Here's a link to a campaign synopsis I wrote. It covers the years 2946 to 2952 leading up to the War of the Ring. The main feature of the campaign is the destruction of the Werewolf of Mirkwood.

The Hunting of the Wolves

I thought someone could use it. I have not completed writing all the individual Adventure phases of the campaign, but I have played through the first one called The Misty Mountain Purge. It is possible that some of the contents of the campaign will conflict with new information from Tales From Wilderland. Especially if Francesco developed the storyline about the Werewolf and the Lamp of Balthi that he began in the core rulebooks. I guess we'll find out!

The fear of conflicting histories was the reason I took so long in writing any of my own material for The One Ring in the first place. I knew that Tales From Wilderland was in the works and I was so afraid I would write something that official material would later erase.

But, taking my chances, I wrote anyway, and I figure I better share my campaign ideas with you now, before they become obsolete (if that is the case).

This post has been edited by JamesRBrown on Mar 9 2012, 03:20 AM

James, I really enjoy reading your chronicle. You have some great ideas here & I especially appreciate your including Mungo, the combination of the key & the tome (inspired), & your development of the story leading to the dramatic dénouement.

In addition, you display a sense of humor several times, such as entitling the one header, 'Dungeons & Dragons' .

While we're on the subject, I also fear the likely lack of products to support C7's line, & their delays in production. It's not a slam on the talented people they have working on TOR - I love what they're doing with this game - it's simply that they're a smaller concern & apparently don't have the funding & people.

Thus, I also hesitate writing stories that may interfer with what they develop, but am reluctantly doing so for the same reasons you state. My chronicle begins beyond the Misty Mountains in Eriador, however, because it seems that they may only design Errantries of the King & Rivendell to cover that neck of the woods, whereas, they currently emphasize Rhovanion.

I just thought you'd want to know that you're not the only fan that struggles with this issue.

Mim, thank you so much for your kind words, sincerely. I'm very glad you enjoyed reading the campaign. I am currently working on completion of The Misty Mountain Purge in exhaustive format. When I finish that, I will post it here for all to enjoy if they so wish.

Some of the elements of the campaign I am excited to develop further are the details concerning the book of Secret Fire and the romancing of the Woodmen daughter. The synopsis only gives brief details of these. If Tolkien compared Secret Fire to the Christian Holy Spirit, then perhaps the book can have similarities to the Christian Bible. If Secret Fire is the divine spark of life, the book can contain the words of life. As far as the wooing of Avina goes by the player-heroes, I can't wait to write more creative suggestions about how they can impress her and some of her reactions if they try. This should supply some very humorous moments, which will be needed amidst so much bloodshed and horror. Of course there's Gerivald and Helva too.

I'm very pleased that you include the spark of the divine in your thematic development - Tolkien would be pleased.

In addition, I'm looking forward to what you write concerning The Misty Mountain Purge. You've developed some wonderful material here, very much capturing the feel of Middle-earth, IMHO.

Really good fun stuff in there. There's a really nice 'old school' adventure feel about some of the ideas. I really like the 'protector' NPC and think that his evolution into someone completely different at the end has great story potential.
Until I got to your final chapter, I had always considered the 'Darkening of Mirkwood' to be in a metaphorical sense. Very nice indeed. If the official campaign about this fails to surface, I will be hooking this. ,


Just one question. Is your Werewolf bipedal and with opposable thumbs? The fate of Aerandir's companions suggests as much.

You know, when I first read about the Werewolf of Mirkwood in the Loremaster's Book, it became my greatest interest. I stared at the artwork and read the description over and over. I loved the way Francesco and company explained it saying, "Greater than any Wolf or Warg, its body has been twisted by the terrible power that has possessed it for uncounted centuries." To me, that spoke of a deformation similar to Gollum, a "physical sign of Corruption" of sorts. I imagined the hatred of the spirit within this wolf shell so powerful that it could literally 'twist' its flesh to accomplish whatever it desired. In this case, the spirit forces its 'hand' through the claw, bending it and manipulating it enough to hold a bow and shoot arrows. The same thing happens when it stands on its hind legs.

So, the short answer is yes, but only due to the influence of the terrible spirit inside.

This describes him perfectly gents. I agree that giving him the bipedal form works well in terms of the deformation, however, I also envision him running on all fours as needed to stalk his victms, et al. This may not necessarily jive with science, but it works for me to capture the mood .

