Wondering if anyone is interested in a Middle Earth adventure. I will be posting notes on Middle Earth detailing where this games deviates from canon sources, and what happened between the end of the Return of the King, and when your characters enter the story in the 4th Age. For some of the notes, please refer to the poll thread wherein I ask about faerun versus middle earth, somewhere below. However, I will re-post that material here, too.

Despite odd times when I don't respond to posts for a couple of days in my Faerun sea adventure, I'm finding that I should have the capacity for a second adventure as a DM, and I love, love, love Middle Earth...such a rich tapestry to spin a tale.

Changes made to Middle Earth to make it compatible as a sustainable campaign world using the D&D system.

1. There are no wizards or sorcerors. In respect to Gandalf, Sauron, and the other Maiar, wizardry went with them over the western seas.
2. The Uruk-hai survived the war. Saruman breeds an off-shoot of Uruks that are not beholden to the power of Sauron. When Sauron and Saruman are knocked off, these self-willed Uruks flee north into the wintry wastes north of the grey mountains to become nomadic barbarians, a people in their own rights (still evil, they're just not working for someone else this time).
3. Trolls (the elder stock that Morgoth took from to make 1st Age Trolls) eventually return to Middle Earth, using standard 3Ed stats for Trolls.
4. Durin VIII (or is it the VI?) returns to Moria following the end of the third age and begins to reclaim Moria. The center of dwarven culture rests, though, in Erebor, the Lonely Mountain. Moria will take some time to clear.
5. Owing to the efforts of the two unnamed Blue Wizards that came to Middle Earth with Saruman, Gandalf and Radagast, the Haradrim begin to boast psionic abilities.
6. With the total removal of the Valar and Maiar from Middle Earth and the start of the dominion of man, Iluvatar sets several Valar up to become "deities" in that they can grant clerical powers to followers. Religious orders form quickly. Thus, Psionics and Divine power are the two sources of magic remaining in Middle Earth for humans.
7. The Dwarves begin to research their lost arts of runic magic scripts and with the re-flowering of their lost crafts, they also begin to recover their lost birth-rates. They now harbor dreams of taking back Moria, and founding new kingdoms in the Blue Mountains and taking old holdings from the cold worms of the Grey Mountains.
8. The Elves of Greenwood decline after Iluvatar ends the "persistence of memories", whereby elves that die are eventually born into new bodies with their old memories intact. As they decline, they begin to revere Varda as humans revered Tulkas, and Varda began to grant them clerical powers. Like the Dwarves, the Elves of Mirkwood now have a growing birth rate, and eventually settle into the stats of 3Ed sylvan elves instead of the old Elves of Lorien, Gil-Galad and Rivendell.
9. To bring a sense of balance for reasons only known to Iluvatar, Melkor the Enemy is brought back from the Void and given dominion over evil men and beasts.
10. The Valar that now hold sway in the 4th age (but no direct interference, not even Avatars) are:
Tulkas - Humans (Arnor, Gondor and Ithilien)
Orome - Humans (Rohan)
Varda - Elves
Aule - Dwarves
Melkor - Evil races
Yavanna - Nature (Druids, mostly)

With the lack of arcane magic in Middle Earth, there are three means to create magic items in western Middle Earth.

1. Divine created items. All items created by clerical processes are aligned to good or evil, depending on who created them. An opposing alignment that picked such an object up and attempted to use it would get a nasty reaction.
2. Dwarf created items. Neutral in alignment, meaning both polar alignments can use them, however, dwarves don't give those up easily and expect them given back to the Kingdom that created them when the owner dies. They'll hunt down those who refuse, too.
3. Psionic created items. Usually involve part crystalline structure. Since the creation of psionic items is a very taxing process to forge the weapons form special crystals, they usually do not create items for any one, no matter how much gold is offered. Rather, they might create a sword for a powerful hero to accomplish a mighty deed. The Haradrim tribe that created it might then expect it to be returned, depending on if the hero came from their bloodline or not.
4. Any weapons or armor left over from the first three ages of Middle Earth are now considered relics and mostly consist of Dwarven or Elvish make. These races jealously guard these ancient ties to a more powerful age gone-by. Any person foolish enough to steal one would probably have an entire kingdom or race declare war upon him to reclaim it. In game terms, PCs would not have routine access to weapons such as Glamdring or Gil-Galad's spear.
5. A fourth source of magic items is from the Easterling region, though this is hardly known in western Middle Earth. Most of these items rest in the hands of the noble class of the Easterling Empire's ruling clans.

