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Does anyone know when the Palantir came to reside in Minas Tirith? I'm assuming it was well before the birth of Denethor II (perhaps in the second age sometime?). I can't find anything at Encyclopedia or Arda. Maybe one of you smartish folks out there has an inkling?
Thanks,
Reptile
In the hierarchy of living organisms, it's snakes all the way down.
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It would have been placed in Minas Anor in 3320:
3320 Foundations of the Realms in Exile: Arnor and Gondor. The Stones are divided.
Quote taken from Appendix B The Tale of the Years'.
Hope this helps!
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'Some who have read the book, or at any rate have reviewed it, have found it boring, absurd, or contemptible; and I have no cause to complain, since I have similar opinions of their works' JRR Tolkien
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Oh yes, sorry, but forgot to mention that it was 3320 in the Second Age and Minas Anor was the original name for Minas Tirith (name changed in Third Age 2002 after the fall of Minas Ithil.).
For your info, the Downfall of Númenor was in Second Age 3319.
www.unfinishedtales.net
'Some who have read the book, or at any rate have reviewed it, have found it boring, absurd, or contemptible; and I have no cause to complain, since I have similar opinions of their works' JRR Tolkien
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Thank you much, Brandir.
That's exactly what I was looking for.
Reptile
In the hierarchy of living organisms, it's snakes all the way down.
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No problem! By the way, what are you planning?Originally posted by ReptileJK
Thank you much, Brandir.
That's exactly what I was looking for.
Reptile
www.unfinishedtales.net
'Some who have read the book, or at any rate have reviewed it, have found it boring, absurd, or contemptible; and I have no cause to complain, since I have similar opinions of their works' JRR Tolkien
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Well, my friends and I have been gaming together for so long (since high school, and we are all almost 30 now) that one of the biggest struggles as a GM is coming up with new situations and scenarios for their characters to get into and out of (rather then just "there are some orcs, they attack. What do you do?"). This is even more difficult with LOTR, in which everything is more subtle and subdued than D&D, etc..No problem! By the way, what are you planning?
The party consists of two dwarves and a dunedain and they've recently spent alot of time in the Mirkwood/grey mountains area and I was going to try and switch gears alittle with them by putting their characters in the realm of civilization once more. Believe it or not, I've never used Minas Tirith as a setting in all these years (mostly of playing MERP). So, I was trying to come up with a setting in Minas Tirith, that was alittle out of the ordinary. I was thinking it would be interesting to have them, for an undetermined reason as of yet, be led down into a tunnel system of some kind (sort of like the catacombs under Paris). AFter thinking about it, however, I couldn't come up with a good reason why these would exist under a place like Minas Tirith, so I dropped it. Then I started wondering about sewage systems, then aquadects. Seems like it would be a challenge to fight around all that water and cramped spaces. Furthermore, I was thinking something like an aquadect would be about the only possible way for an evil NPC to "smuggle" something into Minas Tirith. The front gate would probably be alittle too difficult. I don't know what will become of any of this yet. I have to sit down and peice everything together. I tend to come up with bits and peices during my hour drive back and forth from work.
Wow. That got long.
Perhaps I could post the notes from my last adventure to get some feed back from folks?
Reptile
In the hierarchy of living organisms, it's snakes all the way down.
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Sorry, Brandir. I started replying to your question, got distracted, then continued replying thinking that I was in a different thread! So, my response may not have made sense (ie, why I was talking about aquadects, etc.).
Reptile
In the hierarchy of living organisms, it's snakes all the way down.
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I was a little confused ... but put that down to my aging body and mind!
What era is your chronicle set?
www.unfinishedtales.net
'Some who have read the book, or at any rate have reviewed it, have found it boring, absurd, or contemptible; and I have no cause to complain, since I have similar opinions of their works' JRR Tolkien
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I don't have my notes with me for exact dates, but approximately mid-third age. When the dwarves still inhabited their halls in the Grey Mountains and Khazad Dum, also prior to Smaug taking over Erebor.
Most of my friends love dwarven characters, howevr, there's always a few that want to be an elf or a dunedain. So, I have to come up with complex (and sometimes convuluted) ways in which dwarves will hang out with elves and dunedain. Each time it gets alittle harder.
