Cultures of Middle-earth by Region

[Falconer]

Inspired by ICE’s first five modules—Iron Wind, Angmar, Umbar, Ardor, and Mirkwood—I’ve split the cultures of Middle-earth into five regions with the idea of having five different campaigns (the players would each create at least five PCs at start).


Far North & East
Stiffbeard Dwarf
Man of Dorwinion
Easterling
Man of the Lossoth
Variag
Snow-elf

Eriador
Hobbit
Broadbeam Dwarf
Firebeard Dwarf
Longbeard Dwarf
Bree-man
Dúnadan
Dunlending
Man of Eriador
Sinda
Noldo

South
Corsair
Dúnadan
Dunlending
Gondorian
Wose

Far South
Blacklock Dwarf
Black Númenórean
Man of the Haradrim
Variag
Avar
Noldo

Rhovanion
Stonefoot Dwarf
Beorning
Man of the Éothéod
Northman
Woodman
Silvan Elf
Sinda

[Falconer]

Region maps:

Far North & East


Eriador


South


Far South


Rhovanion

[tkdco2]

Nice work! I recommend the Northwestern Middle-earth Gazetteer to help flesh out Eriador and Rhovanion. I've been rereading this book lately, and rediscovered its usefulness. I'll definitely make good use of it if I ever run a Middle-earth campaign again.

[tkdco2]

I've made some use of Northern Mirkwood, but not Southern Mirkwood. My original party ended up there and took possession of a keep after defeating one of the Necromancer's agents who lived there.

I can't wait to see what you have planned for The Court of Ardor.

[Falconer]

Well, it’s really fun digging into these products. At their heart they seem to be simple dungeoneering and wargaming scenarios, yet they are overlaid with such a dense veneer of historical, linguistic, and cultural info, and info on geography and local plants and so on. I suppose both ICE and its audience felt a Tolkien RPG demands to be taken very seriously. It’s funny to me, because I and my group are pretty deep lovers of Tolkien, yet I don’t think we’ve ever approached RPGs as a very serious exercise.

[Falconer]

After digging into Mirkwood and Arnor, it seems to me that ICE seems to lump Khazad-dûm with the latter. Furthermore, the scenarios from Moria imply PCs from Eriador. Therefore I have moved the Longbeards from Rhovanion to Eriador. This is counter-intuitive to me on several levels—the whole of the Misties are past “The Edge of the Wild” (as The Hobbit makes plain), and Khazad-dûm is on the eastern end of them, and Rhovanion in general seems to be Longbeard Territory considering their (eventual?) spread through the Grey Mountains, Erebor, and the Iron Hills. However, Mirkwood wants you to use Stonefoot PCs, so, just as a starting setup, I’ll go with it.

I also noticed there are no PCs from Lórien in Mirkwood, and that the Lórien scenarios in Lórien and the Halls of the Elven Smiths imply PCs from Gondor — and still no PCs from Lórien! So maybe this is just a character type that gets “unlocked” later.

[tkdco2]

Despite the title, Lorien and the Halls of the Elven Smiths concentrates mainly on Eregion in the Second Age. Lorien seems almost an afterthought.

[Falconer]

Yeah, the …and the Halls of the Elven Smiths part is definitely set in Eriador. That’s why I specified “the Lórien scenarios in Lórien…”

I meant to mention that Lórien probably does not get much attention in MERP because in 1640 it does not yet have its most striking characteristics: it is not yet ruled by Galadriel and Celeborn but rather by Amroth; there is no Nenya and no Mallorn trees.

[tkdco2]

IIRC Galadriel and Celeborn lived in Edhellond in TA 1640. But that place is too far south from Eregion to be included in the module.

[Falconer]

I believe they lived in Rivendell at the time.

[Falconer]

Feb 23, 2021 21:17:22 GMT -6 Falconer said:

I also noticed there are no PCs from Lórien in Mirkwood

I don’t know why I thought this. See here.