Category: Middle-earth (Page 4 of 5)

Heroes of Arnor: Gathering at Elnost

November 14, 2016 / Stan Shinn

Chapter One

On the 1st Day of Urui, in the year 1640 of the Third Age, morning dawns at Dispar. It is a small Arthedain border town east of Rhudaur. As the cock crows at the The Grey Fox Inn, several adventurers gather.

The elvish scholar Coronthir and the wandering dwarf Valin make introductions to their new fellow scouts. Guthorn, Aldin, Beorn, and Adrahil, are all men weary of travel but yet eager to join in service as scouts for Arthedain.

Coronthir relates news he has heard of events in Rhudaur. King Broggha, a Hillmen ruler at the citadel of Cameth Brin, has married a blonde Northman woman. This is causing some controversy among the Hillmen tribes.

Aldin shares something darker: in the night, he had a troubled vision of three smokey symbols. Sigils of a Hand, an Eye, and a Mouth appeared, vomiting forth from Angmar, coming across the mountains towards Arnor. Aldin knows not what this portends, but he fears something evil is afoot.

Krelman, the inn’s bartendar, stares at the travellers from his one good eye and shoes away Zaranda, a local hag who sits near the company and laughs wickedly at their odds of living through the winter.

Boarding a local barge, the company journey up the river Caranduin and make their way to the fortress of Elnost, foremost of the Arthedain allied border settlements east of Rhudaur. Lord Elasander, the local governer, greets the travellers. Although Elasander’s first wife died some time ago, he recently remarried; his new wife, the beautiful, raven-haired Morwen, attends the audience.

Elasander receives the company into his service as scouts, and tasks the heroes with exploring and opening a safe route across the East-wood. The goal is that trade may commence between the towns Dispar and Carandor.

Hirgon, Elasander’s red-haired son from his first wife, departed abruptly the day before to blaze a trail across the East-wood. He was not content to wait for the new scouts. Elasander charges the company with keeping an eye out for his hot-tempered son as they make their way across the wood.

The company prepares to depart. They each have a stipend of 20 silver pennies a month from which some borrow to improve their armor and gear. A squire named Giles is to accompany them with a pony to carry their provisions.

As they set out, Valin the dwarf takes great care to find Hirgon’s trail. After many difficult hours, the company makes camp. At the end of the following day, as the party makes camp, they find signs that Hirgon’s group was ambushed.

Investigating, they find signs of orcs. They follow into the night hours, the nearly-full moon lighting their way. They finally find the bodies of Hirgon’s unfortunate companions, all slain and hanging from a tree near a stream. Dead orc bodies are in a pile nearby. Signs are that Hirgon yet lives, and so the company pushes through their weariness, hoping to find Hirgon before the worst happens.

Finally, the company come upon a group of orcs led by a shaman. They chant “Angmar, all must serve Angmar!” Before them, in front of a bon fire, Hirgon is alive but tied upon an altar, soon to be sacrificed. The orcs continue to chant with frenzied voices:

The witch-king has his allies three:
a hand to make enemies flee,
a mouth for spies whispering lies,
and an eye which hidden things see.
The Hand from shadows tests his might
against the ones who dare to fight
the looming scourge, sent forth to purge
the land from those who thwart the night.
From Gundabad the Mouth decrees
the work of spies who move with ease
in Rhudaur’s lands, where darkest bands
proclaim ‘Angmar all must appease’.
The hidden Eye is seen by all
those low and high under the thrall
of the Eye’s gaze, which on men stays,
turning the pure towards their fall.

From the woods, the company attacks with bowshot. Outnumbered nearly three to one, the fight looks hopeless, but the brave scouts fight without fear. Two of the company go down, terribly injured. Giles, unarmed, but showing courage far beyond his years, takes up a fallen orc’s weapon and jumps into the fray. Finally, when only two orcs remain, the orcs break and run, only to be hunted down and slain. As dark clouds drift across the night moon, the company’s cheer in saving Hirgon is cut short.

Valin the dwarf lies dead.

As the heroes nurse their wounds and make plans to honor the body of their fallen companion, they talk in somber tones of what they’ve learned. Something dark is afoot. All signs point to a new darkness issuing from Angmar.

