Pete Fenlon's Map

[tkdco2]

Has anyone played a Middle-earth game using Pete Fenlon's map for MERP? Granted the expanded areas aren't canon, but I'm okay with that. I worked a bit on a setting in the eastern part of the map, although I never ran the campaign. Maybe I'll post my notes soon.

[Falconer]

I haven’t used it, but I would have no reason not to default to it, if I or my players had the desire for adventures beyond the Tolkien “northwestern” map, or even just the need for lore regarding those areas.

[tkdco2]

The nice thing about it is that you have a lot more leeway in developing the world. Then you don't have to worry too much about certain things. Take clerics, for example. Maybe they make more sense in that part of the world because they don't know as much about Eru, the Valar, etc. So maybe the Valar can be worshipped as gods or patron saints. Also, the Blue Wizards and the Nazgul may be more prevalent there.

This being non-canon material, you can even remove it from Middle-earth altogether. You may need to rename a few things, but otherwise you're good to go.

More information on this site: merp.wikia.com/wiki/Middle-earth_Role_Playing_Wiki

[Falconer]

I do love the way ICE fleshed out the Nazgûl, giving them names, nicknames, histories, developed home societies, and of course, unique helmets!

The area (outside the NW) I would be most likely to use is Harad. Although not detailed in Tolkien, what is known about it is totally badass — Black Númenóreans and Mûmakil, baby! Flesh it out with some details from C.S. Lewis’s Calormen.

[tkdco2]

Harad is a great choice. I was going to start a MERP campaign set there, but it didn't go through. But a Harad campaign can lead to a Court of Ardor campaign, when the characters are a high enough level.

I was looking at the MERP Wiki last night and saw a few group of Elves in the expanded map. Then I remembered I have the Elves book from Role Aids that can be used to flesh out the cultures a bit. Maybe the Role Aids books and Known World Gazeteers can be used to help detail that part of the world. And if you're playing D&D, you won't need to make too many changes in game mechanics.

[tkdco2]

Here are my campaign notes. My sources were the Middle Earth Adventure Guidebook II, and Lords of Middle Earth vol. II.

If some of the details conflict with the MERP wiki information, please understand. I worked on this before the internet age, and I had to make up my own details.


The Shelflands: An area in southeastern Middle-earth between the Mountains of the Wind and the Encicling Sea (Ekkaia). Includes Lochas Drus, Wol, Waw, Brod, Ka'ish, Ruurik, and Arg-Simorig. The lands on the other side are Horl, Unvirnay and Shay.

Races in the Shelflands

Elves: These Elves are Avari. For the most part, they prefer a hunter-gatherer lifestyle, loosely grouped into clans. Notable exceptions are the Elves of Horl and Arg-Simorig. The Elves in Horl have a structured society and live in harmony with the humans there. The Elves in Arg-Simorig have a rigid society. The Elves speak different Sivan (Bethteur) languages; very little Sindarin (3% of finding a speaker) is spoken. The Eastern Silvan dialects vary from region to region and are somewhat different from the Western Silvan tongues (40% chance of successful comprehension).

Men: Waw is the military superpower of the region, having conquered the Shelflands under Dwar the Ringwraith. Brod, Ka'ish, Lochas Drus and Wol were once united in a loose confederacy in TA 1148 under a warrior named Demik Dral. However, they were subjugated by Waw in TA 1617. The Men of Horl are merchant princes; most other Mannish tribes lead nomadic lifestyles. The Men of Waw have a rigid, militaristic society. Mannish tongues are varied and are more common throughout the area except in Arg-Simorig and Ruurik. Adunaic was introduced centuries ago by Numenorean colonists, but it is rarely (5% of finding a speaker) spoken now. Morbeth is widely spoken in Waw.

Dwarves: The Dwarves of Ruurik are isolationists. They prefer not to get involved in the outside world. The Dwarven clans are organized in an extremely rigid hierarchy. Their greatest foes are the Orc tribes who constantly harass them. The Dwarves speak Khuzdul among themselves. A few Dwarves who deal with other races when necessary speak different Mannish tongues.

Hobbits: The Stoorish clans who migrated from Rhovanion live in closely-knit villages. They are somewhat paranoid because they have occasionally been hunted and/or repressed by Men and Orcs. However, they are more open to outsiders than the Dwarves. Unlike the Hobbits of the West, these Hobbits have retained the use of Hobbitish, derived from the ancient language of Rhovanion. They speak this language only among themselves, using Mannish or Elvish tongues when speaking with other races.

Orcs: Orcs are grouped into tribes led by the most powerful warrior. They are a constant menace, but their numbers are kept in check through constant warfare with one another and with the other races. However, there are rumors of a mighty Orc sorcerer who is assembling a great horde to overrun the entire region. Orcs speak different dialects of Orkish that vary from tribe to tribe. Many speak Morbeth. Of course, Orcs usually fight first and talk later.

