I am running a campaign where the characters will come to Esgaroth soon for the first time. In the release schedule the Loremaster’s Screen and Laketown Sourcebook are still set for a July/August release. Are there any news about these products? Will the PDF really be available in August? This info would help me to plan my campaign. Thank you.

No news.

Rather, no updated news.

Dom recently posted a C7 Product Update only 20 days ago. It seems doubtful that any major changes have been made "definitely definite" in such a short time period.

Here is the direct link to the post: http://cubicle7.clicdev.com/f/index.php?tr...indpost&p=29280

Yesterday's edition of Cubicle7's fortnightly Gamer News newsletter lists it in the 'Coming Soon' section -- though that's probably no more specific than the other notices already mentioned.
--Os

As far as I know, it's off with Middle-Earth Enterprises for approvals at the moment. It's hard to say how long it will take them to approve it - they've got to look at almost every Tolkien-related product, so it depends on what other licensors are in the queue ahead of us.

I was hoping that somebody "official" like Francesco or Jon could give us a short update. The info if the PDF might be available in August would really help me to plan my campaign.
I can't wait for this release!

@Mytholder: how do you know that? Did I miss something?

Uhmmmm...in case you didn't know, Mytholder is none other than the famous Gareth Ryder-Hanrahan responsible for writing Tales from Wilderland! He might have some inside information.

..hehe! Mytholder is as official as it can get! The latest I have is that the screen and sourcebook have been approved, and the files should be on their way to the printers. BUT, we lowly writers are not reliable sources... if you want a reliable date, then someone higher up must answer!

Francesco

Yes, I guess this means you missed something!

Sorry, just couldn't resist.

I didn't know exactly who "Mytholder" is, but given that he spoke of the Cubicle 7 design team in the first person plural, I figured he had to be one of those guys.

Really, did I miss something?

Oh my god, that's quite embarrassing.
I DO NOT want an answer from a writer, I want something official...

I am really happy now. I got an answer from one of the best of the best of the best. Sir.

Thank you lowly officials and superior officials and superior forum users, to give me some HOPE on a punctual August release.

@Mytholder: I am from Munich. Have you been to Oktoberfest? You are hereby invited to a Maß Bier if you want to go there!

Oh no, I had no idea it was Gareth specifically, either. I just cheated, by scooting my eyes to the left and read the "Group: Admin" line that appears under his name.

Francesco, and some others, get a bit confusing since they're marked as Members instead of Authors. But then it could get confusing if they posted in other topics and the user group was not changed.

Ha Garn, that's too EASY!

Francesco is a playtester. And I am a member. A member of what?

Admin? Pah! I need something OFFICIAL!

Did you see the cover? I don't know if it's final. I'm eager to see LM Screen artwork! (sorry if the image is too large).

Will the Laketown Sourcebook be available as PDF when it's available for pre-order?

And will the LM Screen be PDF too?

I'll keep saying it until the end of time, probably, but I love the artwork for TOR. Its has such a strong theme and style to it but totally in keeping with Tolkien's works.

... The game's not half bad, either!

Funny, looking at the cover image, my first thought was "Wow, there are a lot of vertical support beams. Almost looks like you cannot get a rowboat/canoe through there. Isn't that too many?" (It would trap debris and allow sediment to build up too rapidly, requiring periodic removal or Laketown would soon be re-named to Lakeshore.)

But you're right, the image is quite nice.

Hi everyone

The Loremaster's Screen and Lake-town Sourcebook is on the presses at the moment, I'll update you when we get an accurate ETA. We're hoping to have some advance copies for GenCon though (fingers crossed).

I have no idea how much Francesco's visit has cost the Norwegian government in terms of security, nor can I confirm that his decision to journey there is linked to the increased frequency of Troll sightings in recent months. Although he did mention something about a raven, a scroll and defending the Free Peoples...

Dom

That's not final cover, just fyi.

Awww, I was starting to grow fond of the dockside copper in the lower left corner, too.

