Forum

Hello everyone,
I'm about to start an introductory session to the campaign that I've been working on. I have a couple questions that I could really use advice on.

1. What would you suggest for a solid first adventure? I'm having the group start at Bree, and need them to go south towards Lond Daer on the map. I'd like to have a little bit of the mechanics to be in it. (Fellowship, Combat, Council...etc)

2. The bulk of the campaign will be situated around and in Lond Daer. Is there any Canon material that says Lond Daer can't be rebuilt and helped out or is it meant to be destroyed?

3. I was thinking of having the party be like knight errants going around and righting wrongs. Pretty much making a name for themselves and Lond Daer.

Any ideas or advice is welcomed and appreciated.

Lond Dair is shown on Third Age maps only as a ruin. However, Ruins of the Lost Realm posits a bit of a resurgence in recent years with a new settlement ruled over by a queen (Nimue) who was declared ruler after slaying a local monster.

Your company could start out by looking for some artifact or heirloom on the Barrow-downs. Perhaps they could encounter Tom Bombadil who could point them towards Lond Daer, informing them that Queen Nimue has a need for adventurers.

EDIT: I just realized that my response was geared towards a TOR campaign. The equivalent book for AiMe would be Ruins of Eriador. Also, the adventure "Messing About in Boats" (Tales From the Lone-Lands/Tales From Eriador 5E) begins in Lond Daer. taking the adventuring company to the Hall of Queen Nimue.

Great questions as you plan out what sounds like an exciting Middle Earth campaign! Here are some thoughts...

A classic intro adventure possibility - the party hears word in Bree of a village being harassed by bandits on the road south. They can provide aid, work on fellowship, and have a small combat encounter. Gets things kicked off quickly!I haven't seen canon material expressly preventing a rebuilt Lond Daer. As a somewhat obscure harbor town, you likely have a lot of creative liberty to shape its fate after the Scouring of the Shire. Rebuilding efforts could make for a great heroic undertaking!
The knight errant theme is perfect for touring the Shire and having self-contained adventures. Plenty of opportunities to face evil men, fell beasts, scheming vagabonds and aid townspeople along the way.Policy and Procedure Templates are pre-designed documents that provide a structured framework for organizations to develop their own customized policies and procedures. These templates serve as valuable tools for businesses, institutions, or government entities, offering a starting point and guidelines for creating comprehensive and tailored policies and procedures that align with their specific needs.

I don't know if you are planning to use TOR or 5e. But the Star of the Mist landmark on p222 in the 5e core book is a pretty fun first adventure supposedly for level 1 heroes. I say supposedly because almost any enemy can one-shot a level 1 hero and the pre-written adventure suggests one bandit per hero for the combat scenarios, I found I needed to use less bandits to keep from killing my level 1 party. You can still use the journey mechanics for the trip. I didn't try to use a counsel, but I guess you could weave that in if you wanted to in order to get the rumor passed to your group.

Anyway, the road South to Lond Daer goes right past Sarn Ford (the setting for Star of the Mist) just South of Bree a few hexes. Good luck!

@Alexm, I did something similar to this for my first game and plan to head to Lond Daer for the second game. I chose the first patron for the group to be Balin to help introduce a dwarf adventurer. The bandits were introduced as local poor troublemakers who rob dwarves on the road to the Blue Mountains. I had the group go to the not so savory inn on the east side of Bree Hill. From there they convinced the bartender to tell them where the bandits were, after making them promise not to kill them because they were just young men. The party tracked the bandits north for about 4 days and found the camp. The bandits had been all killed but a few. Some medicine checks later and we learn that some orcs had come down from the Weather Hills for the dwarf hoard. All this to say orcs die, bandits reformed, blah blah. Party goes back to the Prancing Pony where they find Balin, Gandalf, and the Hobbit Knight of Lond Daer. Point to all this is that we practiced mechanics and killed orcs before we move south for raiders and the Queen’s Hall, which I am inspired by the Kingdom in The Walking Dead to run.