Getting Dol Guldur's History Right

[DavetheLost]

Iirc Gandalf says the he barely escaped after meeting Thrain there and getting the map and key from him. If Gandalf barely managed to escape it is no place for PCs to be venturing.

[Rich H]

Iirc Gandalf says the he barely escaped after meeting Thrain there and getting the map and key from him. If Gandalf barely managed to escape it is no place for PCs to be venturing.

Not that I'm disagreeing but just to present an opposing viewpoint. There's at least a slight possibility that a small group of clever and capable heroes with the right kind of skills could venture there. Gandalf may have barely escaped because he was noticed; which could mean physically but is just as likely to be on some metaphysical level. Perhaps both; maybe the latter led to the other... Also, I'm guessing that in order to find Thrain he had to venture into the dungeons of Dol Guldur - possibly deep within it's bowels. I'd say, although extremely dangerous, PCs could explore the outlying area and even perhaps some of the upper levels/areas - especially those of a stealthy persuasion. It's an extremely dangerous location and would need months of careful planning, prequel adventures to scout out the lands leading to it, etc but I certainly wouldn't close it off as a possibility for PC to venture there.

[Mim]

I'm with Rich on this one.

You can run your players through Dol Guldur if they plan ahead, are solid enough (250 xp sounds about right Angelalex242), & if they are stealthy & don't just charge in. In fact, everyone can have a blast playing through what should arguably be a terrifying & challenging ordeal for your heroes.

BTW, I've already written the adventure for the above ground Dol Guldur, adding stats for some of the fun in the Heart of the Wild (I won't post details in case of problems for C7) that await your players, & am working on the depths.

[Angelalex242]

Well, the biggest thing about Dol Guldur...if the Eye himself is still there, he can basically overwhelm even Wisdom 6 heroes with so many shadow points they go insane.

In less strenuous circumstances, the 250 xp characters should be fine. (And if the Witch King's in there instead of his master, the party better have some females, or else!)

[Boronind]

Ah, yes, Mim, I had forgotten about Mr. Martinez's historical explorations. Thanks for pointing me in that direction. Very helpful.

And yes, thank you for bringing the old Garn-Eladuin-Tolwen explorations to my attention. They are wonderful to read and reflect upon.

TBH, though, I'm less interested in DG itself as I am in the "effect" it had during the years on those living in proximity to it. To that, I doubt that the Professor had much to say. I'm sure the devs will have more in store for us in The Darkening of Mirkwood.

I'm intrigued about the discussion of having a group of PC entering DG itself during the time of TOR (i.e. after its main tenant has been evicted, which I'm sure we'll see in the last Hobbit film) for one reason or another. So, while the discussion is a bit off-topic, it is still interesting.

[Angelalex242]

There's an adventure idea. Witch King in Dol Guldur. 250 XP party, NO MALES ALLOWED!

So this all female party of 250XP characters goes after the Witch King...

"No man may slay me!"

"Do you SEE any men here?"

"...This may not end well."

[Hermes Serpent]

Having spent the evening viewing Mr. Jackson's latest piece of work I must say that the idea of venturing into Dol Guldur does not look very feasible for even very experienced heroes.

The appearance of the Hill of Sorcery is appropriately forlorn and shows signs of the damage caused by years of neglect. It also shows how the inhabitants may be concealed by certain spells and the immense power of the inhabitant.

I can also say that LM's will now have to be dealing with player requests to shoot bows while balancing on the heads of two Dwarves riding barrels down a raging river plus the inevitable dual-wielding of elven knifes or short swords.

[Rich H]

Having spent the evening viewing Mr. Jackson's latest piece of work I must say that the idea of venturing into Dol Guldur does not look very feasible for even very experienced heroes...

Those films are not what this RPG is based upon. Thank Christ. For instance, are we also now going to go with the Black Harpoon rather than the Black Arrow? An awful boring film (I actually nodded off in places) that really has very little in common with the source material. At least he's relatively consistent though - old PJ doesn't set a high bar.

Anyway...

Dol Guldur would be a dark, frightening, and oppressive place; at best. A heavily blighted land, so expect the PCs to face lots of high TN Corruption Tests. I'd even expose them to Valour/Fear Tests as well. Hope would quickly dwindle in and around this stronghold even for the very wise and the very brave.

... And there are some rules which I believe are coming in the Rivendell supplement that would also be applicable but I can't say anything about those, sorry! If anyone is thinking of running adventures in or around DG then I'd advise you to wait for that these to be released as they really will enhance any scenario.

[Elmoth]

One of the woodie backgrounds (the one about the emo depressed elf) mentions the elf going on a stroll around Dol Guldur from time to time. So, I think we can assume that moving around there cautiously should be feasible, even if dangerous. Going on a stroll inside dol guldur is annother mattrer, though.

[DavetheLost]

I think around Dol Guldor would be survivable, if not pleasant. The heart if the citadel is another matter. The pits and dungeons might actually be more survivable, simply because I imagine there are a lot of lost and forgotten tunnels and pits. I think Thrain was said to be wandering in there when Gandalf found him, rather than being locked in a cell.

If the Fellowship visit during a time when both Sauron and the Nazgul are absent, then maybe...

As for MR Jackson's latest film, I enjoyed it as much as the first four. I think they work very well if one completely forgets they are in any way related Tolkien and instead watches them as action adventure fantasy movies. Some of the scenes with Smaug are quite visually impressive, although Vermithrax Perjorative still impresses me more, if only because she was not CGI.