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Hello all!

I've a new idea for a campaign that I'm looking to get solidified as best I can before I present it to my players, and I was hoping to get some assistance!

The basic idea would set the campaign closer to the War of the Ring - I'm thinking beginning in TA 3001, and progressing from there to the eventual point when it grows to be more epic in scale. I'm thinking that the early parts could be something of a 'prequel' that then expands into the larger narrative, with hints of what's to come being dropped in here and there, similar to what Peter Jackson did with The Hobbit.

The larger narrative would eventually result in playing a fellowship of original characters who are active in the North during the War of the Ring, and tasked by the Wise to help keep the eyes of the Enemy off the Fellowship of the Ring, or something similar. Fun note, I actually RPed such a Fellowship in LotRO a bit ago and it was super engaging.

I'd borrow some of the story ideas from both War in the North and The Lord of the Rings Online, contending with the lieutenants of the Witch-King in Angmar and the Easterling and Orc raids in Mirkwood/Dale/Erebor. My players have been asking for a campaign that brought them more into focus with some of the more important events, and its something I'm keen to provide them. And, as far as I remember, much of the northern activities during the War of the Ring are largely open.

Aside from advice on that, I was hoping to weave in some of the published adventurers, but since they're set further back on the timeline, I was wondering if folks had suggestions with how to use them to the best effect? Ruins of the North and some of the latter parts of Darkening seem best to me, but again, any advice is welcomed!

Thanks!

TA 3001 still puts you eighteen years away from the events of the War in the North, but that's fine if you are looking at a long campaign with many years of set-up.

Otaku-sempai wrote:TA 3001 still puts you eighteen years away from the events of the War in the North, but that's fine if you are looking at a long campaign with many years of set-up.

Ah, yeah, probably my wording on that - the idea was to start there and then build into the War in the North. Effectively, TA 3001 - 3019, with potential to go into the Fourth Age.

This is a great idea and works perfectly for both sides of the Mountains. Gandalf summarized the issue west of the Mountains:

‘You may think that Rivendell was out of his reach, but I did not think so. The state of things in the North was very bad. The Kingdom under the Mountain and the strong Men of Dale were no more. To resist any force that Sauron might send to regain the northern passes in the mountains and the old lands of Angmar there were only the Dwarves of the Iron Hills, and behind them lay a desolation and a Dragon...'

The key is an attempt to "regain the northern passes in the mountains and the old lands of Angmar." There's a whole chronicle right there

Mim wrote:This is a great idea and works perfectly for both sides of the Mountains. Gandalf summarized the issue west of the Mountains:

‘You may think that Rivendell was out of his reach, but I did not think so. The state of things in the North was very bad. The Kingdom under the Mountain and the strong Men of Dale were no more. To resist any force that Sauron might send to regain the northern passes in the mountains and the old lands of Angmar there were only the Dwarves of the Iron Hills, and behind them lay a desolation and a Dragon...'

The key is an attempt to "regain the northern passes in the mountains and the old lands of Angmar." There's a whole chronicle right there

Yeah, I had thought that some of the idea could be that the Enemy would be largely focused on razing Dale and Erebor and the surrounding lands, they'd be mostly blind to a small company of adventurers doing exactly what that quote suggests.

And, as Gandalf begins to suspect the One Ring is in the Shire in 3001, he might then set out to put that plan into motion then using heroes from east of the Mountains - and possibly a Hobbit.

I think it's a great idea. You could potentially even have the PCs have an encounter with Saruman, especially if there's a Hobbit in the party (of course, they can't outright assault the wizard, for that would be using out of character knowledge). Or Saruman's spies, which roamed about (we know there were some in Bree).

Majestic wrote:I think it's a great idea. You could potentially even have the PCs have an encounter with Saruman, especially if there's a Hobbit in the party (of course, they can't outright assault the wizard, for that would be using out of character knowledge). Or Saruman's spies, which roamed about (we know there were some in Bree).

Mm, yeah, that's a cool idea. I like the spy idea, especially, and the potential interactions with our Hobbit.

Radagast will play a part, as well, since I rather like him and he's largely unexplored, as well. I imagine he could have left Rhosgobel abandoned as a ruse of sorts, in case the Enemy came for him. And with his status as a patron of the Woodmen, I doubt he would leave them to their own devices.

I think there are several things you could do:

- Move the Darkening of Mirkwood Cycle back a few years and link it in with Sauron's military build up in preparation for the War of The Ring. I never liked the DoM scenario that sees the destruction of the Woodmen (I think there's some evidence in the LoTR that they possibly survived) so you could make the cycle about actually trying to save them (and thus the North) in the run up to the War of the Ring.

