forums.cubicle7.co.uk
archive

Jon Hodgson wrote: ↑

Tue Nov 14, 2017 9:51 am

(...)
And don't get me wrong here - I'm very much in favour of including the big locations and characters - I think it's a big part of what a lot of us turn up at the game for. But I'm also very aware that the opportunity to make really strong stories, with our own heroes at their heart, sometimes precludes a comprehensive tour of the region. I think it's a really interesting challenge.

Of course, the other thing is we aren't limited to one adventure supplement per region. But we do want to get you lots of places to play in too. There's so much we could still do with places we've already visited...

I agree (especially) with the bolded part.
When TOR was in its infancy, I remember a lot of people grumbling that "this new game" was focused on the fringe of the "real" Middle-earth, and that the PCs were bound to be "second tier" to the "real" heroes, without realizing that these statements were contradictory.
Mirkwood and the Rhovanion were a clever choice, design-wise, with a lot of free room for the Heroes to be THE heroes of their own game. Playing the Darkening of Mirkwood the players get the idea that their Heroes aren't "second tier" to anyone, but great Heroes from some of the "Lost Tales" of the Professor.

Oaths of the Riddermark, with its tight focus on a group of Rohirrim, was a particularly pleasant surprise to me. My own DoM campaign is focused on a group of Barding knights in the service of the King, that year after year come back at their homes, forge relationships (for good or ill), see their families growing up and their kingdom changing.

I see a lot of ways to make use of OofR, and I'm eager to see the Erebor adventure book.

Yes, it's a master coup within the free space of the known Middle Earth. It's show us the way to follow.

Halbarad wrote: ↑

Tue Nov 14, 2017 2:34 pm

I wonder if John’s last sentence is a bit of a hint at what to expect. Might we see adventures featuring Viglund, the Sorceress and Mansbane as part of the Laughter of Dragons? Considering the depth of the DoM campaign, these characters and possibly a few others that i’ve forgotten about were notably absent from the actual adventures. So much still to be done in places already visited. I wonder....

As much as I love the idea that I'm that clever, don't read too much into it. And the things we haven't announced yet are all new locales. (YET ANOTHER TICK ON TEASE SKILL)

But I also know we could make another "Ruins of the North" really easily, for example. There's just so much to work with. Heck, Darkening is super detailed, (and quite brilliant work by Gareth and Francesco) and I still think we could do another Mirkwood supplement if we chose to.

Jon Hodgson wrote: ↑

Wed Nov 15, 2017 11:12 am

But I also know we could make another "Ruins of the North" really easily, for example. There's just so much to work with. Heck, Darkening is super detailed, (and quite brilliant work by Gareth and Francesco) and I still think we could do another Mirkwood supplement if we chose to.

As much as I'd like to see another book of Eriador adventures come out, Jon, I would like to see the lands west of Bree covered by a region guide first so that the adventures could include those as well.

I love that we got the Dwarves of the Blue Mountains in the Adventurer's Companion, but we are still waiting for the write ups for the Halls of the Dwarves (Thorin's Halls? or separate?) and the Mines in the southern Ered Luin. And what about the Elves of the Grey Havens as a Heroic Culture (or might they represent an Advanced Culture)?

Otaku-sempai wrote: ↑

Wed Nov 15, 2017 2:40 pm

I would like to see the lands west of Bree covered by a region guide

We guessed that....

Glorelendil wrote: ↑

Thu Nov 16, 2017 4:35 am

Otaku-sempai wrote: ↑

Wed Nov 15, 2017 2:40 pm

I would like to see the lands west of Bree covered by a region guide

We guessed that....

Yeah, I know that I've been focused on that area for a while now. At some point I'll shift my attention elsewhere--perhaps to Dorwinion and the other regions surrounding the Sea of Rhûn. Might there be Dwarves in those mountains or Avari Elves in that wood? Might there be Gondorian loyalists still in Harondor or even Umbar? Those seem more promising than developing the Woses as a Heroic Culture.

On the other hand, I haven't tried to draft a TOR Guide to Forochel yet.

Otaku-sempai wrote: ↑

Wed Nov 15, 2017 2:40 pm

Jon Hodgson wrote: ↑

Wed Nov 15, 2017 11:12 am

But I also know we could make another "Ruins of the North" really easily, for example. There's just so much to work with. Heck, Darkening is super detailed, (and quite brilliant work by Gareth and Francesco) and I still think we could do another Mirkwood supplement if we chose to.

As much as I'd like to see another book of Eriador adventures come out, Jon, I would like to see the lands west of Bree covered by a region guide first so that the adventures could include those as well.

I love that we got the Dwarves of the Blue Mountains in the Adventurer's Companion, but we are still waiting for the write ups for the Halls of the Dwarves (Thorin's Halls? or separate?) and the Mines in the southern Ered Luin. And what about the Elves of the Grey Havens as a Heroic Culture (or might they represent an Advanced Culture)?

I didn't say we were going to make a Ruins of the North 2. Keeping what I said in context, I'm saying that every area we've already visited could be revisited, even several times over, due to the weight of the material and the depth of setting. I even said "But we do want to get you lots of places to play in too.", so there's no need to fret.

For me, I'm glad that we are revisiting Rhovanion with The Laghter of Dragons. C7 drew a compelling backdrop out of the Wilderlands

Jon Hodgson wrote: ↑

Thu Nov 16, 2017 8:44 am

I didn't say we were going to make a Ruins of the North 2. Keeping what I said in context, I'm saying that every area we've already visited could be revisited, even several times over, due to the weight of the material and the depth of setting. I even said "But we do want to get you lots of places to play in too.", so there's no need to fret.

I know you didn't; I was writing purely hypothetically and wasn't fretting. Thanks for your concern!

I am anxious to learn more about those locations in the Blue Mountains, though, and the Elves of Mithlond.

For my part, I really liked the approach taken in Oaths of the Riddermark. With so much material, both in the original Tolkien works and already published by C7, there is a risk (which the C7 team have obviously identified) of trying to cover too many bases in any given adventure product (as opposed to the region products). To my mind, creating a linked string of adventures specifically for Riders and focusing on the politics of Thengel's court made the product coherent and will make it a great deal of fun to play as the characters (and threats) develop. In fact, I might go so far as to say that as a linked set of adventures, Oaths might well be my favorite.

The region guides are the place for covering multiple areas/ideas and I really love the way the region guides contain so many interesting "hooks" for Loremasters to pick up and run with as they please. There is always the risk that a later product uses such a hook in a different way, but any sensible Loremaster can manage around that outcome.

I think Jon and the C7 team are right to focus on bringing us new regions, before revisiting older stomping grounds. We have a number of published cultures whose homelands have yet to be detailed. As Otaku-Sempai points out, Dwarves of the Blue Mountains is one, but so to are Elves of Lorien and Men of Minas Tirith. I do think it would be better to "finish the north" before heading south (not least because the south (Gondor, Ithilien, Mordor, Harad, Umbar, etc) is such a vaste area. So for me Moria and Lorien (either together or in one region guide) plus the Shire, Blue Mountains and Grey Havens (so we have a port to sail those ships from!!) would be the two region guides I'd most like to see next. Obviously Gondor would be a massive undertaking and very exciting.

All in all, though, I am really really happy with the way C7 have developed TOR. Whatever they do next will be fine with me - can't wait to see it. For what its worth, I'm also very happy with the way they have handled AiME - by just converting the existing TOR products, they have not hollowed out the original TOR product, instead they have given those who prefer a different system a way to enjoy Middle Earth - how fantastic is that!!