"In the Shadows of the Mountains" Campaign AP/Journal
Posted: Thu May 10, 2018 2:28 am
Hello!
I'm not sure how to really begin this kind of post, as I feel like I need to introduce myself. I've been a Lore-Master for The One Ring for some time now, running a Darkening of Mirkwood grand campaign for...I believe slightly over two years now, with some of my own additions thrown in, for a fellowship of currently five companions, though they started with four. Kullervo from these forums is one of the players in that game. Some of the players there are really knowledgeable about Tolkien's Middle-Earth, and while I cannot say we maintain true fidelity (as if such a thing were possible) I like to think we do a good job capturing the spirit of the world.
But this campaign journal is not about that game. I have seen a few APs of Darkening of Mirkwood, both on here and other sites like rpg.net. While no two campaigns are alike, I decided that instead of talking about the way my players dealt with the Tales of Wilderland, the war between the Viglundings and the Beorning, their adventures in the Black Tarn...I'll write about a different group.
The Fellowship of Silverton.
The Fellowship of Silverton
While the group for whom I run the Darkening of Mirkwood all have a decent knowledge of the world of Middle Earth as presented by the books or Tolkien's writings, the Fellowship of Silverton is more familiar with the movies than the novels. We used to play FFG's Edge of the Empire, but I had told our GM about The One Ring and it turns out, it is his second favorite fantasy world (The game we were originally playing should give you a clue to his first) and he really wanted to play TOR.
Our EotE game died when one of our players moved away, and we didn't play for a while, but we've recently started playing on Roll20 to overcome that barrier, and when we were tossing out ideas, I volunteered to run TOR and my old GM eagerly convinced the others to play.
Now, as I said, most of my players vision of Middle Earth is that of the movies, but they were on board. This was a new opportunity for me, since while I worked hard in Darkening not to create any dissonance with Tolkien's song, in this game I would allow myself to be a bit...looser with canon. Knowing these players tastes leaned more to a sandbox style of play, I came to the forums again to see what ideas I could scrounge. I wanted something that would be different from Darkening, since I didn't want to cover the same ground. When I stumbled on Otaku-sempai's Guide to Western Eriador and read about the more frontier-town, building up a region, I immediately thought it sounded fun and stole the concept (Like I said in another thread, good LMs borrow, great LMs steal ) and so...Let me introduce you to the player characters.
Grór, son of Ginar
Grór is a Wandering Merchant from those exiles of the Grey Mountains, but that doesn't satisfy him. The War of the Dwarves and Dragons saw the loss of his family's ancestral hold, the Manor of Silverton and its eponymous silver mine. His grandfather was lord of the Hall in those dark days and fought in the war, but was severely maimed for his efforts. Grór heard many tales from his grandfather of how they were homeless, penniless and starving in those early days. They were forced out of their lives as lordly silversmiths into a merchant's life, wandering from town to town, peddling their services and jewelry to pay their way. Raised on these stories, he's set out into the world with the intent of restoring Silverton Hall to it's former glory, whatever the cost.
Domarr
Domarr spent his childhood in a Lake-Town orphanage that strove to train the children in various different vocations, but like many of the institutions during the rule of the Old Master there was often a certain...shady element to it. He had to develop his wits and skill with words alongside his blade to stay ahead. When King Bard killed the dragon and founded Dale, Domarr went to the new city to earn his fortune, meeting Grór, a merchant looking for work. He served as Grór's body guard for a time, enough that when Grór was invited to a party with some very important personalities of Dale and Erebor, Domarr was invited along as well.
Sargon
Sargon is young by the standards of the First Children, and acts far more 'rebellious' than many of the Elves of the Mirkwood, much to the chagrin of his second cousin, Narniel. Sargon's parents died early in his life, so early that the elf was raised by his parent's cousins instead. No one ever told Sargon who his parents were, not even Narniel, who did not know herself. This lack of knowledge of his roots has driven Sargon away from the court, to explore the world around him and see if in his journeys he can uncover the truth himself.
The Premise
As I mentioned, I was inspired when I was reading Otaku-Sempai's guide and he was talking about the frontier town in the blue mountains. I've probably earned a lot of shadow points while mixing together the ideas for the campaign, because I also stole a few ideas I found on the forum here to create a holding system that my old GM, who plays Grór, loved and wanted to use. With a few retweakings (and a few more...and a few more...it's not quite finished yet), I created a system to deal with managing not just a holding but the development of a town. So they are leading a caravan out to the Grey Mountains Narrows to build a town in the unclaimed wilderness...and through their cunning and planning...they may even survive to see it grow.
