Eve of Mirkwood [Full]

The Third Age of the Sun, and long have the sons of Numenore struggled against the tides of evil. The Witch King of Angmar, Lord of the Nazgul, holds dominion in the north and threatens the diminishing kingdom of Arnor. He seeks an end to the age of Men.

In the south, King Umbardicil of Gondor battles to maintain his country's borders against the barbarian hordes and especially the Wainriders of Rhun. The Dwarfs of Moria have vanished, and the Elves of Lorien, Rivendell and Belfallas are enshrined, unwilling or unable to help the ailing Dunedain.

Moreover, something evil stirs in the shadows of Mirkwood.

The Eve of Mirkwood is a Middle-Earth game set in the realm of Tolkien during the latter centuries of the Third Age of the Sun (TA 1874 to be precise). I'm looking for players who are fans, or who just fancy the chance to explore Third Age Middle-Earth. Knowledge of chronology and mythology are not requirements! In terms of posts, please don't be afraid to use your keyboard. One line players or abbreviated turns (ie Foobar goes NW and KOs the orc) are definitely not my preference.

Expect the setting to be historically accurate, with everything you'd expect to find during this time period within north-western Middle-Earth, including the relevant races, political infrastructures, prominent protagonists and enemies. Having said that, I don't intend to impose linear restrictions on players. If you want to battle the Witch King of Angmar and hunt down the unmentionable evil haunting the twisted depths of Mirkwood then that's fine by me. If you'd prefer to avoid tangling with known chronological events and would rather just adventure in the dungeons, mountains, cities and wilderness of Middle-Earth that's fine too.

I haven't yet decided on a method of bringing the group together. I intend to look at the characters suggested first, then come up with a reason the group might come together.

Please submit character ideas to this thread using the character guide below, or email to me if you feel more comfortable doing so (davidATfarcountryweb.co.uk). I'll get in touch with you by email probably. I'm planning on using D&D 3rd ed.

CHARACTER CREATION GUIDE
Please no known protagonists like Gandalf or Elrond, no members of the Ainur (Valar or Maiar) and no kings, queens, princes or other politically prominent characters who might throw a spanner in the works of existing chronology. Feel free to ask me about possibilities for any unusual character ideas you have.

