Lord of the Rings Chronicles

[Greg Davis]

Recently, I’ve been kicking around ideas for a Lord of the Rings Chronicle (campaign) and, while not settling on one in particular, I’ve come up with some basic ideas that I thought I’d post here for everyone to take a look at. These are pretty loose in terms of details, and are really more Chronicle overviews than anything else.

I’m hoping to get others to post Chronicle suggestions and thoughts here, in a similar vein to the Series thread that was created for Star Trek.

To that end, I’d propose the following format for Chronicle postings (loosely based on the Anarchy Bob format):

Chronicle Title (if any):
Time Period:
Location:
Suggested Races and/or Orders:
Overview:

I’ll be interested in seeing what sort of Chronicle ideas that everyone can come up with. Also, perhaps we can help each other to flesh out ideas that we’ve had, but perhaps have run into stumbling blocks for. Additionally, if anyone can think of Chapter (adventure) seeds and thoughts for these Chronicles then I’d hope that they’d be posted as well.

So, having said all that, let’s see what we can come up with, ok?




Greg

[Greg Davis]

As I mentioned in my first post, I’ve had a few thoughts about Chronicles that I thought I’d share, to get the ball rolling. Here are a few:

Chronicle Title: The Restoration of Moria
Time Period: Relatively early Fourth Age
Location: Moria, primarily, though visits to Dwarven locations such as The Lonely Mountain, The Blue Mountains, and Gimli’s settlement of The Glittering Caves probably would be suitable, as would visits to other locations for supplies and possible assistance.
Suggested Races and/or Orders: Dwarves, mostly, though Elves, Humans or Hobbits could fit in, based on background and connections. For instance, an Elf of Mirkwood that Legolas might recommend, or a group of Warriors from Gondor that could go as representatives from King Elessar. In terms of Orders, Warriors and Craftsman would be useful, as would Magicians (in moderation, of course). Seemingly, a good party mix would be best, though I can’t really see how a Mariner would be of much use here.
Overview: As is evident from the title, this Chronicle would focus on restoring the Dwarven realm of Moria. PC’s would help to battle the evil that still resides there after the passing of the Fellowship through the mines during the War of the Ring. As Moria is a vast underground area, there would be plenty of opportunity for adventure, particularly, I would think, in the lower levels. As Gandalf notes in The Two Towers,

“Far, far below the deepest delvings of the Dwarves, the world is gnawed by nameless things. Even Sauron knows them not. They are older than he. Now I have walked there, and I will bring no report to darken the light of day.”

Given that, it seems plausible that whatever sort of ancient, forgotten (or unknown) creatures lived beneath Moria might have been stirred by the battle between Gandalf and the Balrog, so they might cause problems for those that would again enter Moria. Additionally, there would be the Watcher in the Water (a Kraken, by all accounts) to deal with. Aside from hack-and-slash combat, there could be mysteries to solve as well, such as Dwarven riddles and traps, missing miners and explorers, as well as locating forgotten areas of Moria, and the mines.

I think that it’s a Chronicle that would require a fair bit of work, particularly since it would involve a lot of mapping and such, but I think that it could be a lot of fun. The dungeon crawl is a staple of fantasy roleplaying, and who hasn’t wondered, after reading The Fellowship of the Ring (or watching the movie) what it would be like to wander around that most ancient of Dwarven realms?

Anyway, that’s my first Chronicle idea. I’ve got others, but I’ve got to get ready for school (yeah, I actually do leave my house every once and a while!), so I’ll post more when I get home later today.

[Liquidator Queeg]

Chronicle Title (if any): Legacy of the Shadow
Time Period: Early Fourth Age (Just after the death of Rosie on Mid-year's Day 1482 SR or FoA 61, before Samwise departs from the Grey Havens.)
Location: Eriador (Chronicle starts in Bree with the PCs meeting each other before attending a celebration/funeral in the Shire honouring Rosie.)
Suggested Races and/or Orders: Any
Overview: There is a foul organization of Sorcerers and other Baddies lurking in the shadows in Middle-earth. Survivors from Mordor and Sauron's fall head up this "dark cabal". Primary movers and shakers to deal with might include nasties like the Mouth of Sauron, Gothmog (who I decided survived the battle upon Pelennor), and other, more ancient enemies who've been in hiding for thousands of years -- namely, the Son of Sauron. (OK, groan if you like. Hence, "Legacy" of the Shadow. )

In my (not-quite-worked-out-in-detail-yet) chain of events, the Son of Sauron was born to an important noblewoman in Numenor, but was secreted away by Sauron before the great realm's fall. He was raised in the far South and East to be a great king of Men, but his lineage was kept secret. He was steeped ring-making lore by Sauron (at roughly the same time as the elves of Eregion maybe?), and he's fashioned his own, independent, set of lesser Rings of Power. Only upon Sauron's destruction did he learn of his heritage ... and now he's pissed at the Free Peoples of Middle-earth.

Anyway, that's it in a nutshell. I'll have to see how things pan out.

Steve