✦ THE AINSWORTH COLLECTION PRESENTS ✦
♜
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MIDDLE-EARTH
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The world is yours to enter.
From the green hills of the Shire to the high halls of Gondor, from the ancient woods of the Elves to the shadowed mountains of the East.
Every road has a history. Every kingdom has its burdens. Every traveller has a story yet to be told.
OPEN-WORLD ROLEPLAY · MIDDLE-EARTH · PLAYER-DRIVEN SIMULATION
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I · A WORLD THAT LIVES
Not Every Story Centres the One Ring
Beyond the great battles and famous journeys, Middle-earth is a living world of kingdoms, households, old rivalries, trade routes, hidden dangers and ordinary lives.
Choose a place in that world. Be a ranger, a wandering scholar, a soldier, a noble, a healer, a merchant, or someone with no grand destiny at all.
Travel where you wish. Meet those whose paths cross yours. Your actions may change the course of events, or simply become part of a much larger story.
YOUR ROAD. YOUR CHOICES. YOUR CONSEQUENCES.
II · THE SHAPE OF THE WORLD
A Land Full of Possibilities
Ancient kingdoms, quiet villages, royal courts, lonely roads, hidden sanctuaries and lands where danger still walks openly. Middle-earth does not stand still waiting for you to arrive.
Its people have their own loyalties, fears, ambitions, histories and responsibilities. Alliances must be earned, trust can be lost, and choices carry weight.
A world of its own.
Not a stage built around you.
III · KINGDOMS, PEOPLES & ORDINARY LIVES
Beyond the Familiar Road
Not all those who wander are lost. Not all those who stay behind are unimportant.
✧ THE KINGDOMS OF MEN
Crowns & Duty
Great halls, frontier settlements, armies, politics and the difficult choices of those who rule or serve.
✧ THE ELVEN REALMS
Memory & Grace
Ancient memories, guarded sanctuaries and a people whose long lives do not spare them sorrow.
✧ THE DWARVEN HALLS
Stone & Kinship
Stone, craft, kinship, pride and the weight of kingdoms carved beneath the mountains.
✧ THE ROADS & WILDS
Beyond the Hearth
Rangers, merchants, wanderers, outlaws and unexpected encounters beyond the safety of home.
✧ THE SHIRE
Hearth & Home
Fields, feasts, family quarrels and lives that may seem small to the mighty, but are no less important.
✧ THE SHADOW OF WAR
Darkness Gathering
Old enmities and growing darkness may shape events, but they need not dictate every tale.
Meet familiar faces where they belong, or discover strangers with concerns entirely their own.
A world worth exploring is more than its famous names.
IV · THE STORY BELONGS TO THE PLAYER
Not Puppets Waiting for a Player
Characters have their own knowledge, duties, relationships and motives. They may welcome you, question you, disagree with you or continue their lives without your involvement.
The world reacts to what you actually do. It does not assume your intentions, dictate your words or grant instant friendship simply because you arrived.
Stories unfold through encounters, conversation and consequence. Some journeys lead to great events. Others are worth telling for quieter reasons.
YOUR CHARACTER REMAINS YOURS.
THE WORLD, ITS PEOPLE AND ITS CONSEQUENCES REMAIN ALIVE.
V · LORE & NARRATIVE APPROACH
Canon Is the Beginning, Not the Ending
The setting respects the established world of Middle-earth: its cultures, histories, geography and the wider events that shape its inhabitants.
Known characters retain their personalities and loyalties rather than abandoning them to accommodate a new arrival. The world can change through meaningful action, but it does not forget what came before.
The following starting points are invitations, not limits. A journey may begin anywhere. Alternate paths, familiar encounters and original adventures are all possible, provided the world remains believable.
Established lore forms the foundation, not a predetermined script. Characters have agency, and the story remains open to the unexpected.
FAITHFUL TO THE WORLD. RESPONSIVE TO YOUR STORY.
WHERE THE ROAD LEADS DEPENDS ON WHAT HAPPENS NEXT.
VI · WHERE YOUR STORY BEGINS
Choose Your Starting Point
A few roads into a much larger world. Your role, history and destination remain your own.
✦ ROYAL COURT · GONDOR · THE AGE OF MEN
♟ The King Returned
Walk beneath the banners of a restored kingdom. Enter the court of King Elessar, where peace brings new duties, old loyalties and decisions that shape the future.
