TOR & The Hobbit Blu-Ray extended edition movie

[Giorgio]

I recently watched "The Hobbit" blu-ray extended edition movie and a few questions came to mind with regards to how the events shown there are reflected (or not) in the TOR RPG.

1- What creatures fielded by the orc lead armies are not present in TOR stat-wise?

2- How can any above ground fortress or stronghold defend against Were-Worms?

3- When the TOR timeline starts in the core rules, what is the status of Erebor and Dale with regards to reconstruction and re-establishing of trade (new roads/bridges)?

4- Does anyone have a "where are they now" reference of where the major (and minor) characters of this movie trilogy are when the events of TOR start?

5-In general, is there any event/location/character/weapons/armor/monster (and so forth) from this Trilogy that can not be used by C7 in TOR due to licensing issues on the "nothing at all to everything" spectrum?

More questions as they come to mind.

[Otaku-sempai]

I recently watched "The Hobbit" blu-ray extended edition movie and a few questions came to mind with regards to how the events shown there are reflected (or not) in the TOR RPG.

I developed a timeline specifically for LM's who might want to run a game in the continuity of the films. That might actually answer some of your questions.

1- What creatures fielded by the orc lead armies are not present in TOR stat-wise?

The Were-worms come to mind. Other issues that don't fit well in TOR would be the Troll-mounted catapults, the Dwarves' twirly-whirlies (anti-volley devices), and the inclusion of crossbows.

2- How can any above ground fortress or stronghold defend against Were-Worms?

They probably couldn't, which is a good argument for not including Were-worms as presented in the movies.

3- When the TOR timeline starts in the core rules, what is the status of Erebor and Dale with regards to reconstruction and re-establishing of trade (new roads/bridges)?

Dale has been restored and is seeing an influx of new residents. Erebor has been cleaned up and is occupied by Longbeards returned from the Blue Mountains and from the Iron Hills. The Iron Hills still exists, governed by Dain's son, Thorin (III) Stonehelm. A new Esgaroth has been built a few miles north of the the old Lake-town. There is a plan overseen by the son of Bofur (I think) to restore the old Dwarf-road through Mirkwood.

4- Does anyone have a "where are they now" reference of where the major (and minor) characters of this movie trilogy are when the events of TOR start?

Bilbo has returned to Bag End. Gandalf wanders. The surviving Dwarves of Thorin's company now dwell in Erebor. Dain Ironfoot is King under the Mountain. Bard is King of Dale. The old Master of Lake-town stole much of the gold Bard provided for the rebuilding of Esgaroth and died in the Waste north of Lonely Mountain. The new Master of Lake-town is the captain of the guards who originally greeted the company at Lake-town's bridge. Thranduil and Legolas have returned to the Woodland Realm. Tauriel doesn't exist. Radagast dwells mainly in Rhosgobel in the Eaves of Mirkwood. Aragorn is still a child, now in his teens, being fostered by Elrond in Rivendell. Bain is born after Bard weds the Dorwinion princess Una. Thranduil's butler Galion has been demoted and now leads the Wayward Elves.

5-In general, is there any event/location/character/weapons/armor/monster (and so forth) from this Trilogy that can not be used by C7 in TOR due to licensing issues on the "nothing at all to everything" spectrum?

Probably not, though I wouldn't expect to see crossbows or 'twirly-whirlies', nor much in the way of plate armor. I would also expect any Were-worms in TOR to be very different from the ones in the movies (if we ever see any at all).

[Enevhar Aldarion]

The only thing I can add is to number 5, though I do not have direct links to any official comments by the C7 folks. As I remember things when TOR was first announced, their license limits them to the same books/information that the movie studio also had access to. Now, obviously, looking at the movies and at new locations and NPCs in TOR, they have some leeway to add new material to their products. For any crossover from the movies though, I do not remember seeing anything said anywhere that C7 has the rights to use anything that was created solely for any of the movies. They would probably have to have a separate license with WB to use any of their creations.

Now, if you wanted to make your own versions of some of the things from the movies, some of it would probably be much easier to do in AiME, rather than TOR. After all, crossbows are there in 5E D&D just waiting to be added to your AiME game.

[Glorelendil]

I assume "were-worms" was a reference to dragons who can take the shape of Men. Tolkien, who I hear was no slouch linguistically, would have known that the etymological root of "were" is "man". And likewise Dragons are referred to frequently as worms.

Dune-esque giant sandworms? Not so much.

[Enevhar Aldarion]

I assume "were-worms" was a reference to dragons who can take the shape of Men. Tolkien, who I hear was no slouch linguistically, would have known that the etymological root of "were" is "man". And likewise Dragons are referred to frequently as worms.

Dune-esque giant sandworms? Not so much.

Were-worms are actually mentioned in the book, not just the movie. I had to go look that up myself to make sure.

http://tolkiengateway.net/wiki/Were-worms

[Otaku-sempai]

Were-worms are actually mentioned in the book, not just the movie. I had to go look that up myself to make sure.

http://tolkiengateway.net/wiki/Were-worms

In The Hobbit, Were-worms are mentioned as legendary creatures that dwell in the Last Desert in the distant East. We learn nothing else about them. They might be dragons that can appear as Men; they might have Man-like qualities; or they might be nothing more than stories. We might use legends of Asian dragons to inform our interpretation(s).

[poosticks7]

Don't forget the battle pig and the war goats... sigh.

[Otaku-sempai]

Don't forget the battle pig and the war goats... sigh.

I've tried. The Valar know I've tried. I still rebel at the very idea of the Longbeards using cavalry and war-chariots. Though it would be perfectly reasonable for the Dwarves of the Iron Hills to make use of supply wagons (more likely pulled by ponies than goats but, sure, why not? They were good enough for Thor). Even so, I wouldn't have minded Dáin's war-boar nearly as much if Peter had not (intentionally!) insisted in such a ridiculous design. Why not this?

[Elmoth]

I would have accepted the cavalry if the phalanx used made any kind of sense. Hell, I would have accepted Tauriel.
The good guys are total tactical morons in that movie.

[Otaku-sempai]

I would have accepted the cavalry if the phalanx used made any kind of sense. Hell, I would have accepted Tauriel.
The good guys are total tactical morons in that movie.

Perhaps I'm just too invested in Tolkien's book and Bard's own words:

"Fools!" laughed Bard, "to come thus beneath the Mountain's arm! They do not understand war above ground, whatever they may know of battle in the mines. There are many of our archers and spearmen now hidden in the rocks upon their right flank. Dwarf-mail may be good, but they will be hard put to it. Let us set on them from both sides, before they are fully rested!"

Bard, in the book, was much more prepared to go to war with the Dwarves than he was in the films. It was the Elvenking (Thranduil) who was more hesitant.

Yeah, the Elves' tactic in TH:BotFA of leaping over the dwarven line looked terrific visually, but it was an utterly stupid strategy. It placed the Elf-warriors directly between the charging Orcs and the Dwarves' spears. Another arrow-storm would have been much smarter. On other issues, the film did not give the Free Peoples much time to plan and prepare even compared to the battle in the book.