High magic 4th Age Middle Earth idea

[Belegbeth]

Sorry if my comments came across as overly critical, Errant. That was not my intention. I just wanted to point out some minor mistakes. I guess I am a little uptight when it comes to Middle-earth.

And I have to say, I think your campaign sounds very exciting!

Too bad your players are so conservative, though. I think it is very hard to capture the "feel" of Middle-earth without reworking the "standard" DnD rules.

 

[Steverooo]

Another Idea...

We're told that Minas Morgul wasn't cleansed for "many lives of men", and I doubt that 100 years is enough to qualify as "many"... From what Aragorn (IIRC) says, the pale flowers of the vale make you go to sleep... (and, I assume, die shortly thereafter).

Anyway, if the Mouth of Sauron is still alive after the Battle of the Morannon, this would be a good place for him to hole up, where King Elessar couldn't get to him (and isn't there still a palantir, there?) Also, if Shelob is still alive, she would have his back door. The remaining orcs of northern Mordor would also be holing up in that area, and could be attracted to his power...

Seeing his former master's defeat (just as Sauron saw Morgoth's), he would probably prefer to work through means more subtle than armies and undead. Especially with the former-slaves of southern Mordor now formed into another enemy palatinate at his back.

Lots of possible plot hooks, there.

Hmmm! Now what would the "Mouth of Sauron" call himself, if he's forgotten his own name, now that Sauron is gone?... The Dark Lord?

 

[Mystaros]

One good enemy race that can be brought into a Fourth Age campaign are the Black Numenoreans. Perhaps they didn't die out, and survived in various cities and small kingdoms in the lands beyond Harad and Khand? After all, the Numenoreans explored every nook and cranny of Middle-earth accessible from the seas. While the line may have failed in Umbar and Near Harad, the magically-potent, long-lived race may thrive further afield.

Plus, I've always imagined the Mouth of Sauron, though a Black Numenorean, to have survived his long years (very, very long years even for Numenoreans of old) through use of necromancy, with illusions giving him the semblance of life. So in my own Fourth Age campaign I developed I have him as a Lawful Evil Black Numenorean Magician 18 (magician being my own development, a cross between wizard and sorcerer that uses a wand, rod, or staff as a focus... though specially-forged rings might well do the trick, too).

Here are some other bad guys I developed (some more detailed than others when I had to go on to other things):

The Brambleking of Nan Morëhón
Bregambar, Quickdoom, The Brambleking of Blackheart Vale
Entish Magician 6/Ranger 6
Emblem: A dead tree above which is arrayed three white stars.
Through the vile magics of The Necromancer, the Treegarth of Orthanc was poisoned, and the ents there corrupted into Voronodrim, Dark Ents, with malice in their heart, brambles for vines, and poisoned ichor for sap. They are led by the Brambleking, formerly known as Bregalad, or Quickbeam, once friend and ally of the Good Peoples, now a dire enemy and danger known as Bregambar, or Quickdoom. The Voronodrim of Nan Morëhón are currently embroiled in a “civil war” with the other ents for control of Fangorn Forest. The ents are still led by Treebeard, who has fallen into a terrible despair over the fate of his brothers. Due to the civil war (which moves, albeit at an entish pace, regardless of the recklessness of the Brambleking) the Brambleking has not been able to pursue his hatred of the other races, save to the extent where he has sent a few Voronodrim and huorns out to other forests to begin the process of corruption there. This includes forests in Eriador and Rhovanion, though not as yet in Gondor, as the Brambleking is wary of directly offending, and thus gaining the full attention of, King Elessar.

