After Marsh Bell do you guys think it's better to start Wilderland and add Words of the Wise somewhere in there (where?) ? Or continue with Words of the Wise and then start Wilderland?

IMO run Tales from Wilderland in order after Marsh Bell and place Words of the Wise after Of Leaves and Hobbit Stew.

Why?

Hey farinal,
I asked a similar question a while ago and the good people on these boards had a small discussion trying to figure it out - partly to do with timing (what season/year) and also where the PCs would be and what travelling would be involved.

I'm hoping the link below goes straight to the discussion, it was in the thread on Tales from Wilderland, but if not you may have to click through. People tried breaking down the order of the published adventures so far -

http://cubicle7.clicdev.com/f/index.php?tr...pic=3000&st=105

The link may depend on what your settings on this forum are set up at.

Direction of travel, NPCs involved and where it fits in the timeline

Honestly, I would skip Words of the Wise if you are running Tales from Wilderland.

I was considering doing it myself, then I realized that WotW – while it is a very good demo – doesn't have the flavor that the adventures in TfW have.

I'm in a similar position as you and posted my plans here. I'll probably modify WotW, though.

This. Effectviely, it creates three adventures per year for three years.

It is set in the start of the year and Of Leaves and Stewed Hobbit is set at the end of a year and Kinstrife and Dark Tidings early in the year but neot necessarily its start.

Also, Of Leaves and Stewed Hobbit finishes with you on that side of Mirkwood with contacts in Woodmen Town from Don't Leave the Path. Kinstrife and Dark Tidings sees you travelling north from there the year after.

Did anyone notice that Words of the Wise narratively falls within the Tale of Years entry for 2952 provided in the LB (119)? Something else I noted in playing TfW is that the Wise seemingly make no connection between the various Shadow elements and Sauron. That made me think TfW best takes place before Suaron's declaration in Morodor. That is, for say a Warden with Shadow-lore the events in TfW might be part of a dark pattern that underlies all the adventures. If TfW took place after 2951, this pattern would be explicit and for the Wise, or so I imagine, would see the events in TfW as part of the opening act of the coming War. And, this is not the feel of adventures.

In this sense and from the perspective of the Tale of Years provided within TOR, the Words of the Wise might better be played after the events in Tales from Wilderland (especially if, as a LM you are following the Tale of Years). Otherwise, when the player-heroes come though their adventures to 2952, the entry provided for Darkening of Mirkwood doesn't make sense.

Just my experience in playing these outs...

Regards,
E

Rightly or wrongly, I've gone Marsh Bell, Don't Leave the Path, Words of the Wise, and Of Stewed Leaves and Hobbits

Don't Leave the Path useful as takes you east to west, through Mirkwood, and Words of the Wise, Of Stewed Leaves and Hobbits, and Kinstrife and Dark Tidings all based in Anduin area and western eaves of Mirkwood

There is no right or wrong to be honest. I've seen multiple orders, some work better than others, but it's what you are happy with.

Working on advice from others, I think the best structure for me will be -

V helpful summary - thanks a lot!

Interested where the Gencon 2012 adventure fits in with the schedule - still hoping will get to see at some point!

BTW: is 2951 official date of start of darkening of mirkwood campaign? Useful to know as gives deadline to cut off TfW

I took the 2591 date from the following entry in the Loremaster book (my italics/bold) -

So the name is in there - the new Darkening. Year 2952 goes on about the werewolf being pushed by the Nazgûl, the corruption of the Rivermaidens, Rhosgobel at the forefront of the defence against the Darkening - so I would definitely give 2951 as the proper start of the campaign, though Gareth Ryder-Hanrahan in his recent interview mentions between the years 2947 and 2977 (I think) as important to the Darkening of Mirkwood.

Fitting in "Words of the Wise" with 2591 as Eluadin mentions on a cursory glance sounds right, something stirs in Dol Guldur and heroes disturb it, but once you look at the entry it's definitely not what the heroes were staking out in "Words of the Wise" - whatever it was, it ran away and didn't return in "Words of the Wise" whereas in 2951 you get the Nazgûl returning and staying put. The heroes wouldn't just have been forced to flee, they most likely would have been killed off so there were no witnesses.

The only info on the GenCon adventure I can find is as follows -

That suggests to me sometime around 2951 or just after, as the werewolf is abroad as are the Nazgûl, pushing out from Dol Guldur.

Edit: 2947 to 2977 would make sense for the "Darkening of Mirkwood" campaign. From the C7 website blurb on the Darkening of Mirkwood book (my bold/italics):

Darkening starts in 2947, but the first few years are mostly setup - Woodman politics, courtly hunts in the Woodland Realm, spying on the empty fortress of Dol Guldur and so on. The danger really starts in 2951.

With Jon flashing his Laketown at us this morning and Francesco's hair, I forgot to reply.

Thanks for the info mytholder, helps work out how to play all the scenarios with the most possible fun

So would Words of the Wise fit with Darkening better than with Tales from the Wilderland, then? (Given it refers to observing Dol Guldur.)

I'm not sure how I'm going to run Words in such a way as to have the same characters be able to do Darkening, tbh. The timing doesn't jibe.

Of course there are different ways to "fit" the adventure, but what I picked up on was that Dol Guldur in Darkening of Mirkwood begins the campaign empty and, as you pointed out, spying on it plays an important part of the opening years of the campaign. The intro to WotW eludes to rumors of a shadowy figure seen visiting the fortress-ruins. Of the many ways you could take this, I think connecting it with Darkening makes good sense along the lines that WotW is part of the period where the Enemy begins to re-occupy the fortress-ruins, and the Free Peoples tasked with keeping an eye on the fortress-ruins begin to see activity in and around the site.

Chronologically speaking, the timing of WotW can easily work with the opening of Darkening as well. The campaign begins in 2477 and WotW takes place following the Winter after the Gathering of Five Armies. That places WotW in the opening months of 2477.

EDIT: As Garn pointed out, the years should be 2947. That's what happens when you sit down to work without having first enjoyed (or at least downed-in-a-rush) that morning cup of tea!

Regards,
E

Elaudin,
Perhaps I'm mistaken, but wouldn't that be 2947? TOR opens in T.A. 2946 and you're saying WotW takes place the year after the start of the campaign. Right?

Garn,
You are correct and thanks for pointing out my mistype. Its still early here and I have yet to have my morning spot of tea!

Best,
E

D'oh! Brainfart! What I actually meant was I'm not sure how I'm going to run Tales from the Wilderland and have the same characters in Darkening. That timing doesn't work.

Do we have an ETA for Darkening? I mean, given the pdf issue, is Autumn this year even remotely realistic? Forgive me, but I'm very sceptical when it comes to C7 scheduling.

Elaudin,
No problem. It's late here (well, technically early, but as I haven't slept yet despite the rising of the sun, I require time to conform to my biological rhythm)... and besides I made that same exact error in a post awhile ago. Luckily I caught it moments before posting it.


Ovid,
As far as I know Tales from Wilderland and the Loremaster's Screen and Laketown are the only products due out right now. I cannot recall a specific release date for Darkening of Mirkwood, but I think it is still in creation/editing and not yet ready for submission to MeE for approval.

The 2012 release schedule has it for Autumn, but if the creation/editing and approval aren't done, then, yeah, I won't be holding my breath.

Hmm... Alright, I could be completely wrong on the timing of Darkening. I better see if Elaudin can spare a cup of tea to wake me up!


I'll do a bit of research and repost - assuming no one beats me too it!

Of course, now that I'm trying to find it, I cannot locate any pertinent comments with regards to the release of Darkening of Mirkwood. If I have misinformed, my apologies.