[su_button icon=”icon: map” background=”#000000″ color=”#FFFFFF” link=”https://dicehaven.com/map-arnor/?location=1640-08-01″] View Adventure Location [/su_button]

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[su_spoiler title=”Advancement Notes” style=”fancy”]All characters level up to 2nd level. Scouts are receiving 20 silver pennies a month as a stipend (some have borrowed against their pay to acquire gear from the armory). A new character will need to replace poor, deceased Valin! [/su_spoiler]
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Middle-earth in TA 1640

October 29, 2016 / Stan Shinn

Heroes of Arnor

Our new ‘B’ campaign is ‘Heroes of Arnor’. Check out the trailer!:

Was doing some research in preparation for a potential Middle-earth campaign. Here are my notes.

A Brief History of Middle-earth & Arnor

In twelve minutes, you can learn just about all you need to know! Watch these two videos if you have time:

A 3 Minute History of Middle-earth https://youtu.be/fXxU01IgoxU
The History of Arnor https://youtu.be/rQkv4GcbsrQ (Listen up to the 9:14 minute mark. The events after 9:14 happen centuries after our campaign.

Middle-earth in TA 1640

This adventure is set in Arnor, over a thousand years before the events of The Hobbit. Here is some background on Middle-earth in that region at the time of Third Age 1640:

Durin’s Folk still inhabit Moria; Erebor won’t be founded until the year 1999. The colony in the Iron Hills won’t be established until 2590.
In Mirkwood, around TA 1,000, a dark sorcerer known as the Necromancer took residence at the stronghold of Dol Guldur, though none will know until nearly a millennium later that this is the spirit of Sauron.
Also around TA 1,000, the Valar sent the five Wizards, or Istari, including Gandalf, to oppose Sauron and rally the free peoples of Middle-Earth against him.
The Ringwraiths reappeared in the year TA 1300, and began steadily assaulting Arnor (the Numenorian kingdoms in exile). Whether the Witch King (the head Ringwraith, or Nazgul) was acting on his own, or was being guided by Sauron, is not known.
The Beorning culture won’t come into existence until after the year 2941.
Arthedain is the only remaining North-kingdom; the current ruler is Argeleb II, tenth King of Arthedain (1589-1670).
Rhudaur is controlled by Hill-men allied with Angmar.
The Shire was ceded to the Hobbits less than forty years ago; the Stoors arrived only ten years ago.
The Great Plague swept through Middle-earth in 1636 to 1637. Hobbits wandering back east should be very rare (if at all).
Dale would be thriving, but the inhabitants would not be known as Bardings, but simply as ‘men of Dale’ or ‘Dale folk’.
The current Esgaroth would be the old town that had fallen into ruin long before the coming of Thorin and Company.
The present ruler of Gondor is Tarondor, twenty-seventh King of Gondor (1636-1798).His predecessor Telemnar (who ruled 1634-1636) died in the Great Plague with all his children. The capital is Minas Anor, Osgiliath having burned during the Kin-strife (1432-1448) and then having been abandoned following the Great Plague. Minas Anor will be renamed Minas Tirith after the fall of Minas Ithil in 2002.

Pregen Characters

You can use the pregens in the book (except for the Beorning).

Custom Characters

If you create your own custom character:

Abilities: Use the stat array method from the D&D Player’s Handbook.

Cultures: All cultures are allowed except Beornings (Beornings don’t exist in T.A. 1640). Note the following modifications or additions to cultures.

Bardings — Bardings at this time are simply known as Men of Dale or Dale Folk.
Dwarves — Use background as-is, but your origin has you be from Moria (or Khazad-dûm), which at this time is still alive and well with Dwarves. Only in T.A. 1980 do they dig too deep and encounter the Balrog. Erebor won’t be founded until the year 1999. The colony in the Iron Hills won’t be established until 2590.
Men of Arnor — This is a new culture which is simply a renamed Dúnedain, Man of Minas Tirith, or Riders of Rohan cultures.
NPC Races — Hillmen, Elves of Rivendell and Elves of Lindon, and Noldor Elves are not in the Adventures in Middle-earth book nor are they playable races (although you’ll be seeing them as NPCs).

