Darkening of Mirkwood Assessment

[Mim]

I concur Gareth, & I'm glad someone points this out - thanks Doc!

This is one of my fav elements of these stories - you can generally shift your players in a whole other direction (or as is more likely they'll go off & do their own thing ) & you'll still mostly follow the plot lines.

In a nutshell, great creative writing.

[farinal]

Argh! I still haven't bought mine. Can you guys give some hints on the Holding rules?

[Rich H]

Argh! I still haven't bought mine. Can you guys give some hints on the Holding rules?

Check out this thread: viewtopic.php?f=7&t=859 ... I do a bit of a summary within it a few posts in.

[MReader]

Also, I felt that "Nine In The Hall" didn't have enough magic and creepiness regarding the Hall of Ghosts -- and what's Raegenhere's evil plot, anyway? Did they really just force him to randomly kill everyone who comes to his house instead of being a real threat? All of the other characters were great, but the Host himself was more than slightly disappointing for me...

I've got two answers - the prosaic and the rhetorical.

Rhetorical first - why does a Wight have to have an evil plot? The Barrow-Wights weren't secretly scheming to infiltrate Bree or anything. Some forms of evil just despise all that lives and laughs, and strikes when opportunity arises. The Host might "just" be a serial killer. The bodies in the thatch suggest that these aren't the first guests he's murdered over the winter.

Prosaic - depending on the actions of the players back in 2951, Ceawin might or might not be the Host, so the adventure of Nine in the Hall can't depend on Ceawin being present. The host therefore has to be left a little indeterminate, as he might or might not be Ceawin, and Ceawin carries a lot more baggage and continuity than the alternative candidate. I could have rejiggered things so it was always Ceawin, or never Ceawin, but that would have meant breaking some of my own informal rules when designing the storyline.

In other words, it's a fair point, but there are other factors at play that have to be considered.

Wow... I guess I should probably quit arguing -- after all, there's probably a reason why C7 and the people behind TOR picked you over other prospective authors, and as a team, you've all been doing a great job so far. Thanks for this interesting discussion -- I'll be sure to remember it when designing my own campaign (which will probably include many of the same adventure seeds & plot points, if that's all right).

[DavetheLost]

Such are the difficulties faced by the designer writing for everyone instead of one particular campaign group.

Gareth really has no way of knowing how each of our individual campaigns is going to unfold. He has no ability to react to events as they occur and adjust the future plot accordingly. This is something each of us as a individual Lore Masters take for granted. We automatically tailor our opposition to the strengths and weaknesses of our PCs. We bring back favorite NPCs. We have the repercussions of PC actions echo down through the campaign. Gareth can do none of that for us.

The best that an adventure writer can do is try to anticipate possible actions by the players and give probable outcomes for these. The motivation and identity of the Host is a case in point. You are in a better position to determine motivation and identity that suit your game and your story. The alternative is for Gareth to write a railroad that forces the story to have one predetermined arc.

The poor man is also sitting down and writing thirty years of game time in one go. I am usually lucky to be weeks or months ahead of my players.

[Mytholder]

Wow... I guess I should probably quit arguing -- after all, there's probably a reason why C7 and the people behind TOR picked you over other prospective authors, and as a team, you've all been doing a great job so far. Thanks for this interesting discussion -- I'll be sure to remember it when designing my own campaign (which will probably include many of the same adventure seeds & plot points, if that's all right).

Please don't stop arguing - campaign supplements like this only work if the Loremaster 'owns' the story, so my opinion shouldn't be taken as gospel. I'll happily explain why I made a particular decision, but that doesn't mean that decision is right for you and your campaign.

[farinal]

Argh! I still haven't bought mine. Can you guys give some hints on the Holding rules?

Check out this thread: viewtopic.php?f=7&t=859 ... I do a bit of a summary within it a few posts in.

Do they get like a little keep or castle? Or are there any variants like opening an inn or even a settlement?

[DarkTraveller]

Argh! I still haven't bought mine. Can you guys give some hints on the Holding rules?

Check out this thread: viewtopic.php?f=7&t=859 ... I do a bit of a summary within it a few posts in.

Do they get like a little keep or castle? Or are there any variants like opening an inn or even a settlement?

In Darkening I saw points where they can potentially get farmland in the East Bight, and the Western Eaves, as well as a stopover/toll-booth in the middle of Mirkwood. And if used in conjunction with Tales from Wilderland you could wind up with a holding in the Dalelands.

In particular the rules do mention essentially have an inn, mansion, mine, farm, cottage, etc/

[farinal]

Building your own hold and dominion was great fun in the Asoiaf RPG. Btw does anyone play that here I wonder...

[Bomilkar]

I love this supplement. Taken together with 'The Heart of the Wild' I consider it the best roleplaying supplement I have read so far.

What makes this book so great is the epic scope of the campaign. I have yet to read most of the adventures in detail, and I will most probably change some of them to fit more with my tastes (and the needs of on-going campaign), but the overall development of the storyline is as fabulous as it is tragic. The players will have 30 years of game time to influence events in Wilderland and when the end comes, they will have seen the rise and fall of characters and they will have created an emotional link to the land and the people. And despite some railroading there own choices will have left their mark on the tapestry that is Wilderland's history.

Oh, and the ending. I loved the ending: it perfectly encapsulates the co-existence of tragedy and hope that we see again and again in Tolkien's stories. Whenever I think about the ending, I have to blink away a tear.