The Gathering-In, or The Quest of the 24 Messengers. - The Barrow-Downs Discussion Forum

Birdland · 08-25-2002, 06:21 PM

Gandalf the Grey linked me to this very charming “history” concerning the founding of the Shire, and I thought that a part of this history would make an wonderful, new RPG. It deals with the early settlers of the Shire sending out a group of messengers into the Wilderness to find all the scattered tribes and clans of Hobbits, let them know about the founding of a new country for the Halflings, and leading them back home to the Shire. If you’d like to participate in this new RPG, please go to the link below and read the Shire Post's Shire Post History particularly “of the Gathering of the Hobbits.”

OK, here are some rules. (no groaning!) Yes, there are some rules to this RPG, but not many, and not too horrible.

RULE ONE:

If you want to play one of the 24 Messengers, then your character will have to be a MALE HOBBIT! OK, is that clear? THE 24 MESSENGERS ARE ALL MALE HOBBITS. Any guy or gal at the Barrow Downs can play the role of a Messenger, but your character must be a MALE HOBBIT. No, your Messenger character cannot be:

A plucky female Hobbit.
A plucky female Hobbit disguised as a male Hobbit
A Dwarf, Elf, Man, Ent or Wizard
A Dwarf-Elf-Man-Ent-Wizard /Hobbit hybrid.

Repeat after me: If you want to play one of the 24 Messengers, your character must be a MALE HOBBIT!

RULE TWO:

See Rule One.

RULE THREE:
If you are one of the 24 Messengers, you must travel with a “buddy”. This buddy must be a MALE HOBBIT! (See Rule One) The 24 Messengers were sent out in groups of two. (12 groups) You may join up with a friend on the board and “travel” together, or you may make up your own “buddy”. Once you have set out, all bets are off: Your traveling companion may get get lost, captured, killed, whatever, Stuff happens in Middle Earth. You may decide to go on without him, or stop your search for the lost hobbits and try to find your friend. The choices are up to you. You may lose a buddy and find another companion on the road. But when you set out from the Shire, you will be traveling in groups of two. No Messenger may set out alone. When you leave the Shire as a Messenger, you must have a MALE HOBBIT companion with you.

(I’m very serious about these rules. If I find a Messenger in the thread who is not a bonafide Male Hobbit, or sets out from the Shire alone - and that includes plucky young hobbits who try to “follow” the 24 Messengers - I will ask Elenna the Freestyle RPG Moderator to boot them out.)

RULE FOUR:

When the Messengers find Hobbits, they are responsible for them, in a way. You can’t just point West and say, “The Shire is that-a-way. Good luck finding it.“ You will be like the Wagon Master in a Western Movie, you will have to lead the Hobbits you find back to the Shire, while trying to find other Hobbits on the way. (Don’t forget to ask the Hobbits you find if they know of other clans and where they are.) The more Hobbits you find, the better. Remember, these are your people. Don’t leave them behind in the Wilderness!

RULE FIVE

Stick to your duties! None of the 24 Messengers may desert their quest. If you decide that this looking for Hobbits thing isn’t your cup of tea, and you’re gonna go look for the One Ring or Smaug’s gold instead, I will have Elenna the RPG Moderator boot you out. You will be counted among the six Messengers who never returned to the Shire, and you can go off and start your own RPG.

RULE SIX

If someone speaks to you, please respond! One of my pet peeves with many RPG is characters who “snub “ other characters because their idea what they want the character to do is “better”. Of course, the opposite holds too. If a story line is developing, please try to respect it, and don’t throw off-the-wall events at them in order to get the story to go in a “better” direction.

OK, that’s the rules. See, that wasn’t so bad.

Now, are there other roles besides the MALE HOBBIT Messengers? You bet. You can play:

A LOST HOBBIT:

There are still many hobbit tribes and clans out there, living a semi nomadic existence. Life in Middle Earth was probably pretty hard for a small people with no war-like tendency and no country to call their own. You might be living in a very small community, or with just your immediate family, or you might be living alone. But you are probably not living real well. Most of you might be very glad to hear the decree brought by the Messengers. Free land! A real country founded by Hobbits, for Hobbits? Great! Where do I sign?