The Treegarth of Orthanc is now known as Nan Morëhón, or Blackheart Vale. The Watchwood is much expanded, to fill the entire vale, and is now known as the Bramblewood. The lake about Orthanc is now a silted, festering swamp, while the tower itself, a creation of man, displeased the Brambleking so much (especially in that it could not be destroyed despite his new power and magical arts) that he grew the entire thing over in vine and thorn and branch, such that it now looks like a colossal dead black tree, with four huge branches grasping at the moon, the whole covered in bloody vines (from which hang the rotting bodies of men and elves). Orcs once again inhabit the tower and the slimy dungeons beneath it, doing the bidding of Quickdoom. His employ of orcs has dragged him into the politics of that vile race, and he plots now for his tribe to overthrow the Moria Orcs and take that realm for his own, the wealth and power thereby gained the better to conquer (and extirpate) the other races of Middle Earth.
For all that he had a hand in the creation of Nan Morëhón, the Brambleking, and his followers, The Necromancer is at best a distant ally and at worst a future rival, and thus the relationship between Quickdoom and Pallando is strained at the best of times.

The Dragon King of Khand
Dhumujian Khan, Dailianj Khan (V. “Great Dragon King”), Tárolókë (Q. “High-King Dragon”), Lukhûzdurub (B.S. “Dragon King”)
Half-Dragon (Variag) Barbarian 9/Mounted Warrior 9
Emblem: A red dragon rampant.
Dhumujian was born 33 years ago amongst the Variags of Khand, during the chaos and wars that followed the fall of Sauron and the disintegration of the Dark Empire. He was born a normal human, son of one of the many tribal chieftains. His father and most of his tribe was slain when he was but a child, and he fled into the wilderness. There he slowly built his own tribe from outcastes, the disaffected, and orphans like himself, welding them into a new tribe and power. Two years ago his tribe conquered the last remaining Variag tribe that opposed him, and he celebrated by naming himself the King of the World, and proclaimed himself a god. The High Priestess of Khand thereupon prophesied that he would either be destroyed for his presumption or he would, in fact, succeed, and be both god and king. Shortly thereafter a dragon began ravaging the countryside in a terrible rage, and all thought that it was the vengeance of the gods for their leader’s blasphemy. Dhumujian went forth to meet the beast single-handed. Naught was heard from him for three days, but the dragon was not seen again. When he returned, the khan was a changed man. When he slew the dragon its blood spilt over him and changed him in ways terrible and magical.

Unbeknownst to him or any other, the reason the dragon raged so terribly was that it had eaten a ring from its hoard, a ring of power, and the smelting of it in its belly drove it mad. When the khan slew the dragon, its magically-charged blood drenched him and altered him through the magic of the ring. It transformed him and gave him no small measure of the dragon’s power (effectively turning him into a half-red dragon). Today his followers are fanatical to the extreme, believing the transformation to mark the approval of the gods and the eventual conquest of the entire world under the hooves of the Variag peoples.

The Storm King of Far Harad
Ar-Minarawakûl, Alatar, Romestamo
Maia Archer 6/Magician 18/Ranger 6
Emblem:

The Ice Queen of Angmar
Helkanárfëa (Q. “Icy Fire Spirit”), Akûldâgalûr (B.S. “Ice Demon”)
Valaraukar/Noldor Healer 8/Magician 16
Emblem: A white dragon rampant.
Helkanárfëa, the Ice Queen of Angmar, is the daughter of a balrog and a captured Noldor princess of the First Age, born in the pits of Morgoth. Thus, as with Lúthien, daughter of Thingol of Doriath and Melian the Maia, she is a most potent being. She was being trained as a great captain by Morgoth when the Final Doom fell upon Angband and her master, but she survived, and was cast into the waters of the north, where, due to her great might from her valaraukar father, she remained frozen alive, encased in ice for millennia. Even frozen in body she was potent in spirit, and over the ages she slowly corrupted nearby native tribes of elves, men, and orcs to her cause. When Sauron was destroyed the great wave of magic that was released in his destruction shattered her prison, and she was freed.

Since then she has slowly built her forces of Helkari (vile ice elves), Lossoth (evil snowmen), and Akûlmurûk (“ice bears,” the mighty furred orcs of the north). Around 30 FA her first scouts snuck into Angmar and made contact with the local goblin tribes. By 50 FA she had conquered the orcs of Mount Gram, and controlled or otherwise dominated all other local orc tribes and troll bands, save those of Mount Gundabad (who oppose her and, thus far, are too strong to conquer). By 60 FA her new domicile, Lugrazbûrzum, the “Tower of Frozen Shadows,” was complete, built atop the ruins of the Witch King’s tower at Carn Dûm. Angmar is now a fairy land of ice and snow, where summer is as autumn and spring never reigns. It has become known as the “Fimbul Land,” for orcs and trolls walk the frosted moors by day and ice and frost giants are said to stride the land by night.

