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Thread: Advice on a New Enemy

  1. #1

    Advice on a New Enemy

    (Anyone playing Admiral_Atredies' Age of The Sun Chronicle DO NOT READ! It will spoil the story for you and make your life a living hell! )

    Hi everyone. I've come to you for some help on a predicament I've been having setting up my newest Decipher RPG Chronicle, mostly because I know the members here a bit bit more knowledgeable and respectful of Tolkien's work (a rarity among Rolplayers on many other forums).

    Anyways, here's the situation; as I always strive to do, my newest campaign is far removed from the threats already established and detailed on by Tolkien (Sauron, Saruman, ect.), just to keep mostly in line with LotR canon. This new threat will be that of a fallen Numenorean lord of Forostar, who long disapeared from the lore of men and Elves. He was known primarily as agreat friend of the Dwarves, sharing a special bond with that folk due largely to his love of crafts and stonework. He even convinced his most beloved companion, a Dwarf-lord of the East, to come on one of his many sailing expiditions to the unknown lands. He was not killed (as is popularly believed) in his many adventures to the Northern Seas, but he rather settled in mountains near the Orocarni, where he began to craft many works and further his learnings even more through the tutelage and friendship of the Dwarves that he dwelt with. This continued for much of his life, until the Dwarves grew wary of the shadow that long dwelt in the Numenorean's heart, and left the Orocarni for lands west. And (of course), this man was turning to evil ways, feuled by his greed, and overall hatred for other peoples (something that is thought to be instilled in him by the Dwarves). So, long story short, his realm of horror has been awoken in the East, and he must now be contained by the heroes, lest he be revealed to the Witch-King or Sauron and used to destroy the folk of Rhovanion.

    We now come to the real problem, which is this; I have already determined that he will have the typical repitoire of Orcs, Wargs, and possibly Goblin-Men like creatures in his service, and ay least one great Easterling King as one of his pawns. However, it has become quite difficult to make a more personified, menacing, and (preferably) magical villian, something to strike fear into the Player's hearts This is because I've already determined that the Numenorean is long dead, though he will actually have been preserved as a wraith, or a spirit that still commands his realm. This leaves the Easterling King, but he isn't too menacing or memorable. I would like to work in one (or a small number of) Demon-like servants somehw uncovered from ages past and lured into His service. In fact, I've even contemplated that these beings may be more or equal in power to the Black Numenorean, and may contest his weak hold over them. So, in essence, I'm looking to provide an ancient threat to the heroes, with elements of the Balrog or Nazgul, though not a carbon copy of each.

    Thanks to everyone in advance, especially for reading this rather long-winded post.

  2. #2
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    Sounds like an interesting chronicle! What Age is it in exactly? You may have told in another post, not sure if you did in this one.

    Well, this may not be too great a help to you, but I'm in the middle of That Hideous Strength by C.S Lewis, and one guy that I really think is a neat character that might make a good RPG enemy is the Deputy Director. Basically, he's extremely aloof, never looking at you or talking in concrete words (in fact, he almost never uses nouns, it's all metaphorical or whatever!), always talking long and slowly, and so on. This is of course a bit annoying, which is nice in an RPG since you nearly always want your character to have a healthy dislike of the enemy. However, when he does 'come down to earth' it's almost scary, he looks very cold and calculating and inhuman.

    The other side of this RPG character that is coming into my mind is that he would be somewhat like Darth Vader from Star Wars; he wants the characters (or one of the particular character; perhaps the heir of a great and powerful line) alive and kicking so that the character can be turned to evil and used as a minion. The threat of the character actually turning to "the Dark Side" will be extremely low, but that's alright, as the main aspect of this would be that the Enemy is very careful and dainty in dealing with them; he won't kill the character[s] unless he absolutely has to.

    This might work well as the head man, the Black Numenorean, in your chronicle, or else it could be one of the head man's minions/allies/masters; perhaps one of the Blue Wizards turned evil. I've always been enamoured with the idea of one of the Blue Wizards turning evil whilst the other did not, this might be an interesting chronicle to work that into.

    Well, sorry for the long post, you may not get any help out of this, hope you do!

  3. #3
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    Re: Advice on a New Enemy

    Originally posted by Lord_Atredies
    This new threat will be that of a fallen Numenorean lord of Forostar, who long disapeared from the lore of men and Elves.
    This is an interesting chronicle idea and one that fits in with Tolkien's world in three important ways:

    1) We know that "King's Men" among the Numenoreans sailed to the Far East and conquered realms there to rule. We do not know what happened to these corrupted Numenoreans after Westernesse sank into the sea.

    2) We know that Sauron was very active in the Far East before the War of the Ring. In fact, even as the Necromancer he had been active in that region, for it is to the East that he fled when the White Council drove him from Dol Guldur. But, we do not know to whom he fled. Someone in the Far East had to receive and shelter him until he was strong enough to return to Mordor in 2951.

    3) Tolkien already gives us a glimpse of the kind of character you're describing: the Mouth of Sauron, lieutenant of Barad-dur. I'd recommend that you re-read this small section of ROTK for Tolkien's description of this "Black Numenorean" who quite literally sold his soul to Sauron in return for gifts of sorcery and greatly extended life of sorts (Tolkien doesn't specify how old this fellow is, but as a "Black Numenorean" he would be thousands of years old). The Mouth of Sauron was not a wraith, but neither was he quite a man anymore. Your Fallen Numenorean of the East might be in the same state.