Or maybe you won’t. Will you trust this strange Hobbit, since you are a Stoor and he is a Fallohide? Does Grandpa want to stay where he is, ‘cause he wants to die by the banks of the Anduin? Is Mama, (or Papa) afraid of the journey? Is your sweetheart living with another clan, and if you go you’re afraid you’ll never see him or her again? Setting out on a long journey can be a very scary thing. There is no guarantee that your clan will even make it to the Shire. (Remember that only 18 of the 24 Messengers ever returned.) Is “the Balrog you know better than the Balrog you don’t know”? Most of you will probably want to go West. But there is no guarantee that everyone will want to go. Messengers: it’s your job to convince the wary and frightened, and to give heart to those who may fall along the way.

FRIENDS AND FOES:

There should be plenty of roles for people who are not Hobbits. You know who lives in Middle Earth. You may choose to be a friend, or foe, or you may think: “Hobbits! Yuck!“ and really not want to have anything to do with them one way or the other. You may be a friend or foe to the Messengers, or a friend or foe to the Lost Hobbit clans. You may play a temporary foe in one instance, then later in the story decide to play a different role as a friend. Just try to remember that not all conflicts on the road have to be full-fledge sword fights. You might just be rude. Or be so overly friendly that the Messengers will try to lose you! You can be any kind of friend or foe in Middle Earth that you want. Including an animal, or a mean, ol’ tree. Your friend or foe character might show up for a few pages, then be vanquished or disappear, or you may follow the characters all the way back to the Shire (But you won’t be allowed INTO the Shire, unless you are a Hobbit.)

Please, we don’t need dozens of Elf Lords and Ladies in this RPG. Just a few will do. Please, I‘m begging you. Try a different character besides an Elf Lord or Lady.

OK, that’s my RPG. I’m not going to play a long term role in this, though I may pop in with a character now and then. I hope you all enjoy it. Now, let's go hunt some hobbits!

