DoM Catch Up (Spoilers)

[Ernst-Jan]

Now that Darkening of Mirkwood has been out for a while, I was wondering whereabouts the timeline people currently are. Owing to the massive amount of content inside the book, I'm going out on a limb here and guess that few have finished it so far. Where are you and what has happened?

I'm asking mostly because my own campaign has been both very enjoyable and is starting to slide somewhat, albeit in an interesting direction. My players have just finished The Beast of the Forest, having previously played through most of the preceding DoM material intermixed with most of the Tales from Wilderland material. It's a bit slow going, as conflicting schedules usually result in us getting to play about once every five weeks or so, but the sort-of episodic nature of DoM lends itself well to that. My players are very involved and have been very proactive in adding to the game, which has resulted in a bit (just a bit) of a predicament. The rest of this post is me talking about my campaign so be warned, it may skirt close to self-indulgence.

Predicament: One of my players plays an Elven Warden with Memory of Suffering background. He's played this background well, lurking about a lot in Southern Mirkwood, which we expanded upon by involving a few like-minded Eleves with similar dark memories, banding together in the south to keep an eye out for evil doings. I reasoned that Thranduil would not be particularly pleased about this especially after the player in question ignored a summons from his lord because he found the presence of Mogdred in Southern Mirkwood more troubling, especially after the Company was responsible for barring him from the Folk-Moot.

One session, I believe the one with the murdered bodies in Dol Guldur, the player in question cancelled late, so I told the players the Elf simply did not show as planned and left it a mystery where he was. I later played a solo session with this player where he has a run-in with Men from Tyrant's Hill looking for a mysterious artifact, which ended disastrously with the Elf unconscious. Thus he was taken to the Tyrant's Hill and spent two years there being tortured for information by Mogdred (I worked up a special Fellowship Phase for him which involved not going mad). The player played another character in the meantime and told the other players nothing, leaving it a mystery for the rest as to where the Elf had gone. They managed to discover the Elf's whereabouts later, and, being fast friends, set about planning a rescue expedition.

They were planning a diplomatic mission to Tyrant's Hill while simultaneously having another group of warriors sneak in from another direction. They rolled spectacularly well on calling in favours, and managed to get fifty able Woodmen along for the expedition. The whole mission to Tyrant's Hill meant I had fleshed out the entire fortress and ways to get in there. They managed to rescue the Elf but got most of the Woodmen killed in the process. They also failed to kill Mogdred, who, as the Woodmen elders feared, used this attack as an excuse to increase aggression towards the Woodmen, now being able to claim he has been nothing but a beneficial neighbour until this unwarranted attack.

As you can imagine, the Woodmen aren't very pleased with the Companions right now, as they have indirectly contributed to the deaths of many able-bodied young men and also brought the possibility of war to their doorstep. The predicament, thus, is this: The Woodmen aren't, as far as I'm aware, particularly populous, a fair few have been slain, and the coming years promise even more deaths. Bearing in mind the end of the campaign, I'm worried whether the Woodmen can hold out that long. Any thoughts?

[Dunkelbrink]

Very interesting read, both the thread and your campaign so far. Yeah, it would be interesting to hear if anyone has finished the whole campaign and how it turned out.

I've also interwoven Darkening with Tales, Words of the wise and some stuff of my own. We're now entering the year 2949 with the players hunting Valter the Bloody on a request from Beorn (he survived the fight in Kinstrife) and then going to the royal hunt (The Questing Beasts). In 2950 things will really starting to happen with the mission to Dol Guldur where they will find information on both the traitor in Thranduil's court but also more about the Sorceress of Mirkwood and the Gibbet King, which will lead them to The Darkness in the Marches (the have fought the shadow in Those who tarry...)

So far we've played 2-3 adventures a year, which feels like a good pace but I'm also a bit worried it will take years in real time to finish the campaign. The players are also into trade, with the goal of introducing the habit of smoking to the woodmen (ah, the taste of civilization). They really dislike Mogdred and are thinking of attacking his fortress and taking him out. Maybe they'll think again when the woodman, on his father's deathbed, realizes that Ingomer Axebreaker had yet another secret son... I am also trying to have Amaleoda of the Black Tarn to hook up with the woodman, Ruithel the elf to recruit the Elf player for the wayward elves and right now Beorn has taken interest in the female Beorning (planning to marry her later on).

On a side note, how did you handle Tyrant's Hill Ernst-Jan? Did you write the fortress yourself or have you lifted it from another module?

[Ernst-Jan]

On a side note, how did you handle Tyrant's Hill Ernst-Jan? Did you write the fortress yourself or have you lifted it from another module?

Because I gave the players a lot of room to determine a strategy I fleshed out Tyrant's Hill in quite a bit of detail, basing most of it on one of John Howe's old Dol Guldur sketches. The details were all my own speculation. I was thinking of putting it up here for other groups' benefits after cleaning the document up a bit.

[Dunkelbrink]

On a side note, how did you handle Tyrant's Hill Ernst-Jan? Did you write the fortress yourself or have you lifted it from another module?

Because I gave the players a lot of room to determine a strategy I fleshed out Tyrant's Hill in quite a bit of detail, basing most of it on one of John Howe's old Dol Guldur sketches. The details were all my own speculation. I was thinking of putting it up here for other groups' benefits after cleaning the document up a bit.

I would appreciate that! It would spell trouble if my company tries to sneak into the fortress if I don't have a map for it.

