Just thought I'd throw out a poll-style question for the 7 adventures in Tales from Wilderland. Note: SPOILER ALERTS GALORE. For me the order of excellence is as follows:

1. Crossings of Celduin. I like the element of time and the test of endurance and commitment. I think these are great themes for a Tolkien based campaign. I also like the fact that the Lord of the Crossings Village is neutral and could prove to be a traitor if the characters are not skilled in their diplomacy; there are real consequences for failure!

2. Darkness in the Marshes. I like that this adventure really gets the Gibbet King into motion and the tactical element of the assault on the Dwimmerhorn.

3. Watchtower on the Heath. A worthy end to the adventure series, with an appropriate decision dilemma at the end on who to assist.

4. Of Leaves and Stewed Hobbit. Not my particular flavor of fluff, as I don't find the Easterly Inn or it's proprietors terribly plausible, however I like the Battle at the Ring Fort and the foray into the Goblin Tunnels. I felt the Night Wight encounter was a bit of an eclectic addition.

5. Kin Strife and Dark Tidings. I like this adventure...though it feels wrong for Middle-earth, which I find to be less about criminal investigation. I do like the fact that it deals heavily with personality skills and the success thereof has measureable consequences.

6. Stay on the Path. I felt this was a terribly one-dimensional adventure with a predictable climax. A true "railroad", I also felt it was very much deus-ex to get the players from the East side of Mirk to the West side. I thought the relationship between Baldur and the elves was forced, I thought the risk to cross mirkwood was way too high for Baldur's meager trade stuffs and that the market would not support the prices he would have to charge to justify moving his goods across the forest. Also thought that the Hermit and the Thing in the Well were completely bolted on and had nothing to do with the rest of the adventure. I thought the Spider Web part was the real climax of the adventure and should have been a bit "bigger".

7. Those Who Tarry No Longer. My least favorite adventure. I think the whole dream sequence thing is really tough to pull off and it's hard to give gravity to what's going on when players know it's a dream. In addition, it was very much an "I, the LM, am going to talk, and you listen...because you're in a pit and there's not much to do". It didn't give the players much chance to take initiative on things, and that always hurts. Thow in the deus-ex-machine component of the Great Eagles (which the writers even admit to being a flaw)...and then finally, I think it's really hard to make suffering and despair the central part of a game session and give it any feeling. Maybe that's just my group.

Not LM'd any of these yet, so bear that in mind, but I'd go with...

1) Crossings of Celduin - I think it's a fine adventure and very well put together with the PCs really becoming part of what feel like great and historical events.

2=) Darkness in the Marshes - Yeah, this one looks like a great scenario. Like you said, the assault looks like its "the business".

2=) Kin Strife and Dark Tidings - I really like this one. I take your point about it maybe not feeling too Tolkien in flavour but the game needs to push the boundaries to some degree and take risks and this is a really well put together scenario with lots to think on.

4) Of Leaves and Stewed Hobbit - I love this one. I think it's the closest of the adventures in feel to the Hobbit. I'd put it higher up but the three above it are excellent adventures. This has The Hobbit nailed in its feel though and I love that.

5) Watchtower on the Heath - I'm not sure about the cold drake at the end and at the moment I feel this reads more like a D&D scenario so will have to reserve judgment until I run it. Not really inspired by it at the moment, though.

6) Those Who Tarry No Longer - I agree with you as I'm also not sure about the dream sequence, or how my players will receive it, but I like the other elements so will have to see how it plays out.

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A very distant...

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7) Stay on the Path - won't be using this one; just cribbing elements of it for elsewhere. Really wasn't inspired by the set up and it just simply doesn't fit for my PCs.

I haven't run them yet & can't add much to what you two have already said but...

1. Darkness in the Marshes probably tends toward my fav.

SPOILER

7. Those Who Tarry No Longer also troubles me because - as you point out - it seems a bit linear & awkward. The point you raise about what probably happens to the heroes just doesn't sit well with me either.

I'll be curious to see if anyone comes up with an alternative that isn't so heavy-handed, because it's otherwise a great story (I don't want to give too much away for anyone who hasn't played it).

*** SPOILERS ***
I've been cribbing elements of these and throwing them in to my current campaign. The campaign has remained on the western side of the forest, with brief excursions to Thranduil's Halls and to Rivendell. The campaign's theme is centring around the search for the Ring between Saruman and Sauron.