PCs you may consider include
Hobbits (Falohide) adventurous folk from the Shire or thereabouts. Those with strong Falohide blood include Tooks, Brandybucks and Bagginses. (Race/subrace suggestion: Gnomes, minus the engineering tendencies. Halflings, possibly, though they are more aggressive than Hobbits. No subrace suggestion).
Hobbits (Stoor) riverfolk and fishing hobbits from villages in and around Middle-Earth's many rivers. The Brandywine, Anduin and Lune are all good. (Race/subrace suggestion: Gnomes again, minus the engineering tendencies. Halflings are more likely as the Stoor are quite combative (Smeagol was a Stoor Hobbit). No subrace suggestion).
Dwarfs Durin's folk are in Moria and have closed their doors to the outside world. Dwarfs may be scattered in small groups elsewhere around Middle-Earth but there are no large contingencies of dwarfs abroad in Middle-Earth during this period. (Race/subrace suggestion: Dwarf, Middle-Earth dwarfs fit the template well. Subrace: Deep Dwarfs might work for those who have delved deep into Moria, but they are very much entrenched in Moria, so very unlikely to be usable as an adventurer)
Elves (Silvan) from the Greenwood region, ruled by Thranduil the Sindar lord and father of Legolas. Greenwood, at this time, is in the grip of an unknown evil and is widely known as Mirkwood. (Race/subrace suggestion: Wood Elf subrace (also known as Sylvan)
Elves (Falathrim) the sea-loving elves, led by Cirdan the Shipwright. They live in Grey Havens in the Gulf of Lune. (Race/subrace suggestion: Gray Elf).
Elves (Sindar/Noldor) the elves of Lothlorien ruled by the Lady Galadriel and Lord Celeborn. (Race/subrace suggestion: Grey Elf)
Elves (High elves/any) the elves of Rivendell, ruled by Lord Elrond. (Race/subrace suggestion: Gray Elf)
Elves (Any) there are some elves in Edhellond, an elf haven in the Bay of Belfalas, and some in the enclave's main city of Dol Amroth. (Race/subrace suggestion: Gray Elf)
Men (Dunedain) Arnorians or Gondor Men. The rangers, disenfranchised men of Arnor, are yet to appear in numbers, but there may be a few rangers who have removed themselves from Fornost etc. because of plague and subsequently wander the wilderness Aragorn-style.
Men (Dale Men/Bardings) Men from the Dale, the town on the edge of Lake Esgaroth and in the shadow of the Lonely Mountain (The Hobbit).
Men (Éothéod) Northmen and horse masters. In this period they live in the vale of Anduin, most notably the north of Mirkwood. They will one day become the Rohirrim of Rohan.
Men (Atanatari) Scholarly men from any region, but preferably Arnor or Gondor.
Men (Dunlendings of Eryn Vorn) hostile to Arnorians and Gondor Men, suits foresters and tracker/burglar type characters.
Men (Dunlendings of Tharbad) less prejudice against the Dunedain, but still uneasy around men of Arnor or Gondor. Originating from the town of Tharbad.
Men (Rhovanian) refugee nomad from the Wainrider oppressed lands of Rhovanion.
Men (Beorning) huge, gruff, black haired and grizzle bearded Men of Mirkwood. The Beornings are woodsmen and hunters.
Men (Dorwinians) refugees fleeing the Wainrider Easterling barbarians. Come from the west shore of Rhun, the inland sea, and are famed as makers of fine wines and strange alcoholic drinks.
Men (Forodwaith) Men of the icy kingdom to the north known by most as the Lossoth or Forodwaith. High endurance to the cold, but should be a reason why a lone Lossoth has ventured into Middle-Earh.
Men (Lakemen) Men of the stilted town in Lake Esgaroth, as encountered by Bilbo in The Hobbit.
Men (Woodman) From Southern Mirkwood. Hunters, trackers and natural rangers, at home amid the trees, but particularly the trees of Mirkwood.

Oh yeah, count me in. Big Tolkein fan. Let me ponder a concept for a bit. Any of the races listed below are OK? Any restricted classes? Stat roll, point buy, starting level, money, magic level (eg items) etc?

Any of the characters in the list above are ok. I leave it up to enterprising players to ponder/suggest parallel D&D classes. I'd just like to hear character ideas for now and will sort out things like stats, starting equipment etc. once I have a better idea of the shape of the group and a likely starting location.

I should probably also point out at this stage that I'm off on holiday next week and will be back on the 13th April, so there's plenty of time before the game begins (around that date) to discuss characters and come up with possibilities in this thread.

Edit: oh, and with regard to magic, Middle-Earth is a bit restrictive in that sense and most magic is reserved for the relevant maiar, most notably the five Istari wizards and the 'evil ones', and some of the more prominent Elves, so magic user classes are probably out of bounds (though I'll consider anything!).

This is interesting, but it's hard to come up with a character concept without even a level guide. If I want to make a thief from Minas Tirith, should he be a small-time hustler or a master cat burglar able to penetrate the home of the Steward himself? (Not that I'm actually interested in such a character, it's just an example).

I've always been rather interested in Tolkien's world. I'd like to give this a try.

Elfyness appeals. I especially like the idea of being originally from Greenwood, so I have a clear and powerful tie to the theme of the game.

Class I'll have to think on. More info, like Illium suggests, would be useful.

Oh, and is this "movie Tolkien," or "book Tolkien?"

Magic seemed -more- common/D&Dish in the movie, though by no means common nor D&Dish compared to most contemporary fantasy.

Ok guys, it's definitely a valid point. I'll have a think and come up with something, hopefully to post tommorrow, regarding levels, starting information and so on.

Oh, and is this "movie Tolkien," or "book Tolkien?"

