The War of the Dwarves and Orcs, a LOTR RP (WIP)

[Lucius Malfoy]

Here is an unofficial sketch and outline/ruleset of roleplay I had people vote upon a couple weeks ago. I will need to find someone who can make a good map (might poke around the workshop at some point)

Possible Maps
http://images1.wikia.nocookie.net/__.../2e/Moria1.jpg

http://lotro-wiki.com/images/thumb/2...-Moria_map.jpg

Please refer to Ponti's post below.

The War of Dwarves and Goblins (A Middle Earth RPG)
-Durin's Threshold (Main HQ, home threads, crafting center)
-Khazad-dûm (The Kingdom of Khazad-dûm - all regions - for exploration and battles)
-Archives

[Pontifex Maximus]

War of the Dwarves and Orcs
Plotline:
We, a group of Dwarves from the Blue Mountains, the Ered Lindon, have banded together behind one courageous and mighty Lord who seeks to regain our ancestral homeland of Khazad-dum, the Black Pit of Moria. With a call to arms, an immense host of Dwarven warriors from across Middle-Earth have banded together at the ancient fortress of Mount Gundabad which was taken back from the Goblin and Orc tribes of the Misty Mountains. Which the birthplace of Durin the Deathless retaken, we plan to take our company of 800 – 1000 (?), along with those who answered our call to retake Moria and remake the Kingdom of our forefathers.

Levies of Moria:
(refers to dwarven followers attracted to the cause until the dwarves actually conquer Moria, if they do)
These areas must be firmly held in order to be considered colonized and add men to the cause of the reconquest of the Kingdom of Khazad-Dum.

Upper Levels
The Door to the Clouds: 50 dwarves
The First Hall: 50 dwarves
The Foundries: 50 dwarves

Main Levels
Durin's Threshold, Azanulbizar (Eastern gate): 50 dwarves
The Descent: 15 dwarves
The Deep Turnpike: 15 dwarves
The Twenty-First Hall: 100 dwarves
The Chamber of Mazarbal: 25 dwarves

Lower Levels
The Third Deep: 50 dwarves
The Second Hall: 50 dwarves
The Foundations of Stone: 25 dwarves
Dwarrodelf, the Mirromere (Western Gate): 10 dwarves

These areas list the regions and halls of Moria from west to east:

Durin's Threshold, Azanulbizar
The doors of Durin at the border of Eregion
Control: Dwarf

The Descent
A grand stair leading into the lower levels of Moria
Control: Goblin

The Deep Turnpike
Where the three major roads of Moria converge
Control: Goblin

The Twenty-First Hall
The largest of the avenues of the Dwarf Mansions and the grandest hall of Moria
Control: Goblin

The Chamber of Mazarbal
Where the dwarf expedition of Balin made their final stand, in what became their last stand fortress
Control: Cave infestation

The Third Deep
The ancient armories of the dwarves
Control: Cave infestation

The Door to the Clouds
Allows access to the northern peaks of the Misty Mountains
Control: Worms/Drakes

The Second Hall
A prominent hall to the west of the 21st hall
Control: Cave infestation

The Foundries
The ancient forges of the dwarves
Control: Untamed trolls

The Foundations of Stone
The deepest delvings of Moria, where Mithril lies
Control: Durin's Bane

The First Hall
The westernmost entrance of Moria
Control: Goblins

Dwarrodelf, the Mirromere
The ancient fortress of the dwarves that guards the west
Control: Goblin

Economics

Players choose from a vairety of specialties. One specialty per character. Characters advance in proficiency every time they complete an item of their current tier. Everyone starts at tier 1.

All items can exceed +5 depending on their make and quality. Combining certain elements such as tinkering and weaponsmithing to produce a fine weapon may be worth more, but not exceeding +10.

All smithing and tinerking requires forges and minerals.

Gaining minerals: Mining rolls determine the success of extraction and type of extraction.

Gaining workshops: Workshops must be discovered and probably rebuilt. Rolls will determine the state of disrepair (1-20 to determine the status, lower being worse off). Masons will then have to rebuild the structure.

