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Post by tkdco2 on Dec 24, 2020 2:01:07 GMT -6
I have a bunch of MERP stuff, so I can do some conversions. But sometimes I don't have the time to do all that work. So it may be easier to use a D&D module and place it into my Middle-earth campaign.
Which modules would work well (with a few changes) as a Middle-earth setting? Where (and when) would you set these adventures? Adventures from the Dragon and Dungeon magazines also count.
I have found a few adventures in the BFRPG Adventure Anthology 1. Here's what I came up with.
Beneath Brymassen: Bree, of course.
Ruin of Darkfir Castle: North Downs
Shepherds of Pineford: Somewhere near Buckland
Any suggestions on this one?
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Post by Falconer on Dec 25, 2020 13:25:43 GMT -6
Hmm, Barrowmaze for the Barrow Downs, and Mines of Khunmar for Moria.
I was going to suggest “Dawn of Unlight,” but you already know about it.
And this is a bit more out there, but I thought maybe after Saruman is booted from Isengard and it becomes a garden, Radagast takes up residence there (that idea is from Tolkien, published in HoMe), but he goes off the deep end fanatical pro-plant; perhaps then Garden of the Plantmaster could be used.
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Post by Finarvyn on Dec 25, 2020 17:16:11 GMT -6
I have a bunch of MERP stuff, so I can do some conversions. But sometimes I don't have the time to do all that work. So it may be easier to use a D&D module and place it into my Middle-earth campaign. This tip may have no value to you, as you may already know about it -- but I think the MERP "Lords of Middle-earth" sourcebooks have conversion rules from percentile games to 3d6/d20 games. It's been a while since I looked at them, but I remember something useful therein that might make converting your MERP stuff easier. If you don't have access I can see if I can locate my copies.
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Post by Falconer on Dec 26, 2020 12:46:59 GMT -6
MERP 2e has this table. Wonder if anyone can reverse-engineer a formula. MERP | AD&D | 102+ | 20+ | 101 | 19 | 100
| 18 | 98-99 | 17 | 95-97 | 16 | 90-94 | 15 | 76-89 | 13-14 | 25-74 | 9-12 | 10-24 | 7-8 | 5-9 | 6 | 3-4 | 5 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 3 |
I once took MERP’s Gollum writeup and converted it to D&D for a game. He ends up with some freakishly good stats.
Str 20 Int 9
Wis 16 Dex 19 Con 17 Cha 12
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Post by tkdco2 on Dec 26, 2020 12:50:05 GMT -6
I'd cap the D&D stats at 18 unless I'm converting one of the Valar or Maiar. Maybe a few Noldor from the First Age may have one stat above 18, but just one, and the absolute maximum would be 20.
For my MERP to BFRPG conversion, I let a MERP score of 101 equal a BFRPG score of 18. I ignored anything higher, since 101 is the maximum value for PCs.
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Post by geoffrey on Dec 26, 2020 16:45:20 GMT -6
Tegel Manor was originally set in Middle-earth. I seem to remember that it was somewhere between Mirkwood and the Lonely Mountain, but I could be mistaken.
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Post by tkdco2 on Dec 26, 2020 17:05:34 GMT -6
You read my mind, geoffrey! I was thinking about Tegel Manor earlier today and wondered if it could be placed in Middle-earth. A couple of your adventures would also work, right?
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Post by Falconer on Dec 26, 2020 20:05:52 GMT -6
That reminds me, in my gonzo “the War of the Ring didn’t go right” alternate history (referenced in the Isengard stuff above), I had in mind that Minas Tirith would be taken over by the Corsairs and Black Númenóreans, in which case CSIO could be plopped down there (with alterations; or just used as inspiration). Alternatively, CSIO could be used for Umbar, or it could just be some other city in Harad.
I also inserted the Mud Sorcerer’s Tomb in my Moria. Instead of mud sorcerers it was built by mud dwarves, a subrace of dwarves from the south who learned strange ways and strange gods from the Haradrim.
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Post by geoffrey on Dec 26, 2020 21:03:37 GMT -6
You read my mind, geoffrey! I was thinking about Tegel Manor earlier today and wondered if it could be placed in Middle-earth. A couple of your adventures would also work, right? Yes! Three of my AD&D modules are explicitly set on the map in The Hobbit: Worm Wars of the Dwarven Ice Kings Desolation of the Black Terror Crypt of the Lilac High Priest
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Post by Starbeard on Dec 28, 2020 16:11:59 GMT -6
Wasn't the origin of CSIO as "No-Name City, Middle-earth"? I want to say it was supposed to be one of the 3rd age cities north of Minas Tirith. Maybe Tharbad? I was in a PBP AD&D game set in Middle-earth that just wrapped up successfully, where the DM altered the Caves of Chaos in B2 to be a vale of elf lord tombs in Mirkwood, overrun by the servants of Sauron (it was an alternate 4th age game where the ring was never found and Sauron ruled everywhere except Rivendell). The cultist cave was repopulated with wights and such, which we had to brave to get a hoard of dragonslayer gear to go after Smaug. It was pretty fun. www.unseenservant.us/forum/viewforum.php?f=793
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Post by Falconer on Dec 28, 2020 19:37:10 GMT -6
My recollection/understanding/imagination is that Bledsaw’s campaign started in the north of Middle-earth (Eriador+Rhovanion), and when he was ready with CSIO, the players got teleported there; it exists in an unknown location on Middle-earth (presumably east or south of the Tolkien map).