Absolutely! And I envision the same manifestations in less dramatic fashion among Hounds of Sauron.

Great writing so far. Loved reading what you have down so far.

I too am following a campaign theme that involves the dimming of the Balthi, and including the werewolf into the story. But it's a ways off - many mini-adventures are in the works now to lay that groudwork and to become renown with the big players in the Anduin Vale so as to be sought after to intervene when it becomes apparent they are needed.


My thoughts on overcoming the werewolf include a Norse story of dwarves forging an unbreakable chain to contain the beast - in the flavor of the tale of Fenris

I can see the werewolf being somewhat bi-pedal, but being just as capable of running on all fours - like a hybrid.

I envision something along the lines of Pumpkinhead or possibly Glabrezu demon in D&D.

I totally agree that a huge but hunched bipedal form best represents my idea of the Werewolf of Mirkwood. I was hoping that you would say that JRB.
I envisage it moving like the Wolfman from the Benecio Del Toro remake. It would have a more pronounced wolfish snout though and wouldn't b able to assume human form though.
The unbreakable chain idea is an excellent one as well.

Thank you.
The goal of which could prove to be a multi-adventure; as I envision it.


1) identify the problem.
2) confront the problem with semi-drastic results
3) learn about other means of dealing
4) Obtain the prescious ore needed for the task
5) locate / craft a hammer capable of smithing the chain.
6) locate a smith worthy of the task
7) applying the trap

Part 7 can be woven to coincide with the lamp of Balthi - only when the lamp is returned to full luster is the creature weakened enough to battle it and entrap it within the chain

James, the chronicle outline looks great ... up to the last year of the outline. I think if you run as it's written, the player characters run the risk of playing observer to the epic events taking place around them. If you think your players will be okay with this, then that's fine.

Personally, I'd allow the choice to stand and the player characters have to live with the consequences. The choice should be real. That isn't the case if the NPC steps in and saves the day for the other option. It's going to be far more dramatic to have the choice play out, with the loss of the settlement or the PCs gaining the enmity of Garivald.

In the concluding battle, you have your NPCs stepping in as a Deus Ex Machina ending. The battle should probably bring these characters together, but only when called by the PCs. The PCs have spent years building up this network, the big confrontation is the time to call in the debts. However, the events need to revolve around the choices of the player characters, with the NPCs in support - not the other way around.

This is offered in the spirit of constructive criticism. In the end, it's your campaign. Hope it goes well.

Valarian, that is fair criticism with what I have provided to the reader. I did think of the way it appears. I will be careful in writing the conclusion (and other parts of the story), making sure to give enough freedom for players' decisions and creativity. I will say, however, my thought in the ending was not only calling in debts, but symbolism.

The heroes, bold and brave, are chasing the Werewolf to its lair far into the Mountains of Mirkwood. They do not call for the Eagles, or the Elves, or the Beornings, or the Dwarf (if indeed they redeemed him earlier). In fact, it is a surprise to them that their friends show up when they do. With the light of the Lamp out, the Werewolf is more empowered to destroy good than ever. How will they survive their darkest hour alone and spent? Will they find the strength from inside themselves? Or will they discover that their greatest strength is not in their own ability to destroy evil, but in the support of the friends who come to fight alongside of them? The Werewolf has affected all of them profoundly, and together they overcome it. The Lamp, forged by the Secret Fire, may have waned and been snuffed out by the darkness, but that darkness could not snuff out the bonds of fellowship, which will be much needed during the War of the Ring. The Lamp represents the declaration of life, like the preaching of truth. But the real power is not in the preaching of words, but in the living it out.

If I might offer a suggestion, to make it seem a little less Deus Ex Machina:
It sounds like the plan goes to pot, they emerge from the cave, and their friends are right there to save the day. I think holding off just a bit on the arrival of allies might help things.

Perhaps they emerge from immediate danger and flee as the Werewolf exalts in his new power. They're able to get just enough distance to see how dark the situation is, as all manner of fell creatures, bloated with new power, flock to his banner. Filled with dread, they flee to the nearest refuge, mostly in order to spread the ill news. The refuge isn't much, perhaps just a wooden palisade about a small woodmen fort, but they can spend the night before they continue.

At dawn, they are awakened by elf-horns, as Thranduil's small army has located them, and comes to their aid. They should probably continue their retreat, with new allies arriving as they go, until they reach some appropriate dramatic for the final battle. The Werewolf still has need to follow them for some reason. Perhaps they still have the Lamp, and though it seems powerless, he wants to ensure its destruction.

