Hello
This weekend we are having our second TOR session.
I am excited. The first session was touching up characters and discussing and playing around with mechanics.

This weekend we begin play in earnest.
We all pretty much agree we want this game to start out a little differently, not the same old stereotypical "You all meet in a Tavern" beginning.

I intend to start each character in their home town with a brief synopsis reflecting what they know about their home that includes source material as well as original story devices and hooks based on their background.

With TORs considerable early allowance for previous adventuring experience I had to re-think things from the GM point of view. In TOR these people (the chars) are seasoned each in his own, right from the git-go, which would include local and some distant area knowledge in some cases.

After thinking about this, I looked to "The Hobbit" as a guide.. which means I am re-reading it after 10 years.

I want to use Gandalf like in The Hobbit, to meet each character in their home town and gather them as he goes, starting from Woodland Halls, through the Elvish Realms and finally to Esgaroth.

Gandalf may have to goad, convince, threaten, I don't know how the guys will play this, and they won't know I'm doing this until we get to the table.

To give each Hero as sense of being a part of something special, each receives a similar vision, dream, or experience which will be the common thread that binds them, a Riddle I made up...

Where dragon falls New roots will grow
Hearts are called To Destiny sow

When Gwirith reigns And moon shines bright
New Hopes are kindled On that Night

Near Blackened Pier From Waters Rise
When Thrice the Night The Thrush Bird Cries

The Two, the Nine, The Four, the Six
Beneath the Boughs Where Long Shore Licks

It is of course, a time and place they need to be to begin a fellowship. Only those chosen will know this riddle and be visited upon by Gandalf. He will meet each character, starting with the Woodman and get them started on the path to Laketown for things to begin there.


Here is the cast of characters;
a. a Woodman from Woodland Halls with a Fairy Heritage.
Riddle revealed by Radagast
b. two Elves, one has A Memory of Suffering, and the other is Wild at Heart.
Riddle revealed by tree spirit
Riddle revealed in waking visions
c. two Laketownmen who experienced the same Innocence Lost. (by coincidence)
Riddle revealed to each by dreams
d. a Dwarf who learned A Lesson of Revenge.
Riddle is told to him by Gandalf


Gandalf will accompany each for a short way, but will soon be off to tend to errands...(to find the next character). He will ride ahead on Shadowfax.

So I have a few questions and requests and guidance.

I have the following source books I received yesterday and crash studying them between familial obligations and work, but I won't have them digested by game day I'm afraid;
Laketown Supplement, and Tales from the Wilderland

I am browsing through them, and looking for any references to address the following;

looking for descriptions of traveling the elf path, aside from those in The Hobbit.

Eventually the woodman and two elves will come to Aradhrynd to the elven King's Halls.
How do people traverse from the elf path to get to Esgaroth?
The first Adventure in TFtW (forgot the name, I dont have the book with me) has a brief bit about entering the caves near the river gate.

I am thinking from the elf path they might catch a ride with raft elves to Esgaroth.
Is there a place south of the river to catch a raft or do they need to cross the bridge (through or around?) Thranduil's Halls?

I think I read in "The Hobbit" that all trails end at the forest's edge so as far as I know there are no roads between Aradhrynd and Esgaroth, only river travel.

If anyone has some of their own ideas or descriptions to share I would be much obliged. And I continue to read the supplements for more.

Thanks!

You have some great ideas for starting your heroes. The riddles are very creative & should work well.

I've been doing something similar for years - I usually start each player with his/her character & then we play out their initial adventure one-on-one from their home to where they meet their companions.

BTW, it's more work (& at times a hassle ) but well worth it in the end. Good luck with your chronicle.

Sounds like a lot of fun. Out of curiosity, who is Gwirith, and what are 'the two, the nine, the four, this six'? I'm pretty sure I understood the rest of the riddle, which is brilliant btw

Regarding the Elf Path, the entirety of the first adventure in TfW is about travelling the path, so you should be able to find plenty of information in it

The year of the campaign in the 3rd age would be my guess.