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Post by Porphyre on Dec 29, 2020 17:02:10 GMT -6
"Sinister secret of Saltmarsh" , with saltmarch being a gondorian porttown and the smugglers being agents of the Corsairs of Umbar
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Post by tkdco2 on Jan 28, 2021 6:20:54 GMT -6
Silly idea: Place Hommlet in the Shire and turn all the NPCs into Hobbits. Why? Because Hommlet sounds like omelette, and Hobbits like to eat!
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Post by Zenopus on Jan 28, 2021 8:01:22 GMT -6
Silly idea: Place Hommlet in the Shire and turn all the NPCs into Hobbits. Why? Because Hommlet sounds like omelette, and Hobbits like to eat! Nulb becomes Bree, and the Temple is Angmar!
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Post by Starbeard on Jan 28, 2021 10:35:12 GMT -6
Good one! I'd be tempted to put the temple in Fornost, a little closer, but either would work.
Now place the A series around Umbar, the G series in the Ettenmoors, the Misty Mountains and the Ash Mountains, the D series beneath the Ash Mountains/Mordor, and turn Lolth into Ungoliant!
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Post by geoffrey on Jan 28, 2021 12:14:32 GMT -6
Silly idea: Place Hommlet in the Shire and turn all the NPCs into Hobbits. Why? Because Hommlet sounds like omelette, and Hobbits like to eat! The Hobbit hamlet of Hommlet, known far and wide for its omlettes.
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Post by tkdco2 on Jan 31, 2021 0:17:29 GMT -6
"Star Spray" was another early White Dwarf adventure with stats for both AD&D & MERP. This adventure was based on The Silmarillion and featured both Maglor and Elwing as NPCs.
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Post by Starbeard on Jan 31, 2021 0:48:38 GMT -6
Cool! I don't think I ever noticed that one.
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Post by tkdco2 on Jan 31, 2021 0:59:23 GMT -6
It was one of those issues that I regret not buying when I had the chance. For some reason D&D has gray elves as nobler than high elves, which is the opposite of the elves in Middle-earth. So Elwing, a Sindar, was called a high elf; Maglor, a Noldor, was called a gray elf. This struck a nerve in me, so I didn't buy the magazine.
Yes, I really am that anal-retentive!
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Post by tkdco2 on Feb 8, 2021 23:25:06 GMT -6
I have the old Judges Guild module Operation Ogre. It may work as a Middle-earth if we allow the extended ICE map drawn by Pete Fenlon. I used to have The Treasure Vaults of Lindoran decades ago. You can probably set this module in the ruins of Ost-in-Edhil after changing a few details.
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Post by tkdco2 on Feb 26, 2021 12:18:34 GMT -6
Another rulebook you can use if you use the Pete Fenlon map is the Elves. sourcebook from Role Aids. Not all the adventures in the book would work for Middle-earth, but some include a few interesting ways to detail Avari culture.
The Dwarves sourcebook concentrates on a single citadel, but you can use it for a tribe other than that of Durin's line.
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Post by Falconer on Feb 26, 2021 12:36:03 GMT -6
Fun fact—Fenlon later took over Mayfair.
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Post by tkdco2 on Feb 26, 2021 13:14:36 GMT -6
The Golden Khan of Ethengar from the Mystara line would be a good way to detail Rhun.
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Post by tkdco2 on Mar 29, 2021 13:26:48 GMT -6
While it's not D&D, the Robin Hood supplement by Iron Crown Enterprises would work well with a few alterations. Player characters can be outlaws in Cardolan or Rhudaur after being conquered by Angmar. The "Forest of Dean" campaign in the book can be set in Cardolan after it had broken up into several states (ICE timeline) or even Gondor during the Kin-strife.
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Post by tkdco2 on Apr 8, 2021 23:37:48 GMT -6
Maybe a couple of adventures from the Elves of Alfheim Gazetteer may work for a Mirkwood or Lothlorien setting, but they would need to be modified quite a bit.
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Post by Porphyre on Apr 10, 2021 13:09:20 GMT -6
Placing Keep on the Borderlands in Arthedain, on the marches of Angmar
Lost city in Far Harad, with degenerate Black Numenoreans as the crazed Cynec
Master of the Desert Nomads, Red Arrow, Black Shield in Harad
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Post by tkdco2 on Apr 14, 2021 14:27:13 GMT -6
Remove Elminster and the other high-level NPCs, and you can probably fit the Dalelands into any rural setting in Middle-earth.
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Post by Falconer on Apr 16, 2021 8:11:29 GMT -6
"Sinister secret of Saltmarsh" , with saltmarch being a gondorian porttown and the smugglers being agents of the Corsairs of Umbar There is a fan conversion which might be useful to look at even if you aren’t using MERP or RM rules since it does Middle-earth-icize it in general.
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Post by tkdco2 on Apr 16, 2021 12:47:04 GMT -6
Where did you find that? Google has failed me on this occasion.
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Post by Falconer on Apr 17, 2021 9:32:50 GMT -6
You must join this mailing list: groups.io/g/merp-fan-modules/When you have done so, let me know, as there are other great resources there I want to let you know about.
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