Trolls: Trolls are usually solitary and disorganized unless they join up with Orcish tribes. They are as stupid and primitive as their western brethren. Trolls have no language of their own. A few of the more intelligent trolls may speak one of the Mannish or Orkish dialects.

Race Distribution by Nation
Arg-Simorig: Elves 69%, Men 18%, Hobbits 8%, Dwarves 5%
Brod: Men 48%, Orcs (mountains) 40%, Hobbits (hills) 12%
Horl: Men 52%, Elves (forests) 32%, Orcs and Trolls (hills) 16%
Ka'ish: Elves 98%, Hobbits 2%
Lochas Drus: Men 98%, Elves (forests) 2%
Ruurik: Dwarves 100%
Shay: Men 67%, Elves 16%, Hobbits 10%, Trolls 7%
Unvirnay: Men 89%, Orcs 11%
Waw: Men 100%
Wol: Men 91%, Orcs and Trolls (hills and forests) 9%

[tkdco2]

I just thought up some ideas for a campaign set in Palisor, located in central Middle-earth. Here are some notes I scribbled:


PALISOR CAMPAIGN


BACKGROUND INFORMATION

Palisor: "Flat Lands" located in central Middle-earth

Battle of Palisor: Battle that took place in the First Age


RACES/SPECIFIC BEINGS

Elves: Avari tribes (Hwenti, Kindi, Penni groups), nomadic lifestyle

Men: Easterlings, many are nomadic

Dwarves: Nar's Folk, settled in mountains

Hobbits: May or may not exist here, DM's option

Orcs: Desert Orcs

Trolls: May exist in isolated areas; wild and solitary

Fankil: Servant of Morgoth; may have survived the First Age

Ren the Unclean: Nazgul, servant of Sauron active in the Second and Third Ages

Blue Wizards: Active during the Third Age


GAME INFORMATION

Additional Material: Role Aids books, Known World Gazetteers, MERP modules

Demi-humans: Raise level limits as desired.

Elves: Can be single-classed or as written in rules. Use Role Aids Elves book or Elves of Alfheim Gazetteer to detail culture.

Men: Aside from MERP material, The Golden Khan of Ethengar Gazetteer can be used to detail culture.

Clerics: May be common in this area. Fankil built a temple to Morgoth in the First Age. The Blue Wizards may have spread knowledge of Eru when they came.

Rangers: Not so common in this area, if they exist here at all.

Monks: May exist here, if used in the campaign.

Orcs: Use Desert Orcs write-up in White Dwarf #64, or Orcs of Thar Gazetteer (remove comedic elements).

Other Creatures: Dragons (blue or red), Great Eagles (use write-up for rocs?), other strange creatures may exist.

[tkdco2]

Additional thoughts on my last post:

Tu: "Fay wizard" in the First Age; what he really was remains unknown, just like Tom Bombadil. He has not been seen since the Battle of Palisor, but he may have survived. Note: Tu is not to be confused with Thu, an early name of Sauron.

Half-elves: DM's choice on how common half-elves are. While Eldar and Dunedain rarely interbred, elf/human pairings may be more common between Avari and other Men. Conversely, the two races may rarely interact, if ever.

Entwives: Perhaps they settled in this region after leaving the Ents.

Note on the Elves book from Role Aids: The Demi-elves would be a good fit for some of the elven groups in Palisor. Many Demi-elves lead a nomadic lifestyle and revere nature (allow them to be druids?); others prefer to live in towns.

[Zenopus]

Nice stuff, tkdco2. A campaign idea I wrote about might fit in with your Palisor ideas: The Endless Caverns of Tu.

I recently found a copy of the MERP supplement Perils on the Sea of Rhun. It's got a lot of background for the area around Rhun and to the north, and several interesting & connected scenarios. This could be used to connect the area from the Lonely Mountain to Palisor in the east.

[tkdco2]

Thanks, Zenopus. Good adventure ideas in your blog.

I had forgotten about the Were-worms. Maybe there's an Dune-style adventure involving them in the deserts of Harad.

[Zenopus]

Thanks. The map on the Palisor wiki page you linked actually has the Last Desert smack in the middle, which is where the were-worms were supposed to be. Per the History of the Hobbit, the earliest drafts of the Hobbit they were "the Wild Wire worms of the Chinese" in the "Great Desert of Gobi", possibly a reference to Mongolian Death Worms, aka Olgoi-Khorkhoi - a name which actually sounds sort of ME (cf. Olog-hai).

[tkdco2]

Those Mongolian Death Worms would make great monsters. Maybe they can be a variant of D&D's Purple Worm.

[Zenopus]

Yes! And Wayne R. (cadriel) created a version for his Cryptid series: Mongolian Death Worm

[tkdco2]

Cool! Thanks for posting the link.

