LOTR Chronicle Seeds

[Ineti]

Let's make a thread for chronicle ideas. While adventures are usually either one-shots or short-term games, chronicles could be a series of related adventures strung together in one long epic story.

Let's come up with some chronicle ideas! (Adventure seeds have a thread of their own.)

Let's use the following format, unless someone comes up with something better.

Title
Recommended Age--When is the chronicle set?
Key Locations--Where most of the action takes place.
Description--One to three paragraphs about the chronicle, maybe more if it's highly detailed.

(Moderators, please make this a sticky thread.)

[Ineti]

The Blight

Recommended Age

Early Fourth Age

Key Locations

Gondor, Rhovanion

Description

King Elessar is new on the throne, and he has been challenged at every turn to rebuild the Free Lands. To make matters even more difficult, reports are trickling in from Dorwinion and Ithilien that animals and some people are being affected by some strange disease. Afflicted people have made their way to Minas Tirith in the hopes of being cured by the Houses of Healing or the King's own hands.

But no cure has been found. The loremasters and curates are stumped; what could be causing this blight and how can it be stopped?

King Elessar assembles a group of heroes for a mission--seek out Radagast the Brown and explain the situation. Attempt to bring Radagast to Minas Tirith or at least acquire some of his lore and hopefully, the cure.

The big question: Where is Radagast?

[Helms Deep]

The Fellowship of the Decoy

Time Period: During the War of The Ring

Key Locations: Misty Mountains, Rhovanion, ??

Description:
A company of nine -- representing Men, Elves, Dwarves and Hobbits -- has been assembled in Rivendell to undertake a mighty task.

No, not that company. These are their understudies.

Elrond, knowing Rivendell was watched by spies, sent out two decoy groups to mask the movements of the true Fellowship. One (composed of Glorfindel, Elladan, Elrohir, Halbarad and others of the mighty) rides with great majesty towards the Grey Havens. The other (composed of the motley group that is our heroes) slips out the back door at the same time the real Fellowship and head north over the High Pass and into Rhovanion.

However, the High Pass is snowed over and the decoy company is forced to take a detour through a re-occupied Goblin-Town. Once they reach the other side, they discover the Beornings under assault from evil forces based in the ruins of Framsburg -- an army of orcs and wargs led by a werewolf. This army will threaten Lorien, the Mirkwood elves, Dale/Erebor, or possibly even Eriador unless the company infiltrates and eliminates the leader.

After that, who knows? On to the Lonely Mountain to make a stand with Brand and Dain? Help Celeborn raze Dol Guldur? Make it to Minas Tirith in time for the big battle there?


Edit: Me spell pretty some day

[Meneltin]

I have posted this before on Decipher's board

The Mother of Hope

Time period: 2907-2912 TA

Key Locations: Bree, Eriador, Rivendell, Angmar

Description: Gilraen, Aragorn's mother is born in 2907 TA.
In 2911 TA the Fell Winter ravages Eriador, a year later when the snow and ice melts massive floods destroy Tharbad and other parts of Eriador.

The characters, a group of young Men and Hobbits from Bree, possibly aided by a Dwarf or Elf help an old Ranger fighting off some bandits. They arrive too late, for the man is already mortally wounded. Later that night, just before he dies, the man stiffens and speaks strange words in a strange language: “Teith i Forodril o Hrîw a Nen danath i Anna Estelo” (Draw the Fire of the North or Winter and Water will take the Mother of Hope).

The characters must locate the Fire of the North, an ancient artifact of power, befriend the Rangers, and be close enough to Gilraen in 2911 to defend her against the massive hordes of Orcs and Winterwolves that invade Eriador.
If they succeed, they might be invited to Gilraen's wedding years later, or become Aragorn's godfather. Who knows, one of them might even marry a Dunedan girl and become father of a son they call Halbarad ;-)

[Lord Scythican]

I just came up with this idea today, so it is not very formal or finished (even as an idea). BTW, by no means is this even attempted to be cannon worthy material.

