Otaku-sempai
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Should Free League consider the middle of the Third Age for a campaign supplement?

Fri 12 Feb 2021, 15:58

I can think of several reasons for the design team to introduce a mid-Third Age campaign setting.
  • The early and middle Third Age should be covered by Free League's license through the Lord of the Rings appendices.
  • The middle of the Third Age was a period of conflict and adventure. Events include civil war in Gondor, the founding of the Shire, wars and internal strife in the North-kingdoms, the Angmar War, the capture and loss of Minas Ithil, and the end of the line of kings in Gondor.
  • A campaign supplement for this period might appeal especially to players of the old MERP game.
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So, should the design team consider introducing a mid-Third Age Campaign Supplement?
Last edited by Otaku-sempai on Sun 09 May 2021, 23:18, edited 1 time in total.
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Thranduil's Elk
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Re: Should Free League consider the middle of the Third Age as an official setting?

Fri 12 Feb 2021, 16:40

As someone who owns nearly every supplement ever published for MERP, I would love that. In my opinion that was one of the greatest strengths of MERP. You could adventure in Middle Earth without really worrying about messing with the canon. But you could still interact with Elrond, Radagast, and some of the famous figures. And you could also adventure in places like Angmar and Moria before the balrog.

But I think they've chosen the very end of the Third Age because more casual fans, including people who've only seen the movies and never read the books, will have basic familiarity. And given the way they're designing the cultures, it might be a ton of work to do a supplement for the mid Third Age, as much as I'd personally like to see it. Theoretically I could, of course, simply convert some MERP supplements myself. But the game mechanics are so different that it would be a ton of work compared to say, converting MERP to earlier editions of D&D, which is super easy.
Not all who wander are lost....
 
gyrovague
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Re: Should Free League consider the middle of the Third Age as an official setting?

Sat 13 Feb 2021, 08:00

And divide their attention from producing content for their chosen setting? No thank you!

If the question were, "Should Free League have considered the middle of the Third Age as the official setting..." that would be a different, and theoretical, discussion.
 
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dpeters911
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Re: Should Free League consider the middle of the Third Age as an official setting?

Sun 09 May 2021, 07:14

I would love Age specific books AFTER every region gets its treatment. That way it could reference what changes in each and exist as its own supplement.
 
Mydeskisonfireagain
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Re: Should Free League consider the middle of the Third Age for a campaign supplement?

Tue 11 May 2021, 08:46

That would be a nightmare for FL and very restrictive. There are licensing issues which specific what they can and more importantly cannot touch. To tip toe around a license IMHO would severely cramp the artists and writers ability to produce a great product. Im happy as it is, in fact I love that its delving into times which showcase some of the lesser known characters, like Drogo. Cant effin wait.
 
Otaku-sempai
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Re: Should Free League consider the middle of the Third Age for a campaign supplement?

Tue 11 May 2021, 15:30

That would be a nightmare for FL and very restrictive. There are licensing issues which specific what they can and more importantly cannot touch. To tip toe around a license IMHO would severely cramp the artists and writers ability to produce a great product. Im happy as it is, in fact I love that its delving into times which showcase some of the lesser known characters, like Drogo. Cant effin wait.
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I'm not sure it would be problematic from a licensing standpoint. The material would draw from the Lord of the Rings appendices, which might well be covered by FL's contract. There might be other good reasons why FL might not want to do it, but I'm not sure that would be one of them.
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coniunctio
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Re: Should Free League consider the middle of the Third Age for a campaign supplement?

Wed 12 May 2021, 09:07

It's certainly an interesting period to consider and I have had it in mind to attempt to run a game in Arnor from the old MERP modules Cardolan, Rangers of the North and other supplements. Whilst doing a little research I thought the 'Great Pendragon Campaign' sounded like good reference. But in the last few days I begin to see just how challenging this time period would be for the LM. A lot of politics and associated NPC personalities to keep track of and plans for war and the land itself being much less wilderness and more towns and settlements rather than isolated dwellings. Meaning orcs, trolls and wargs etc will be more around the edges of the territory (in my mind at least). Trying to model the erosion of the Kingdom is very appealing but a lot of work I suspect. To that end I thought to play the board game 'Pendragon' by GMT Games which plays out the fall of Roman Britain (which can be played solo). In the last couple of days I had a look at some of the other RPG's set in Roman/post-Roman Britain (Keltia by Cubicle 7 and Mythic/Mythos?). Only the latter appears to have a campaign to play out but it's hard to tell if it's what I need without paying out considerable money.
 
DeusXLondon
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Re: Should Free League consider the middle of the Third Age for a campaign supplement?