Be sure to play up the apparent hopelessness. When the group's allies arrive, they fully expect to die in the coming battle. Lots of lines like, "The Free Men of Mirkwood stand by your side. Let it be said that we faced death with axes in our hands and curses on our lips!"

As an update, I am slowly writing the first adventure of the campaign called The Misty Mountain Purge. If you have read the campaign synopsis, you will recall that I include an eager Hobbit historian named Mungo Hornblower. At the beginning of the adventure, this character begs the company to hire him on to keep accurate records of their journeys and combats. The Hobbit can be played as a Loremaster character or a player-hero. Regardless, I am dedicating sections of each Part to what I call Mungo's Reminiscences.... These are basically journal entries that can be read from Mungo's history book. I have to keep them fairly generic, but a Loremaster or player can add to them as their story unfolds.

An example of this would be Mungo's entry describing the heroes after knocking on their door, ready to begin the adventure:

Mungo's Reminiscences...
“And there they stood at the door, dressed in full travelling outfits. Their weapons hung down their legs and on their backs like soldiers. Leather sacks were fastened to their belts, filled with food and linens for a long and wearisome journey. But the most memorable thing of all was the serious determination on their faces. I could fancy their desire to make a mark on the world. And they soon would more than I imagined.”

I got a chance to work on my campaign a little tonight and I revised the final part of the synopsis called 2952 - The Werewolf and the Lamp. Some felt that it was too much of a deus ex machina ending. When I wrote it originally, I knew that it may appear that way, but I also felt the heroes would need help defeating such a powerful creature such as the Werewolf of Mirkwood (and they probably will in actual gameplay). I believed it was appropriate to have The Free Peoples of the North, whom the player-heroes helped to unite, come to fight with them. Especially since a unique magical item such as the Lamp of Balthi had been taken by the beast.

But, after reading the comments here, I listened and made a slight change to the ending. I also re-wrote the 'Character Development' section. I hope you enjoy and stay tuned...I may finish writing the first Adventure soon, if you're interested.

The Hunting of the Wolves

This portion of the adventure is when the company first enters Mirkwood from the Long Marshes.
-------------------------------------------------------------------

Into the Forest
This may or may not be the heroes' first time in the forest of Mirkwood, but never-the-less they plunge on.

Following the narrow river, your company enters the forest of Mirkwood, walking into a gloomy tunnel of trees that are old, gnarly, and covered in ivy and moss. Instantly, the delightful sounds of the birds are gone, replaced by queer noises high and low and the eerie gurgle and shhh of the flowing water. The beams of the sun vanish too, blocked by the dark, tangled boughs that are now forming a roof over your heads.

As you go further in, you navigate the twisted roots and trunks of the wood, stepping up and beyond, around and on top of, being careful to not trip over or fall into, for there are many dark crevices on the forest floor to be swallowed by. If you maintain your course, the Forest River will lead you to the eastern-most portion of the Elf-path, ever so close to the Elven King's Halls. The thought of encountering the Elves in these dark woods is both terrifying and wondrous, and with every moving shadow, you find yourselves guessing as to whether or not you're being watched.

Relieving the heaviness in the air, Mungo starts an unfinished song, his voice low and melodic...

"Come thou beams of golden sun,
Shine your rays, on all our days,
Light our paths, and bring us laughs,
The shields, the swords, the fun!

Come thou winds of glorious hope,
Lift our hearts, in darkest parts,
Make us bold, our friends enfold,
The bows, the arrows, the rope!

Come thou treasures of the wood,
Glittering gold, and silver untold,
Elves that sing, and trees that swing,
The riddles, the songs, the food!"

• Player-heroes can be encouraged to sing another round with Mungo, adding verses as they wish. They can make Song rolls to try and gain an Advancement point. If any player does exceptionally well, creating memorable rhyme or melody, a supplemental Experience point may be awarded at the end of the adventure for soothing the company and passing the time.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

I need some ideas for more verses.

Well, water and earth are not yet represented although you might be reserving those as being obvious points for the characters to elaborate on. However...

Come thou draughts of sweet water,
Quench our thirst, through deserts cursed,
Despite the heat, move our feet,
For wife, son and daughter!