[Andrew]

We've just finished the Folk-moot at Rhosgobel and the company are showing interest in helping Bofri with his road as well as going to investigate Tyrant's Hill. They're pretty tight with Ceawin and Sunstead too! I've also been interweaving Tales from Wilderland in, and they've just finished Don't Leave the Path - I think I'll run Kinstrife next, actually, as they're still in Spring 2958.

[Majestic]

Greatly enjoyed reading your recaps and summaries, Ernst-Jan. While there's been some pretty significant changes due to the actions of your PCs, I like how much you've adapted and adjusted based on what your players have done. The absolute opposite of a "railroad", really, which is nice to see. That said, it still sounds like you've maintained control and kept things still feeling like Middle-earth. From what I understand, the Woodmen culture was pretty much decimated/gone by the time of The Lord of the Rings, so having so many of the able-bodied warriors wiped out actually fits (though in your game it might have happened a bit earlier than others).

Now that Darkening of Mirkwood has been out for a while, I was wondering whereabouts the timeline people currently are. Owing to the massive amount of content inside the book, I'm going out on a limb here and guess that few have finished it so far. Where are you and what has happened?

As can be read in this thread, we're currently in 2951, and are mostly through "Tales from Wilderland". I've only mixed in a bit of Darkening so far, but plan to do more. Our last session was our first using the Eye of Sauron mechanic, as we've just hit the timeline where Sauron reveals himself.

[Ernst-Jan]

I would appreciate that! It would spell trouble if my company tries to sneak into the fortress if I don't have a map for it.

Working on it.

We've just finished the Folk-moot at Rhosgobel and the company are showing interest in helping Bofri with his road as well as going to investigate Tyrant's Hill. They're pretty tight with Ceawin and Sunstead too! I've also been interweaving Tales from Wilderland in, and they've just finished Don't Leave the Path - I think I'll run Kinstrife next, actually, as they're still in Spring 2958.

How did the Folk-Moot fare as far as Mogdred was concerned?

Greatly enjoyed reading your recaps and summaries, Ernst-Jan. While there's been some pretty significant changes due to the actions of your PCs, I like how much you've adapted and adjusted based on what your players have done. The absolute opposite of a "railroad", really, which is nice to see. That said, it still sounds like you've maintained control and kept things still feeling like Middle-earth. From what I understand, the Woodmen culture was pretty much decimated/gone by the time of The Lord of the Rings, so having so many of the able-bodied warriors wiped out actually fits (though in your game it might have happened a bit earlier than others).

Thank you! It's years of erring that's taught me to loosen the reins a bit. That, plus a well-intentioned group well-versed in the canon of Middle-Earth ensures their input doesn't veer too far off course. I've been pleasantly surprised myself how much they put into this!

It is as you say, the Woodmen will most probably disappear, sooner or later, and I like the fact that my players, however well-meant, may have had a hand in their demise. It's just those two beautiful final adventures in DoM are so tantalizing, and I would like it to all end on a similar note. I won't force it, of course, but still...

As can be read in this thread, we're currently in 2951, and are mostly through "Tales from Wilderland". I've only mixed in a bit of Darkening so far, but plan to do more. Our last session was our first using the Eye of Sauron mechanic, as we've just hit the timeline where Sauron reveals himself.

I've lurked about on your thread for some time, and greatly enjoy your writeups! I've used the Eye for a few sessions now so far, also starting on from 2951, and so far it's produced horrific results, in the best way possible. The threshold was reached at the exact moment they were attempting to approach the Dwimmerhorn without being seen.

[Andrew]

How did the Folk-Moot fare as far as Mogdred was concerned?

Not at all well! I had each of the players play one of the elders when it came to holding the folk-moot and voting. They voted in favour of Ceawin (the company having spent quite a bit of time with him previously) and Amaleoda, but rejected Mogdred - with the caveat that Ingomer wanted to reach out to him and talk more. For now, Mogdred's stormed off.

I think the company are going to go investigate Tyrant's Hill next, as they're worried about Beran (Dagmar successfully made off with him and he's not been seen since).

[Majestic]

As can be read in this thread, we're currently in 2951, and are mostly through "Tales from Wilderland". I've only mixed in a bit of Darkening so far, but plan to do more. Our last session was our first using the Eye of Sauron mechanic, as we've just hit the timeline where Sauron reveals himself.

I've lurked about on your thread for some time, and greatly enjoy your writeups! I've used the Eye for a few sessions now so far, also starting on from 2951, and so far it's produced horrific results, in the best way possible. The threshold was reached at the exact moment they were attempting to approach the Dwimmerhorn without being seen.

Thank you as well! We reached our first Revelation Episode right at the exact same time (the PCs had worked really hard to sneak to the Dwimmerhorn, and it happened right as they were scaling the cliffs). I perused the options and - though it would have made a nice fit to have a horde of Orcs waiting for the PCs when they reached the top - I also realized that they would never learn the secrets of the temple. So for their first one I went Reckless Hate for Ghor the Despoiler, who then had that when he snuck into Mountain Hall and battled the characters later.

[Ernst-Jan]

Thank you as well! We reached our first Revelation Episode right at the exact same time (the PCs had worked really hard to sneak to the Dwimmerhorn, and it happened right as they were scaling the cliffs). I perused the options and - though it would have made a nice fit to have a horde of Orcs waiting for the PCs when they reached the top - I also realized that they would never learn the secrets of the temple. So for their first one I went Reckless Hate for Ghor the Despoiler, who then had that when he snuck into Mountain Hall and battled the characters later.

Ha! I had them captured and imprisoned on the Dwimmerhorn, which handily sidestepped all the risks involved in getting there and the very real possibility that they hear nothing of the important information regarding the Chain and such. They managed to escape later through creative use of Radagast's storm bag.