The Elfstone War
Chronicle 1: The Heir to the Ring
Chronicle 2: ???
Chronicle 3: The Return of the Elves

Time period: TA 3119

Key Locations: Middle Earth

Description: These Chronicles are intended to be of an epic scale worthy of the LotR title. They are intended to give the players the feeling that their characters are along the same lines as Frodo, Aragon, etc. The story really is intended to be a follow up to the War of the Ring. I intentionally put this story directly after the war of the ring and replaced some of the stuff that is considered cannon because this story wouldn't work if I didn't. If you have some ideas to help this fit better in the cannon material, let me know. Also I might get a lot of the story wrong because I haven't read the last book and I have been awaiting the next movie to tell the tale before i read it.
I assumed Mordor was vanquished and Mt. Doom's fires are extinquised. The ring is supposedly melted down to nothing and has become part of the rock that cooled inside of Mt. Doom. I am working a story around this legendary Elfstone thatgives the user complete control over elves. The heir to the ring is one of the wizards that went into mordor and never returned. Instead of having him disappear I have him become the heir to the ring. He doesn't actually get the ring, instead he gets an army that has weapons he developed from the rock the one ring was melted into. The chronicle revolves around a war where elves cannot be trusted. One hero has to make a voyage across the ocean and face many perils in order to find elrond because he knows something about this elfstone. Unknown to him elrond has alreay died (This story might need to be pushed foward in years because I do not know when he died). Instead The player find a relative who helps them. Eventually late in the story the elves are released when the stone in destroyed and many elves come back from across the ocean to help fight this new meance.

This story needs a lot of work because i do not know what eventually happens in tRotK nor do I know of anything that happens after the war of the ring. Maybe it will work, maybe it will not, but I think this idea has the potential to give the players that epic feel with their characters. Any help with this idea would be nice.

[Jason Durall]

Originally posted by Lord Scythican
I assumed Mordor was vanquished and Mt. Doom's fires are extinquised. The ring is supposedly melted down to nothing and has become part of the rock that cooled inside of Mt. Doom. I am working a story around this legendary Elfstone thatgives the user complete control over elves. The heir to the ring is one of the wizards that went into mordor and never returned. Instead of having him disappear I have him become the heir to the ring. He doesn't actually get the ring, instead he gets an army that has weapons he developed from the rock the one ring was melted into. The chronicle revolves around a war where elves cannot be trusted. One hero has to make a voyage across the ocean and face many perils in order to find elrond because he knows something about this elfstone. Unknown to him elrond has alreay died (This story might need to be pushed foward in years because I do not know when he died). Instead The player find a relative who helps them. Eventually late in the story the elves are released when the stone in destroyed and many elves come back from across the ocean to help fight this new meance.

There are many things with this plot which contradict Tolkien's writings:

1. Going over the ocean is the equivalent of going to heaven. You don't fight your way over there - it's almost a pilgrimage, and you don't come back. Over there, you live forever.

2. I can't remember offhand if Mt. Doom actually cools or remains active. I think it did remain an active volcano, even after the fall of Sauron.

3. The Elfstone already exists in two ways - it is a gem found by Aragorn, and it is the title he takes when he becomes the new king.

4. None of Tolkien's wizards went into Mordor and didn't return - two vanished into the East, Saruman goes evil and dies later, Gandalf goes over the ocean with the Elves, and Radagast drops out of sight completely.

Of course, you're completely free to make any changes you want to your world - it is your game, after all - but these are some major contradictions and will become apparent after you see the third film, or read the actual novel.

If any of your players have read the novels, they will probably let you know how far from canon your story is.

[Grutos]

Reclaim Moria
Post War of the Ring
Moria

Mithril is not easy to come by. The dwarves spread throughout the realm of Middle-Earth are in need to reclaim their lost honour. By their own greed, they dug to deep and disturbed that which should not be awakened. Now that Gandalf has slain the Balrog, the dwarves are ready to reclaim what was once theirs. Drive out what is left of the Orcs, Trolls, and other fell beasties. If there are indeed other things that not even Gandalf would poison the world with mention, then perhaps finding some spell slingers would be of great use.

Such a reinforced strong-hold can reunite the Dwarves and give them a sense of belonging to Middle-Earth again. After being broken by Smaug and the Balrog, reclaiming Moria would be a step in once again bringing Dwarven kind into the fore of Middle-Earth.

The dawn of Man may be upon them, but when did you ever know a Dwarf to yield?

This could also tie into other dealings with men, hobbits, and whatever other races get thrown into the mix. Not wanting to be seen as invading, but as reclaiming what was taken by another, they would need to send out delegations to the other races and kingdoms. Not many a King would find it reasuring that a new Dwarven stronghold was reforming without prior notice.