I was thinking he was my local beat cop, making his rounds, as I looked out of the window of my home in Laketown. I was back in town before the season turned bitter and cold as the year's events drew to a close.

I was trying to remember his name. Agnulf, perhaps?

Lol Garn. I just looked at the picture again. The guy does look a bit like he's wearing a British Bobby's helmet.

Hey all!
Are these up for preorder yet?
Have a great weekend!
Stephen "Trotter"

I saw it in pre-order in FRPGames.

Retail: $24.99
Sale Price: $19.98

Lookout the information in the store website. I was surprised by "New Fellowship Phase activities".

OOOOOOOoooooooooOOOOOO, intriguing. Perhaps one of the new Fellowship Phase activities is "clean trapped debris/sediment from around support beam".

I'm sure it's there. I think they call it Janitorial, or Maintenance or some such.

Watching over the volunteer - and someone always volunteers at some point, usually leaving a tavern late at night whilst singing at the top of their lungs - is our local bobby, Agnulf. See? He's standing there watching diligently. Not heading off to the pastry shop like he normally does.

Great news Francesco and Dom- thanks.

Love the cover.

If it's any consolation, mytholder replied to me on rpg.net and I didn't realise who he was until skywalker helped!

I am very old and the internet still is very new

Is there a way to pre-order and pick up at GenCon any releases that might be available there?

So excited!

Ever since TOR was released, the one thing I really, really, wanted to see was more playable cultures. I just really want to see how the good folk at C7 treat the different peoples of Middle-Earth. Maybe that's the anthropology undergrad in me coming out, but it was always the cultural richness of Middle-Earth that intrigued me the most (although, since that interest dates back to early childhood, it might be more accurate that my fascination with Tolkien's various cultural creations is part of what led to an anthro degree!).

Anyone know if LM screen will be landscape or not?

Maybe some of them are wearing the pointy hats Tolkien used for the boatmen in his Lake-town picture:



Sorry about the small size, I hope you can notice the pointy hats.

Haha, fine to listen to your story. My wife is anthropologist, and she loves Tolkien too. Go for that Middle-earth etnography!

Arthadan,
Yes, you can see the pointy hats if you zoom in a lot. Particularly on the foreground boat crew. Good thing that image is a highly detailed original otherwise it might not be possible.

(In Firefox: right-click image, View Image, press "Ctrl & +" (on keyboard, not number pad) several times to zoom in. BTW, if nothing happens to the image, click on the Menu: View>Zoom>Zoom Text Only. After that the image should zoom. Remember to reset Zoom Text Only after you're done - if you still want to use it. BTW, Ctrl&- zooms out; Ctrl+0 resets.)

Enjoy!

Hate to dull your fruitknife Garn, but your window is a fair ways from that dock methinks.
The figure you see is actually Agnulf's mother - Town Guard Captain Agwylfra. She looks stern, awaiting her Town Guard recruit son who has been carousing with adventurers when he was meant to be walking the wood.
I bet he's dawdling to stay out of cuff- & cuss-range.
"Agnulf! Where's the #@~*%! barge that you were meant to detain in this dock? And the contraband?"

Those feckless 'heroes' better hope they don't cross The Lady Captain!

If that wasn't the final cover-art, is the version in the back of the Yggdrasil Core Bookpre-release PDF the final one?

It's essentially the middle-section of the really nice Lake-town image from LMB Part 1: The Role of the Loremaster:



but with a new big foreground seagull superimposed over the central pool so as to kinda frame the ship with its wings...

Cheers,
--Os.

Cheesewyrm,
Ok I've been offline a couple days here, but I'm playing catch-up so...

I can't wait for the LM's Screen!

Any word yet on when we will be able to preorder this from Cubicle 7?

You haven't missed the announcement. We'll let you know here, on Facebook, Twitter and in our newsletter as soon as it's available to order.

Thanks!

Can someone in the know tell me the name of the Master's second-in-command, if one appears in the book? I needed an equivalent to Elstan and made one up (a private secretary - I'd just been watching Yes, Minister), but I'd like to keep some consistency and retcon him as soon as possible, if necessary.