I am working on a campaign to run in TOR, but rather than follow the storyline of the Ring and Sauron I am thinking of focusing more on the side issues, at least for the first game. Later follow on campaigns might link more into the main plot.

My thoughts were to start the party investigating the evil within Mirkwood, and slowly bring them to the spiders of Mirkwood. I think the final 'bad guy' will be a powerful child of Shelob, or a weak sibling in the heart of Mirkwood. I did contemplate using Ungoliant but I think that she would be way too powerfull and, though I could work it otherwise, is supposed to have consumed herself.

Obviously I have only just begun planning but I thought I would put my thoughts up and see what people thought.

E

I seem to remember, way back in the day, that there was a MERP adventure published in White Dwarf where a shade of Ungoliant was summoned in Mirkwood. I'll have to rifle through the attic to find it.

Though I'm no Tolkien expertise, I would avoid using Ungoliant as a final boss, since Morgoth himself feared her and was indeed captured by her dark matter web.

A being capable of holding the most powerful Vala and threatening him is way out of the league of the characters.

If I recall correctly, Tolkien never specified her nature - if she's Valar, Maiar or something entirely different, like some uber cosmic alien conscience manifest as a titanic spider god.

I personally like to think of her as the manifestation of the Void itself, something like a blackhole avatar, since Tolkien writes many times about her light consuming nature - everything she touches is utterly destroyed, even light.

Maybe some Tolkien scholars can help me a bit here

Ooooo Shiny. If you find it can you scan it and email me with it, pretty please


E

You can learn a lot about Ungoliant in the Silmarillion of course, and since she's one of the most intriguing characters ever (no nature defined) I've read many years ago an article about it, though it was in portuguese (I'm brazillian).

I'll see if I can find more about her on the net. =)

You have mail

I would like to see that too, is it possible? I fondly remember when WD wasn't about miniatures at all...

Francesco

Hi, Knever

Old WD was brilliant. But I was still only a generic RPGer back then and not specially into MERP. I don't remember that article at all, and would really love to get a copy.

I hereby declare the floodgates for 'me too' requests... open.

Cheers!
--Os.

Do you recall which issue had this? If I can't find it, I may ask you to e-mail me one as well.

Issue 64

I am no Tolkien scholar but as I recall Ungoliant devoured the two trees of Valinor, and if there was anyone in Valinor who could have done anything about that it would have been done then, one would think.

By the way, give me the weekend and I will gather and email you all the "Spider Kings" maps which includes a portion of my Nost Namba Megil (Namba Megilar) fortress ruins and some campaign notes I have regarding them

Ungoliant is something entirely different. Everything in all of Ea is created by Illuvatar. Ungoliant, however, comes from outside Ea, it existed before creation. Whether Ungoliant is another form of being something like an opposite of Illuvatar or is nothingness personified Tolkien never gets into, but Ungoliant herself is foe that is beyond any in Middle-Earth. If the players were playing Valar, Ungoliant would be a boss mob.

There are many "children" of Ungoliant though, so other monsters like Shelob or "Shades of Ungoliant" are certainly possible, but would be major foes.

There is certainly plenty of evidence in the lore to support that interpretation.

I have pretty much decided that the end bad guy will be either a sibling of, or spawn of shelob.

E

This.

If the players were playing Valar, only Tulkas in my opinion would have been able to free himself from her black web. So, the Valar would be in huge trouble, like Melkor was when she captured him threatened destroying him.

Only an army of Balrogs was able to free Melkor! Mama spidey is powerful or what?

Thanks. I like to consider her the embodiment of a blackhole - since she's so ravenous for light like it. An avatar of destruction, a blackhole personified I think is what was in Tolkien's mind.

Although I have not yet had the chance to get too far with the campagn (as I am currently running Dragonlance and playing in two Dark heresy games while planning a Deathwatch game ) I have put together a basic concept.

The game will be split into multiple blocks of years of adventuring (say three blocks of five years), each focussing on a different set of events, but each building toward the next. I have been thinking of adding in a plot relating to the Lamp of Balthi.

The basic idea I have so far is as follows, please bear in mind that this is the bare bones and so is very focussed. The final campaign will be more varied than simply"go to , kill things", but the main focus is stopping the events which are happening.

1) The party discover that there are some woodmen and travellers disappearing, and investigation suggests that orcs within the misty mountains may be responsible. Party should begin investigating and clearing out as many orcs as possible. Some spiders will be encountered.

2) Having spent some time clearing orcs, it appears that spiders within the mountains are in fact involved. The party should now begin clearing the mountains of spiders.

3) They discover the source of the spiders, a great spider which is the child/sibling of shelob living in the heart of mirkwood, with the final instalment being their heroic battle against this evil creature and the clearing of some of the spiders from mirkwood etc.

E

As TOR is intended to be a generation spanning game, I'm thinking of making the first arc run until the heroes are ready to retire.

I know that a bit vague, but it gives the players the chance to complete the campaign and get a feeling of closure, before handing the story on to their heirs or apprentices.

In the case of a long lived race, that character could take place in the second campaign, set during Errantries Of The King, but they could also be an advisor, rather than active participant.

Bilbo is little more than a cameo appearance in Lord Of The Rings, but his appearances help to bind the story together, by linking past and present.

As for the first major arc... Cubicle 7 are working on the 'Darkening of Mirkwood', so until I know more about that, I'm going to avoid a major threat in Mirkwood.

But there are other regions worthy of exploring, like the Grey Mountains, Misty Mountains and Withered Heath.

That is true, but there is nothing saying you have to pay attanetion to what C7 comes up with

Besides, even if you chose to use the darkening of mirkwood as canon, you can always fit it after your own plot.

E

I look at it like this...

If the players spend months slogging through Mirkwood in a campaign of my own creation and then Darkening of Mirkwood arrives... they might say, 'Mirkwood! Been there, done that, let's go goblin hunting in the Misty Mountains!'

At which point I silently swear to myself!

lol, I would I think have my home made plot which, when it finished, is then end of their career and the darkening of mirkwood would be a job for those who follow.

Plus I personally prefer to make my own plot and use the official stuff as background flavour.

E