During these delegations, the Dwarves are asked to render their survices in ridding the other Kingdoms of the remnants of the Shadow. With the Elves retreating beyond the Viel, the Dwarves would be a logical race to watch over the Shire (Shire-watch as Grutos refers to it).

Moria would be the central point, but a lot of political and social intrigue can easily be intertwined. Plus, for s&g the DM can have the party go through Moria before the Balrog was awakened - "Fine, you think yer big & bad...OK....*xerox copy CSs* now try to defeat the Balrog after your comrades dug too deep".

==========================

Darkness Falls
War of the Ring
Middle-Earth

You are chieftans in support of the Nazgul and in league with Sauron and Sauruman. Elves, dwarves, Gondor have never been overly kind and no-one has provided proof against the fire-side stories that the Gondor raiders made off with the village wives and children so many ages ago.

Your mission - find and destroy the Fellowship. If you find the Ring, excellent, but the Nazgul may object to you picking it up and not just pointing to it.

Men, Orcs, Trolls, turned Dwarves and Elves (WH40K does an EXCELLENT job with Chaos turning) - whatever you would play in a "light" campaign - make yerself evil.

[MightyCthulhu]

Ok this is a little raw but here is the basic idea:

The Big Rock Candy Mountain
Recommended Age: Late 3rd Age (After the Battle of Five Armies)
Key Locations: Similar to the Path Bilbo took in The Hobbit: Arnor, Bree, Misty Mountains, Mirkwood and Long Lake.

Description: The new King Under the Mountain wishes to repopulate his kingdom and has spread the word that grants are available to all skilled dwarves who wishes to come swear fealty to him and live in Erebor.

The PCs are dwarves of the Blue Mountains possibly related to Thorin and Company. PCs could be of virtually any class but an emphasis on non traditional "adventuring" classes is intended. Craftsmen should make up the bulk of the party although others may be interested in a new life Erebor as well.

Adventures could closely mimic the adventures of Bilbo or Frodo as they cross Arnor and Eregion along the Great East Road. The Path though Mirkwood along the Old Forest Road could be strewn with encounters with Spiders, Elves (who may or may not be friendly) and refuges from Dol Guldur.

The chronicle culminates with the PCs arrival in Dale/Erebor where they must use the skills they gained on their travels to defeat a threat to the new kingdom. After which they will live "happily ever after..."

[Champions Guru]

HOME AGAIN, HOME AGAIN

Recommended Age—Third Age sometime after the Witch King of Angmar and long before the War of the Ring.

Key Locations—A large sheltered valley somewhere in the north of Eriador, possible close to Angmar.

Description—Early in the Third Age Dwarves searching a silver deposit discovered a sheltered valley with small forests and very rich soil. Not being the types to farm the land the Dwarves alerted some nearby Humans who, after the Dwarves built a tunnel entrance, agreed to work the land and provide the Dwarves with needed supplies.

Over the years the Humans and Dwarves had a great relationship, noble houses were established to protect the peasants, the Dwarves discovered a huge vein of silver and not a small population of Hobbits migrated from the Shire to live in the foothills at the edge of the forests.

Many years passed when a massive earthquake destroyed the Dwarf mines and cities, closing the tunnel to the outside world. The only way out of the valley was a mountain pass that was dangerous to cross in the best of times and impossible for six months out of the year.

Many of the PC’s are from the valley that had left to find their own fortunes years hence. The PC’s discover that their peaceful valley has fallen on hard times and the benevolent nobles (possible family of a Noble character) has been overthrown and replaced by a despot and possibly his orc cronies. The PC’s main goal is to return to the valley and overthrow the despot and return the valley to its former state.

[ben hur]

Title: Border Patrol

Recommended Age: Fourth Age

Key Locations: Ithil, Mordor, Gondor, Harad, and the Lands of the East

Description: The PCs lead a border patrol, keeping a watch on the barbarians of the East, with which a fragile treaty has been made. One of the PCs is the company's captain, the other's are his lieutenants controlling different sections. The party can be as big (probably 200 at the very, very most) to as small (a couple dozen at the very, very least) as you can handle and feel comfortable with.

The PCs orders should most likely be Barbarian, Noble, Rogue, or Warrior; although they may be the company's physician (Loremaster), cook (Craftsman), or bard (Minstrel). Magicians and Mariners are doubtful. However, they can pretty much be any race (tough-dwarves from Erebor, archers from Mirkwood, archers from the Shire, archers from Dale, rangers from Ithil, knights of Gondor, and so on). The more variety in the group, the better.