The Ice Queen appears not unlike a beautiful Noldorin princess of old, being 6’8” tall, with platinum-blonde hair, beautiful elven facial features, and fine slim hands. Her resemblance to Galadriel is stunning, though not so when one realizes that her mother was none other than Galadriel’s long-lost sister (she is thus great aunt to Elladan, Elrohir, and Arwen, and kin to Prince Eldarion of the Reunited Kingdom). However, beneath her voluminous flowing robes of scintillating colors (which glow like the northern lights) her body is foul and demonic, covered in innumerable ice-blue scales strong as dragon plates (think of the appearance of Mystique in the X-Men movies). These scales go all the way up to her neck and to her wrists, and thus does her robe; her feet are clawed and demonic, and so she ever wears slippers of mithril and gold. The only obvious (uncovered and un-disguisable) demonic elements of her appearance are her eyes, which are a solid blue, the glowing blue of glacial ice, and her wings, which appear as those of a balrog, though ice blue in color and dripping with ice. She can “scrunch” her wings to vestigial size, and hide them under her robes when necessary, though the process takes three full rounds. The air about her is ever cold, deep frozen as the north (-20 degrees Fahrenheit); her breath freezes in a cloud of ice as she speaks, the stone floor slicks in ice under her feet, and icicles form on the arms of her throne as she sit upon it. She travels about her realm in a sleigh drawn by polar bears and manned by Lûzolog (snow trolls) and Akûlmurûk.

The Ice Queen possesses one of the lost Palantír, one of the two lost to the sea when the White Ship of Arvedui, the Last King, foundered. It is encased in a large column of blue glacial ice now hidden deep in the bowels of her tower at Mount Gram. It has gained several powers through her tampering with it and through its long centuries encased in the northern ice. The Palantír can only just be made out through the deep blue ice, flames writing continuously within its dark depths. The visions granted by the Palantír now take shape within the column of ice, and can be seen by anyone who sees the column of ice when the visions are evoked by the user. It is also central to her growing power over the climate and weather within Angmar, as she uses it as a focus and amplifier of her power.

The Ice Queen has allies among the Forodrim of Forochel, who are currently whipping the locals into a murderous frenzy against the southerners. She seeks to send the Forodrim on a viking rampage against the Grey Havens at Lindon and the coastal territories, perhaps even against Dol Amroth and other Gondorian territories, or into Eriador up the Baranduin, Gwathlo, and Angren. The Forodrim are Northmen, of the same line (though long sundered from) the Rohirrim, Beornings, and Woodmen. They are tall and grim, silver and grey of beard and blue of eye. They are not related to the Lossoth and despise the peace-loving nomads (though they grudgingly cooperate with those that follow the Ice Queen).

The Necromancer
Morinehtar, Pallando, Pallanír the Soul-Slayer
Maia/Lich Magician 27
Emblem: A dragon skull with blazing red eyes.
Pallando, the junior Blue Wizard, returned out of the east in 60 FA, conquered East Lorien using a Black Wind, and re-occupied Dol Guldur, claiming the title, The Necromancer, for his own. He now commands an army of Woodmen skeletons, zombies, and ghouls. Clad now in deepest black, he has developed terrible magics whereby he can trap the spirit of an elf and corrupt it to create a banshee (“elven name”) or black ghoul (“elven name”). He has several allied Easterling tribes which have recently begun moving west. With them he has begun raiding the lower vales of the Anduin, the Iron Hills, and Dorwinion, not yet feeling he has the power to challenge King Elessar in his heartlands in Gondor or Eriador.

Pallando is now a lich, of terrible power. For a thousand years he ruled in the furthest east, the lands of Que-Rin and Kydor, as the First Sovereign Emperor. Then he was cast down in a rebellion and mummified alive in SA 2660. Trapped with many spells and runes, he was captive within his tomb for a thousand years.

