Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 traversetravis Sep 13, 2007 14:48:03	I'd like to see Wizards (or Green Ronin) make a stand-alone d20 Middle-earth RPG based on 4E. Tolkien stated in his letters, that he intended the Middle-earth legendarium to be presented as "one long Saga of the Jewels and the Rings". However, unless they can get agreement from the Tolkien Estate to use all of Tolkien's works, it may be best not to bother. Tolkien Enterprises, a licensee of the Tolkien Estate, has the rights to sub-license the material from the LotR and The Hobbit books, but not from The Silmarillion, Unfinished Tales, History of Middle-earth, or anything else. They'd have to be in on the deal too. Using anything (such as imagery or conceptions) from the New Line LotR movies would likely require a separate deal. Using Iron Crown Enterprises' MERP materials would likely require another. Though this material is of uneven quality, some of it is stellar, especially the 2nd Edition materials with Chris Seeman as editor. Oh how I wish the Tolkien Estate had the savvy of Lucasfilm in regard to the stewardship of their Secondary World. Lucasfilm retains the right to any of the imagery or conceptions developed by their licensees. Travis
#2 xmen510 Sep 13, 2007 15:10:05	Well, right now Decipher holds the license for the RPG line and TCG games for LOTR. They have it still for a little while yet I think. They had a gold mine there and blew it big time. I mentioned in my thread about getting that license as well. We'll see what happens, but I bet, no matter how much we might want it and beg for it, WOTC would not be willing to pay for that particular license. Hopefully though. You never know.