So! What's going on with TOR?

[Lifstan]

Anyway... that Moria/Dimrill Dale/Lorien/Grey Meadows gap is just right there in the middle of everything, and is definitely the "patch of midnight" on the map that I most urgently want cleared away!

One issue with Lorien is that it's pretty clear in The Lord of the Rings that there hasn't been any foreigner there in a very long time! So it's difficult to have a group of adventurers coming during the time of the Darkening of Mirkwood...

But maybe there are some ways to go around this issue...

[Otaku-sempai]

One issue with Lorien is that it's pretty clear in The Lord of the Rings that there hasn't been any foreigner there in a very long time! So it's difficult to have a group of adventurers coming during the time of the Darkening of Mirkwood...

But maybe there are some ways to go around this issue...

We have a similar problem with Moria during and after the time of Balin's attempt to recolonize the place. Regular reports were received at Erebor for the first few years, then...nothing. And Balin's colony was destroyed only five years after it was founded.

At least we know that a few Elves of Lórien were permitted (required?) to leave the realm at times to collect intelligence of events in the world at large. Such agents might actually pose as Mirkwood Elves. However, Tolkien's legendarium does make it difficult and problematic to open Lóthlorien as a sanctuary.

[atgxtg]

Yeah, it's one of the problems with gaming in the late 3rd age. Basically just about everybody North of Gondor has become isolated and stays at home, except the Rangers, whose true identity and purpose is kept secret.

So whenever the PC adventures go someplace, they can easily make statements in LOtR about people not seeing Elves in generations, or Hobbits being only legends, obviously wrong. It's hard to accept such statements if a band of adventures past through the village last week.

I think the best approach to handle such discrepancies is to assume that such people did travel during that time, but they were few and far between. Most people didn't encounter them, and not everyone was aware of their presence. Stories were told by those who did see them, but inevitably they were altered and embellished along the way, and in the end mostly disregarded.

[Otaku-sempai]

It's a bit shocking to discover how little even Legolas, a Prince of Mirkwood, knows about the current state of affairs in Lórien at the time of the War of the Ring:

'It is long since any of my own folk journeyed hither back to the land whence we wandered in ages long ago,' said Legolas, 'but we hear that Lórien is not yet deserted, for there is a secret power here that holds evil from the land. Nevertheless its folk are seldom seen, and maybe they dwell now deep in the woods and far from the northern border.'

Now, even if Legolas knows more than he's telling, that's pretty sparse. This does lend some credibility to the idea that either Thranduil was never asked to become a member of the White Council or he rejected such an invitation. It seems more likely that his father Oropher was a member of the Councils of the Wise during the Second Age; even then, though, Oropher seemed to have little love of, or respect for, the Noldor--an attitude that contributed to his death.

[jamesrbrown]

All of these observations are really a reminder about how rare travelling is in Middle-earth. Adventurers are special people indeed.

[cuthalion]

I have this crazy idea that, with the rules for Courage, Eye Awareness, etc., we're not actually that far off being able to run the fellowship on their way to Mordor. Is it nuts to think that a future Mordor supplement (plus maybe an epic/open-ended campaign like DoM) might detail enough of the Enemy's lore/ambition/strategy, along with maybe come new mechanics, so that a group of players with either characters from the fellowship or just new characters entirely (possessing the ring) could set out from Hobbiton to Mount Doom? They might follow all, some, or none of the path in the books.

Ambitious, yes? Most sold rpg supplement ever? Maybe?

In any case, close simulation or not, I love the idea of a campaign simulating one long journey like the books, now that the world is getting so big/explored with all the supplements.

Of course, fully support the filling in of other regions along the way as the priority. I think Moria might be my most anticipated. Though whatever rules additions come in Gondor also have me excited.

Can't wait for the next set of updates!

[Enevhar Aldarion]

I have this crazy idea that, with the rules for Courage, Eye Awareness, etc., we're not actually that far off being able to run the fellowship on their way to Mordor. Is it nuts to think that a future Mordor supplement (plus maybe an epic/open-ended campaign like DoM) might detail enough of the Enemy's lore/ambition/strategy, along with maybe come new mechanics, so that a group of players with either characters from the fellowship or just new characters entirely (possessing the ring) could set out from Hobbiton to Mount Doom? They might follow all, some, or none of the path in the books.

Going from the original mission statement for the game, that it is going to give details on, and provide adventures during, the years that pass between the end of The Hobbit and the beginning of The Fellowship of the Ring, it is possible, but not likely.

I do not own all the TOR books right now, so maybe someone else can confirm this, but to my knowledge, none of the sourcebooks released so far go right up to the same year that Fellowship starts. After all, the game starts five years after the end of The Hobbit, so it would stand to reason they may give the same five year cushion at the end for Fellowship as well. So if there are any key events in those final few years that may need new lore or mechanics to make it possible to use the rules to play during the LotR years, you may or may not need to create them yourself.

[cuthalion]

Going from the original mission statement for the game, that it is going to give details on, and provide adventures during, the years that pass between the end of The Hobbit and the beginning of The Fellowship of the Ring, it is possible, but not likely.

I do not own all the TOR books right now, so maybe someone else can confirm this, but to my knowledge, none of the sourcebooks released so far go right up to the same year that Fellowship starts. After all, the game starts five years after the end of The Hobbit, so it would stand to reason they may give the same five year cushion at the end for Fellowship as well. So if there are any key events in those final few years that may need new lore or mechanics to make it possible to use the rules to play during the LotR years, you may or may not need to create them yourself.

Yeh--suppose you're right. That original scope was meant to end with the errantries of the king right? Still, they've veered off that quite a bit. There's always hoping I suppose.

[Otaku-sempai]

I do not own all the TOR books right now, so maybe someone else can confirm this, but to my knowledge, none of the sourcebooks released so far go right up to the same year that Fellowship starts. After all, the game starts five years after the end of The Hobbit, so it would stand to reason they may give the same five year cushion at the end for Fellowship as well. So if there are any key events in those final few years that may need new lore or mechanics to make it possible to use the rules to play during the LotR years, you may or may not need to create them yourself.

Well, the default year for the beginning of Horse-lords of Rohan is TA 2960, a full twenty years before the end of the Errantries of the KIng. The eventual Gondor sourcebook and companion campaign might reach the year 2980, when Aragorn leaves the service of Ecthelion II and is reunited with his beloved Arwen for a season in Lórien. Such a campaign might feature more political intrigue then we've generally seen in TOR adventures. A hypothetical Moria campaign that is set during the years of Balin's reign could run from 2989 to 2994.

[Enevhar Aldarion]

I do not own all the TOR books right now, so maybe someone else can confirm this, but to my knowledge, none of the sourcebooks released so far go right up to the same year that Fellowship starts. After all, the game starts five years after the end of The Hobbit, so it would stand to reason they may give the same five year cushion at the end for Fellowship as well. So if there are any key events in those final few years that may need new lore or mechanics to make it possible to use the rules to play during the LotR years, you may or may not need to create them yourself.

Well, the default year for the beginning of Horse-lords of Rohan is TA 2960, a full twenty years before the end of the Errantries of the KIng. The eventual Gondor sourcebook and companion campaign might reach the year 2980, when Aragorn leaves the service of Ecthelion II and is reunited with his beloved Arwen for a season in Lórien. Such a campaign might feature more political intrigue then we've generally seen in TOR adventures. A hypothetical Moria campaign set during the years of Balin's reign could run from 2989 to 2994.

Yeah, more Middle-Earth wherever or whenever it is set is cool with me, as long as C7 does not veer too far off the written path.

So no winged, high-eared elves wearing plate armor and shooting crossbows. lol