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Hi guys!

Will there be a Bree supplement like in the 1st edition? Bree is central and a key place in this edition.

I'm guessing not any time soon, though that would be a smart conversion to make (and update). I'd suggest trying to get a copy of the original Bree supplement for 1E.

If there would be a redone Bree supplement, I'd enjoy seeing more of a Breeland-focuses supplement more than Bree itself. While they're not present in the original material, there would be some interesting opportunities in adding some smaller hamlets and settlements in the vicinity of Bree itself, just to make the world a bit more lived-in and defined. The emptiness of Eriador in general could be filled out a bit, and it seems like 2nd edition is moving more towards this in general.

For example one could look at what LOTRO did: adding the smaller village of Trestlebridge between Breeland and the North Downs, along with some outlying farms and a hobbit building an inn at the halfway point between Buckland and Bree.

If there would be a redone Bree supplement, I'd enjoy seeing more of a Breeland-focuses supplement more than Bree itself. While they're not present in the original material, there would be some interesting opportunities in adding some smaller hamlets and settlements in the vicinity of Bree itself, just to make the world a bit more lived-in and defined. The emptiness of Eriador in general could be filled out a bit, and it seems like 2nd edition is moving more towards this in general.

For example one could look at what LOTRO did: adding the smaller village of Trestlebridge between Breeland and the North Downs, along with some outlying farms and a hobbit building an inn at the halfway point between Buckland and Bree.

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I've long suspected that there would be one or more inns on the Road between Bree and the Brandywine Bridge (a distance of 80 to 100 miles according to most maps, although Frodo and his companions were able to travel it in a single day on their return journey*).
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* I feel as though this is one of the times where Tolkien either miscalculated or cheated a bit in order to keep the story moving along.

As I am in this area with a game I am working on, I am re-visiting interesting posts on this forum & others.

Like O - S has said, the issue of the journey from Bree to Buckland can be seen as uncertain: almost contradictory.
Tolkien's own map gives this route a big distance of 80+ miles, but the key canon passage for me is the second page of chapter 9 of Book I: AT THE SIGN OF THE PRANCNG PONY

"Occasionally the Hobbits of Bree went as far as Buckland, or the East Farthing; but though their little las was not much further than a day's riding east of the Brandywine Bridge, the Hobbits of the Shire now seldom visited it."

Whatever the map scale is used , Tolkien means the journey to take ONE long day, if on some sort of mount of course. And, although this is a stretch at any time of year, any traveller who set off early in the morning WILL make it without having to stop & make camp (accidents & weather permitting). If any map of the area suggests that this cannot happen, then the map is incorrect or inexact.


It is the Narrative that is the essence of the matter; and not any map distance that has been produced by anyone else, including Tolkien, for me.

Bree to Brandywine Bridge is do-able in a day, but only with a pony/horse. My real question here is "What is the distance a rider can cover along a road in one day with little or no stopsIs 80+ miles realistic?"

This is confirmed/backed up by the later narrative where the return of the four hobbits from Bree to the Shire is also accomplished in a day - but that journey does finish after dark, in autumn time.

Regarding the travel time between Buckland and Bree, it is possible to make it in one day applying the current travel rules to the 2nd Edition map.

The distance is four hexes, all travelling by road. You calculate travel time at 1 day per hex, or 1 day per 2 hexes if Forced Marching. You halve the total number of days if the entire company is mounted. So, you can just about make it in one day if forced marching on horseback (or pony-back, if you're a Hobbit).

And apologies to Dunheved, as I think they already stated this more succinctly in their post above.

Regarding the travel time between Buckland and Bree, it is possible to make it in one day applying the current travel rules to the 2nd Edition map.

The distance is four hexes, all travelling by road. You calculate travel time at 1 day per hex, or 1 day per 2 hexes if Forced Marching. You halve the total number of days if the entire company is mounted. So, you can just about make it in one day if forced marching on horseback (or pony-back, if you're a Hobbit).

And apologies to Dunheved, as I think they already stated this more succinctly in their post above.

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Yeah, okay. Frodo and his companions could make it on ponies, but they had to hussle! The distance still suggests the existence of one or more inns between Bree and the Brandywine Bridge.

Extra inns between Bree and Buckland?

For: Rarely mentioned are the "Outsiders" (Shire term for hobbits living outside the boundaries of the Shire). They may be nothing like the population density of Shire & Bree, but they exist. And although some of those are what would be called 'tramps' in Britain (that's 'hobo' in the USA, I believe), others are just as likely to be self-sufficient farmers existing in splendid isolation or some sort of independence. Inevitably, these places would "brew their own", and be ready to sell to incidental travellers (and Rangers!), or even to put them up in spare beds or barns. Any really good brewers would come to the attention of the wider public, and attract wider custom.
For: Also, 80 miles between stops? Any slower moving company would not reach Bree in one day. A normal caravan or company on foot covers about 20 miles, possibly a little more on the road, in a day. Shaded spots (in summer) along that road would be ideal for a tavern, inn, restaurant or pub. Thorin Oakenshield's bunch - despite being with ponies - takes forever compared to Frodo and Co. There must have been several minor "adventures" and wayside stops to slow them down to explain this difference. Taverns is the best answer here. (Shorts cuts bring delays, and inns, longer ones)
For: Can you imagine all those Hobbit Tales that will be told in such places? And how carefully they will be guarded by Rangers? TOR narrative demands it!

Against: I am struggling here to come up with much: other than no explicit mention by the Professor; and also a general counter-claim that there would be little enough trade to make it worthwhile for an actual tavern to exist because there was no real population here.

Oh, yes, I am all for extra pubs: in fact I will even drink to the idea, "Cheers" O-S!

We do know that there were no Inns between the Forsaken Inn and the Last Bridge, and that there were no real settlements to the south and east before you reached Dunland. Nothing is explicitly said about other settlements west or north of Bree outside of the Shire, until reaching the Dwarven Halls in the Blue Mountains and the Elves in Lindon. Bree-landers were rightly suspicious of anyone heading north towards Deadman's Dyke, as only dodgy Ranger types went that way.

I think it's fair to assume there could be small settlements anywhere in these areas and we need to follow Free League's example with Tharbad by populating Eriador with more people for players to interact with. An inn between Bree and the Shire would make a lot of sense. It would probably be almost as run down as the Forsaken Inn, due to lack of trade, (but the proprietor may be more trustworthy).