[tkdco2]

Another idea for the Palisor campaign: Use the Elfquest graphic novels as inspiration. While the series is definitely not like Tolkien, some tribes of elves may lead lifestyles similar to the Wolfriders (a good way to add the Grugach from AD&D) or the Sun Folk. Sorrow's End in particular has some interesting architectural styles for Elven or Mannish homes.

[tkdco2]

I was rereading Monsters & Treasure yesterday when I thought that efreet can be fire demons in Middle-earth. They'd make really nasty adversaries for the characters.

[tkdco2]

A few more musings:

Rangers -- Here are a couple of options.

Option 1: The class presented in SR works well, but I would recommend replacing the magic-user spells with additional cleric (or even druid) spells.

Option 2: Use the cleric as the ranger, as Falconer has already done. Drop the weapon restrictions, but switch fighting-man and cleric xp requirements. Scott Anderson posted this idea on DF. This would mean that demi-humans would max out their fighting-man level, but I think I already recommended raising their level limits by 2 or 3.

But on that note:

Demi-humans -- You can also use the B/X or BECMI level limits and xp charts. I would rework that of the elves (see below).

Elves: You can use the elf class with a few modifications. Clerical and druidic magic seem a better fit than magic-user spells. You can use the spell list from the Elves of Alfheim Gazetteer, but for some reason I don't like mixing OD&D with B/X, BECMI, or RC. Combine the fighter and cleric xp tables for level advancement.

Note: The OD&D level limits for demi-humans were retained (for the most part) in the AD&D Monster Manual, both 1e and 2e.

[Porphyre]

Dec 7, 2014 19:42:19 GMT -6 tkdco2 said:

Demi-humans -- You can also use the B/X or BECMI level limits and xp charts. I would rework that of the elves (see below).

Elves: You can use the elf class with a few modifications. Clerical and druidic magic seem a better fit than magic-user spells. 

If using the BECMI xp charts, you could also make some variants like:

-high elves: using the race/Class BECMI Elf (with the clerical spell list) and adding a "turn undead" ability (maybe only at "name level")
-grey/sylvan elves: using the Dwarf XP chart (2200, 4400, 8800, etc); Str is the Prime Ability, Minimum 9 in dexterity (instead of Con), usual elven abilities

[tkdco2]

Sounds good. I know the Mystara setting also had elf fighters, but they just used fighter xp and no spells. Other elf abilities and limitations remained. Using the dwarf xp chart and allowing up to level 12 would work well. The lines between elves and dwarves would be a bit blurry though.

[Porphyre]

If you're using the BECMI ruleset, I also thought that the BECMI version of the Paladin could suit to dunedain characters like Aragorn: "normal" faighters, but who gain powers of the Light at higher levels (turn undead, lay on hands or even clerical spells if Wise enough)
There is no "tracking" ability , but that can be easily added as some kind of "background proficiency"

[tkdco2]

I have BECMI, although I like B/X. I do have a copy of the OD&D ranger, so I may just use that with the above modifications. A ranger who becomes a paladin at level 9? Too munchkinny, but I may stat Aragorn that way, since I give canon characters a pass when they break the rules. They are NPCs, after all.

[Porphyre]

Dec 9, 2014 15:41:17 GMT -6 tkdco2 said:

I do have a copy of the OD&D ranger, so I may just use that with the above modifications. A ranger who becomes a paladin at level 9? Too munchkinny, but I may stat Aragorn that way, since I give canon characters a pass when they break the rules. 

Actually, I was thinking about the BECMI version of the Paladin, wich is -in my opinion- seriously "nerfed down" (but, still in my opinion, in a good way) in comparison of the AD&D version. 

In BECMI, a 9th level Lawful Fighter can opt for the paladin "sub-class": he may turn undead an if, but only if, he has a Wisdom score of 13+ , can use clerical spells like a cleric of 1/3 his level (A 9 paladin casts spells like a 3rd level priest, a12th level like a 4th level vicar, undsoweiter). he doesn't even have a "lay on hands " ability, I think. 

That's why I found it to be a good alternative for the Rangers with a B/X or BECMI ruleset (which doesn't have a Ranger class, after all).

In ME, most humans of Numenorean descent are just mere humans (albeit with a cultural inheritence and a memory from the past, like Faramir says), and I suppose that most Rangers of Arnor are just fighters with good tracking skills. The only Ranger we see perform things like healing, turning undead  (like on Weathertop), but that is a "one-man" thing; because of his royal ascendance ("the hands of a kings are the hands of a healer") and -probably- because he has proven his valor as the heir of Isildur.

That is why I envisioned Aragorn (or Aragorn derived characters) as BECMI paladins: Lawful fighters, Experienced (9th level), with an "inner light" comings from their ascendance (High Wis and Cha scores). 
The tracking ability can be managed as background skills .