All rolls have a 1% chance of epic success: either producing or finding something rare or exquisite

Weaponsmith: Able to forge weapons

Level 1: +1 weapons
Level 2: +2 weapons
Level 3: +3 weapons
Level 4: +4 weapons
Level 5: +5 weapons

or
(based on the above tiers)
Per individual adds +25 weapons for the dwarves

Mass produced heavy weapons for +1 to NPC battle rolls
Mass produced heavy weapons for +2 to NPC battle rolls
Mass produced heavy weapons for +3 to NPC battle rolls
Mass produced heavy weapons for +4 to NPC battle rolls
Mass produced heavy weapons for +5 to NPC battle rolls

Metalsmith: Able to forge armor

Level 1: +1 armor
Level 2: +2 armor
Level 3: +3 armor
Level 4: +4 armor
Level 5: +5 armor

(based on the above tiers)
Per individual adds +25 suits of armor for the dwarves

Mass produced Armor for -5% NPC casualties
Mass produced Armor for -10% NPC casualties
Mass produced Armor for -15% NPC casualties
Mass produced Armor for -20% NPC casualties
Mass produced Armor for -25% NPC casualties

Mason: Able to repair structures and create new ones, vital for defensive fortifications and repairs

Level 1: +1 buildings
Level 2: +2 buildings
Level 3: +3 buildings
Level 4: +4 buildings
Level 5: +5 buildings

Tinker: Works in precious metals, stones, and other fine crafts

Tinkers produce prestige items. Prestige levels have a variety of in game effects.

Level 1: +1 items
Level 2: +2 items
Level 3: +3 items
Level 4: +4 items
Level 5: +5 items

Miner: Needed to extract metals for weapons and armor
Miners receive a roll to determine the type of materials they extract.

1-10: metals
11-15: precious metals
16-20: gems/precious stones
21: mithril

Prestige

Levels of prestige refers to the reputation of any individual. The bonuses stack.

Five Prestige: Required to take full control of a region of Moria
Ten Prestige: +1 to all battle related rolls
Twenty Prestige: +1 to profession rolls
Thirty Prestige: 1/25 chance for outside dwarven aid every year
Fourty Prestige: +1 to diplomacy rolls

Battles:
Duels and Personal Combat
Players may choose to engage in battles with their men. Modifiers may be added based on armor or Special Items

Selection 11-20: Unscathed
Selection 8-10: minor injury
Selection 6-10: major injury
Selection 1-5: death

Duels

Each player has 20 health points.

Then Roll "rounds" these in order:
2 D20
[(Higher Roll - Lower Roll) / 2] + Weapon/Traits of Winner - Armor/Traits of Loser = Damage to Loser ;
1 D20, 50% chance of damage to Winner also;
If Damage is done:
1 D10, 10 is 100% same as Damage to loser, while 1 is 10%.
Take this number and apply halved Weapon/Armor/Trait numbers to it.
(We round up if you get a decimal)
Then you let the players RP it and decide whether to continue or not.

Ambushes
Ambushes may be set along the marching routes of an army, or proactively sought after opportunities to take the enemy by surprise. In the case of a successful ambush, modifiers for battle rolls may be added, but ideally the victim should graciously deploy his army in a likely marching formation in order to simulate vulnerability.

Out of a D20:
16-20 = successful ambush
11-15 = partially successful ambush
1-10 = failed ambush

Battles operate as follows:
1. When a battle commences, each player posts the position of their army.
1A. Characters skills and traits are posted including their Dread, Defense Roll Bonuses, Battle Roll Bonuses, Special item Bonuses (if the SI is present)
2. Players will gauge the layout of the enemy forces (taking into consideration units may be specified as in hiding: no metagaming!) and PM a moderator of the battle a plan of attack or defense
3. The moderator compares the battle plans and does a random selection roll of 1-20 to determine the behavior of each unit in regards to the orders and add appropriate modifiers.
4. Casualties and the overall result are determined by the difference in the rolls of offense and defense.

Characters:
- 2 characters MAX!
- Dwarves start death rolls at age 200. Each year the death roll increases 5%
- Recommended starting age: 80 – 120+

Rolls for Special Items: The idea for this is that as we retake Moria piece by piece, there will be a chance for characters to gain special items such as rings, armor and weapons even books.
- 1 out of 50 chance for each area (roll happens upon full conquest of the area or requested through special/legitimate reason by the mods)

Character Traits:
Each character starts with three possible traits, all at +1 to begin with.

Duels
Battle rolls
Siege rolls
Miner
Masonry/Smithing
Survival

Events WIP:
Aiming for about 20 good events

[Lucius Malfoy]

Im going to massively work on this tonight

Pretty much tweaking the battle and economy rules should be easy. The rolls for special items may take a little time though.

[Lucius Malfoy]

The main premise of this game will start with 4 years (4 weeks) of fighting south to Moria with a great battle before the East Gate. Then it will turn into a jamestown colony situation, where we have to reclaim Moria piece by piece, fighting off Goblins and Trolls while not trying to awaken the Balrog. There is an equal chance of us surviving and failing terribly.

