“When Mr Bilbo Baggins of Bag End announced that he would shortly be celebrating his eleventy-first birthday with a party of special magnificence, there was much talk and excitement in Hobbiton.” – ‘Fellowship of the Ring’
Time for another update on my possible 2027 gaming project, ‘The Road Goes Ever On’ (RGEO). Today being September 22nd marks the day of both Bilbo and Frodo’s birthday, and the month when Frodo left the Shire to start his quest. It’s also of personal significance as it was my late father’s birthday too, and although he passed away 21 years ago, I still miss him dearly. If he were still with us, he’d be 97 today! Happy Birthday Dad!
At the start of September, I released 3 Sample Booklets for RGEO, plus the opportunity for supporters of the project to purchase a (virtual) pint of Golden Perch Ale!
What is RGEO?
RGEO will be a solo game, combining the best elements of my recent projects (STAFF and DWSSG3e+ along with Barbarian Prince) where the player assumes the role of a fellowship of adventurers in Middle Earth!
Fellowship Mat
Alongside the RGEO 3 Booklets - Rules, Adventures and Lands – there is also going to be a Fellowship Mat (by DWSSG designer Tyler Best) where you can place your Character cards and their Possessions, Treasures and Statuses. It will also provide tracks for you to record totals for Shadow, Eye, Fate and XP. Shadow represents Sauron’s power growing through Middle Earth. Eye represents Sauron’s attention turning to your Company. If either Shadow or Eye reaches 50 then you lose the game. The object of the game is to reduce Shadow to 0. Fate is gained by completing Quests and will be very important in your adventures by allowing you to change the roll of the dice. XP is how your Characters can grow and gain abilities.
Why is RGEO only a ‘possible’ gaming project?
There are many, many games that take place that use ‘The Lord of the Rings’ and ‘The Hobbit’. I want to make sure that players would actually play another one before I commit myself to months of work only to find nobody will play it! I believe I do have some really good ideas to go forward to make RGEO more of a solo rpg experience than the a card or war game, to instead create heroic adventures in Middle Earth.
Hobbit and Wizard RGEO Memberships
To gauge interest in RGEO, I have created a membership scheme here on my website so that real support for RGEO can be determined. There are two tiers of membership – Hobbits ($2 a month) and Wizards ($5 a month). If there is not enough support for RGEO to go forward by November, I will close the membership so members will not lose more money. In this way, a 3 month pledge is only $6 (Hobbit) or $15 (Wizard).
‘Hobbit’ membership shows support and backing for RGEO. Think of it as buying a drink for me in ‘The Green Dragon’, and I’ll make sure all the Hobbits get some fun ‘second breakfasts’ on the journey. ‘Wizards’ also get some exclusive ‘first-looks’ at concepts and materials for RGEO. They’ll also sit on my ‘White Council’ for the game, where I’ll be asking them for feedback on possible content. Both will also gain exclusive RGEO cards.
Golden Perch Ale
If you don’t want to commit to a monthly membership, but would still like to support the RGEO project, then you now buy a (virtual) pint for me in September for $2. I’ll make sure that if RGEO is released, all those who do buy a pint, gain an exclusive RGEO card too!
AI and artwork
I want to avoid any use of AI in the project so have decided to use photographic images from the Peter Jackson movies as far as possible. This way I can also avoid stealing art from other sources. I hope the studios have made enough billions off the IP to not mind me using some...
If RGEO is commissioned as a project it will, as always, be a FREE set of PDF files to download and PNP here on my coffee website in April 2027: https://buymeacoffee.com/dragoncymru
I’m always open to questions and feedback about RGEO and membership, so please get in touch!