 

[Mystaros]

Another Fourth Age Timeline...

This one from the campaign I was working on. Yeah, "Kydor" isn't quite original, I know. Sue me...

The history was to include full details on the development of Que-Rin, Kydor, and the other eastern lands, as well as Further Harad and the Southerlands (where the other Blue Wizard was sent). The fact that Alatar and Pallando arrived in SA 1600 rather than the Third Age is based on discarded writings of Tolkien which, as the two never really came into issue in the west anyway, I used to develop the East and the South quite differently (as Asia and Africa, respectively).

FOME DM Timeline

AL = Age of the Lamps
AS = Age of the Stars
FA = First Age of the Sun (ca. 590 years)
SA = Second Age of the Sun (3441 years, ca. 4431 years running)
TA = Third Age of the Sun (3021 years, ca. 7416 years running)
FO = Fourth Age of the Sun (62 years at start, ca. 7478 years running)

FA 1
Men awaken in the land of Hildórien, now known as Kydor.

SA 100
Elves return to the ancient land of Cuiviénen, now known as Que-Rin. There they find many tribes of men, a mix of far-wandering Edain (the Fourth House of Tochar, the Rhûnedain) and Swarthy Men (the ancestors of the Easterlings, Variags, and Kydori).

SA 1600
Morinehtar, a Maiar, is sent into the East by the Valar to deny its people and resources to Sauron.

SA 1660
Morinehtar, who has gained the trust of the Twelve Kings of the East, slays them all at the yearly Royal Council and proclaims himself the First Sovereign Emperor. The Seeress Haëhendi proclaims the Thousand Year Doom for his villainy.

SA 1800 through 2250
Intermittent war between Mordor and Que-Rin.

SA 1969
Sharenghar, the Rhûnedain King of Kydor, succumbs to the Shadow of the Ring of Power given to him by Sauron, and he becomes a Ringwraith.

SA 2550
Númenoreans reach the Great River of the East and begin trading with the southern cities of Que-Rin.

SA 2660
Morinehtar, the First Sovereign Emperor of Que-Rin, is cast down in rebellion with the assistance of the Numenoreans. He is mummified alive and entombed with many spells and runes.

SA 3441
Sauron overthrown by the Last Alliance of Men and Elves, led by Elendil and Gil-Galad. Isildur takes the One Ring. Sauron passes away and the Ringwraiths go to the shadows. The end of the Second Age.

TA 219
The Tomb of Morinehtar is broken into by thieves, and he awakens with the breaking of the spells and runes that kept him in slumber. He begins to rebuild his power in Que-Rin.

TA 2983/SR 1383
Faramir, the second son of Denethor and Finduilas of Dol Amroth, is born.

TA 2995/SR 1395
Éowyn is born.

TA 3019/ SR 1419
The One Ring is destroyed in Mount Doom, and Sauron falls.

TA 3020/SR 1420 “The Year of Plenty”
The mallorn tree flowers in the Party Field in the Shire.

TA 3021/FO 1/SR 1421
Birth of Elanor the Fair, first daughter of Samwise and Rose Gamgee
The Last Riding of the Keepers of the Rings. Frodo, Bilbo, Gandalf, Elrond, Galadriel, and Gildor go over the sea.
The Fourth Age begins.

FO 4/SR 1424
Frodo Gardner, first son of Samwise and Rose, is born.

FO 5/SR 1425
Rose Gamgee, second daughter of Samwise and Rose, is born.
Boromir, first son of Prince Faramir and Lady Éowyn is born.

FO 7/SR 1427
Will Whitfoot resigns as Mayor of the Shire. Samwise Gamgee is elected Mayor.
Peregrin Took marries Diamond of Long Cleeve.
Merry Gamgee, second son of Samwise and Rose, is born.
King Elessar issues an edict that Men are not to enter the Shire, and makes it a Free Land under the protection of the Northern Scepter.

FO 9/SR 1429
Meriadoc Brandybuck marries Estella Bolger, older sister of Fredegar “Fatty” Bolger.
Pippin Gamgee, third son of Samwise and Rose, is born.