- Create a new cycle; perhaps one that focuses on the destruction of the Beornings using the Goblins in Gundabad. After all, the Beornings are guarding the Northern Passes and the Northern Flank of Lorien (and Rohan). Remove them and Rivendell is definitely in peril.

- Create a new cycle where Sauron seeks to overthrow Dale before the War of the Ring. Unlike the 2 previous ideas this one relies more on Spies and traitors in the Catacombs working against the King - perhaps a bit more of a Warhammer vibe.

- If you want something a bit MERP-ish you could have the adventurers participate in the discovery of an ancient weapon of Morgoth that creates plagues or something and could lead to the desolation becoming desolate once more. I believe someone posted some time ago on here with an idea for the exploration of ancient Utumno.

- A combination of all or part of the above.

Hope this helps!

FF

Finrod Felagund wrote:I think there are several things you could do:

- Move the Darkening of Mirkwood Cycle back a few years and link it in with Sauron's military build up in preparation for the War of The Ring. I never liked the DoM scenario that sees the destruction of the Woodmen (I think there's some evidence in the LoTR that they possibly survived) so you could make the cycle about actually trying to save them (and thus the North) in the run up to the War of the Ring.

Yeah, this is a neat idea. I do believe they took part in the fighting during the War of the Ring and with Radagast expected to play a large part in the campaign, as well as a Woodmen PC, this gives some urgency and fun opportunities for the character.

Finrod Felagund wrote:- Create a new cycle; perhaps one that focuses on the destruction of the Beornings using the Goblins in Gundabad. After all, the Beornings are guarding the Northern Passes and the Northern Flank of Lorien (and Rohan). Remove them and Rivendell is definitely in peril.

I definitely plan to use Gundaband as one of the major staging points for the Enemy, Carn Dum being the other. I probably wouldn't go for outright destruction of the Beornings, but probably enough so that the Enemy can pass more or less unhindered. Perhaps the survivors flee to the Woodmen towns, or perhaps even to the Woodland Realm.

Finrod Felagund wrote:- Create a new cycle where Sauron seeks to overthrow Dale before the War of the Ring. Unlike the 2 previous ideas this one relies more on Spies and traitors in the Catacombs working against the King - perhaps a bit more of a Warhammer vibe.

Interesting, I'd have to think about this a little more.

Finrod Felagund wrote:- If you want something a bit MERP-ish you could have the adventurers participate in the discovery of an ancient weapon of Morgoth that creates plagues or something and could lead to the desolation becoming desolate once more. I believe someone posted some time ago on here with an idea for the exploration of ancient Utumno.

I never played MERP, but that sounds really cool. I'd have to flesh it out further to make sure it fits into what else I have.

Thanks for your suggestions!

No worries. If you're starting in 3001 you essentially have 18 years of adventures to find. The background is increasing enemy activity leading up to the War of the Ring, so each year things must get darker and more significant. The sorts of things you might have adventurers do (in no particular order) to disrupt Sauron's actions might include:

- Bring Thranduil to ally with other free peoples by saving his niece or something.
- Help Dwarves to ally with Elves by convincing Dain and Thranduil to meet
- Get men to ally with Elves and Dwarves by creating Council of the North
- Help devise overall plans to defend the north at a later council meeting
- Leadership of Woodmen/Beornings/whoever has become corrupt and you need to sort it out
- Scouting out increased enemy activity around Dol Guldor, Gundabad, Northern wastes, wherever
- Ringwraith raises some dead and they need to be made dead again
- Enemy raid on isolated village and you need to relieve a siege or something
- Enemy scouts in Gladden/North Mirkwood wherever need chasing off
- Some of the monsters mention in DoM and HotW (Dragon, Werewolf, Vampire, sorceress etc) need sorting out
- Spies/traitors in Beornings/Woodmen are passing on info to enemy - they must be found
- Ancient weapon needs to be found which might make all the difference
- Enemy battalions crossing near to your territory need taking out
- Spiders corrupting Mirkwood again. Need blessing of Yavanna to cleanse the area.
- Some fun stuff- i.e. participating in Beorning games, drinking competition at the Easterly Inn
- Grimbeorn has been poisoned and Radagast tells us the only plant that will save him is the fabled Silver Star
- Orcs enslaving woodmen so you need to lead rescue mission
- Easterlings raid Dale so you need to kick ass.

The above is just thinking off the top of my head so it can be improved no doubt. Hope it helps though.

FF