(I actually dislike LotR) The first RPG I bought I think was Spycraft or the D&D 5e starter D&D 5e is my go to fantasy game how different is Middle Earth from D&D in how it plays & can you play as a random or do you kinda have to play as a named character & go to mount doom

My go to fantasy game is Dragonbane. It's just lovely.

It's a d100 percentile system The main setting is 1300 odd years before The Hobbit. So PCs are usually normal adventuring folk. It was a great system for its time, but a poor Lord of the Rings one as magic is very different from Tolkien's tales. The source books are great for Middle Earth fans.