Are you gaming against Canon and if so how?

[Rocmistro]

Did you know the first Conan Movie was actually called Conan the Cook and examined how he got the Twice baked honeycaakes recipe. truestorybro

[Rich H]

Did you know the first Conan Movie was actually called Conan the Cook and examined how he got the Twice baked honeycaakes recipe. truestorybro

I've got one thing to say to that...

[Glorelendil]

... Mind you, when I first read the title of this thread I did think it was "Are you gaming against Conan and if so how?"

I would imagine gaming against Conan would always turn out poorly, especially if you ostensibly "win" the game.

[Rocmistro]

TOR needs a new calling: "Crush your enemies, seen them driven before you, and hear the lamentation of their women."

[Falenthal]

TOR needs a new calling: "Crush your enemies, seen them driven before you, and hear the lamentation of their women."

The Calling would be named "Manowar" for sure.

[Rich H]

... This is all getting extremely homoerotic.

[Glorelendil]

Or just "300".

[Rich H]

Or just "300".

I pick the one on the far right. His moustache would give me something to hang on to.

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[Otaku-sempai]

The major change I have made is to Tharbad. It is not abandoned (as in canon), rather it is a small community of about 600 people. The idea is that the great bridge over the Greyflood (built by the Numenorians at the height of their power) was too strong to be washed away. It stood when the dikes broke and the rest of the city was flooded. Most of the inhabitants fled, but a determined few, led by the "governor" (a true blooded Numenorian), stayed behind and built a new community on top of the bridge. The bridge now resembles Old London Bridge, with houses built down each side. It is a combination of Bartertown (Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome), the road town from Book of Eli and Woodbury (The Walking Dead)...i.e. it has a post-holocaust vibe. The governor of Tharbad is a combination of Auntie Entity, Carnegie, and the Governor. He decided to stay behind and be a big fish in a small pond, rather than slinking off to Gondor. Because he is a Numenorian, he looks 45 when he is actually nearer to 90. They have large herds of cattle, sheep and pigs which they drive out onto the riverbanks during the day and bring back to the bridge at night.

Tharbad is a trading post and river port. Trade goods are brought from Gondor (Dol Amroth) over the sea and up the river. The finished goods are traded for fur, fish and timber (I also changed canon to say that many of the forests have grown back) which are exported back to Gondor.

The homesteads around Tharbad are more substantial and permanent.

There is also a small permanent trading post at Sarn Ford.

The general idea is to still make it rough but not so empty.

I am in the process of writing up my version of Tharbad if anyone is interested.

TTYL

- Kerry

That is an interesting idea. In canon, I don't think there is any evidence that there ever was a bridge crossing the Greyflood in Tharbad; I believe that there was only a ford there.

I don't think that you are violating canon by having brigands and bandits inhabiting the area. Tolkien did not make it clear that there were no such people present and some of those groups could be from the native Dunlending population. In addition, the flooding could have attracted various swamp-creatures and monsters to the region.

It might be interesting to see if your suviving Tharbad community can endure to the War of the Ring or if it fails and falls in the years leading up to that conflict. In Tolkien's legendarium, Boromir lost his horse crossing the Greyflood at Tharbad on his way to Rivendell.

[sageryne]

Hi Otaku-sempai,

That is an interesting idea. In canon, I don't think there is any evidence that there ever was a bridge crossing the Greyflood in Tharbad; I believe that there was only a ford there.

The canon for the bridge does not come from the Hobbit or LOTR.

"When Boromir made his great journey from Gondor to Rivendell - the courage and hardihood required is not fully recognized in the narrative - the North-South Road no longer existed except for the crumbling remains of the causeways, by which a hazardous approach to Tharbad might be achieved, only to find ruins on dwindling mounds, and a dangerous ford formed by the ruins of the bridge, impassable if the river had not there been slow and shallow - but wide."

Unfinished Tales, Part Two: The Second Age, IV: "The History of Galadriel and Celeborn, and of Amroth King of Lórien"

"..ceased in fact to be subjects of Gondor; the Royal Road was unkempt in Enedwaith, and the Bridge of Tharbad became ruinous, and was replaced only by a dangerous ford."

Unfinished Tales, Part Three: The Third Age, V: "The Battles of the Fords of Isen"

It might be interesting to see if your surviving Tharbad community can endure to the War of the Ring or if it fails and falls in the years leading up to that conflict. In Tolkien's legendarium, Boromir lost his horse crossing the Greyflood at Tharbad on his way to Rivendell.

The way I have drafted it, Tharbad is a strong location, with gates at both ends of the bridge with the only real approach across long causeways. There aren't any real threats in the area, aside from the Dunlendings. I suppose it would be possible for orcs and wargs to come west from the Misty Mountains, but I don't think there is enough loot to draw them there.

Still, it is possible they could have been wiped out by the time Boromir got there.

In my game world, I think Boromir with find Tharbad intact, but dangerous. He could still lose his horse there!

TTYL

- Kerry