Reptile
In the hierarchy of living organisms, it's snakes all the way down.
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Sounds like the Second Age might be better for your purposes. You'd have Numenoreans, the Noldor in Hollin, and the Dwarves in Khazad-Dum. And they cooperate, to a degree. Could be interesting....Originally posted by ReptileJK
I don't have my notes with me for exact dates, but approximately mid-third age. When the dwarves still inhabited their halls in the Grey Mountains and Khazad Dum, also prior to Smaug taking over Erebor.
Most of my friends love dwarven characters, howevr, there's always a few that want to be an elf or a dunedain. So, I have to come up with complex (and sometimes convuluted) ways in which dwarves will hang out with elves and dunedain. Each time it gets alittle harder.
Reptile
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Good idea. I'd like, some day, to include Numenoreans in an adventure 'cause they're cool.
Yet, I kind of want these adventures to take place after the Last Alliance. Sauron is off licking his wounds somewhere and the exploits of my current players surround several attempts by the Dark Lord to re-establish a presence in ME without drawing attention to himself (before the Necromancer appears in Dol Guldor, etc.). These occurrences are "small potatoes" in the grand scheme of things and are definately not cannon (I've made most of them up). Some folks who are purists about not added anything to adventures that was not part of Tolkien's works may have a problem with this, but after awhile of adventuring in this world, a GM has to makes some things up to keep the game interesting for his/her players.
Reptile
In the hierarchy of living organisms, it's snakes all the way down.
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Originally I wanted to stick exactly to events in the books, but loosened up a bit after watching the movies and seeing how some alterations are not necessarily bad (even if I don't agree with them all).Originally posted by ReptileJK
Some folks who are purists about not added anything to adventures that was not part of Tolkien's works may have a problem with this, but after awhile of adventuring in this world, a GM has to makes some things up to keep the game interesting for his/her players.
Reptile
The campaign I have now is more flexible. I am keeping the players close to but not quite involved in major canonical events, but in a few instances I have made subtle changes to events so that players can't quite predict what is supposed to happen next. It's close enough that no one complains, but remains fresh.
mmmm.. fresh.
Fire at Will!
Zzzzaaap!
Riker's Dead, Sir!
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I agree. It seems almost impossible to do any sort of involved adventuring without tinkering with what's considered canon at least alittle. Of course, you can just write up adventures that follow the "there's something....how can we defeat it in combat" line of thinking, but that just gets boring.The campaign I have now is more flexible. I am keeping the players close to but not quite involved in major canonical events, but in a few instances I have made subtle changes to events so that players can't quite predict what is supposed to happen next. It's close enough that no one complains, but remains fresh.
JK
In the hierarchy of living organisms, it's snakes all the way down.
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You're right - LOTR is not supposed to be hack and slash. Mind you a good fight is plenty of fun, but a monster-of-the-week campaign is not interesting to me or my players.Originally posted by ReptileJK
I agree. It seems almost impossible to do any sort of involved adventuring without tinkering with what's considered canon at least alittle. Of course, you can just write up adventures that follow the "there's something....how can we defeat it in combat" line of thinking, but that just gets boring.
JK
I decided to run things at the end of the Third Age, around the time Aragorn went to Umbar as Thorongil and burned their fleet. Naturally the players will assist....
I also threw in an assassination attempt on a young Denethor that the PCs foiled. (Stole that one from an adventure in MERP's Minas Tirith module.).
Fire at Will!
Zzzzaaap!
Riker's Dead, Sir!
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Ahhhh....Good ol' MERP. Many can say what they will about it, but that game provided us with hours of enjoyment in high school and college (plus, at least ICE could get product on the shelves).
I've got just about every MERP book that I wanted over the years through eBay. Never was able to get Rider of Rohan, The Northern Wastes, or Minas Tirith.
I do have The Grey Mountains and Lorien, which are both classics, in my mind.
Reptile
PS, the young Denethor idea is interesting. Who was making the attempt on his life?
In the hierarchy of living organisms, it's snakes all the way down.
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