Their initial objective would be to raid the Haradrim rebel villages, burning their hide-outs. They could be given special assignments, such as infiltrating Southron society, scouting the Eastern Lands, or eradicating Mordor of a lingering evil. Eventually, Harad could go to war and they would be holding the front line, slowly retreating to gain time.

They could even meet up with old friends such as Legolas (who's building an Elf haven in Ithil), Aragorn (King at the time), and Gimli (he could come from Aglarond to aids his old buddies at war).

This chronicle allows for small infiltrations with only the PCs (or even only one or two of the PCs), larger skirmishes with several men under their command, and large-scale battles between Gondor and Harad.

If you run out of ideas for those places (i.e. they defeat all the many evils in the area), they could be moved to border patrol somewhere else, such as Angmar (which has about as many options itself!). Or they could be turned into secret agents for Gondor, and could infiltrate cults, rebel hold-outs, drug gangs, and the like (you could even throw in a 'corrupted-official-in-charge-of-the-organization' plot twist!).

[Ineti]

Originally posted by ben hur
Aragorn (possibly King at the time)

Good chronicle idea, KoR. Just one comment...if this is an early Fourth Age chronicle, Aragorn is king. He's crowned right at the tail end of the Third Age and is king for the first 120 odd years of the Fourth Age (don't have the exact numbers in front of me).

Rest of it looks good, except that I think you might be selling mariners and magicians a little short. A young magician could be sent on the patrol to determine if there is any more shadow magic still at work. A mariner could be very useful if the patrol ranges along the Anduin, the Sea of Rhûn, or along the coast of Harad. Not all adventures have to take place over land.

[Greg Davis]

You're quite correct, Jim. Aragorn passes on March 1st in FA 120, and Eldarion is then named King of the Reunited Kingdom.


Greg, who doesn't let any Tolkien-related texts rest easily on his bookshelves...

[Ineti]

Holy cow, I got it in one.

Here's a lesson for you, folks, you CAN go from zero Tolkien knowledge to competent distiller of Tolkien facts in a year.

Really, Greg, if I could put my LOTR texts on my desk at work, I would in a heartbeat. As it is, I take my core book with me every day for reference.

[ben hur]

Yes, sorry, I didn't say that right; I knew Aragorn was King for a long time into the Fourth Age, I promise!

I put that in for the (now that I think about it) very small amount of people who will play in the late Fourth Age and might have Eldarion or someone else as the King. I meant to put probably, not possibly, my bad.

Ah, good point about magicians and mariners too; I know they could be used, but it probably wouldn't be as suggested, seeing as their are seven other orders which would probably do just fine. But I'm sure you could find a reason for a magician or mariner to be down there.

Thanks for the feedback!

[MightyCthulhu]

War of the Woodmen

Time: The War of the Ring
Places: Anduin Vale, Western Mirkwood, Mountains of Mirkwood, Redhorn Pass, Moria, Dol Guldur.

In the time before The War of The Ring, the woodmen of Western Mirkwood find themselves threatened by enemies on all sides. Sauron has openly declared himself Lord of Men, his shadow deepens in Mirkwood, and throughout the region. Goblins from the mountains are massing. A dark presence has returned to Dol Guldur. Orcs from the Mountains of Mirkwood are becoming more bold and the Spiders of the dark wood seem more aggressive than ever. The treat of War looms forebodingly.

There is great need for brave adventures. Possible adventures include:
1) scouting missions or raids against the many enemies of the Woodmen.
2) rescuing allies, prisoners or hostages from various enemies.
3) Diplomatic missions to various Woodmen villages to gather support or muster an army to defend the region.
4) Diplomatic mission to neighbors including Beornings, Radagast, Thranduils Elves or Lorien to gain advice, arms, warriors, or supplies.
5) Diplomatic or scouting mission into Moria to contact Lord Balin and seek aid in the form of warriors or arms.
6) skirmishes led by PCs with newly mustered Woodmen warriors against various enemies.
7) defense of a village against a siege.
8) siege on an enemy stronghold.
9) spy/sabotage missions against enemy strongholds.
10) culminating in a grand battle where the shadow of Dul Guldur reveals himself: (a Ring Wraith / Black Numenorian / Minor Demon / evil ring bearer?)