SPOILER (highlight to read): The dream sequence of Irime, the players tried to break out of after realising that it was a dream. They took the dream as an enemy attack, not realising that the dream was Irime's defence against the spirit. After killing themselves and the main characters in the scenario, they returned to the real world to find Irime locked in a coma. They've been working to try and find a cure - how to recall her spirit.

I'm planning on running the Crossings of Celduin and Watchtower on the Heath adventures as a campaign finale, possibly with minor modifications to fit the campaign.

We recently finished playing through TfW. I loved most of the adventures, but still, some of them more than others. I factored in the fun that the players seemed to have.

1. Kin Strife and Dark Tidings

Most of the other adventures had too much fighting and too many orcs for my taste. This one had more finesse. My players got captured by the bandits, which led to interesting developments.

2. Of Leaves and Stewed Hobbit

Perfectly in line with the source material, and well written. I was afraid my players would feel trapped in the caves and would not know what to do, but they handled it very well. What's more, it suited their backgrounds so well they thought I had written it, or changed it so that it would become about hobbits.

3. Crossings of Celduin

I did not enjoy this one very much, but the players had fun planning for the attacks, and it felt Tolkienny.

4. Those Who Tarry No Longer

I loved it upon reading, but I messed up. I didn't want to railroad the players, so one of them avoided capture, and didn't have much to do in the dream sequence. Another one died quickly and woke up, and the last one died fighting the troll. No one got to hear the Gibbet King. Even with them failing, I think it could have been more fun, but it's an adventure that needs more work that the others.

5. Darkness in the Marshes

It's OK, but not very original.

6. Don't leave the path

Fine, but not memorable. Very linear, by design.

7. Watch on the Heath

A bit anticlimatic for a "season finale", mostly because the Gibbet King couldn't do anything to my characters (all of their Corruption tests suceeded). They had a harder time against the Uruks, but they fight orcs every week, so it wasn't particularly original. The scenes with the Dragon were more interesting, but I think I could have played it better.

What about it, to you, makes it feel like a D&D adventure? And why is that necessarily bad since much of D&D came about directly because of Tolkien's work?

I'm also sensing that the Gibbet King will not be much of a foe by the time my group gets to Crossings of Celduin and less so for Watchtower on the Heath.

We have so far, only finished 3 adventures (Path, Stewed Hobbits, followed by a Fellowship Phase) and then Tarry (doing it out of order and before KinStrife because of where my group ended their 1st Fellowship Phase). They will be enjoying their 2nd Fellowship Phase tomorrow.

So far, adventures have averaged about 5 sessions each, with Tarry going for 6 sessions. Part of this is because I tend to run combats a bit more tactical and 3.5 old school, so sessions last on average 1 phase longer (2 for Tarry because there is the Combat with the Orcs as well as the Dream Combat at the Inn, as well as the minor scuffles they had with the Troll in the Dol Guldur pits).

Thus, by Fellowship Phase 1, my players had about 15-17 XP each, which allowed them to bump up weapon skills to 3 (6 xp) and get a 3rd rank in Wisdom or Valour (6 xp), with 3-5 XP leftover each.

They are about to enter their 2nd Fellowship Phase at Rivendell. I think they've amassed about 9-10 XP over the 6 sessions of Tarry, putting them all at 12 to 15 XP. This is enough to level a weapon skill to 4 (10 xp) and Wis/Val to 2 (4xp).

So...bottom line, after 3 adventures, they have primary weapon of 4 ranks, wis/val combo of 3/2.

I suspect, after Kin Strife and Darkness in marshes, they will have primary weapon at 5 and secondary backup at 3 to 4, and they will have increase their wis/val combo to 4/2 or 3/3.

Don't want to tell you how to play your game Rocmistro but you might want to consider slowing down the Xp you are giving out.

I'm actually thinking about slowing the Xp down in my own game to 1 per 3-4 hour session and a bonus 1 at the end of an adventure. Was 2 per 3-4 hour session but I don't want weapon skills and Valour/Wisdom to skyrocket really fast.

*Spoilers* of course

I'm about to run this adventure this weekend and I'm brainstorming different ways to run it. Knowing my players, they are not ones to let themselves be taken alive and would probably kill themselves if they knew it was a dream. They also won't be happy when they realize that few of thier decisions actually matter and the outcome depends largely on a single dice roll.