[Pontifex Maximus]

War of the Dwarves and Orcs
Plotline:
We, a group of Dwarves from the Blue Mountains, the Ered Lindon, have banded together behind one courageous and mighty Lord who seeks to regain our ancestral homeland of Khazad-dum, the Black Pit of Moria. With a call to arms, an immense host of Dwarven warriors from across Middle-Earth have banded together at the ancient fortress of Mount Gundabad which was taken back from the Goblin and Orc tribes of the Misty Mountains. Which the birthplace of Durin the Deathless retaken, we plan to take our company of 800 – 1000 (?), along with those who answered our call to retake Moria and remake the Kingdom of our forefathers.

Levies of Moria:
(refers to dwarven followers attracted to the cause until the dwarves actually conquer Moria, if they do)
These areas must be firmly held in order to be considered colonized and add men to the cause of the reconquest of the Kingdom of Khazad-Dum.

Upper Levels
The Door to the Clouds: 50 dwarves
The First Hall: 50 dwarves
The Foundries: 50 dwarves

Main Levels
Durin's Threshold, Azanulbizar (Eastern gate): 50 dwarves
The Descent: 15 dwarves
The Deep Turnpike: 15 dwarves
The Twenty-First Hall: 100 dwarves
The Chamber of Mazarbal: 25 dwarves

Lower Levels
The Third Deep: 50 dwarves
The Second Hall: 50 dwarves
The Foundations of Stone: 25 dwarves
Dwarrodelf, the Mirromere (Western Gate): 10 dwarves

These areas list the regions and halls of Moria from west to east:

Durin's Threshold, Azanulbizar
The doors of Durin at the border of Eregion
Control: Goblin (before Battle of Azanulbizar), Dwarven (after Battle of Azanulbizar)

The Descent
A grand stair leading into the lower levels of Moria
Control: Goblin
Clan: Onburz

The Deep Turnpike
Where the three major roads of Moria converge
Control: Goblin
Clan: Tarkrip

The 21st Hall
The largest of the avenues of the Dwarf Mansions and the grandest hall of Moria
Control: Goblin
Clan: Blogmal

The Chamber of Mazarbal
Where the dwarf expedition of Balin made their final stand, in what became their last stand fortress
Control: Cave infestation

The Third Deep
The ancient armories of the dwarves
Control: Cave infestation

The Door to the Clouds
Allows access to the northern peaks of the Misty Mountains
Control: Drakes and Goblins
Clan: Krahjarn

The Second Hall
A prominent hall to the west of the 21st hall
Control: Cave infestation

The Foundries
The ancient forges of the dwarves
Control: Untamed trolls

The Foundations of Stone
The deepest delvings of Moria, where Mithril lies
Control: Worms and Spiders

The First Hall
The westernmost entrance of Moria
Control: Goblins
Clan: Onburz

Dwarrodelf, the Mirromere
The ancient fortress of the dwarves that guards the west
Control: Goblin
Clan: Blogmal

Economics

Players choose from a vairety of specialties. One specialty per character. Characters advance in proficiency every time they complete an item of their current tier. Everyone starts at tier 1.

All items can exceed +5 depending on their make and quality. Combining certain elements such as tinkering and weaponsmithing to produce a fine weapon may be worth more, but not exceeding +10.

All smithing and tinerking requires forges and minerals.

Gaining minerals: Mining rolls determine the success of extraction and type of extraction.

Gaining workshops: Workshops must be discovered and probably rebuilt. Rolls will determine the state of disrepair (1-20 to determine the status, lower being worse off). Masons will then have to rebuild the structure.

All rolls have a 1% chance of epic success: either producing or finding something rare or exquisite

Weaponsmith: Able to forge weapons

Level 1: +1 weapons
Level 2: +2 weapons
Level 3: +3 weapons
Level 4: +4 weapons
Level 5: +5 weapons

or
(based on the above tiers)
Per individual adds +25 weapons for the dwarves

Mass produced heavy weapons for +1 to NPC battle rolls
Mass produced heavy weapons for +2 to NPC battle rolls
Mass produced heavy weapons for +3 to NPC battle rolls
Mass produced heavy weapons for +4 to NPC battle rolls
Mass produced heavy weapons for +5 to NPC battle rolls

Metalsmith: Able to forge armor

Level 1: +1 armor
Level 2: +2 armor
Level 3: +3 armor
Level 4: +4 armor
Level 5: +5 armor