08-25-2002, 06:21 PM	#1
Birdland Ghastly Neekerbreeker Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: the banks of the mighty Scioto Posts: 1,751	The Gathering-In, or The Quest of the 24 Messengers. Gandalf the Grey linked me to this very charming “history” concerning the founding of the Shire, and I thought that a part of this history would make an wonderful, new RPG. It deals with the early settlers of the Shire sending out a group of messengers into the Wilderness to find all the scattered tribes and clans of Hobbits, let them know about the founding of a new country for the Halflings, and leading them back home to the Shire. If you’d like to participate in this new RPG, please go to the link below and read the Shire Post's Shire Post History particularly “of the Gathering of the Hobbits.” OK, here are some rules. (no groaning!) Yes, there are some rules to this RPG, but not many, and not too horrible. RULE ONE: If you want to play one of the 24 Messengers, then your character will have to be a MALE HOBBIT! OK, is that clear? THE 24 MESSENGERS ARE ALL MALE HOBBITS. Any guy or gal at the Barrow Downs can play the role of a Messenger, but your character must be a MALE HOBBIT. No, your Messenger character cannot be: A plucky female Hobbit. A plucky female Hobbit disguised as a male Hobbit A Dwarf, Elf, Man, Ent or Wizard A Dwarf-Elf-Man-Ent-Wizard /Hobbit hybrid. Repeat after me: If you want to play one of the 24 Messengers, your character must be a MALE HOBBIT! RULE TWO: See Rule One. RULE THREE: If you are one of the 24 Messengers, you must travel with a “buddy”. This buddy must be a MALE HOBBIT! (See Rule One) The 24 Messengers were sent out in groups of two. (12 groups) You may join up with a friend on the board and “travel” together, or you may make up your own “buddy”. Once you have set out, all bets are off: Your traveling companion may get get lost, captured, killed, whatever, Stuff happens in Middle Earth. You may decide to go on without him, or stop your search for the lost hobbits and try to find your friend. The choices are up to you. You may lose a buddy and find another companion on the road. But when you set out from the Shire, you will be traveling in groups of two. No Messenger may set out alone. When you leave the Shire as a Messenger, you must have a MALE HOBBIT companion with you. (I’m very serious about these rules. If I find a Messenger in the thread who is not a bonafide Male Hobbit, or sets out from the Shire alone - and that includes plucky young hobbits who try to “follow” the 24 Messengers - I will ask Elenna the Freestyle RPG Moderator to boot them out.) RULE FOUR: When the Messengers find Hobbits, they are responsible for them, in a way. You can’t just point West and say, “The Shire is that-a-way. Good luck finding it.“ You will be like the Wagon Master in a Western Movie, you will have to lead the Hobbits you find back to the Shire, while trying to find other Hobbits on the way. (Don’t forget to ask the Hobbits you find if they know of other clans and where they are.) The more Hobbits you find, the better. Remember, these are your people. Don’t leave them behind in the Wilderness! RULE FIVE Stick to your duties! None of the 24 Messengers may desert their quest. If you decide that this looking for Hobbits thing isn’t your cup of tea, and you’re gonna go look for the One Ring or Smaug’s gold instead, I will have Elenna the RPG Moderator boot you out. You will be counted among the six Messengers who never returned to the Shire, and you can go off and start your own RPG. RULE SIX If someone speaks to you, please respond! One of my pet peeves with many RPG is characters who “snub “ other characters because their idea what they want the character to do is “better”. Of course, the opposite holds too. If a story line is developing, please try to respect it, and don’t throw off-the-wall events at them in order to get the story to go in a “better” direction. OK, that’s the rules. See, that wasn’t so bad. Now, are there other roles besides the MALE HOBBIT Messengers? You bet. You can play: A LOST HOBBIT: There are still many hobbit tribes and clans out there, living a semi nomadic existence. Life in Middle Earth was probably pretty hard for a small people with no war-like tendency and no country to call their own. You might be living in a very small community, or with just your immediate family, or you might be living alone. But you are probably not living real well. Most of you might be very glad to hear the decree brought by the Messengers. Free land! A real country founded by Hobbits, for Hobbits? Great! Where do I sign? Or maybe you won’t. Will you trust this strange Hobbit, since you are a Stoor and he is a Fallohide? Does Grandpa want to stay where he is, ‘cause he wants to die by the banks of the Anduin? Is Mama, (or Papa) afraid of the journey? Is your sweetheart living with another clan, and if you go you’re afraid you’ll never see him or her again? Setting out on a long journey can be a very scary thing. There is no guarantee that your clan will even make it to the Shire. (Remember that only 18 of the 24 Messengers ever returned.) Is “the Balrog you know better than the Balrog you don’t know”? Most of you will probably want to go West. But there is no guarantee that everyone will want to go. Messengers: it’s your job to convince the wary and frightened, and to give heart to those who may fall along the way. FRIENDS AND FOES: There should be plenty of roles for people who are not Hobbits. You know who lives in Middle Earth. You may choose to be a friend, or foe, or you may think: “Hobbits! Yuck!“ and really not want to have anything to do with them one way or the other. You may be a friend or foe to the Messengers, or a friend or foe to the Lost Hobbit clans. You may play a temporary foe in one instance, then later in the story decide to play a different role as a friend. Just try to remember that not all conflicts on the road have to be full-fledge sword fights. You might just be rude. Or be so overly friendly that the Messengers will try to lose you! You can be any kind of friend or foe in Middle Earth that you want. Including an animal, or a mean, ol’ tree. Your friend or foe character might show up for a few pages, then be vanquished or disappear, or you may follow the characters all the way back to the Shire (But you won’t be allowed INTO the Shire, unless you are a Hobbit.) Please, we don’t need dozens of Elf Lords and Ladies in this RPG. Just a few will do. Please, I‘m begging you. Try a different character besides an Elf Lord or Lady. OK, that’s my RPG. I’m not going to play a long term role in this, though I may pop in with a character now and then. I hope you all enjoy it. Now, let's go hunt some hobbits!