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Very much book Tolkien. As mentioned previously, knowledge of chronology isn't crucial from a player perspective. From a GM perspective I'm sticking as strictly as I can to a mixture of official encyclopedias, bestiaries, Silmarillion, Hobbit and Lord of the Rings, plus Tolkien's notes and some of the stuff released by his son, in order to make the period as true to the histories as possible. The only book I haven't studied in great detail is The Children of Húrin, though I do know the story.

Magic seemed -more- common/D&Dish in the movie, though by no means common nor D&Dish compared to most contemporary fantasy.

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Magic relies much more on artefacts than the energy-based 'manna' magic of D&D, though true magic users like Sauron have an inherant spiritual ability to create what I'd deem D&D style sorcery. Even Gandalf is somewhat lost without his staff (and in book Tolkien, by Narya, the Elven ring of fire). It really does depend on where he is though. In the Undying Lands, where he's more maiar than man, he's only a couple of rungs down the evolutionary ladder from godhood.

If I want to make a thief from Minas Tirith, should he be a small-time hustler or a master cat burglar able to penetrate the home of the Steward himself?

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A nice idea for a character actually, and a good potential reason for him becoming an adventurer. The honour-bound Gondor Men of Minas Arnor (doesn't become Minas Tirith until Minas Ithil "Tower of the Moon" fell to the Witch King of Angmar and became Minas Morgul "Tower of the Wraiths" when the Gondor Men renamed Minas Arnor "Tower of the Sun" to Minas Tirith "Tower of the Guard"- and in our period the Witch King is still very much in Angmar) um, where was I, the honour-bound Gondor Men of Minas Arnor would likely throw him out of the city at a pinch for doing something so unholy as nicking stuff.

I would love to play a rider of Rohan, although I don't know what might have led him to leave his home behind. Give me some time to think about it and come up with a good reason.

Good choice, I look forward to seeing your idea take shape. FYI The riders of Rohan are still known by the more romantic name Éothéod (or the less romantic Northmen) in this time period. They are yet to ally with Gondor to the extent where they will be given the Plains of Calenardhon, which subsequently are renamed Rohan. In effect, Rohan as a country doesn't exist yet. See the map in the first post in this thread for an idea of how Middle-Earth looks in TA 1874. I'm still tweaking the map and will attach a bigger finished version when I get back from holiday.

Hello all,
New to the forum but I've played with Dave before (and I'm back, which should tell you something .

Anyway, I think it would be helpful to state what level we as players would prefer, give our DM an idea of what he's dealing with. I personally prefer low level games, say somewhere around 3rd level. Haven't quite decide re character as I was initially thinking of a peasantish dwarven fellow which might or might not work here; thinking on it.

Most of all though, I think it's important to form links between characters so we don't end up a collection of loose pieces. Dave has been very flexible on this in the past so I'll just throw out some ideas and see if anybody's interrested (correct me if I overstep in any way, Dave). On to it : Binding can be done through a strong common motive or through existing links between characters. Both would excellent! Those who've spoken up so far seem to lean toward a Mirkwood theme, and I count an exiled thief plus disenfranched rider, so how about basing the start point around a Beorn (Elrond?)-style village in/by the edge of the forest (mix of logging, gathering and small fields?)? Characters would be a mix of perfecly respectable settlers plus semi-outcasts from elswhere who have come to try and start a new life (not necessarely a good idea for them long term). We can even add a noble-and-guard in there if need be, say they've been sent to get them out of the way or as semi-punishement so they can "get some sense into their heads" by ruling over a small village for a while. Something bad happens (it always seems to, doesn't it? and off we go!

In this set-up and dwarf or not, my character would probably be either the smith and/or the mister fix it of the village so he'd be available to take on an apprentice/son/daughter/niece/debts ridden relative from Minas Anor if any of you feel so inclined (Fred looks in Ilium's general direction... .

Binder Fred, Brainstorming away.

Definitely interested... I'd love to play either a dwarf fighter (I've loved the Moria-dwarves) or a Beorning Barbarian. I love Tolkien and Middle-Earth. I look forward to seeing more info.