the Dúnedain who, unknown to Bree-folk, keep their villages safe.
The One Ring introduces Bree-hobbits by mixing the base attributes of a Hobbit with the culture of the Men of Bree. Physically they are Hobbits but with the skills of Men of Bree and a mix of cultural traits from both. I created a Bree-hobbit for adventures I’m running in Moria this year, and he is more worldly than Shirefolk, even going so far as being a scholar with a broad knowledge of other cultures. His experiences in Bree allows him get along with and inspire everyone in his Company and his presence raises the Company’s Fellowship rating by one point.
It Starts in a Tavern
The larger story of the War of the Ring really kicks off when Frodo meets Strider in the Prancing Pony. This trope is well known and has been used many times in many different adventures.
Love and Sacrifice
Strider tells the Hobbits a story of ancient love and sacrifice that led to the creation of half-elves including Elrond. If an Elf chooses to love a human, that Elf must give up immortality and become mortal. Descendents of such a union must also choose to stay immortal or become mortal. In this way, Arwen can love and stay with Aragorn, but her Elven people lose her forever. It is powerful, sad, and beautiful all at once. From such things do great player characters spring and that combination inspires and drives amazing adventures.
Many editions of Dungeons & Dragons already have half-elves. Keepers of the Elven-rings is a great source of inspiration for DMs. For DMs running Dungeons & Dragons 2024 Edition, half-elves can be found in the Player’s Handbook Fifth Edition. GMs running Basic Expert D&D/Old-School Essentials can find half-elves in Old-School Essentials Advanced Fantasy Player’s Tome. That book also has rangers and knights for DMs wanting Dúnedain and Riders of Rohirrim options in a campaign.
Your Turn: How does Tolkien and Middle-earth inspire and direct your GMing?
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