LotR: Galadriel Triumphant

It would be like Stalinism or George Orwell's Big Brother. A dictatorship founded on a fervent personality cult. Representations (statues, paintings?) of Galadriel everywhere.

1984 would be the perfect model for the campaign, written as it was around the same time as Lord of the Rings.
 

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I think that Sauron would have been completely screwed if anyone with real power had attempted to use the One Ring. Galadriel would have probably been able to " master " the Ring (sever its connection to Sauron), though she would have been completely corrupted by it in the process.
 

Okay, so now we have a dystopian West ruled by the Bright Queen. Who falls under her spell and who opposes her?

In this timeline, Boromir is alive. If Galadriel claims the One Ring and decides to turn its might against Sauron, Boromir would flock to her side in an instant, and Gondor goes with him. Denethor doesn't quite fall to madness, since Boromir is still alive, and possibly replaces him as Steward. This could mean that Aragorn never claims the throne.

Gandalf the White would arise, only to find his worst fears turning into reality. Would he stand up against Galadriel openly, or would he hide and bide his time?

Gimli was already in love with Galadriel before she got the Ring. Would she help him clean up Moria and establish there a vassal dwarf kingdom?
 

JRRT discussed some aspects of this scenario, in Letter 246:
"Of the others only Gandalf might be expected to master him - being an emissary of the Powers and a creature of the same order, an immortal spirit taking a visible physical form. In the 'Mirror of Galadriel', 1381, it appears that Galadriel conceived of herself as capable of wielding the Ring and supplanting the Dark Lord. If so, so also were the other guardians of the Three, especially Elrond. But this is another matter. It was part of the essential deceit of the Ring to fill minds with imaginations of supreme power. But this the Great had well considered and had rejected, as is seen in Elrond's words at the Council. Galadriel's rejection of the temptation was founded upon previous thought and resolve. In any case Elrond or Galadriel would have proceeded in the policy now adopted by Sauron: they would have built up an empire with great and absolutely subservient generals and armies and engines of war, until they could challenge Sauron and destroy him by force. Confrontation of Sauron alone, unaided, self to self was not contemplated. One can imagine the scene in which Gandalf, say, was placed in such a position. It would be a delicate balance. On one side the true allegiance of the Ring to Sauron; on the other superior strength because Sauron was not actually in possession, and perhaps also because he was weakened by long corruption and expenditure of will in dominating inferiors. If Gandalf proved the victor, the result would have been for Sauron the same as the destruction of the Ring; for him it would have been destroyed, taken from him for ever. But the Ring and all its works would have endured. It would have been the master in the end."
 

Hmmm. Does anyone here play MTG? I imagine it would be similar to the elves of their new set: Lorwyn. you might want to check them out.
 


More seriously, I actually used a version of this concept in my Barsoom campaign. The empire in question no longer existed at the time of the primary campaign, but centuries ago a beautiful god-sorceress set herself up as the depraved ruler of a great empire. She tortured and devoured thousands, but the worst part of her rule really was that everyone loved her. Her will, and her divine power, made it impossible for any mortal to resist her. So millions of people perceived her as this wonderful, shining example of how they were specially blessed, when in fact she was eating their hearts daily.

What was REALLY fun was when I ran a set of adventures set IN that Empire, with all-new players, who never realised that their blessed Goddess, who sent them out to stop evil and defend the innocent, was in fact a fiend.

Good times. Good times.
 

An variation for the campaign could be playing some Orcs or other former servants of Sauron hiding from the ever encroaching Light. Scrambling like roaches whenever the Light shines on you. ALthough I'd only want to do it as a one-shot maybe at the start of the real campaign based around those of the Good races realising their Queen's evil and trying to resist her/destroy the ring.
 

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