#merp

[gilgalahad]

Angus McBride

#angus mcbride #merp #woses #gondor

[incaseyouart]

Ironically the snsmonth22 prompt for today is “don’t leave”, something I don’t want to do with my job but here we are :\

#snsmonth22 #sasunaru #narusasu #naruto #sasuke #my art #digital art #merp

[sprintingowl]

Positioning, Market Dominance, And Having A Conversation In A Loud Room

So I'm reading Middle Earth Roleplaying 2nd ed. It's part of giant stack of tabletop I got from a publishing friend---and one of many systems I probably wouldn't be reading if I hadn't gotten it as part of a giant stack of tabletop from a publishing friend.

MERP 2e was released in '93, by Tolkein Enterprises, and is a pretty thorough book. It's packed full of nice B&W art. It lets you play as everything from a hobbit to an olag-hai. It uses a d100 system that allows for success with a complication. It's a book that feels intensely and simultaneously like it's ahead of and behind its time.

But that's not what I want to talk about.

MERP 2e has an alignment system, much like dnd at the time, but with twelve axis instead of two. Everything from whether your character is a metaphorical thinker to whether they're a literal thinker to whether they're a socialist or a libertarian is tracked.

Similarly, MERP has a classic six stat spread, but the explanations of the stats are all like "Strength(ST): Not brute musculature, but your ability to use your muscles to your greatest advantage."

And MERP has classes, called Professions, that each come with a little parenthetical explanation after their title. The Warrior's is (Fighter). The Scout's is (Thief). The Animist's is (Cleric).

What you might notice is that this is an officially licensed Middle Earth game *aggressively* defining and contextualizing itself vis a vis DnD. "Here's how our stats are different. Here's why our skill rolls are more granular. But don't worry, you can still play the same party roles. We promise we're not unfamiliar, just different."

Now, I don't know how intentionally-as-a-market-strategy the designers and writers were doing this---DnD's headlock on the industry was certainly less intense then than now---but it's reflective of a kind of design pressure that not only hasn't gone away. It's gotten way more intense.

DnD is roleplaying games. Anything that's not DnD might not be roleplaying games. Or at least, it's suspicious, it might taste weird, it might ruin your ability to have fun or speak english forever.

So in order to be a roleplaying game, you have to ask yourself "how do I fit into DnD?"

A critique I've seen leveled at indie systems sometimes is that they don't properly represent all of the three pillars of DnD. The three pillars is a modern creation. It's a 5e thing. It's specific to DnD. But DnD is roleplaying games, and to be a roleplaying game you need to be DnD.

So you get games as chameleons. You get endless "DnD killers" hoping that what people like about DnD isn't the name but the mechanics, and if you can just do the mechanics *more*, people will like you better. You get five hundred 5e splats. Power Rangers and GI Joe and Stargate all trying to fit into the same engine about swinging at and then missing a large rat. You get Adventure Time throwing out its original system and self-converting into a 5e hack because the market doesn't want things that don't look like DnD---even things that already look like DnD.

And back in '93 you get MERP 2e telling you don't worry, we still have the Thief, we just call it something different in our house.

#ttrpg #ttrpg homebrew #ttrpgs #ttrpg design #indie ttrpgs #rpg #indie ttrpg #tabletop #dnd #rpgs #merp #merp 2nd ed #middle earth #lotr

[mourninglamby]

Very very excited to hear u talk more about mortis metamorphosis, u truly were a beacon of light in the depravity of that fandom. I literally remember when u started posting about it and being so excited bc u have been an artist I’ve looked up to for so long!!!! Years and years fr!!!!! Anyway yeah glad you are taking that trainwreck of a story and actually making something Genuine🙏

wow thank you!!! that is truly so sweet i appreciate u sticking around <333

i also want to address this because ive been seeing discourse lately that's got me a little uneasy ... but a lot of what i already have written and want to expand on is based on canon dsmp. it will never be fully separate because the allure of the original (the fucked up shit/character dynamics being a mimicry of real life to an uncomfortable and almost predictive extent) is baked into every bit of content i would go further into detail abt, and im fully aware of that. thats neither good nor bad. it exists and im fascinated by it. im not endorsing them by working on this and anyone who believes i am is a fucking moron and i need to remind myself of this often. its something im deeply insecure about.

my retelling, or "mortis metamorphosis", is like an adaptation from an author who plucked dsmp from public domain. ive thought more about this and i think id keep tagging my work as dsmp along side mortis metamorphosis ... it would feel a bit sneaky to try and claim it all as my own when it belongs to everyone. even if i plan on putting my own spin on it.

what you all must remember is that nobody creating "ocs" out of dsmp characters are doing it out of malice. most of us are just very scared and uncomfortable with whats currently taking place, and dealing with the complicated emotions that go with still finding comfort in this story. thats all ... meow

#merp ... girl who has beautiful princess disorder walking home from work iron gripping her sandwich #trying not to freak the plarp out.... #not everyone is gonna like this but im rly tired of trying to figure out how to please everyone #merp #dsmp #mortis metamorphosis

[that-one-weird-simp]

I DREW TAIGA AS DEMANDED

@warringwarrioridiot

Roses are red

Cacti are prickly

Holy shits the reposts escalated quickly

#kny #kny oc art #kny oc #art requests #the hair hurt me.. #Merp

[subject-zero-zero-bullshit]

hey there, just dropping in to see if there are still any folks in the MERP community?