Basically, this campaign setting is very scarce in magic resources as most D&D players think of magic. This is in an attempt to stay faithful to Tolkien's world and how he used magic in his novels. This means, however, that many ready-standbys from the DMG wondrous magic item tables would not be available in this setting since they can only be created through arcane magic knowledge. That should force players to get creative once again and re-think solutions to old problems.

Creatures in Middle Earth

This is a list of critters from the Middle Earth Bestiary. These creatures should definitely be included in a D&D Middle Earth campaign, plus any creatures from other sources such as monster compendiums.

Balrog - there just might be one left in Middle Earth somewhere.
Barrow-Wights
Bats, giant and bloodsucking varieties
Beornings - descendents of Beorn and solitary Northmen, skin changers from human to bear
Boars
Cold Drakes - no fire dragons remaining, but Cold Drakes may still exist in the Grey Mountains, sitting atop Dwarf treasures.
Crebain - large black crows used as messengers and spies
Eagles, giant
Ents
Gaurhoth - werewolves. Actually extinct in the books from the 1st age, but I think they'll end up surfacing in the ruins of Dol Guldur in southern Mirkwood.
Giants
Mewlips - evil undead spirits who drain victims.
Gallows weed -
Horses
Huorns
Kraken
Mumakil - Oliphaunts
Trolls
Orcs - specifically, Uruks
Phantoms of the Dead Marshes
Ponies
Spiders
Thrushes
Willows
Woses
Wargs

Obviously, that's not too large of a list. So, I had to inject some other creatures, though the challenge was to explain the appearance of new monsters. Three good explanations might be:
1. They crawled out of the breeding pits of Dol Guldur, the Morgul Vale, or the desecrated ruins of ancient Angmar (Bara-dur was utterly destroyed)
2. They crawled out of the Mines of Moria or from the Misty Mountains, or from the Grey Mountains (the Grey Mountains used to hold Utumno and Angband, the breeding pits and armory of Melkor the Enemy).
3. They were always there, but just never entered into Tolkien's narration (gotta be careful with using this one too much, though).

Some of the creatures I've added in:
Yuan-ti (the nemesis of the Harad)
Giant Scorpions and other desert vermin
Will-o-wisps
Many spirit creatures from Oriental Adventures, though I won't say which.

One of the biggest changes I made was the survival of the Uruk-hai past the end of the 3rd Age. Half-Orc barbarians are too good to pass up plus the reasons below. Goblins in Moria were orcs, all enslaved to the will of Sauron. When Sauron was destroyed, they were rendered witless and slaughtered to the brink of extinction. Those that survived became minor creatures of little significance, according to Tolkien's notes. Durin VIII would have been sure to scour as much of Moria as he could, and Kobolds from other campaign worlds would have presented more of a challenge.

That's why I changed the story so that the Uruk-hai did not all become witless when the Ring was destroyed. In all cases, Uruks were superior to Mordor and Moria orcs, Moria orcs being a sub-race of Mordor Orcs. And although Sauron bred the first Uruks, half-human/half-orcs, Saruman also bred many for his assault on Helm's Deep. I basically said that if Saruman bred them to not be beholden to the Ring of Power and Sauron's will, then they could be useful to Saruman should he challenge Sauron one day. So, when Saruman was removed from power at Isengard, and then Sauron destroyed shortly after, the remnants of the free-willed Uruk-hai fled north. These uruks have the stats of standard 3rd Ed half-orcs, and are thus a pretty hardy lot, plus them being Barbarians, too.

Psionics and Shamans/Shugenjas

The basic premise around having psionics in Middle Earth is for two reasons.

1. There were some psionics going on when Frodo was having a conversation with Galadriel. I can't remember if that was only in the movie, or if it was also in the book. In any case, since sorcery was the province of Gandalf and the four other Maiar wizards (divine servants of the Valar), arcane magic left Middle Earth with them. You can't really run a campain with just divine magic in it, or you take out a lot of options from D&D. Since psionics were at least hinted at, that leaves open the door to replace sorcery.

2. In Tolkien's notes, he mentioned two unnamed "Blue Wizards" that went south to Harad at the same time that Gandalf, Saruman and Radagast went to the regions of Rohan and Gondor. These Blue Wizards were never mentioned in the books, nor does it really discuss what they did, or if they succeeded. So this gives the psionics a chance to fill in the gap left by a lack of sorcery.