(based on the above tiers)
Per individual adds +25 suits of armor for the dwarves

Mass produced Armor for -5% NPC casualties
Mass produced Armor for -10% NPC casualties
Mass produced Armor for -15% NPC casualties
Mass produced Armor for -20% NPC casualties
Mass produced Armor for -25% NPC casualties

Mason: Able to repair structures and create new ones, vital for defensive fortifications and repairs

Level 1: +1 buildings
Level 2: +2 buildings
Level 3: +3 buildings
Level 4: +4 buildings
Level 5: +5 buildings

Tinker: Works in precious metals, stones, and other fine crafts

Tinkers produce prestige items. Prestige levels have a variety of in game effects.

Level 1: +1 items
Level 2: +2 items
Level 3: +3 items
Level 4: +4 items
Level 5: +5 items

Miner: Needed to extract metals for weapons and armor
Miners receive a roll to determine the type of materials they extract.

1-10: metals
11-15: precious metals
16-20: gems/precious stones
21: mithril

Prestige

Levels of prestige refers to the reputation of any individual. The bonuses stack.

Five Prestige: Required to take full control of a region of Moria
Ten Prestige: +1 to all battle related rolls
Twenty Prestige: +1 to profession rolls
Thirty Prestige: 1/25 chance for outside dwarven aid every year
Fourty Prestige: +1 to diplomacy rolls

Battles:
Duels and Personal Combat
Players may choose to engage in battles with their men. Modifiers may be added based on armor or Special Items

Selection 11-20: Unscathed
Selection 8-10: minor injury
Selection 6-10: major injury
Selection 1-5: death

Duels

Each player has 20 health points.

Then Roll "rounds" these in order:
2 D20
[(Higher Roll - Lower Roll) / 2] + Weapon/Traits of Winner - Armor/Traits of Loser = Damage to Loser ;
1 D20, 50% chance of damage to Winner also;
If Damage is done:
1 D10, 10 is 100% same as Damage to loser, while 1 is 10%.
Take this number and apply halved Weapon/Armor/Trait numbers to it.
(We round up if you get a decimal)
Then you let the players RP it and decide whether to continue or not.

Ambushes
Ambushes may be set along the marching routes of an army, or proactively sought after opportunities to take the enemy by surprise. In the case of a successful ambush, modifiers for battle rolls may be added, but ideally the victim should graciously deploy his army in a likely marching formation in order to simulate vulnerability.

Out of a D20:
16-20 = successful ambush
11-15 = partially successful ambush
1-10 = failed ambush

Battles operate as follows:
1. When a battle commences, each player posts the position of their army.
1A. Characters skills and traits are posted including their Dread, Defense Roll Bonuses, Battle Roll Bonuses, Special item Bonuses (if the SI is present)
2. Players will gauge the layout of the enemy forces (taking into consideration units may be specified as in hiding: no metagaming!) and PM a moderator of the battle a plan of attack or defense
3. The moderator compares the battle plans and does a random selection roll of 1-20 to determine the behavior of each unit in regards to the orders and add appropriate modifiers.
4. Casualties and the overall result are determined by the difference in the rolls of offense and defense.

Characters:
- 2 characters MAX!
- Dwarves start death rolls at age 200. Each year the death roll increases 5%
- Recommended starting age: 80 – 120+

Rolls for Special Items: The idea for this is that as we retake Moria piece by piece, there will be a chance for characters to gain special items such as rings, armor and weapons even books.
- 1 out of 50 chance for each area (roll happens upon full conquest of the area or requested through special/legitimate reason by the mods)

Character Traits:
Each character starts with three possible traits, all at +1 to begin with.

Duels
Battle rolls
Siege rolls
Miner
Masonry/Smithing
Survival

Events WIP:
Aiming for about 20 good events

[Feanaro Curufinwe]

So, is this some kind of alternate universe in which the Dwarves decided to retake Khazad-Dum after Azanulbizar?

[DaedalusTW]

I'd like to suggest something that we came up with previously. In the poll thread a few of us came up with the idea that each dwarf would be specialized, like a miner, or butcher, ect. and that would cause everyone in the party to have equal responsibility. The way it could be made into the game is you choose a "class" and you get specified traits, or you can make your own, like a butcher-miner, that is good in each but not super good in either.

[Lucius Malfoy]

I'd like to suggest something that we came up with previously. In the poll thread a few of us came up with the idea that each dwarf would be specialized, like a miner, or butcher, ect. and that would cause everyone in the party to have equal responsibility. The way it could be made into the game is you choose a "class" and you get specified traits, or you can make your own, like a butcher-miner, that is good in each but not super good in either.