You have done a great job with the start so far. The DONT LEAVE THE PATH adventure in Tales of the Wild have a little bit of info on heroes being let in (or not) to home of Thranduil

Thanks for the replies!

Gwirith is the Dunadain (I think) name for the 4th month of the year, in the spring.

When Gwirith reigns And moon shines bright
New Hopes are kindled On that Night

Is telling what night, The Full Moon in the month of Gwirith the fellowship will be joined. It will take some Lore rolls to know the names of the Dunadain months.

The Two, the Nine, The Four, the Six
Beneath the Boughs Where Long Shore Licks

2946, the year. Player-characters have been haunted by this riddle for some years.

"Beneath the Boughs", means a certain copse of trees... in my version of Old Laketown, the land is blighted from the spoiling of Smaug, even in death Smaug brings desolation.
Giant leeches teem near the shores, they are the size of a man's forearm and wiggle in the blackened mud. The place also attracts other loathesome things. The heros spirits are darkened by such brutality against nature.

The trees along the shoreline have died but for a copse of oaks struggling to survive.
Its under these boughs they will first meet, brought together by Gandalf, who will appear and "consecrate" the Fellowship, then pretty much disappear for a while, leaving them to their own devices.

(I don't plan on using Gandalf often. Maybe in a Deus-Ex-machina fashion, like a get out of crap free card they might secretly earn. Also after certain adventures sort of as a debriefing episode, where he might reveal things a LM reads in the adventures that he cannot say at the table during an ongoing scenario)

So, The riddle pinpoints the time and place for the formation of the "Fellowship of The..." hmmm guess I'll get the group to come up with a good name


BTW: There are some excellent adventures in the Tales from Wilderland! I love it

Thanks SirKicley, I'm reading it now! Great stuff

I might add the dream here, it is dreamt by the Laketownmen

A blighted black lake with black teeth lit by the full moon.
On a far shore can be seen the beautiful flowers of spring, the flowers are called "Gwiriths Crown" but on the shore you are standing on, is blackened and unwholesome.

You hear the sound of a bird crying thrice in the agonizing silence, it sounds like a thrush, and you turn and see it comes from a copse of Old gnarled angry oaks.
As you approach you see 2 boars, 9 crows, 4 eagles and 6 men

PS I also like your idea about Smaug's taint & the 'loathsome things' within the lake. I'm going to think about writing up something like this as well

Hi Venger,

Love the prep you're putting in to start up this game. I hope your guys appreciate you for it!

Will they recognize the format of the Anglo-Saxon style alliterative verse?
(Will the two halves of each line be more separated in the handouts you give to the players than this forum's editor allows?)

I like the verse itself, and especially the way -- illustrated by the Laketownmen's example -- that you are creating variants on the theme from which they can discover the common core.

Gwirith is the Gondorian name for the month of April, the Dunedain having adopted the Sindarin month-names for their calendar. TOR has all Elves of Mirkwood fluent in Sindarin as their main language (AB p.34).

Is a night-calling thrush an oddity? Is that deliberate?

Oh, and sadly I don't think Shadowfax is born yet -- or at any rate, Gandalf doesn't tame him till TA 3018!

I also really like the loathsome things associated with/deriving from the Death of Smaug. A lot of players seem not automatically to be convinced by the idea that the jewels of Smaug's coat aren't there for the taking by adventurers. It's like they think the whole rest of the population of Middle-earth are slavishly suckered by rumour and a go-getting adventurer like them ought to be able to get rich with no consequences if they just take a little swim. I put my lot off with the threat of Shadow, as related in ominous tones by a Warden Player-hero playing on their Shadow-lore specialty. But tangibly manifesting that Shadow is a great idea.

The other main thing I'd do is give the players as much to DO in the course of all this as possible. ('Do' or 'gain' -- gain always goes down well. )
They're in danger of being passengers, and whilst there may be Advancement Points to be garnered from the Lore rolls they make to figure things out those are only a benefit in the longer term.

All you have to do then is make sure the rest of the chronicle lives up to it(!). I chuckle, but it's intended as a serious point. The introductory adventure in Yggdrasill starts off all portentous and mystical in its prophecies about the PCs' destined greatness but then just proceeds to offer a rather un-supernatural scenario for them to interact with.