Starting Equipment: Use the standard starting equipment and money appropriate to your class and culture, and standard of living (I’m still deciphering these rules).

Character Names: Names are an amazingly important part of keeping the tone of Middle-earth. Don’t make up a name; rather, select a name from the Adventures in Middle-earth book appropriate to your race and culture. Alternatively, select a name from this page:
http://merp.wikia.com/wiki/Names. I would ideally like all characters to have unique first letters to their names to avoid confusion. Lastly, please review all character names past the GM for approval (to make sure you selected the right culture, etc.). 🙂

5e Adventures in Middle-earth Player’s Guide

July 27, 2016 / Stan Shinn

New details came out today on the 5e Adventures in Middle-earth Player’s Guide which is coming our way in the weeks ahead. D&D + Middle-earth is like peanut-butter and chocolate, a combinations I’ve wanted for years!

Read more here:
http://cubicle7.co.uk/ogl-omg-adventures-in-middle-earth-coming-soon/

Here’s what’s going to be in the Adventures in Middle-earth Player’s Guide:
• 11 Middle-earth specific playable Cultures
• 6 New and unique Classes
• 13 New Backgrounds custom-made for Middle-earth
• Middle-earth appropriate arms and armour
• Unique Journey rules
• New rules for Corruption
• New Audience rules
• The Fellowship Phase
• Middle-earth maps (as the end papers) for Players and Loremasters

No doubt a Loremaster’s guide and other products will be announced soon (I’m thinking during GenCon).

‘Adventures in Middle-Earth’ Coming October

July 26, 2016 / Stan Shinn

Based on Game Trade Magazine #198’s product listing that dropped probably earlier than Cubicle 7 had anticipated, it appears that the upcoming Cubicle 7 D&D version of The One Ring will be called ‘Adventures in Middle-Earth’ and will ship in October. My guess is announcements will be made at GenCon with more details and cover-art previews for this product line. I’m excited!

Thoughts Using D&D 5e for Middle-earth Games

June 10, 2016 / Stan Shinn

I’ve been playing D&D 5e since the weekend the beta first went live in May 2012. It’s my favorite version of D&D ever, and I’ve played them all (for the record, I did not care for 3e and 4e).

I’ve also run a few TOR games converted to 5e using the house rules from http://www.zerohitpoints.com/Middle-Earth-for-DnD-5/ to generate our characters.

Orc miniatures from Games Workshop

Here is a blog post on my more recent game where I ran ‘Of Leaves & Stewed Hobbit’ — http://swshinn.com/game-design/combat-speed-part-1.

I did an analysis of combat in that game. In the combat were 31 combatants (including the six PCs). The battle took five rounds of combat and lasted a total of 50 minutes and left 22 dead and many others close to death. In my version of this set piece battle we had 6 PCs, 3 NPCs, 11 goblin archers, 8 goblin swordsmen, 2 Orc chiefs and 1 troll. Some of the players had never played D&D 5e before so some of that time were rules explanations.

I’m pointing this out since a big, complicated set-piece battle like this would have taken probably 90 minutes in a game like Savage Worlds, and probably over 2 hours in a game like Pathfinder.

Skill checks, wilderness travel, fatigue, combat — all of these 5e rules felt like a great fit for the Middle-earth setting.

My custom GM Screen using Brothers Hildebrandt Art

D&D 5e is the most heavily playtested game in history. It flows fast, is well supported, and has quickly become the most played RPG on the planet. Moreover, there is a resurgence in RPG playing that is partly due to 5e’s popularity. The biggest demographic of players is the under-35 crowd, so WOTC is bringing new players into the hobby by droves.

All of which is to say I personally am AMAZINGLY excited that Cubicle 7 is bringing Middle-earth to D&D 5e! I will buy the books and play it a lot, evangelizing the game in conventions and on my blog. Other than probably house-ruling in some of the herb rules from MERP into the game, I imagine 5e + Cubicle 7 Middle-Earth products to be a near perfect combination for what I want out of a Lord of the Rings game.