Other Minds magazine, latest Issue published

[Falenthal]

...Farenthal's adventure (which is the only contribution I've read in detail so far) is truly delighting!

Thanks for starting your reading there and for the nice comment!

Hope you enjoy it and any criticisms, comments, questions, etc are really, really welcomed.

[Lifstan]

Just finished reading "First Seed of a Great Forest". Great stuff! I will definitely play it as part of my darkenning campain.

I love how it uses informations from many TOR books and "bind them" into one single narrative. I like how it breathes live into Lake-Town at the beginning, presenting different areas of the town as the story moves along. Loved also the lore about the giant oak tree and the use of the giant spider at the end of the scenario, echoing the way the two trees are distroyed in the Silmarillion. And if played as part of darkenning, it really gives a nice reason why the wayward Elves would want to steal the lamp of Balthi later on...

Nicely done. Really high quality scenario. Could be professionnal stuff...

OK, now I'm going to read Darkness over Amon Nyrn.

[Falenthal]

Thanks a lot, Lifstan.

As you can see, most of the theme and stuff are there thanks to Gareth Ryder and Francesco Nepitello, who have given us so many raw ideas to go with that building an adventure is just a matter of putting the pieces together. Also I have to say that the whole adventure started with an illustration by Jon Hodgson, the cover for Tales from Wilderland (https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CbNNFHTW4AEhRPi.jpg). I love this picture, and was one day wondering "this scene doesn't belong to any of ToW adventures, does it? It deserves to have an adventure of its own".

With all that in mind, and wanting to have a beginner's adventure at Lake-town (the Lake-town supplement lacks an adventure of its own, too!!) that introduces a group of unknown characters into a fellowship of heroes, the rest was just a matter of putting bits and pieces together.

And I can't but thank both Arthadan and Tolwen, who have given shape to the most difficult parts (from a lore respectful perspective), like the undead, the oak and the jewel's light.
Also Zedturtle was implied in the making, reviewing and proofreading the adventure once finished.

So far I've runned it like 6 times, all with groups that wanted to get introduced to TOR, and it has worked very well.

I'd be glad to hear your experience if you get to run it!

[Glorelendil]

I've only had time to skim over "First Seed of a Great Forest" but my first impression is very positive.

(SLIGHT) SPOILER ALERT

I love that it starts off as a mundane "adventure" but eventually leads to the characters playing a role in the grand history of Middle-earth. That's essential for the true Tolkien-esque experience.

I also appreciate the lesson that not all end-bosses are meant to be killed and looted.

[Falenthal]

I've only had time to skim over "First Seed of a Great Forest" but my first impression is very positive.

Thank you, Glorelendil!
You know your opinion means a lot to me.

[Rich H]

Not had chance to read the adventure yet, Falenthal, but how adaptable is it to later in the timeline? Do you provide notes/comentary on doing that? If not, some may be useful!

[Dunkelbrink]

Not trying to speak for Farenthal here, but the adventure is certainly easy to adapt to a later year. In my own campaign the Council in 2956 is coming up and I immediately decided to combine Farenthal's adventure with the more diplomatic affairs during the council (from the adventure phase for 2956 from DoM). The council could take place during daytime and the activities in Seed during the evening, with the company leaving Laketown after finishing council business. An envoy accused of smuggling could certainly be interesting. The adventure also lays solid ground for the adventure with the Elves in year 2965, and about ten years between these adventures seems about right to me.

[Falenthal]

I think that the only big part that should be changed/adapted is wether the fellowship is (well) known in Lake-town or not, specially if they've met Glóin before.

But I think the bulk of the adventure can be played as is in the future, even outside of the Dragontide Festival.

[Dunkelbrink]

Some notes on strange details: On pg 59 in the magazine, with the text sidebar about Gwina and the boat, there seems to be some missing text. It ends with "so that it" but the sentence isn't finished.

On pg 60 the adventure handles an ambush by a hobgoblin, but also talks about how the trait enemy lore (wolves) could help the companions. But there are no wolves in that scene as I am aware of?

[Tolwen]

Some notes on strange details[snip]

You noted some issues that Falenthal already made me aware of. I uploaded a fixed version yesterday.
It seems there is no release version without overlooked errors/glitches - and OM17 is no exception

Beside a few spelling and/or grammatical errors, the following things (including those you spotted) have been fixed in the recently uploaded version:

• Cover page: Added AngusMcBride to the artist list. We are very sorry for this, considering the honour of being permitted to use his work...
• p. 59-61 Several issues with the separate boxes and the reference to the Marsh Hags.
• p. 123: Added links for navigation to the various parts of the article
• p. 155, 163, 170 & 175 - fixed names in the Oathbreaker realms

Best
Tolwen