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I am starting this thread to capture the initial impressions and assessments of Darkening of Mirkwood. This is probably useful for the guys at Cubicle 7 and will help other players decide whether or not to buy it.

My Observations:
* The material is organized well. It's easy to find things. The index and table of contents are both useful. (plus)
* I always dig new fellowship phase undertakings and there are some good ones here. (big plus)
* I also very much appreciate new hazards. (big plus)
* There's a small bit about Rivendell, the Misty Mountains, and Aragorn. It's not much but it's nice for those of us that insist on campaigns set in Eriador and/or using the Dúnedain of the North. (plus)
* The Loremaster map at the back of the book is excellent. Basically, it's all the maps from Heart of the Wild put together as the Valar intended. (plus)
* Good art. I'm not as art-inclined as many but everything in this book goes nicely with the setting; it's perfect to show your players (and use as a background for your virtual tabletops). (plus)
* If you appreciate the Great Pendragon Campaign, you will appreciate this. There is a LOT of material here. If my group started this our next session and tried to play it through, we would still be using this book a few years from now. (big plus)
* The holding rules are great to have but I am disappointed that they are so short. One of TOR's strengths is the relatively limited amount of crunch. This principle was taken to an extreme here, though, and, I think, wastes some of the potential. (weak plus)
* There was no need to rehash any of the creatures from Heart of the Wild. I doubt many/any Loremasters will use this product without the other and so I cannot help but feel like these were a few wasted pages (fortunately, less than a handful). (weak minus)

I strongly recommend this book for Loremasters. If you only play, you might not like all the spoilers.

Is there anything on starting it after Tales from Wilderland? It seems like Darkening's start date and Tales overlap somewhat.

I'd love to know this too please.

doctheweasel wrote:Is there anything on starting it after Tales from Wilderland? It seems like Darkening's start date and Tales overlap somewhat.

doctheweasel wrote:Is there anything on starting it after Tales from Wilderland? It seems like Darkening's start date and Tales overlap somewhat.

The material in Darkening begins in 2947. Not every year has enough adventuring material to take up the entire adventuring phase so I think it would be quite feasible to run it concurrent with Tales. It's been some time since I looked closely at the latter, however, and even longer since I thought of running anything in it as-is, so I may be forgetting something.

Do the adventures in Tales From Wilderland have dates for each one listed in them?

This book looks to be a treasure hoard of story and campaign material. It's very much in style with the Great Pendragon Campaign, which is a big pluss.

One thing I really like with this is that the characters are cast as the main heroes. Their actions really do affect the outcome of things. In the Great Pendragon Campaign, one thing I didn't like too much was that the characters was more "along for the ride".

It's epic. Looking forward to running it if I find the right group for it.

-Eirik

I assume that this is NOT an adventure book, then? Even if it contains plenty of story seeds?

It's a book focusing on the Tale of Years, for 30 years in the setting. One adventure each year, but they're much more flexible than, say, the adventures in Tales from Wilderland.

E.

I've only read a few pages, but it makes me want to drop the game we're playing, and start playing TOR again. The part about light and shadow was very insightful. Also, I was afraid of missing important stuff because our group is in 1951 already, but I'm surprised how the campaign seems to fit the stories we were already playing. I guess the hints from the rulesbook were enough to drive us in the right direction.

As much as I loved Tales, this book seems a lot more useful, and I'm sure it will keep us busy for years.

I have only skim read it, but it looks very good and feels a lot like "The Great Pendragon Campaign" which to me is a good thing.

So far very impressed.