FO 10/SR 1430
Faramir Took, first son of Peregrin and Diamond, is born.
Holdwine Brandybuck, first son of Meriadoc and Estella, is born.

FO 11/SR 1431
Goldilocks Gamgee, third daughter of Samwise and Rose, is born.
Finduila Took, first daughter of Peregrin and Diamond, is born.

FO 12/SR 1432
Meriadoc “The Magnificent” Brandybuck becomes the Master of Buckland. Great gifts are sent to him by King Éomer and Lady Éowyn of Ithilien.
Hamfast Gamgee, fourth son of Samwise and Rose, is born.

FO 13/SR 1433
Daisy Gamgee, fourth daughter of Samwise and Rose, is born.

FO 14/SR 1434
Peregrin Took becomes The Took and the Thain of the Shire.
King Elessar makes the Mayor of the Shire, the Thain of the Shire, and the Master of Buckland Counsellors of the Kingdom.
Master Samwise is elected Mayor for a second term.

FO 15/SR 1435
Primrose Gamgee, fifth daughter of Samwise and Rose, is born.
Dernhelm and Théodred, twin sons of Prince Faramir and Lady Éowyn, are born.

FO 16/SR 1436
King Elessar rides north, and dwells for a while by the shores of Lake Evendim. He comes to the Brandywine Bridge, and there greets his friends. He gives the Star of the Dúnedain to Master Samwise, and Elanor Gamgee is made a maid of honor to Queen Arwen.
Bilbo Gamgee, fifth son of Samwise and Rose, is born.

FO 18/SR 1438
Ruby Gamgee, sixth daughter of Samwise and Rose, is born.

FO 20/SR 1440
Robin Gamgee, sixth son of Samwise and Rose, is born.
Celeborn of Lórien removes from Lórien and becomes the Master of Imladris. Haldir of Lórien becomes Guardian of
Thorongil Steward, fourth son of Prince Faramir and Lady Éowyn.

FO 21/SR 1441
Master Samwise is elected Mayor for the third time.

FO 22/SR 1442
Master Samwise and his wife and Elanor ride to Gondor and stay there for a year. Master Tolman Cotton acts as Deputy Mayor.
Tolman (Tom) Gamgee, seventh son of Samwise and Rose, is born in Minas Tirith on September 22, while Sam and Rose are visiting the King.

FO 28/SR 1448
Master Samwise becomes Mayor for the fourth time.

FO 31/SR 1451
Elanor the Fair marries Fastred of Greenholm on the Far Downs.

FO 32/SR 1452
The Westmarch, from the Far Downs to the Tower Hills (Emyn Beraid) is added to the Shire by the gift of King Elessar. Many hobbits remove to it.

FO 34/SR 1454
Elfstan Fairborn, son of Fastred and Elanor, first grandson of Samwise and Rose, is born.

FO 35/SR 1455
Master Samwise is elected Mayor for the fifth time. At his request the Thain makes Fastred the Warden of the Westmarch. Fastred and Elanor make their dwelling at Undertowers on the Tower Hills, where their descendants, the Fairbairns of the Towers, dwelt for many generations.

FO 42/SR 1462
Master Samwise is elected mayor for the sixth time.
Holfast Gardner, son of Frodo Gardner and ???, second grandson of Samwise and Rose, is born in Bag End.

FO 44/SR 1464
Faramir Took marries Goldilocks Gamgee, uniting the lines of Pippen and Samwise.
Holdwine Brandybuck marries Finduila Took, uniting the lines of Merry and Pippen.

FO 45/SR 1465
Menegilda Brandybuck, first daughter of Holdwine and Finduila, is born.

FO 49/SR 1469
Master Samwise elected Mayor for the seventh and last time.

FO 50/SR 1470
The Ice Queen conquers Mount Gram and claims all of Angmar for her own.

FO 53/SR 1473
Lady Éowyn of Ithilien, wife of Steward Faramir, Prince of Ithilien, dies at the age of 78, a goodly life for one of the Rohirrim. Thorongil, their youngest son, becomes estranged of his father, and disappears into Eriador, taking the name “Estelor” and there joining the Royal Rangers of Arnor.

