Trekking through Mirkwood - LM only

[Rich H]

Reading previous posts may help!

Shadow Lands and Dark Lands
Shadow lands are treated in all respects as Wild lands until 2947. Dark lands are treated as Wild lands until 2947, then Shadow lands until 2951.

There we go. Where's that from? It's one of those things that makes it almost mandatory to take the company through Mirkwood as early as possible so as to establish how it changes over the years.

I'm not sure it's RAW as I don't have my books to check but it's certainly something I've adopted and is a great idea as like I said earlier it mechanically marks the change between the relatively good years at the beginning of the TOR campaign and the return of the Shadow.

My company got exceptionally lucky; they have Balin as a guide of course (we're running To Journey's End, about to fight at Amon Naugrim). One of them has gained significant fatigue, a factor the effects of which you shouldn't underestimate when it comes to feeling the pressure of Mirkwood. Stack up some fatigue and the next skirmish might turn out quite different.

That was the experience when I wanted to achieve when I wrote that scenario and the encounters within it.

When I described the company of heroes stepping out from under the eaves of the trees on the western side of Mirkwood and seeing the Vale of Anduin in mid summer; the water of the river glistening and shimmering in the distance, the green rolling hills, and the line of the Misty Mountains beyond the players all breathed a collective sigh of relief. They certainly felt that the journey was taxing and extremely dangerous.

[Glorelendil]

To avoid surprises I've pre-calculated quite a few journeys in a similar manner to those in the core rules. Now I don't have to fudge how long a trip is going to take and can quickly provide the information to the company. Based on my one page scripts I know that travelling the Old Forest Road takes 25 days and the Beacon Tower is 13.5 days from the East (35 miles in Severe terrain/Wild Lands TN16 Travel tests + 55 miles in Daunting terrain/Dark Lands TN20 Travel test all at x3 distance due to terrain for 13.5 days and the appropriate 3/4/5 season related Travel tests) and 11.5 days from the West (70 miles in Daunting terrain/Dark Lands TN20 + 20 miles in the Hard terrain/Long Marsh TN18).

-- start thread derailment --

Another reason I wish the maps were online and interactive. Imagine being able to draw a line on the map and have all the LM information (duration, rolls, TNs, hazard suggestions) just pop up.

EDIT: And factor in year, too.

-- end thread derailment --

[Hermes Serpent]

I'd settle for a Travel calculator that accepts as inputs number of hexes per terrain difficulty, the area difficulty, season and radio buttons to show non-filled roles. There should be check boxes for Area lore (Anduin, Mirkwood etc) and options for choosing which action you want for the best Lore roll. The calculator could display the number of tests of each type Travel, Corruption etc and then complete the calculation after the Lore selections have entered outputting the number of days taken and a selection of Hazards and Blighted Places.

Off you go then.....

[farinal]

I use this: http://www.arcdream.com/tor/journeys/

[Looping]

Thank you all for your prompt feedback. Unfortunately, I don't have much time to respond constructively today but I will re-read Rich's mini-campaign and recalculate my travel routes.
Your suggestions have been very helpful.

Hopefully, when all is said and done I will make this campaign available.
Thanks for your help. Cheers.

EDIT: I, too, use arcdream.com. I never double checked to see if it is accurate though.

[Heilemann]

Doing thorough travel calculations is something of a pain in the butt. The website linked is a big help, but yeah, I'd love a cool interactive map you just clicked on etc. I've dreamt about it more than once.