Category: Middle-earth (Page 2 of 5)

Interesting news from a recent interview with Francesco Nepitello, author of The One Ring (TOR) and indirectly of it’s 5e derivative, Adventures in Middle-earth (AiME). As way of background,  the RPG company Free League recently acquired the license for TOR after Cubicle 7 let the license expire. People have wondered about what they will do with the Middle-earth RPG license. Here’s a video with detailed news:

Highlights:

• New locations will include Eriador, Tharbad, the Grey Havens, and Rivendell
• All new cultures
• Conversion guides for the existing 6 cultures (eventually a supplemental book that has all the cultures in one volume)
• Shire (starter set)
• Moria!
• TOR will come first, AiME second
• Largely backward compatible (streamlining Journey rules for example)
• Coming “early next year”
• EDIT: The new default year is 2960 (source)

To get in on the upcoming beta, keep an eye on the Free League forum.

In other news, Andreas Lundström has a “Riddles in the Dark” TOR podcast coming up but already have two extended interviews with game designer Francesco Nepitello.

I am doing research on what manufacturer’s produce Middle-earth compatible minis with human males in the 28mm or 30mm height range.

Background: I have hundreds of D&D and Pathfinder miniatures (where human males are 28mm tall, sometimes closer to 30 or even 32mm tall). Some call it ’25mm Heroic’ but these larger minis look noticeably taller than the traditional 25mm counterparts. However, most of the Middle-earth miniatures lines are in the true 25mm size range, not 28 or 30mm.

I want to buy minis to use for Middle-earth wargames which will field around 100 models on the table using the Dragon Rampant rules. I am also starting an ‘Adventures in Middle-earth’ roleplaying campaign, so I’d like to use these same miniatures in both Middle-earth wargaming and in tabletop roleplaying games. So I’d rally like my Middle-earth armies to be in the 28mm or 30mm height range.

I asked on the “Wargaming in Middle-earth” Facebook group and got some great feedback!

28mm Metal & Plastic Miniatures

Northstar’s Oathmark miniatures range has a nice range of goblins, dwarves and soon will have elves as well. It is worth taking a look at Frostgrave stuff as well.  These look to be the best looking manufacturer in this size range.

If you go hunting for Dark Age / Saxon cavalry there’s a load of great options out there in 28mm. Gripping Beast do them in metal and plastic.

Footsore Miniatures also have nice mounted Saxons.

I hear that there are plans to add goblin riders, but I’ve not seen official news on that.

Size Comparisons

There are some great blog posts showing the different sizes between GDW Lord of the Rings figures and models such as Oathmark:

• http://therenaissancetroll.blogspot.com/2017/10/oathmark-dwarf-size-comparison.html
• https://paintsngluenrocknroll.blogspot.com/2017/12/oathmark-goblins-review.html
• http://theminiaturespage.com/boards/msg.mv?id=467282

Rebased Heroclix Models

I also plan to rebase some Heroclix Lord of the Rings models. I’ll touch up the paint jobs a bit. These are a quick, inexpensive way to get Middle-earth figures on the table that are the 28mm size range.

By the time we get around to running a Mirkwood campaign, the 5e version of the Mirkwood campaign should be out. The cover is very cool!

If I am able, I would love to intermittently play Middle-earth campaigns for years to come, and sequence them in such a way that over time we traverse sequentially the most interesting time periods for RPG adventures. Here’s a roadmap:

• T.A. 1640 The Heroes of Arnor — Mercenaries for Lord Elasander, ally to Arthedain, last royal house of Arnor, attempt to boost border defenses in the wilds of Rhudaur, west of the Misty Mountains. (Already played this, concluded summer 2017).
  
• T.A. 2941 (Events of The Hobbit)
  
• T.A. 2947-2977 The Darkening of Mirkwood — The Necromancer may have been cast out of Dol Guldur, but a lingering darkness remains over Mirkwood, a shadow that will grow ever longer as the years draw on – unless a band of brave adventurers step forward and hold back the gloom. (Hope to play this next; a published campaign from Cubicle 7)
  
• T.A. 3018-3021 (Events of The Lord of the Rings)
  
• T.A. 3021 (End of the Third Age)
  
• F.A. 15 Palantír Quest — Adventurers must survive the wilds and ancient ruins to find a legendary palantíri needed by King Elessar. (Hope to play this someday; a published campaign from I.C.E. using MERP rules)
  
• F.A. 29 A Scourge of Wyrms — Dark forces lead to a arise of Wyrms (dragons) and a ring of shadowy spies who threaten the throne of King Elessar. (Hope to play this someday; a custom campaign)
  
• F.A. 121 The Wrath of Shadows — In the wake of Arwen’s death, a powerful figure arises with ties to Sauron, wielding a mysterious artifact known as the Vandilmaril. (Hope to play this someday; a custom campaign)

One of the campaigns I really want to run someday is ‘Palantír Quest’, a 1994 campaign module published by Iron Crown Enterprises for the old MERP rules for Middle-earth.

I’m fortunate to have a copy (this is pretty collectable; copies on eBay run $150-$200). Here’s the cover.

The interior has some amazing, black-and-white line art. Great maps you can scan and reproduce as handouts!

Here’s one summary of the adventure:

Strange portents in the great Seeing-stone of Minas Tirith give promise that one of the lost palantíri of the North has returned to the lands of Men. Can the adventurers find the legendary treasure and bring it to King Elessar? Rogues of the wilds, blizzards out of Forodwaith, and the greed in Men’s hearts all conspire against them. (source)

Here’a great, spoiler-free review of the ‘Palantír Quest’ adventure.

The adventure by default takes place just a few years into the Fourth Age. With some tweaks, you could set it some years later.

There are about 12 ‘adventures’, each of which I’d guess would take 1-2 game session apiece, for about 18-24 four-hour sessions of play. There are MERP stats for NPCs and creatures, but it would not be too hard to convert them to Adventures in Middle-earth or The One Ring.

The campaign takes place over most of a single year. I’d need to do some more reading to see if interjecting a few ‘Fellowship Phases’ with additional months of downtime (from the Adventures in Middle-earth) would disrupt the storyline.

Anyway, a fine campaign from the looks of it! I look forward to running it someday 🙂