Well at the beginning of the roleplay and when we enter Moria, we won't be needing miner characters till we reclaim that part of Moria where the mines and furnaces are. Pretty much we will need nobles and soldiers that can at least establish a bridgehead and reclaim needed areas like the mines and furnaces before miner characters and others of the sort can move in to do anything.

[DaedalusTW]

Well at the beginning of the roleplay and when we enter Moria, we won't be needing miner characters till we reclaim that part of Moria where the mines and furnaces are. Pretty much we will need nobles and soldiers that can at least establish a bridgehead and reclaim needed areas like the mines and furnaces before miner characters and others of the sort can move in to do anything.

Ok sounds good, in case we did want to add this in later, I thought of a way to better fit it into the game. You would have your traits like specified in the rules, but you could also have 3 class points to spend in a variety of categories like miner, butcher, ect. If needed I could type up a rough draft of how I would think this would work and pm it to you Lucius.

[Dirty Chai]

Why do dwarves coming from the west (Blue Mountains) attack the east gate(on the otherside of the Misty Mountains)?
Forgive my ignorance of a reason explained in lore, but it seems a bit counterproductive to go all the way through or around the Mist Mountains to attack the other side, especially when you're coming from the far west.

[Lucius Malfoy]

Why do dwarves coming from the west (Blue Mountains) attack the east gate(on the otherside of the Misty Mountains)?
Forgive my ignorance of a reason explained in lore, but it seems a bit counterproductive to go all the way through or around the Mist Mountains to attack the other side, especially when you're coming from the far west.

This area was where Thrain II would later establish his throne after the war. Plus, the Blue Mountains harbors a good variety of Dwarves such as the remnants of Erebor, Broadbeams, Firebeards, Longbeards, descendants of Belegost and Nogrod in which characters can claim ancestry from. Also, even though its from the other side of the Misty Mountains, the initial beginning of the rp will start at Gundabad before we move south. I can understand why you say its counterproductive, but when you desire to regain your homeland, doesn't matter where you are from.

Its kind of like saying...it was counterproductive for Thorin Oakenshield and his company travel to Erebor since they were on the other side of the Misty Mountains (especially since all of the Dwarves in the company were from the Blue Mountains and lived in Thorin's Hall). But hey, they wanted their homeland back so it didn't matter to them. It would be the same for our group of Dwarves: we want our homeland of Khazad-dum back, so doesn't matter where we are from, we will get it back.

Plus since the War of the Dwarves and the Orcs involved Dwarven clans from all over Middle-Earth, there must have been members from the Blue Mountains who came to join the call to regain their homeland.

So, is this some kind of alternate universe in which the Dwarves decided to retake Khazad-Dum after Azanulbizar?

That is correct.

[Feanaro Curufinwe]

If so they couldn't spare 5.000 soldiers. There were 10.000 at Azanulbizar and they were gathered from all Dwarf Houses. Now, Azanulbizar was a complete bloodbath for both sides and there were so many dead Dwarves that they didn't have time to bury them, so they resorted to burning them. You may want to reduce that number.

[Lucius Malfoy]

If so they couldn't spare 5.000 soldiers. There were 10.000 at Azanulbizar and they were gathered from all Dwarf Houses. Now, Azanulbizar was a complete bloodbath for both sides and there were so many dead Dwarves that they didn't have time to bury them, so they resorted to burning them. You may want to reduce that number.

5,000? Where are you getting this number of 5,000?

Besides our 1 - 2 Dwarven characters, we will only have a company of 800 - 1,000 men among the 10,000 Dwarven host that is in this war. It clearly states that in the plotline summary.

[Feanaro Curufinwe]

The West Gate is indestructible and the password is forgotten.

[Feanaro Curufinwe]

My mistake then,. I read 5.000 instead of 1.000.

[Agamemnon]

I'm in.

[Lucius Malfoy]

I'm in.

Glad to see you are interested Agamennon! Haven't seen you around a lot.

[Gandalfus]

I'm up for Dain Ironfoot.

[Pontifex Maximus]

Suggestions for events would be really helpful at this point.

I'm up for Dain Ironfoot.

Nah...not how this is going to work. No canon, playable characters for this. This is a dwarven alternate history where some crazy band of dwarves actually decides to continue the fight into Moria and retake the Kingdom, but not any of Thrain's line and certainly not of Dain's.

[Gandalfus]

Ohhh I see. Very well.