Moria Supplement?

[Kalesin]

After starting a small test, we started playing the campaign "Tales from Wilderland" and players this liking them a lot.

My question is whether this planned someday publish a supplement to Moria region, I think is a very interesting zone for adventures (for advanced players)

Thank you very much for this great game!!!

[Falenthal]

Nothing official, I'm afraid.

I remember one of the writters of C7 (Mythholder? Rôg? Luikart?) saying something about "developing some ideas about a Moria campaign" or such, but nothing definitive or planned, AFAIK.

[Otaku-sempai]

I can think of several reasons to enter Moria within the timeframe of TOR and before Balin's expedition of TA 2989, but not many:

- Alternate route to the Redhorn Pass for crossing the Misty Mountains.
- Mission to search for and recover some artefact of the Dwarves of Moria.
- Scouting expedition prior to Balin's re-colonization of Moria.

None of the above should be attempted lightly! And nothing should be discovered that would significantly alter Balin's plans to re-occupy Khazad-dûm. After Balin becomes Lord of Moria, any mission into Moria that takes place between then and the War of the Ring would seem to be doomed unless Tolkien's canon is ignored.

[Glorelendil]

I've heard rumors. I can't imagine it's not in the pipeline in some form....

[Earendil]

I can think of several reasons to enter Moria within the timeframe of TOR and before Balin's expedition of TA 2989, but not many:

- Alternate route to the Redhorn Pass for crossing the Misty Mountains.
- Mission to search for and recover some artefact of the Dwarves of Moria.
- Scouting expedition prior to Balin's re-colonization of Moria.

None of the above should be attempted lightly! And nothing should be discovered that would significantly alter Balin's plans to re-occupy Khazad-dûm. After Balin becomes Lord of Moria, any mission into Moria that takes place between then and the War of the Ring would seem to be doomed unless Tolkien's canon is ignored.

Both Gandalf and Aragorn say they've passed through Moria before, though (as far as i remember) they don't specify when or why. And Balin & co were there for 4+ years before things turned sour. So I see no reason why heroes in the game can't also go there.

In my game one of the heroes has a ring made in Moria at its height, which enhances his Craft skill (a Wondrous Item, from the rules in the Rivendell book) but has a curse which gives him one permanent Shadow point. Although he doesn't know it yet, lifting that curse will require him to go to the place in Moria where it was forged (I haven't yet decided what exactly he'll need to do there).

So there's one reason to go there. It should, of course, be dangerous, but as long as they don't stay too long it shouldn't be at all impossible. Indeed, maybe their success will be part of what influences Balin to think retaking Moria is viable...

[Falenthal]

- Scouting expedition prior to Balin's re-colonization of Moria.

That's the main plot I would like to see in a Moria campaign: a series of expeditions to explore the surroundings of the eastern door and, after that, the main level of Moria. All of this promoted by Balin himself. It wouldn't be illogic for dwarves to hire adventurers before risking the lives of more dwarves.

There should be a closed contract about the property of dwarven artifacts found during the scouting. For example, everything found must first be supervised by Balin, and only afterwards might it be offered as reward to the adventurers. Some treasures are unrecorded, and can be hidden from Balin (at the cost of some Shadow points), but others are known to be there ("You've been to the second armory and didn't find Narin's Coat of Shining Stars there? Are you sure? The records tell us that it IS there...") and Balin might get suspicious of the characters.

And then:

Indeed, maybe their success will be part of what influences Balin to think retaking Moria is viable...

[Otaku-sempai]

Gloin at the Council of Elrond does say that fair messages came from Moria to the Dwarves of Erebor for 'a while', probably for all of the first four years of the colony (TA 2989-93) and a bit beyond. This would be the safest period for Adventurers to visit the place (but who wants to stay safe all the time?). Balin was slain on 10 November, 2994 and the colony exterminated some days later, perhaps a week or so.

Gandalf first entered Moria in search of Thrain. I would guess that this was some time before his investigation of Dol Guldur in 2850. However, since he did not identify the Dwarf he found dying in the dungeons as the father of Thorin, it might have conceivably been later. It still had to take place before the Quest of Erebor.

'I too once passed the Dimrill Gate,' said Aragorn quietly; 'but though I also came out again, the memory is very evil. I do not wish to enter Moria a second time.'

The real mystery is when and why Aragorn first set foot in Moria. He was not in the company of Gandalf but I wouldn't think that it was in his very first years of wandering outside of Rivendell, so probably in 2957 or later, after the start of his period of journeys and errantries. He might have even been searching for Gollum, which would place it sometime after Bilbo's birthday in 3001 at the earliest--more likely between 3009 and 3017.

[Glorelendil]

Last year I started working on the outline of a Moria campaign. My plot:

SETUP
Balin is starting to think about Moria, but there is dissension among the Erebor Dwarves about the wisdom of going, and Dain has yet to give his blessing to such a mission.
Balin decides to secretly find some "adventurers" to scout things out, working through an intermediary.
A rival of Balin's, an advisor to Dain who urges caution, has suspicions that Balin is up to something and hires his own adventurers to find out what Balin is up to, disrupt his plans if possible, and report back to him.
The leader of the this band of adventurers, unbeknownst to Balin's rival, falls under the sway of a Nazgul, and is now serving two masters.

THE GUIDE
Word comes to the heroes that the Woodmen have captured a Dwarf skulking around their settlements and stealing their food, who claims to have come out of Moria. They hustle over to Woodland Hall, only to learn that the Dwarf has escaped into Mirkwood. They have some adventures pursuing him (presumably...) and hear his story:

He has been a slave in the pits for nigh on 200 years and has only recently escaped. He's willing to serve as a guide, but only if the heroes agree to help him rescue is brother, who is still in there.

This Dwarf turns out to be mostly telling the truth, except for his reasons for wanting to return to Moria. He actually has treasure on his mind, and will happily...but without malice...abandon his employers once he has what he wants, especially if it seems that doing so is necessary to save his own skin. But beyond that he's an ornery, half-crazy, demanding, self-aggrandizing P.I.T.A.

I have all sorts of ideas for what happens once they are inside, but that's the gist of it: a delusional dwarf for a guide, a servant of the Shadow on their tail.

[Rich H]

Balin's desire to reclaim Moria is certainly an excellent place to start for such a campaign.

I know if I was writing for TOR, and had been asked to work on a Moria campaign, such a thing is what I'd use as the foundations for such a boxed set.

[Falenthal]

So, according to the data Otaku-Sempai shares, from c.2987 (a few years before Balin enters Moria) until before November 2994, there's place for adventure in and around Moria (maybe even bringing the news to Erebor before the each Fellowship phase).

This covers 7 years that, at the rate of adventures TOR proposes, equals a supplement like Tales from the Wilderland.

If tons of maps, info on the dwarven culture, on dwarven crafts, etc. is included, then it could turn into a boxed set.