Integrating TftW with DoM

[Corvo]

Short version:
someone can share their thoughts about integrating Tales from the Wilderlands with the Darkening of Mirkwood?

Long version:
my campaign is into the 7th adventure. My fellowship played the Marsh Bell, Don't leave the Path, Herbs and Stewed Hobbit, and some homebrew adventures. Next should be Kinstrife, but it will be delayed by an unforeseen adventure looking for the backstory of the Hermit from Don't Leave the Path (I like when the adventures are unforeseen by me, the LM ).

My original plan was to play through TftW and then DoM, yet I got some doubts: the biggest one is the big bad from TftW... Too similar to the big bad from page 99 of DoM. One of them is going to be excised, imo, else they become too common and abused. But that is fairly easy. What I'm thinking now is how to integrate the Gibbet King with the wider general plot from DoM: someone has already tackled this issue?

Btw, I read this thread viewtopic.php?f=7&t=957
Thanks Timb

[Etarnon]

I take all of that One Ring Cubicle7 material, plus everything I have from ICE's Middle Earth Roleplaying (I ran that for years in the 80s and 90s mostly in the Navy in San Diego), especially the Mirkwood Regional modules [Wow those are good and detailed, and mesh pretty well with the EXCELLENT One Ring Books].

Each week, I completely write my own, totally organic module scenario, based on sort of loose plans of my own based on the timeline, and whatever the hell the players choose to roughly set up the next week. It's a lot of loose writing, but they get more ownership of the storyline.

[Corvo]

Thanks Etarnon, I understand your position. On the other hand I'm afraid I wasn't clear: I blame the language barrier, and my own difficulty in framing the issue

I usually write my own stories, yet for the first time in fifteen years I want to try to follow a published campaign (not without A LOT of adaptation, of course).

My thought -my problem?- is: in DoM and TftW we got two enemies of the Free Peoples: are they rivals or will they coordinate their efforts?

(Spoiler alert)






Let me explain. In DoM we got Sauron moving against the Wilderlands: first against the Woodmen, then against Dale (especially in later years).
In TftW we have the Gibbet King striking first against the Men of the Anduin, then against Dale.
Their plan is parallel, so I'm trying to decide what's the relationship among these two enemies. Are they rivals, or will/can they coordinate their efforts?
Sure I can have them acting independently, yet I fear that duplicating the menace will just "trivialize" the events: "oh, another army marching on Dale? Another D****n?"

On the other hand, I would like to keep a parallel with the later Sauron/Saruman menace (rivalry among the Shadow), yet I have to differentiate their behavior or their aims.
At the moment I'm wondering about having the Gibbet King follow a more overt, militant (and foolish) route against Dale (I'm thinking about blatantly fielding armies and such), to put Sauron's more subtle plan in stark contrast.
Any thoughts?

[Etarnon]

I see. Well in my mind the angle would be:

(not so familiar with the gibbet king, I'm using those books for source not modules, really)

Dol Guldur is run by a Nazgul post TA 2951. as a fan I didn't see the Gibbet king in the War of the Ring.

So along the way, Gibbet king is handed the ultimatum: join or perish.

I think they wrote the gibbet king adventures to mix it up so that it's not always "how long did it take you guys in your home campaign to knock off the Nazgul of Dol Guldur?" Kind of like how every Ols Skool D&D player breathing has likely played village of hommlet, secret of saltmarsh, etc.

My Personal preference is don't have GK attack Dale. Or he does but it is a spoiler attack and when they sally forth to intercept GK army at great range, Nazgul from the ssouth attacks. Agaibn, I haven't read any of the scenarios, I'm using the flavor text of all of those books, plus MERP and just staying one step ahead of my guys and girl.

Final thought, don't worry about making sense. Run it and the players will come up with a super cool thing that fits because they have X number of player brains working the same problem and you got simply yourself.

Just listen, and one of them will tell you, they'll argue about it. Pick one of 'em to be right, and run with it.

I often find that is the case. They will use the natural tendency to see things in the clouds to make it make sense n their minds of whatever scenario is happening. Unless it's some weirdness like a farce game with a girraffe with a sore throat, and a (something else weird or stupid goes here), you know what I mean.