FO 55/SR 1475
Tolman (Tom) Gamgee comes of age and begins series of adventures worthy of his father’s legend, under the pseudonym “Tom O’Shire”.
First reports of frost giants in Angmar. Angmar comes to be known as the “Fimbul Land” due to its continual wintry nature.
Prince Faramir of Ithilien abdicates as prince in favor of his son, Boromir. He remains Steward of Gondor and serves at the king’s pleasure.

FO 56/SR 1476
Master Samwise turns down the offer of an eight term as Mayor, in favor of Pippin Gamgee, his son, who is resoundingly elected.

FO 57/SR 1477
The ranger Estlor and the adventurer Tom O’Shire are ill-met in Tharbad, but quickly become good friends. Neither realizes they have a family history in common, as both are operating under assumed names, and they do not yet trust each other enough to reveal their secrets.

FO 58/SR 1478
The stream feeding the waters of the Treegarth of Orthanc is poisoned by The Necromancer and the ents there are corrupted.

FO 60/SR 1480
Birth of Eldarion “Half-Elven”, only son of King Elessar and Queen Arwen.
The Necromancer conquers East Lorien (Southern Mirkwood) through the use of the Black Wind.
The Ice Queen of Angmar completes the building of the Tower of Frozen Shadows.
The Dragon King of Khand conquers the last rebel tribe. He slays the Raging Dragon and is transformed.
Tom O‘Shire settles in Tharbad, where he opens a tavern known as the “Blue Blade,” after the sword Sting, which he was given by his father when he began his adventures.

FO 62/SR 1482
Beginning of the Fourth Age Middle Earth Campaign.

FO 63/SR 1483
Death of Mistress Rose, wife of Master Samwise, on Mid-Year’s Day. On September 22 Master Samwise rides out from Bag End. He comes to the Tower Hills, and is last seen by Elanor, to whom he gives the Red Book afterwards kept by the Fairbairns. Among them the tradition is handed down by Elanor that Samwise passed over the Towers and went to the Grey Havens, and passed over sea, last of the Ring-bearers.
Pippin Gamgee reelected to a second term as Mayor.

FO 64/SR 1484
In the spring of the year a message came from Rohan to Buckland that King Éomer wished to see Master Holdwine once again. Meriadoc was then old (102) but still hale. He took counsel with his friend the Thain, and soon after they handed over their goods and offices to their sons and rode away over Sarn Ford, and they were not seen again in the shire. It was heard after that Master Meriadoc came to Edoras and was with King Éomer before he died in that autumn. Then he and Thain Peregrin went to Gondor and spent what short years were left to them in that realm, until they died and were laid in Rath Dínen among the great of Gondor.
Faramir Took becomes the Thain of the Shire.
Holdwine Brandybuck becomes Master of Buckland.

 

[Dr. Strangemonkey]

A Veteran

Right,
I did do a fourth age of High Magic campaign, and I got this to say about:

Black Numenoreans rock as villains. Some of these guys could, concievably, be almost more like the original Numenoreans then the Dunedain. Perfect for the sort of villains you ramp yourself up through the levels to fight.

Don't forget dragons. They were explicitly not allied with Sauron, and ungodly powerful, able to melt rings, supremely intelligent, cunning, cautious, and filled with wickedness. There are even nice plotlines having to do simply with dragon curses rather than dragons. Given the lack of things, such as Sauron, who might plague them in the sense that really terrified them they might start making bids for real power in the world. Perhaps even working through agents via their power at cursing. They are, however, villains just a little bit not on par with Sauron. The sort of things you could encounter at 20th level and loose flat out pretty handily, or cunningly defeat at much lower ranges.

Three things I did that might complement this project:

Radagast remained humble but also had his own magical tradition. That gives you druids or, better, Greenbonds from AU.

The races have probably changed in character. Tolkien has them do that a good bit. Would Hobbits be more or less stealthy? How would dwarves have fared in their struggle against greed and for beauty and enchantment?