The 2nd line might have an extra syllable, but I am pronouncing cursed as curst/kerst, not cur-said.
The 4th line doesn't follow your example. I could not find a good rhyme with water. After coming that close I wasn't chucking it. Someone else might be able to fix it.

Come thou perfume of flowers,
grasses waving, our hearts craving,
loved ones lost, stone embossed,
The walls, the gates, the towers!

Kind of an ode to the dead of a city.

Oooh. I really like these! You will get an extra Experience point! Do you mind if I adjust them slightly? You can adjust my verses too if you'd like. I am not offended. In fact, I ask for suggestions. Here's what I propose:

Come thou draughts of sweet water,
Quench our thirst, through deserts cursed,
Despite the heat, move our feet,
The wife, the son, the daughter!

Come thou perfume of the flowers,
grasses waving, our hearts craving,
loved ones lost, stone embossed,
The walls, the gates, the towers!

The last verse is meant to be three words that evoke memories, preceded by 'the.' So, your last lines work well.

Would you mind if I steal these and add them to my campaign document? Your second verse is my favorite.

This post has been edited by JamesRBrown on Mar 21 2012, 10:33 AM

James,

No, I don't have any problem with your editing or using this material within your personal campaign. And, just in case, as for commercial publication, in this specific instance, throw me a credit (Thanks to: Tom, Garn!, Dick, Harry, etc) and we have a contractual agreement. Unless your sales on this thing net you some umpteen-odd billions. Then I want a cut!

Any material obtained from online sources should always contain an authorship citation as well as permission notices to prevent later confusion and dispute. Realistically almost anything posted to the Internet becomes fodder for personal use as originated, edited or derived, by someone else, instantly, within their own personal campaigns. However, commercial use, is another matter entirely. Specific written consent would be necessary in all commercial, and not-for-profit, situations and would have to be determined on a case by case basis.


Yes, the Ode verse did come out better than Sweet Water. Not to mention much more spontaneously. Which was rather odd because I had 90% of the Ode written with no conscious context. With everything else written, I was actually trying to find the end of the third line (embossed) when I became aware what the verse meant. Think Ode took all of 5 minutes; Sweet Water took 30-45 minutes. But I did use an online rhyming dictionary.

I do have one question though. If you change Ode to "of the flowers", doesn't that add an extra syllable? Not that I think you're wrong. 'Cause I kinda noticed I was reading my line as "uh-uhv flowers". But I can always use me some edge-u-muh-kay-shun.

Hi Garn! Thanks for letting me use your verses. I am laughing a bit because I don't think we're in any danger of my adventure being published or making any money at all, but I promise you that I will still give you credit when I finish it (if indeed I do) and offer it up on the forum for download. I also have a feeling that my entire campaign idea will be obsolete once Tales from Wilderland is released. I'm thinking they wrote something of their own about the Werewolf of Mirkwood and the Lamp of Balthi (but not 100% sure).

As far as the Ode goes, you are correct about "of the flowers" adding an extra syllable. I was singing it in a particular way and "of the flowers" seemed better at the time. But, after rethinking and re-singing, your original writing is better and keeps the song at 7 syllables on the first lines.

So...

Come thou perfume of flowers,
Grasses waving, our hearts craving,
Loved ones lost, stone embossed,
The walls, the gates, the towers!

If I can find a way to add a link to an audio file, I might record the song and post it here. Maybe I can do that through dropbox?

I've heard of Dropbox, but never investigated. It should allow you to post the file there but I am not sure that it would allow public access to play the file.

Here's a picture of two of my TOR players and me. I'm the one on the right holding the game books and a die showing a tengwar. Alex is strumming his guitar, and Stefan...well, he's Tebowing with an EYE of Sauron in his hand. Tonight, they helped write the music and record "Mungo's song" called "Beams of Golden Sun." I have supplied a link for the mp3 of that too.



"Beams of Golden Sun" mp3

Thank You Garn for supplying a couple of the verses! I hope you enjoy what we've done. We even dug out The Fellowship of the Ring movie for some inspiration.

This post has been edited by JamesRBrown on Mar 31 2012, 03:54 AM

WOW! That came out very nice. Thanks for posting the recording. I kind of feel like a professional song-writer who hears his first tune being sung. While you offered to post the file, I really was not expecting something that good. I was expecting more karaoke night of the tone deaf - not good garage band.

I'm going to have to listen to it again on a better system though. Old laptop speakers do not offer the best sound quality.