Since a lot of this sequence is me talking at them anyway, I'm considering just briefly narrating what happens in Haycombe and fastforwarding to the pit. If they do fail the final roll, I think I will make it apparent that they can still save Irime if they destroy the Gibbet King. This will give extra motivation for at least one of the characters who has developed somewhat of a crush on her.

You're not intruding, Poo. I definitely agree with you, and I think I need to slow it down more than I already did.

Previously it was: 1 xp and 2 per session if they made significant progress. Then I believe there was a further +1 xp at the end of an adventure. So, for me, for example...10 sessions averaging 1.5 xp each = 15 xp +1 for end, and then I also gave +1-4 early in my campaign for things like : a robust back story, a painted miniature, a drawing of your character, etc.

So my group had a lot of XP for their first fellowship phase, not as much for their 2nd, but still enough to level a weapon skill and a wis/val rank.

Just out of curiousity, do your groups do Fellowship Phases after each adventure, or do they tend to go 2 (or more) before having a FP?

Its your call, Bram, but the fight at the Inn was one of the parts of the adventure my group enjoyed the most. I allowed my group to take the 4 tavern patrons (Aldor, Geb, Haleth and Rodwn) as Fellowship Focus, and awarded them +1 generic AP if they did and if their FF was not injured during that fight.

I like your alternate way to save Irime...basically she goes into catatonic stupor in Rivendell...I'd give my players something like...till the next Equinox or Solstice or something dramatic like that. Have Glorfindel issue a prophecy "If the source of her anguish is not defeated by the next changing of leaves, her spirit will fail, and depart Middle-earth, not for the Halls of Mandos, but to the outer void reserved for the Dark Enemy and his servants." In fact, I'm kinda now wishing my group had failed that final roll :-(

So far we've had a fellowship phase after each adventure, my game has been a bit off again on again (because of real life) So it has worked so far. I might start mixing it up a little in the future.

One of the things I like about TOR though is that progression is fairly slow. I find it quite refreshing. Getting a skill from 2 to 3 should be a big deal a major growth. (or that's how we are playing it anyway.

I ran it in scenes, with the elves in the party noting some disjointedness in the time shifts and scenery.

I've got the adventure chat logs on Google Drive, an advantage of running it using a virtual tabletop. I can send those to you if you want to see how it ran. I'm afraid I've not caught up with the public versions of the chat. Send me a PM with an email to add to the viewer list. The party never made it out of Haycombe though. They got to the attack and burnt down the inn rather than surrender. They weren't entirely sure that it was real or not, but were sure enough to take the risk.

I'm thoroughly enjoying this thread, and making notes as I fiddle with the outline for **** of the *****.

Thank you everyone for the great ideas!

@Valarian, you sound as if your players pleasantly surprised you by misinterpreting the dream sequence of Irime . This must have been fun for you to run. Your development of the adventure to have them work to attempt to recall her spirit feels like a bit of Tolkien's writing. I'm going to remember this if I run it & use it as an option - you may have just saved me a ton of work.

@Yusei, your players probably had a blast playing those scenes & please don't second guess yourself. In particular, the battle against the Cold-drake in the Watch on the Heath -- just meeting a dragon must have given them a rush .

@Rocmistro, I've been thinking about what you share about Experience Points. While they do seem to work out to a sizable number during your initial games, you also explain that you play extensively, so perhaps it works out well in the greater scheme. More immediately, I think I'm going to use your award of the extra point for the FF at the inn - this is a good idea & rewards role-playing & teamwork.

I was really worried about Those Who Tarry No Longer but it turned out fantastically.

In some respects it's a bit of a Kobiyashi Maru test for the group. How do they do facing unwinnable situations? Got to say my group did an amazing job.

Against the orcs on the ledge they set fire to trees which I used as the reason that the Eagles came (so it feels a little less railroaded).

At the inn they were spectacular. In the end one of them donned the red armour of the guards and managed to get out in the confusion and fire.

In the jail, the Elf character was sent in against the troll. Given that the troll comes out from under a portcullis I used the rules for the huge stone block in the last scenario. The Elf manoeuvred the troll underneath it, then leapt and cut the chain dropping the portcullis on the troll. How could I not let that stand? They spent a point of Hope, rolled a magnificent Athletics check, etc.

So yeah they had a great game!