At the very least the lines of men have been reinvigorated. Think of how many kids Arwen had, think of many kids they might have, and so on and so on. With their long life spans you've got some very very very strong generational cycles. You're going to have somewhere up to six or seven generations of magically blessed nobles riding out as the officers in legions.

Don't forget the Eagles. There's plenty of stuff that Tolkien just adds or talks but a little about, and the wizards certainly weren't the only things the Valar sent overseas or placed as protectors. Great for new races.

 

[Dr. Strangemonkey]

Something to do with clerics:

Something that everyone should think about doing:

If you want clerics, there is a place for them in Tolkien. They aren't priests they are living saints. People who have come to live out something holy in the same way the Valar are things that are holy.

The thing of it is, they wouldn't be priests. They would instead be holy men in an older and odder sense of the world. People who were utterly dedicated to what they were, though they might certainly work for the community they would never be a true part of it. More along the lines of hermits than ministers.

You need to think holy by ideal, not by position. Even the Valar are just entities that are holy. Not entities that grant holiness

Miracles aren't mundane, but they are a part of life. You could have a miracle next door, you could have a son that was a saint, and that's exactly what they would be miraculous and holy. That's the fine line where Tolkien lives.

 

[Errant]

Sorry if my comments came across as overly critical, Errant.

No offense taken. Well, I was a little singed at first but the rest of your post contributed ample to take the sting away.

And I have to say, I think your campaign sounds very exciting!

Too bad your players are so conservative, though. I think it is very hard to capture the "feel" of Middle-earth without reworking the "standard" DnD rules.

At present my group is scattered over about a 1500 km radius making regular games problematic. In a few months though some work transfers will change that so I haven't given up hope to bring all these great ideas to life eventually!

We're told that Minas Morgul wasn't cleansed for "many lives of men", and I doubt that 100 years is enough to qualify as "many"...

Faramir (& his heirs) must have been kept busy after he was made Prince of Ithilien following the WotR! I was thinking Minas Morgul was more of a ruined with lurking evils, a battle front even, rather than a well defended stronghold of evil. In that scenario the Tower of Cirith Ungol would be the stronghold with Shelob 'helping' guard the front door... but then I had forgotten the vale of flowers!

One good enemy race that can be brought into a Fourth Age campaign are the Black Numenoreans...

So many good ideas!

Right, ... Black Numenoreans... dragons... Radagast... the lines of men have been reinvigorated... six or seven generations of magically blessed nobles... the Eagles...

Check, check, check, ooh check, check & check again. It occured to me too that with a new wave of magic sweeping across the land, a new generation of dragons might well be encountered as well...

... the wizards certainly weren't the only things the Valar sent overseas or placed as protectors. Great for new races.

Is that a reference to something canon or just your interpretation/perception? Just curious...

If you want clerics, ... You need to think holy by ideal, not by position. Even the Valar are just entities that are holy. Not entities that grant holiness

Miracles aren't mundane, but they are a part of life. You could have a miracle next door, you could have a son that was a saint, and that's exactly what they would be miraculous and holy. That's the fine line where Tolkien lives.

Great stuff!

 

[Dr. Strangemonkey]

gratitude.

Is that a reference to something canon or just your interpretation/perception? Just curious...

Great stuff!

Thanks!

And yes, it is both cannon and implied that the wizards were but one of a series of efforts by the valar to help out middle-earth.


The most explicity cannon bit are, in fact, the eagles. That's part of why they get along with Gandalf so well. They are given a place to live and to protect at the end of one of the ages prior to the third. They are created beings and really closer to low level angels than big intelligent birds. Dragons were built to take them out if that gives you an indication.

There are also strange intimations about the power, heritage, and morality of the kingdoms of men in the south. At the very least they are far more complicated than the cats-paw enemies you see in the LotR.

 

[SSquirrel]

The reason the passes of the Misty Mountains were made so much better following Bilbo's trek to the Lonely Mountain is the Beornings. Beorn and the followers he gathered killed every orc they possibly could and made things much more pleasant. I believe this is mentioned even at the end of the Hobbit.

Lots of great ideas here. I'd love to see some more coming down the pipe. Definitely keep us updated on your campaign as it unfolds Errant.

Hagen