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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Edena_of_Neith" data-source="post: 302161" data-attributes="member: 2020">Set your campaign in a time far prior to the War of the Ring (Frodo, et al.)  Look at the Appendix in Return of the King.  There is a detailed accounting of the Third Age therein, and there are many times in which war occurred, and many many periods in which ruins existed (if your players enjoy dungeon delving.)  For example, in Eriador there was a time when the Dunedain had 3 kingdoms, known as Arthedain, Cardolan, and Rhudaur.  Against these three nations arose the realm of Angmar, led by the Witch King (actually the Lord of the Ringwraiths.)  Angmar eventually gained covert control of Rhudaur, making it an allied nation, while Arthedain and Cardolan allied against them.  In 1409 a massive war occurred as Angmar struck at Arthedain and Cardolan, and every nation in Eriador (and Lothlorien beyond the mountains) was involved in the scenario.  In the 1900s, Arthedain was beset, with repeated attacks from Angmar, until finally Arthedain was whelmed.  Gondor avenged Arthedain's destruction with the rout of Angmar, leaving Eriador desolate (it would remain so til the time of Frodo.)  The Eothed (not the right spelling - these were the ancestors of the Rohirrim) had a number of adventures of their own.  They came from the people of Rhovanion.  The Easterlings conquered the people of Rhovanion, then were driven back by Gondor with the help of a major revolt in Rhovanion itself.  Shortly thereafter, the Easterlings attacked again, and war swept over Rhovanion again.  I could see adventurers needed here!  The Eothed would, later on, abandon their lands and move northward, fighting and driving off the remnant of the monsters of Angmar on the east side of the Misty Mountains, and claiming a wide swath of land north of the current Land of the Beornings.  Much, much later on they would hear the cry for help from Gondor.  They picked up and moved south with their army in an epic march, and in the hour of need they rescued Cirdan the Steward and his Army on the Field of Celebrant.  Eorl won the day, and Cirdan granted these people the region that came to be known as Rohan to dwell in.  Even later, Rohan suffered massive invasion from east and west, and they were overrun and most of them were enslaved.  The Long Winter came, and both the Rohirrim and their enemies suffered greatly, while Helm held out with his men in the citadel that came to be named after him - Helm's Deep.  In the spring, floods destroyed the eastern invaders, and help came from Gondor at last (it was beset by attacks from three fleets of the Corsairs of Umbar during the autumn and winter.)  Bree is well known, and it is well known that Bree is protected by the Rangers.  However, what of Bree in the earlier times, during the days of Cardolan and Arthedain (it sat on the borders of these kingdoms, and they fought over it, and over the Weather Hills, among other places.)  Bree survived the wars with Angmar ... but it was razed to the ground several times, along with Archet and the other towns.  The people of Bree survived somehow - I would daresay some audacious adventurous types helped in this.  What of the hobbits?  Fat, well protected, safe?   Not at all.  The first hobbits lived in the Vales of Anduin.  Then Greenwood became Mirkwood, and men pushed up into their lands, and probably seized them.  The hobbits made a mass evacuation, moving over the Misty Mountains (not a pleasant trip for any civilians, much less hobbit lasses and children), and into a land less friendly by far than the one they had left.  For here, in Eriador, they found themselves in Rhudaur, already secretly in league with Angmar, and hardly friendly to the newcomers.  The Hobbits settled in Rhudaur, and others pushed on to Bree, and a few went south to Dunland (another unfriendly land.)  Then the great war of 1409 came.  The hobbits in Rhudaur fled, and presumably they fled west, which was a bad idea because the Witch King was ALSO heading west.  As Amon Sul fell and Bree was razed, it must have been hard going for these hobbits.  When Arthedain fell, war swept over the Shire, it's towns and hamlets were burned, and the entire hobbit population fled into hiding.  Where did they flee?  I don't know.  I am sure, though, that adventurous types led the way for their people.  Gondor's history is one of unending war.  The wars with the Easterlings.  The wars with the Southrons and Black Numenorians.  The siege and fall of Minas Ithil.  Or, how about the Kin-Strife, in which Osgiliath was burned and Ithilien ravaged?  Later on, during the time of the Stewards, Gondor had to contend with an ever increasing threat from Mordor, from across the Anduin, from the south, and even from the north when the orcs - defeated by the dwarves - came to the White Mountains and attempted to colonize them.  What of the Door of the Dead?  Blackroot?  One of the Kings of Rohan went that way - and never returned.  Perhaps intrepid adventurers would like to try their luck???  Moria.  The one place where Mithril is in abundance.  