I am most interested in the region of Eriador. If there will be six cultures in this book as there were in AOTEOTHW which six do you think there will be?

My guess:

1)Rangers of the North
2)Hobbits of Buckland ( or Shire II)
3)Men of Breeland
4)Dwarf of the Blue Mountains
5)Elf of Rivendell
6) ?


HN

I kind of hope they include Tharbad - If I remember correctly, it is only mentioned as a place in ruins that Boromir passed by in LOTR, but it might make an interesting background for a culture - the people of a once prosperous hub of trade that has become a shadow of it former self ...

Hello Jakob,

The Tharbad was abandoned in TA 2911 due to flooding. However, it does not mentioned were the survivors went. Maybe the the men in the Bree who came up from the south were from this group. It ( the FOTR) mentions that there are no settlements besides Breeland within 100 leagues of the Shire. That causes problems because that would include Tharband and the Angle ( if my measurements are correct)

HN

1)Rangers of the North
2)Hobbits of Buckland ( or Shire II)
3)Men of Breeland
4)Dwarf of the Blue Mountains
5)Elf of Rivendell
6) ?????
7)Profit!

Sorry, couldn't resist. Might have friendly Dunlendings.

The Lossoth?

That is one group I had forgotten about. Good call.

HN

Dunlendings would be another possibility, though they could be included (if at all) in the same set as Gondor and Rohan.

Eriador is also my fav region & I've done a lot of work on it - but hesitate to post much because I don't want to interfere with C7's progress on Rhovanion.

Concerning your cultures, yes, I agree with your first 5 excellent recommendations. As for the sixth, several pop to mind:

1. Elves of Mithlond/Lindon/The Falas or whatever C7 calls them. We can have a Noldo or something like that from Rivendell, & then one of the others from the Havens. If they decide to pursue the Gray-elven route for Rivendell, they can work-up a Noldo or such for one of the Wandering Companies.

2. I also like the Lossoth. As an example of an issue associated with this, however, having one of the Snowmen journey what could be hundreds of miles from the North to the Bree-land or Rivendell or a similar sanctuary or site can be problematical. Just imagine having these player-heroes stroll into The Prancing Pony. Awkward . Still, these are a lot of fun & you can link them with something like the Ring of Barahir or the lost palantíri.

3. The 'Fisher Folk' of Eryn Vorn & the coasts. Tolkien described them more in his other works - they apparently exist outside C7's license - but there's some great data in Unfinished Tales & such. Additional ones lived in the caves of Drúwaith Iaur.

4. Everyone (understandably) focuses on the Dúnedain as Rangers, but what about the Seers? We only have a couple of brief references to Malbeth, but fan articles postulate the existence of additional seers as heriditary wardens of the palantíri who may have continued past the fall of the North-kingdom (bear with me ).

Some people have considered a way to introduce limited spell-casting abilities to player-heroes in addition to those already presented. Kaltharion is compiling an alternative fan-source as we speak. So, for LMs who decide to take this route, you have a unique alternative to Rangers.

I suspect they'll re-print Hobbits of the Shire in each of the core sets. With regard to a possible Hobbits of Buckland culture, I'd argue that Buckland falls under the umbrella of Hobbits of the Shire (especially given the "Bucklander" background that already exists).

I could see an argument for including Hobbits of Bree (and Men of Bree will almost certainly be included).

In addition to Elves of Rivendell, Elves of the Grey Havens is a possibility.

I've been wondering about how they'll handle Bree-landers, & I'm glad I'm not the only one. The Men of Bree make a different twist, & you can certainly have room for those who follow an adventurous path to become heroes, & those who have more in common with Bill Ferny .

I would also like the Lossoth, but in the Wilderland, we have only cultures that figure prominently in The Hobbit - would'nt it make sense to expect the same thing in "Errantries" with regards to The Hobbit/LOTR? That would probably rule out the Lossoth (are they even mentioned in either of the two books? Do we know anything about them?).
The Dwarves of the Blue Mountains are at least vaguely connected to The Hobbit, because Thorin's company lived with them for a while. Also, they will probably want to add another dwarven culture.