Thu 20 May 2021, 00:10

HI All

<slightly off topic?>
Coniunctio, have you been following Golden Goblin Presses' Britannia and Beyond Kickstarter? That is Cthulhu Roman, fairly easy to convert to Pendragon.
<back on topic>

Broadly I agree with the thrust of this thread. I'm excited to see what new content FL comes up with, especially given their faithfulness to other licenses like Alien. Admittedly I'm also speaking from a standpoint of an embarrassment of riches when I look at my hard-won shelf of MERP/ICE/Decipher & TOR. Mid-third age is a great time for political gaming if your table has Games of Thrones fans.

(It helped my LOTR gaming greatly that Angus McBride lived down the road in Southern Cape Town, and in the early nineties kindly donated all his ICE artist's copies to our UCT Tolkien lit. & roleplaying societies, (CLAWS). Fortunately the remains of that trove seems to have survived the recent library fire*)

DX

P.s. just to clarify *, my shelf doesn't have any of that trove, before vengeful Claws librarians decend.
 
coniunctio
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Re: Should Free League consider the middle of the Third Age for a campaign supplement?

Fri 21 May 2021, 09:05

DeusXLondon.

Thanks for mentioning the link to the Cthulu Roman thing. I'll take a look later. I've just discovered the campaign for Mythic Britain which so far looks like it will lend itself very well to early-mid TA roleplay and has I think the seeds of a main, over-arching plot around which other discreet adventures can take place. At the moment I'm working my way through some of those Merp campaign guides (Dagmar appears as a character name in one). I just need to knit the various adventure guides into something coherent and if I do manage that I may well run a game spanning 400+ years. Adventure or Fellowship phases will be over 5 or 10 year phases. I like the possibility of a player creating a family tree with deeds of ancestors being told. Very Tolkien in theme to do so I reckon.

I find the time period very compelling. Khazud Dum is still a Dwarf mansion (so a Khazad dwarf playable culture). Rohan is not yet a country. I don't think (from memory) Erebor is yet founded. (From memory) The Kin-strife is still to take place so pirating and incursions up and down the coasts could be a thing.

I have something now quite well-formed as a plan for running a game...

Cardolan and Arthedain are already two separated kingdoms but with conflicting and shared interests though Cardolan is without an apparent heir from the line of princes since the death of Osthir and his sons at the battle of Tyrn Gorthad (1409 Barrow Downs). The Barrow Downs have become increasingly corrupted and a source of fear and blight. Amon Sul destroyed. By 1601 Hobbits have completed their settlement of the Shire (which I will treat in my campaign as the 'bread basket' that feeds the two kingdoms with Hobbits being the ultimate farmers!). By 1640 the lands are still only just starting a recovery from the Great Plague of 1636-37 having already been long in decline since 1409 and constant raids by Angmar and Rhudaur and possibly from old Hollin.

Cardolan is 'ruled' by several remaining baronies or successor states but with a nominal High Commander (Canotar) sent by Gondor but these successor states are very difficult to unite around any consensus of shared interest and resist any claimship by Arveleg to re-unify the remaining two kingdoms (the shadow of greed under the guise of freedom and independence). The Dunedain descendants have begun to dissipate leaving for Gondor, being usurped by the 'lesser men' of the region and their interests, or in increasing numbers going North to Arthedain. By TA 1973-75 the third Northern War with Angmar will break out in which most of Arthedain will be destroyed along with Angmar. I will have an insidious shadow of Angmar corrupting the lands via the Hillmen of Rhudaur's return to worship of dark magic. Which will eqaute to localised corrupted or blighted villages.

Gandalf will primarily be known as Olorin but more than likely a background motivator to player character aims (salvaging heirlooms for keeping at Rivendell, small incursions, local solving of plots etc, 1640 Osgiliath in ruins capital is now Minas Anor, watch on Mordor abandoned,1643 great storm of Cardolan, 1934 Arvedui makes claim on sceptre of Gondor - rejected, 1964 Arvedui King of Arnor, 1974 destruction of Kingdom of Arnor, 1975 drowning and loss of Arvedui and two palantir. Angmar destroyed. 1976 Aranarth becomes chieftain of Dunedain.
 
Otaku-sempai
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Re: Should Free League consider the middle of the Third Age for a campaign supplement?

Fri 21 May 2021, 15:11

I find the time period very compelling. Khazud Dum is still a Dwarf mansion (so a Khazad dwarf playable culture). Rohan is not yet a country. I don't think (from memory) Erebor is yet founded. (From memory)
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Hmmm. I think that the Longbeards might have been mining the Lonely Mountain, but Erebor didn't exist yet as a city.
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