#ooc #mass effect rp #me rp #merp #subject zero rp #subject zero zero bullshit #subjectzerozerobullshit #commander shepard rp

[haaaaaaaaaaaave-you-met-ted]

Middle Earth Role Playing - Moria Cover Art by Angus McBride

#Lord of the Rings #LotR #Middle Earth #MERP #Middle Earth Role Playing #Moria #Covers #Cover Art #RPG #Fantasy #ARt #Angus McBride

[oldschoolfrp]

“There was a blow on the door that made it quiver; and then it began to grind slowly open, driving back the wedges.”  (Angus McBride cover for Moria, Middle Earth Citadel supplement for MERP, Rolemaster, and the Lord of the Rings Adventure Game, 2nd ed, 1994)

#Moria #MERP #Angus McBride #LotR #Tolkien #JRR Tolkien #Middle earth Role Playing #Rolemaster #orcs #troll #goblins #Balin's tomb #The Fellowship of the Ring #tomb #Lord of the Rings Adventure Game #Middle-earth Role Playing #Middle earth #Middle-earth #Gandalf #The Fellowship #hobbits #halflings #Chamber of Mazarbul #Chamber of Records #Khazad-dûm #MERP Moria

[willstoneworks]

I'm surrounded by furries...

This is Fenrir the sergal. The middle sibling doesn't know how to draw so I helped him out with their fursona/ furry character.

Hadn't drawn a sergal in years so this was nice to come back to.

Bonus:

#furry #furry art #furry oc #my art #art #oc #sergal #cheese wheel #merp #fursona

[sky-poprocks]

I miss Sunken Sky ngl, so some of the lil flock I have in it

#sky: children of the light #sky children of the light #sky: cotl #thatskygame #pop rocked sky children #sky cotl #ymir sketches #skyblr #Sunken Sky #Carpet #Pail #Merp #skykid ocs #skykid oc #sketchandsneeze #my art #doodles #I had thoughts on this and stuff while doodling it... mostly of how rare it would be to have fluffy clothing #especially since the darkness down under the realms would make it difficult to keep it clean constantly. #but it's more common for those who have a poor ability of keeping their temp regulated. like Carpet! who has a weakened light!

[xxvampirefreaxx]

cringemaxxing

#my chemical frank #emo #emo boy #my chemical #my chemical romance #scene #frank iero #ls dunes #cringe #Merp

[that-local-idi0t]

Merp

(I also saw some wholesome posts when I clicked on here so I'm really happy rn-)

#my art #billie bust up barnaby #bbu barnaby #bbu barnaby fanart #merp

[nouns-are-bad]

Collective 141 headcannons

• gaz cuts his nails with a knife or scissors, never with nail clippers

• price doesn’t snore but he does sleep like the dead, literally everyone has had a moment where they thought he died in his sleep

• ghost accidentally poisoned himself once and didn’t go to medical because he was too embarrassed (soap later bullied him into getting checked out)

• soap knows how to glass blow

• gaz is a dj when he’s on leave

• price has 50 plants at his house

• ghost hops between gaz, soap, and prices houses when on leave, he likes to check in on all of them and they always have a room for him available

• soap sleepwalks and sleep talks, he’s had full conversations with gaz about if a plant could be president and if it’s morally justified to kill a fruit

• ghost is always cold no matter what and price is always hot no matter what, they balance this out perfectly by just being close to each other

• price and ghost have sweet tooth’s

• ghost has a whole closet full of fluffy blankets

• soap steals anything and everything from everyone else in the 141 ranging from clothes to batteries

• soap makes the worst concoctions known to man out of energy drinks and coffee, gaz took one sip and thought he went into cardiac arrest

• price has a dr. Pepper addiction (no one knows where he got it from)

#headcannons #mw2 #john soap mactavish #simon ghost riley #kyle gaz garrick #captain price #john price #these bitches all autistic/adhd/add #Merp #I think they’re neat

[killanyone4you]

i'm insane but i'm your baby ♡

#i'm obsessed with this dusty purple color right now #it's literally so cute #😍😍😍 #me #my face #girls with piercings #girls with purple hair #i'm feeling very bleh today #plant mom #merp