    So I would encourage you to consider your villain as the Mouth of Sauron in the East. Perhaps it is he who marshalled the Easterlings to join Sauron in the War of the Ring? Perhaps the Dwarves of the Eastern Mountains (not Durin's Longbeards but another forgotten tribe) are the only "good" folk left in his region to oppose him? As for giving your villain power, I would liberally grant him Spellcasting abilities with sorcery spells and sorcery specializations. He doesn't have to be a Ringwraith to be a dangerous foe.
    Scottomir's LOTR Game Resources:
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  4. #4
    Hey, thanks for the compliments and suggestions guys, they'll help alot.

    Ben Hur, I really like the suggestion of a rather aloof villain, speaking often in an almost riddle-like language. I can definitely see some possibility for him even being a soothsayer or prophet for the Black Numenorean, or (to add even more intrest) inhabited by a spirit or phantom of dark power. And, to answer your question, the game is set in the Mid-Third Age, about 1450 to be precise

    Very interesting insight, Scottomir, especially because this was how I mostly devised the Black Numenorean lord (who still doesn't have aproper name, looking for very Adunac-sounding title), because I feel most of Tolkien's writing is actually far too good for me to intrude upon. Though Sauron isn't correctly indetified yet, much of the quest will involve "containing" the Black Numenorean, or else he may be discovered (or even re-discovered?) by the Necromancer or the Witch King, and be used as a pawn to destroy the people of Rhovanion much in the same way the Witch-King assaulted Arnor. Perhaps Sauron may have even met with the Numenorean Lord when he first arrived in Eastern Middle Earth, and endowed him with powerful servants (the Enemy I'm looking for), but Sauron has forgotten about the Numenorean, or assumed he is long dead, and the servants remain in the east, under the Black King. This might also allow for some weakness to be exploited in the enemy's forces, as the King may now have difficulty controlling these powerful beings on his own, and fear they may destroy him from within? Still alot of possibilities, so share your ideas, everybody. Thanks

    As an aside, the Mouth of Sauron was a great help in fleshing out this new enemy, and the Dwarves descended from the Dwarf-friends of the Black Numenorean will allready play an important role in his defeat. Very good feedback, Scottomir. BTW: Might you be Scottyboy from the Star Wars RPG Network Holonet forums? Admiral Atredies myself, and couldn't help but think some Holonetters might be lurking around these boards .

  5. #5
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    Glad to be of help. The only other advice I would throw your way is not to feel compelled to have Sauron forget about your Black Numenorean. Sauron was very active in the East before the War of the Ring, he very well could be meeting with your villain. Perhaps Sauron has ordered him to marshal an empire in the East...and only your heroes stand in the way!

    Sorry, I'm not Scottyboy anywhere. Only my sister gets away with calling me Scotty.
    Scottomir's LOTR Game Resources:
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  6. #6
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    1450, eh? Very good year.

    How do you imagine the East to be, envirionmentally? It's really quite vast, so the terrain could be extremely diverse. But you'll include deserts, jungles, forests, plains, mountains, etc, or will you focus mostly on one sort?

    My mind is extremely blank on the sort of powerful enemies you would want, but I can think of a lot of different Easterling soldiers; chariot riders, wild axemen of the mountains, desert cavalry, scimitar-wielders from the deserts, and the two kinds in the movies are some.

    But perhaps one of the beasts that the Black Numenorean has is a Were-worm. No idea what they are like, I think the only time they are mentioned is in Bilbo's quote in The Hobbit:

    "Tell me what you want done, and I will try it, if I have to walk from here to the East of East and fight the wild Were-worms in the Last Desert."

    Sounds pretty intimidating at least! As the Encyclopedia of Arda says, "we cannot even be certain that they actually existed - the Hobbits had a rich folklore peopled with fantastic beings, and were-worms quite possibly fall into that category", but Tolkien's mentioning it still gives us a lot of possibilities, and if anyone says "Oh, so unTolkien of you" you just point to the quote.

    I really like the suggestion of a rather aloof villain, speaking often in an almost riddle-like language. I can definitely see some possibility for him even being a soothsayer or prophet for the Black Numenorean, or (to add even more intrest) inhabited by a spirit or phantom of dark power.
    Neat, I think in the book the guy actually is possessed or something in fact, or at least trained his mind to act really weird; because his mind is almost disconnected from his body in a way, so that he can just concentrate on thinking almost entirely. So that'd fit perfectly.

  7. #7
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    Hi,


    While reading this thread (and enjoying the great suggestions here) I could not help but remember some other villains that were a remnant from the past, actually mentioned by Tolkien, but that are little known:


    Thuringwethil, the vampiric messenger of Sauron, during the first era. She had the ability of becoming a vampire-bat with an iron claw at each joint of her wings. Luthien used her form for a time.
    I believe that her final fate was never known, as far as I remember.

    Another option is one of the Blue Wizards. These guys went to the est and it is not known if they remained true or if they become like Saruman.

    Neither is well known, as far as I remember the last names Tolkien gave them were Morinethar and Rómestámo, “Darkness-slayer” and”East-helper.”

    Both of these guys, and likely Thuringwethil, were Maiar, like Sauron and Saruman, (but also Gandalf) and would be virtually immortal unless slain.
    We come, we are not seen, and inevitably, we conquer.

    First and Last, there is Duty.

    Romulan Proverbs

  8. #8
    Thanks guys, I haven't had a chance to read all the feedback yet, but I think I can really make this work.

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