Next up...The Caravan.
I'm not sure how to really begin this kind of post, as I feel like I need to introduce myself. I've been a Lore-Master for The One Ring for some time now, running a Darkening of Mirkwood grand campaign for...I believe slightly over two years now, with some of my own additions thrown in, for a fellowship of currently five companions, though they started with four. Kullervo from these forums is one of the players in that game. Some of the players there are really knowledgeable about Tolkien's Middle-Earth, and while I cannot say we maintain true fidelity (as if such a thing were possible) I like to think we do a good job capturing the spirit of the world.
But this campaign journal is not about that game. I have seen a few APs of Darkening of Mirkwood, both on here and other sites like rpg.net. While no two campaigns are alike, I decided that instead of talking about the way my players dealt with the Tales of Wilderland, the war between the Viglundings and the Beorning, their adventures in the Black Tarn...I'll write about a different group.
The Fellowship of Silverton.
The Fellowship of Silverton
While the group for whom I run the Darkening of Mirkwood all have a decent knowledge of the world of Middle Earth as presented by the books or Tolkien's writings, the Fellowship of Silverton is more familiar with the movies than the novels. We used to play FFG's Edge of the Empire, but I had told our GM about The One Ring and it turns out, it is his second favorite fantasy world (The game we were originally playing should give you a clue to his first) and he really wanted to play TOR.
Our EotE game died when one of our players moved away, and we didn't play for a while, but we've recently started playing on Roll20 to overcome that barrier, and when we were tossing out ideas, I volunteered to run TOR and my old GM eagerly convinced the others to play.
Now, as I said, most of my players vision of Middle Earth is that of the movies, but they were on board. This was a new opportunity for me, since while I worked hard in Darkening not to create any dissonance with Tolkien's song, in this game I would allow myself to be a bit...looser with canon. Knowing these players tastes leaned more to a sandbox style of play, I came to the forums again to see what ideas I could scrounge. I wanted something that would be different from Darkening, since I didn't want to cover the same ground. When I stumbled on Otaku-sempai's Guide to Western Eriador and read about the more frontier-town, building up a region, I immediately thought it sounded fun and stole the concept (Like I said in another thread, good LMs borrow, great LMs steal ) and so...Let me introduce you to the player characters.
Grór, son of Ginar
Grór is a Wandering Merchant from those exiles of the Grey Mountains, but that doesn't satisfy him. The War of the Dwarves and Dragons saw the loss of his family's ancestral hold, the Manor of Silverton and its eponymous silver mine. His grandfather was lord of the Hall in those dark days and fought in the war, but was severely maimed for his efforts. Grór heard many tales from his grandfather of how they were homeless, penniless and starving in those early days. They were forced out of their lives as lordly silversmiths into a merchant's life, wandering from town to town, peddling their services and jewelry to pay their way. Raised on these stories, he's set out into the world with the intent of restoring Silverton Hall to it's former glory, whatever the cost.
Domarr
Domarr spent his childhood in a Lake-Town orphanage that strove to train the children in various different vocations, but like many of the institutions during the rule of the Old Master there was often a certain...shady element to it. He had to develop his wits and skill with words alongside his blade to stay ahead. When King Bard killed the dragon and founded Dale, Domarr went to the new city to earn his fortune, meeting Grór, a merchant looking for work. He served as Grór's body guard for a time, enough that when Grór was invited to a party with some very important personalities of Dale and Erebor, Domarr was invited along as well.
Sargon
Sargon is young by the standards of the First Children, and acts far more 'rebellious' than many of the Elves of the Mirkwood, much to the chagrin of his second cousin, Narniel. Sargon's parents died early in his life, so early that the elf was raised by his parent's cousins instead. No one ever told Sargon who his parents were, not even Narniel, who did not know herself. This lack of knowledge of his roots has driven Sargon away from the court, to explore the world around him and see if in his journeys he can uncover the truth himself.
The Premise
As I mentioned, I was inspired when I was reading Otaku-Sempai's guide and he was talking about the frontier town in the blue mountains. I've probably earned a lot of shadow points while mixing together the ideas for the campaign, because I also stole a few ideas I found on the forum here to create a holding system that my old GM, who plays Grór, loved and wanted to use. With a few retweakings (and a few more...and a few more...it's not quite finished yet), I created a system to deal with managing not just a holding but the development of a town. So they are leading a caravan out to the Grey Mountains Narrows to build a town in the unclaimed wilderness...and through their cunning and planning...they may even survive to see it grow.
Next up...The Caravan.