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The Narrator’s Screen for the the Lord of the Rings Roleplaying Game comes packaged with an introductory adventure and six character sheets. The screen itself is 4-fold with a panoramic view on the outside of Minas Tirith and the mountains of Mordor. Inside the screen are tables for sample actions, test modifiers, armor, weapons, injury, healing, and weariness. Each table includes a page reference to the core rulebook, which is a nice touch. Not included are the tables for cover, fear, experience, and advancement. Decisions always have to be made on what to include within the limited space available, but it would have been particularly useful to have the cover and fear tables. Unfortunately, the weapon table includes the incorrect damage and parry bonuses from the core rulebook, as noted in the errata rulings. The character sheets are double-sided and printed on slick paper. At a minimum, they will make it easy to copy additional sheets.

The adventure will be discussed below.

Spoilers follow.

The adventure is titled The House of Margil and begins with the PCs in Rivendell. Elrond sends the PCs in search of the Ranger Margil, who Elrond has not seen in several months. Several encounters are presented that can be used during the PC’s journey north to Margil’s house. However, none of the encounters move the adventure forward or assist in building the tension and mood called for in the adventure. In fact, one encounter includes a warning that if the PCs are injured too severely the adventure could be derailed. One encounter, though, with a ghost in a ruined tower has potential and would work well as the seed for another adventure. The encounters presented miss a chance to suggest or foreshadow the larger chronicle that that this adventure introduces, but more about that later.

Arriving at Margil’s house, the PC’s find his wife and child recently dead, the cottage ransacked, orc footprints around the cottage, and no sign of Margil. The PCs can then set off after the orcs (and what heroes wouldn’t). The PCs have to track the orcs over rough terrain, but the orcs are not traveling quickly. The PCs overtake the orcs at night and have an opportunity to attack their camp by stealth. The adventure recommends that the orc sentries be treated as one-success opponents that can easily be taken out by stealth. As the PCs attack the camp, Margil himself emerges from hiding and then escapes. The pursuit of Margil is more difficult as he is an experienced Ranger (12 advancements). The adventure concludes with the PCs final encounter with Margil.

What is going on is that Margil has been captured and corrupted by the Sorceror Carangul who is the heir to the powers and purposes of the Witch-king. This introductory adventure and the chronicle of Carangul is outlined on page 263 of the core rulebook. The use of the adventure as a set-up for the Carangul chronicle is a nice concept, but a GM has not been given much to use for building a chronicle beyond the description in the rulebook. The adventure could also a GM more advice on what to do if the PCs do not succeed in running Margil to ground.

Overall, the Narrator’s Screen and adventure are nice game aides and useful for a LotR RPG GM.

LotR RPG Narrator's Screen
LotR RPG Narrator's Screen Capsule Review by Jeb Boyt on 16/02/03 Style: 3 (Average) Substance: 4 (Meaty) A useful 4-fold screen and an interesting introductory adventure for the LotR RPG. Product: LotR RPG Narrator's Screen Author: Steven S. Long Category: RPG Company/Publisher: Decipher, Inc. Line: Lord of the Rings Cost: $19 US Page count: 16 Year published: 2003 ISBN: SKU: Comp copy?: no Capsule Review by Jeb Boyt on 16/02/03 Genre tags: Fantasy	The Narrator’s Screen for the the Lord of the Rings Roleplaying Game comes packaged with an introductory adventure and six character sheets. The screen itself is 4-fold with a panoramic view on the outside of Minas Tirith and the mountains of Mordor. Inside the screen are tables for sample actions, test modifiers, armor, weapons, injury, healing, and weariness. Each table includes a page reference to the core rulebook, which is a nice touch. Not included are the tables for cover, fear, experience, and advancement. Decisions always have to be made on what to include within the limited space available, but it would have been particularly useful to have the cover and fear tables. Unfortunately, the weapon table includes the incorrect damage and parry bonuses from the core rulebook, as noted in the errata rulings. The character sheets are double-sided and printed on slick paper. At a minimum, they will make it easy to copy additional sheets. The adventure will be discussed below. Spoilers follow. The adventure is titled The House of Margil and begins with the PCs in Rivendell. Elrond sends the PCs in search of the Ranger Margil, who Elrond has not seen in several months. Several encounters are presented that can be used during the PC’s journey north to Margil’s house. However, none of the encounters move the adventure forward or assist in building the tension and mood called for in the adventure. In fact, one encounter includes a warning that if the PCs are injured too severely the adventure could be derailed. One encounter, though, with a ghost in a ruined tower has potential and would work well as the seed for another adventure. The encounters presented miss a chance to suggest or foreshadow the larger chronicle that that this adventure introduces, but more about that later. Arriving at Margil’s house, the PC’s find his wife and child recently dead, the cottage ransacked, orc footprints around the cottage, and no sign of Margil. The PCs can then set off after the orcs (and what heroes wouldn’t). The PCs have to track the orcs over rough terrain, but the orcs are not traveling quickly. The PCs overtake the orcs at night and have an opportunity to attack their camp by stealth. The adventure recommends that the orc sentries be treated as one-success opponents that can easily be taken out by stealth. As the PCs attack the camp, Margil himself emerges from hiding and then escapes. The pursuit of Margil is more difficult as he is an experienced Ranger (12 advancements). The adventure concludes with the PCs final encounter with Margil. What is going on is that Margil has been captured and corrupted by the Sorceror Carangul who is the heir to the powers and purposes of the Witch-king. This introductory adventure and the chronicle of Carangul is outlined on page 263 of the core rulebook. The use of the adventure as a set-up for the Carangul chronicle is a nice concept, but a GM has not been given much to use for building a chronicle beyond the description in the rulebook. The adventure could also a GM more advice on what to do if the PCs do not succeed in running Margil to ground. Overall, the Narrator’s Screen and adventure are nice game aides and useful for a LotR RPG GM.

LotR RPG Narrator's Screen