Tharbad makes little sense, however, I admit that. The same goes for Buckland - maybe they'll include the Hobbits from Shire again, as alien270 suggested, but with a new set of background options.

I like the Elves of Mithlond and the Dunedain seers!

And even though it is too early for another thread: What about the Cultures in "War of the Ring"? Gondor and Rohan for certain, probably Lorien. I also hope Woses/Druedain. No Dwarven culture down there, but maybe they'll just add the Iron Hills, since they were kind of missing from the first set. And of course, they could re-include Hobbits for the third time.

I'm glad someone else is wondering about these topics as well. I've debated saying something about Errantries of the King & The War of the Ring while C7 works on their current products - so as not to interrupt them. On the other hand, perhaps they read our posts & watch what people are saying, so it can work out that they know what everyone would like to see in the game.

Concerning your questions on the Lossoth, when you have a chance, have a look at Appendix A (iii) The North-kingdom and the Dúnedain in LOTR. Tolkien wrote a powerful & very intriguing story about Arvedui Last-king, that includes his meeting with the Snowmen.

Regarding the potential cultures of The War of the Ring, here are some rough ideas, in no particular order:

1. Swan-knights of Dol Amroth.

2. Citadel Guardsmen or some type of similar Men of Minas Tirith.

3. Ithilien Rangers.

4. Gondorians from the Seven Rivers - we already have several Gondorian cultures & we may go over with this many, as C7 limits them to a half dozen per release.

5. Rohirrim Riders in terms of household men - think of Eomer's Eored, or while dismounted, Hama at Meduseld, that sort of thing.

6. Rohirrim Borderers (or whatever C7 calls them) - For example, think of Westfolders following Erkenbrand, possessing unique wilderness skill sets, that sort of thing.

7. Woses- I hope that you're right & these are a given.

8. Elves of Lothlorien - they've already covered (or will cover) Elves in some detail in their previous editions, so I wonder how far they need to go with these? My guess is maybe just one type.

At any rate, these are just some quick ideas off the top of my head, & I'm glad to see other gamers considering these future releases.

Would you consider each of these a separate culture? I would just expect "Men of Gondor" and "Men of Rohan" with some of these options as further background. If they include Druedain and Elves of Lorien, then they already have four cultures - seems enough to me, especially when it's the last set and most people using it will already have the other two sets and draw from the cultures presented in there as well.

Back to Errantries: Thanks for the tip regarding the Lossoth, Mim! I certainly have to do some reading before my campaign ventures into the North. Even though I have re-read the Appendixes a few years ago, I didn't remember anything about the Lossoth or Fornost ...

You raise an excellent point about cultures vs backgrounds. I've thought a great deal about this & I suspect that C7 has strict guidelines in this regard. That said, either works fine, & yes, if they introduce these as backgrounds, then we can drop these to just four or five cultures. I'm looking forward to seeing what they develop.

I think that is correct according to their interactions here on the forum. They gave a nod to Skywalker in Words of the Wise for things he posted and they adapted. They listened to fans about the need for a more complete index and that is being worked on. Francesco has consistently given his input on game mechanics and possible changes, based on feedback (remember the discussion on how hard it can be to kill a Troll?). So, I say, post away!

What about the section what the King says:

Shire: Bilbo
Rivendell: Elrond
Dunedain of the North: Aragorn ( depending on the time frame)
Bree: Barliman is probably not born so maybe the Master of the Prancing Pony
Blue Mountain Dwarves?

Having the Lossoth involved in a campaign placed in Eriador shouldn't be any more of a stretch than the logic that has hobbits running about east of the Misty Mountains in Rhovanion as we have in TOR:Over the Edge...

Absolutely, Ranger.

As mentioned elsewhere in these forums, Rivendell is not suggested as a starting campaign as it is a hidden sanctuary characters would have to find. Assuming this ruling is not relaxed, an additional culture is needed.

Perhaps an Elf of the Wandering Companies. Gildor Inglorian as "King".

HN

Or Grey Havens, Cirdan as "King."

Good choice.