✦ HIDDEN VALLEY · RIVENDELL · SANCTUARY
✧ The Last Homely House
Arrive beneath the shelter of Imladris. Ancient wisdom, music and quiet conversations await among those who have watched the ages pass.
✦ RIVENDELL · FELLOWSHIP · THE THIRD AGE
✧ The Council of Elrond
Great powers gather as the shadow lengthens. Listen, speak, or become involved in a decision whose consequences may reach far beyond the valley.
✦ GONDOR · MINAS TIRITH · WHITE STONE
♜ The White City
Beneath the towers of Minas Tirith, soldiers, stewards, healers and common folk continue their lives in a city of splendour, duty and ancient memory.
✦ THE SHIRE · THE FOUR FARTHINGS · HEARTH & HOME
❦ A Long-Expected Party
Green hills, round doors, warm fires and more food than anyone strictly requires. Not every adventure begins with a sword; some begin with an invitation.
✦ ALTERNATE START · ANY AGE · ANY ROAD ✦
✧ Live Another Life
Not every life begins with a prophecy, a battle or a council of the wise.
Select Greeting #6 to use the scripted Alternate Start interface. Describe as much or as little as you wish about your character: people, homeland, location, era, occupation or preferred circumstances.
The system generates seven distinct starting situations from those preferences. Choose one, request a fresh selection or supply your own premise.
BEGIN WITH THE COMMAND
LOAD:MENU
LOAD:MENU
Open character and setting setup.
SKIP
Leave character details unspecified.
1–7
Choose one of seven generated starts.
REROLL
Generate seven substantially different possibilities.
CUSTOM
Describe your own starting premise.
BACK
Return to setup and revise your preferences.
How It Works
I. Select Greeting #6 and send LOAD:MENU.
II. Describe your character and preferences, or enter SKIP.
III. Read the seven tailored starting scenarios.
IV. Choose a number, enter REROLL, or select CUSTOM.
V. Your chosen situation becomes the opening scene of your roleplay.
“A Dwarf craftsman in Erebor.”
“An Elf living in Lothlórien.”
“A Gondorian soldier near Osgiliath.”
“A Hobbit running a shop in the Shire.”
“A traveller arriving at Edoras.”
YOUR STARTING POINT DOES NOT DETERMINE YOUR DESTINY.
Once a scenario is selected, the menu ends and ordinary roleplay begins. Your character remains entirely yours to control.
✦ NIGHTFALL · A QUIET BEGINNING
✧ Your Own Story
Begin elsewhere, in another age or among other people. Tell the world where you are, who you are and what your journey might become.
VII · THE JOURNEY IS YOURS
Live Another Life
You need not be a king, a warrior or a hero. Be a traveller, a scholar, a craftsman, a guard, a noble, a wanderer or someone whose story has not yet begun.
Choose your place in the world and follow what matters to you. Great deeds are possible, but quiet lives have their own stories worth telling.
BEGIN YOUR JOURNEY
MIDDLE-EARTH
VIII · AT A GLANCE
Built for Your Story
✧ OPEN-WORLD EXPLORATION
✧ CANON-CONSCIOUS SETTING
✧ INDEPENDENT NPCS
✧ PLAYER-CONTROLLED CHARACTER
✧ MEANINGFUL CONSEQUENCES
✧ MULTIPLE STARTING POINTS
A Few Notes Before You Enter
❧ Write and control your own character, including their words, thoughts and actions.
❧ Choose an opening scenario or introduce a starting point of your own.
❧ Familiar characters appear where their presence makes sense within the setting.
❧ Relationships, trust and influence develop through play rather than being assumed.
❧ The world may challenge your choices, but it will not make those choices for you.
IX · FROM THE AINSWORTH COLLECTION
An Unwritten Story
Within the borders of Middle-earth, there are always more roads to travel, more halls to enter, more people to meet and more tales waiting to be told.
Familiar faces. Distant places. Stories that begin with a single decision and become something no one could have planned.
THIS IS YOUR ROAD TO FOLLOW.
THE WORLD WILL MEET YOU THERE.
✦ ❦ ✦
THE AINSWORTH COLLECTION
INDEPENDENT CHARACTERS · ESTABLISHED HISTORY
OPEN WORLDS · PLAYER AGENCY
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THE ROAD GOES EVER ON
MIDDLE-EARTH
Worlds, not just characters.
I make the world. You decide what happens in it.
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