Cheers!
--Os.

MIM

Hello MIM, Glad to contribute.I love Middle Earth RPG and glad to share. I would appreciate reading what you write up!



Hello Os

I think so, hope so! A couple guys said they love LOTR and look forward to it.

Glad you explained alliterative verse, and yes the two haves are split to each its own line. I concatenated the phrases for ease reading for the forum.

I wanted something that was mystical to bring it all together so each hero individually has a riddle to puzzle over.
I gave thought to an appropriate vehicle to deliver the riddle, visions/tree spirits for elves, dreams/patrons for humans and the dwarf.

We will role play out each character and how he deals with the riddle, meaning seeking out their local wise ones, using TOR Encounter rules.

Then will come Gandalf to get the ball rolling. Whoever hasn't figured out the Riddle will find out soon enough But I think the Riddle will out sooner than later.

Thanks very much for the clarification and info.

No, it's not a specific breed, but Yes, It was deliberate, because it is quite unusual for a bird that goes by day to call at night, in keeping with the strangeness of the Riddle.
(Perhaps it is Gandalf who is at first hidden in the shadows calls the bird into service and prompts the bird to cry.)

Oh! I didn't think to research that. Thanks much. Ok, sounds like I will need a horse of a different color! (lol a nod to Wizard of Oz)

I am glad I am not out of bounds with that idea.
Since I had pinpointed the shore of Old Laketown as the initial gathering spot, I better dang-well have a good description of the place.

So I gave a lot of thought to what a colossal decaying carcass, whose entire, noxious system was dedicated to powering it's primary weapon might wreak on a local ecology.
I want to stay "in-keeping" if not exactly "in-canon". It just felt right, from my point of view as an avid reader. Your approval means a lot. You among others have my deep respect with your knowledge and sharing it, of Middle Earth.

Thanks for that reminder. I agree totally. I don't want this start to be about Gandalf rouding up a group and suddenly they are in Laketown.

I want it to be about what each player expereinces (gains) along the way, ere the true adventure begins. Hopefully we will have some trouble along the way... (oops I didnt say that), but I plan several encounters to insure something happens along the way.
My POV....Each hero has previous adventure-like experiences, but this is the first BIG adventure for them, the adventure of a lifetime, now being major players on a regional scale, motivated by higher powers!

I plan on using the Journey rules from the very beginning, to move each character into position, they will have about a month to get to Old Laketown, so there isn't a lot of time to explore along the way and if by chance one gets lost along the way, perhaps that would be a good hook for a rescue adventure.

I also intend to halt the Journey at key places for some interaction with Middle Earth. One of the first will be the Woodman leaving Woodland Halls will encounter Beornings near the Men-i-Naugrim, etc, Elves near Forest Gate and I'm brainstorming about Aradhrynd, still not knowing what I will put in place there, other than mining the TfTW for whats there.

There is the rub! I hope I can make each adventure as memorable as I can.
As a GM, I have not been much of a module user. I usually mine them for ideas, but pretty much don't use them en-toto. However, as LM with this game system, I want a good foundation before I go off on my own. I already have lots of ideas I am slowly building on, but I need experience with it all first.

I plan on running the Marsh bell first, and then run adventures out of the TfTW , I enjoy reading them, and would enjoy playing them as well. Hopefully at some point I will have the experience I need to make adventures of my own that are just as interesting.

Thanks for the well-wishes!

Hi Venger, just wanted to add my well-wishes for your next session. Though I'm not sure you need it, as I have to agree with everyone else here and say it looks like you're doing an awesome job on prep so far!

For the sake of expedience with my Fellowship I never really explained how they came together but your dream-riddle ideas are so good I'm now very tempted to flashback and put something like this in. Very nice work indeed.

Please let us know how it goes. I for one would really like to hear how your game and ideas develop.

Many thanks for sharing.

Good luck with this Venger, you have some great ideas already - I love the poem; really evocative. Kudos to you.

I will happily share ideas as they develop. Thank you all very kindly.