It's value is 10 times that of gold ... when it is plentiful because the dwarves are mining it!  What about after the dwarves fled Moria?  What then?  Plenty of mithril, whose value now went up beyond all reckoning.  Loads of mithril, just waiting to be plundered by anyone bold enough to enter Moria.  No problem at all.  Only a balrog.  Get past that, and the treasure is yours!  That's just a small part of the Third Age.  In the Second Age, there were the Black Years, a VAST period of time in which Sauron was dominant over most of Middle Earth, and people strong enough and valiant enough to resist him were desperately needed.  Of course, if you go to the First Age, you have a barrel of monkeys in terms of what you have to deal with.  Care to change the fate of the Noldor?  Save Nargothrond?  Gondolin?  Doriath?  Take on the Curse of Mandos?  As for the War of the Ring ...  The War of the Ring did NOT involve only the Siege of Gondor, the Battle of the Pelennor Fields, the Last Defense, the Battle of Helm's Deep, and the Ent Assault on Orthanc.  There were many other battles off camera, as it were.  There was War in Mirkwood that went on for months.  Lothlorien was assaulted three times by major forces.  The Land of the Beornings was beset.  Lonely Mountain and Dale were hit by a massive assault from the Easterlings.  Rohan was assailed by a huge force of orcs, which was checked by Treebeard and his Ents.  There was battle along all the coasts of Gondor.  In a home adventure, perhaps ANOTHER dragon (there were supposed to be lots of dragons in the Grey Mountains ...) came down to aid Sauron, and attacked Imladris, along with orcs from the Misty Mountains.  Perhaps Sauron - hating the Shire and it's people who had withheld the Ring from him - sent a vast force of orcs from the Misty Mountains across Eriador to attack them, and dragons to boot?  Perhaps there were other Balrogs in hiding that Sauron woke up and sent against the good guys.  Perhaps some of the lands in thrall to Sauron, northeast, east, and southeast of Mordor, arose in rebellion against the Maia who claimed to be Morgoth Reborn (as per Tolkien's writings.)  Adventurers could aid in that!  Perhaps other nations existed in the west, in Minhiriath and Edenwaith, that were not mentioned in Tolkien.  Perhaps the people of Dorwinion, not wishing to destroy the people who bought their famous wines, threw off the yoke of Sauron and joined with Lake Town and Dale against the Easterlings.  Perhaps the Eagles decided to enter the war early, and went from battle to battle, aiding the foes of Mordor whenever and wherever they could.  Perhaps Durin's folk emerged from the Blue Mountains in force to retake Moria.  Perhaps the elves of Linden emerged in force to help them (perhaps they did not all wish to leave Middle Earth, soon, after all.)  If your players wish to play the roles of the MAIN CHARACTERS of Lord of the Rings, then yes ... you will create a new story that is altogether different from what was in the books.  That is inevitable.  That most CERTAINLY was the case in Dragonlance, as my own experiences showed - our DM tried to force us to walk the same road trodden by Goldmoon, Tanis, Raistlin, et all, and it simply did not work.  Heck, if your players want to play Frodo and Company, let them!  They will find it a taller order than they imagined, and perhaps come to appreciate just how much these people in the books gave of themselves, how much they sacrificed, and how hard they tried, to accomplish what they did.  Throw in Gollum.  If they kill Gollum, all the worse for them!  If they are wiser, then perhaps the Ring will be destroyed after all.  But let them do it their way.  Not yours.  You are the DM - you only moderate.  If they mess up, and Sauron gets the Ring back, then they must accept the consequences.  If they are clever, and try hard, and destroy the Ring, then they will know they did well and accomplished a great feat, something to be proud of and remember for the rest of their gaming days.  Perhaps Galadriel is different in your campaign.  Perhaps she will come with them.  Perhaps Elrond will send extra people with the Fellowship.  Perhaps Saruman will immediately send a massive force north through Dunland and Holland to intercept the Fellowship (or, even, to catch it in Rivendell and trap all the Fellowship therein.)  Perhaps Sauron has achieved the ability to take physical shape, and comes OUT of Barad Dur, to personally find the Ring (and Gods help the Ringbearer if Sauron finds him!)  Middle Earth is a dynamic place.  It is a place of high fantasy, where your actions mean something, and the fate of the world may depend on what you do.  It is a place worth the time and trouble.  Let your players play as they will, and do what they want - the story is GOING to be changed from what Tolkien wrote, in all likelihood - let it change!  You can always write the histories to minimalize the effects of the change, if you wish - or you can make the PCs the deciding factor in what happens in your version of Middle Earth.  Any way you go, it'll be fun.  I say, go for it!  Edena_of_Neith</blockquote>

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