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Greetings,

My group is about to start a campaign in Rohan, but they really want the adventure to start in Mordor, especially after Journeys and Maps covered the region, and make their way North.
I've said it many times:

One does not simply walk into Mordor

Furthermore, the adventure is starting at 2953, two years after Sauron openly declares himself there, so...
Is it even possible to experience (even partially) the place and its darkness and still get out alive? I really don't know how to do it, so I'm posting for ideas and suggestions.

Thanks in advance.

I'd say 'okay, fine. It's a TN 20 zone, you've got beginning level characters, and every enemy in Mordor has No Quarter. Good luck.'

In short, make it clear that, if this were D&D, they're trying to take their level 1 characters to go fight a Great Wyrm Red Dragon. Not the best plan.

A small band of spies might be able to infiltrate parts of Mordor and get out again, but I don't know what they might actually gain by doing so in the year in question. Aragorn entered the Mountains of Shadow early in 2980 after leaving the service of Ecthelion II of Gondor, seeking intelligence of the plots of Sauron and the movements of his servants. Tolkien did not indicate what Aragorn actually learned, but after his reunion with Arwen in Lórien, he continued on to Rivendell and doubtless shared his discoveries with Elrond. However, this was more than a quarter-century after the current time of your game.

By what route would your players attempt to enter Mordor? There might be secret passes through the Ash Mountains to the North or in the Mountains of Shadow in South Ithilien, Harondor or Near Harad, but how would any of the Heroes know of them? And the main industry of Nurn is agriculture conducted by slave-labor. I'm not even sure how your Heroes might even know of the pass of Cirith Ungol or how they would deal with Shelob if they attempted it.

Thanks for your responses! That's gonna be a challenge and I don't want them to feel the greatests warriors in Middle-earth right in the first game session, so the No Quarter ability may give them a sense of vulnerability .

Otaku-sempai wrote: And the main industry of Nurn is agriculture conducted by slave-labor.

Sorry if it's a dumb question, but the slaves are from different races or just orcs/servants? Reading this made me think that maybe they could start as escaping slaves trying to get out from the Dark Land. This would solve the uniting part of the company and the Mordor adventuring/run-for-your-lives stuff.

EDIT: I don't know if anyone is familiar with the Shadows of Mordor game, but it sounds like a way to know more about it, but I don't know how precisely.

Faeron8 wrote:

Otaku-sempai wrote: And the main industry of Nurn is agriculture conducted by slave-labor.

Sorry if it's a dumb question, but the slaves are from different races or just orcs/servants? Reading this made me think that maybe they could start as escaping slaves trying to get out from the Dark Land. This would solve the uniting part of the company and the Mordor adventuring/run-for-your-lives stuff.

I don't think that it has ever been made clear. My assumption that the slave labor is mostly from the Mannish commoners of Mordor, Harad and Khand--even Rhûn. Snaga Orcs wouldn't have labored under the Sun. Some slaves might have been taken from Gondor and Rohan though.

I suppose that the Heroes might be able to enter Mordor openly from the East, disguised as Men (and/or Dwarves?) from Rhûn; however, that would require at least some knowledge of the languages and customs of the eastern lands. Have you allowed any of the Heroes to have a variant Background that would make them part of a merchant family from Dorwinion?

Shadows of Mordor actually is quite a good game, well worth playing (you have to be open to some of the lore suggestions though). It gives you a good sense of what Mordor actually could look like, if you want it to be at least something more than a barren wasteland. There are slaves, orcs of lesser stature, but also men. You could probably find information on it by googling its homepage, its maps and concept art.

I think you would have to consider how much Shadow the heroes have after spending time in Mordor as slaves!!
If they start out clean, then it will feel strange getting Shadow from travelling in relatively safe areas compared to Mordor...
I would start them out as Misserable, so any roll of Eye results in Bout of Madness

Faeron8 wrote: EDIT: I don't know if anyone is familiar with the Shadows of Mordor game, but it sounds like a way to know more about it, but I don't know how precisely.

Shadows of Mordor is possibly your best bet for inspiration. I started playing it recently and as well as orcs fighting one another, there are the Outsiders (Men from Gondor - thieves and the like who are outcasts) many have been taken prisoner by the orcs whereas others scrape by in a frankly deadly environment.

If they really want to explore Mordor ask them why and don't be afraid to quote Boromir's speech at the Council of Elrond. The air is poison, barely anything grows there, everything is hostile and that's before you take into consideration Sauron's return. Mordor is literal hell on 'Middle' Earth. Don't dissuade them but make them aware this is pretty much a suicide mission.

I'm definitely using your suggestions and I'm gonna check out the game, the idea of Mordor presented there is the one I'm more confortable LMing about.

One last thing, do you know any sources for inspiration other than the game? I've downloaded the MERP books about the region, but the more the better .

That's great that you've downloaded the MERP books, and you may also wish to consider some of Decipher's LOTR products. In particular, there are brief glimpses in their Two Towers book, and their first boxed set of maps adds a few fortresses to their version of Mordor.