Say the Blue Wizards began to train Haradrim families how to affect the outside world with their own mind's power, which is basic psionics at its core. It starts as only being able to affect their own bodies. That begins to change their bloodlines and successive generations get stronger, allowing them to affect the outside world as well. Now, since the Blue Wizards only seem to have traveled to the Harad region, it stands to reason that psionic power in Middle Earth is tied to Haradrim bloodlines since all the other human bloodlines and other races did not have that training and so could only boast the rare wild talent. Although there are rumors of where else the unnamed Blue Wizards might have gone, that's the only definitive place I've allowed.

I used the psionics rules from 3.5 Edition, rather than 3rd, because the revisions from 3.5 don't affect other 3rd Edition mechanics much, but make the psion a much more playable character than the 3rd Edition rules allowed.

Shamans, on the other hand, are a different matter entirely. I've read/heard about various forms of devilry among the evil peoples of Middle Earth, though, I'm not sure if it was Peter Jackson, Rankin/Bass, Ralph Bakshi, etc, or if it was actually from Tolkien origins. In any case, it hardly matters since the shamans emerge in areas where Tolkien didn't write about in the Lord of the Rings. It fits well into carrying beyond the end of the 3rd Age. Shamans and Shugenja in their own respects are the only other sources of arcane magic in Middle Earth beyond Bards. And since I control both types of NPCs, it isn't an issue that should cause too much problems since you won't see mages chucking about fireballs and Wishes, or Polymorph Other, etc with impunity.

Yet, though Tolkien's handling of arcane magic was both very encompassing but subtle and delicate so as not to overpower the actions of the Hobbits in his story, the world of Middle Earth had many, many forms of magic and hinted at as much magic as one might find in the Forgotten Realms. Powerful magic items and massive spells/enchantments were actually fairly commonplace as Frodo and Bilbo traveled about. As Frodo's party approached Weathertop, they saw flashes of lightning atop Weathertop (can't remember which direction the lightning was traveling, though), and that could have easily been a standard D&D lightning bolt. However, much of the arcane might lie in the grasp of Ring Wraiths, the Maiar (see the Silmarilion if you are unsure of the group Maiar, though they include Gandalf, Saruman, Sauron and the Balrogs) or the Eldar and Noldor (the wisest elves from across the western sea).

The Shugenjas from Oriental Adventures, though, are particularly challenging. A mix of sorceror and priest, they are basically an elemental sorceror mixed in with a priestly caste split along elemental lines and family ties. Care has to be taken to avoid trampling over Tolkien's restraint in avoiding magic gone wild. Of all sources of arcane power, the Shugenja has the greatest possibility of being very "un-Tolkienish".

Why some classes only have a couple of races that can play them:

Why? Well, it basically fits with how I see the classes in a Middle Earth setting.

A 3rd Ed. Bard has both arcane and clerical spells in his repertoire. Yet, the arcane spells deal mostly with illusion and charm effects, understanding/reading ancient languages, all areas of which 3rd Age elves excelled at. Now, the clerical aspects of the 3rd Edition Bard are also covered well by elves. Healing, removing diseases, cleansing things, etc. were often done by elves in Tolkien's novels. Except for the Numenorians who could do only a few of those things, Elves were really the only race that could closely model a 3rd Edition Bard.

So I see a 3Ed Bard as an Elf or Half-Elf. In the books, no other race could really do such things, hence the limitation to Elvish blood.

I see Barbarians limited only to those races that would be living in the harsh northern lands. That would make Humans, Half-Orcs and Dwarves the only ones that would likely come from those Northern lands. And of course, a Hobbit Barbarian is ludicrous. A Hobbit Thief, maybe, but a barbarian? Bahh!

Paladins
Paladins are first and foremost tied to the deity's needs, which is usually administered by the church the Paladin is attached to (only the rare Paladin has a personal conversation with their deity). Elves and Hobbits are too chaotic, Dwarves are too tied to their familial ties to foresake it all for the church. That leaves Humans and Human half-breeds.

Soulknives and Psions - Humans, specifically, the peoples of Harad are psionic according to the story line I developed. That means you have to have Haradrim blood to be anything more than a wild talent with one random power, if any power at all. That limits things to Humans and Human half-breeds again.

Base classes allowed in The Lord of the Rings, 4th Age.

Barbarian - Human, Dwarf, Half-Orc
Bard - Elf, Half-Elf
Cleric - Human, Elf, Dwarf, Hobbit, Half-Orc, Half-Elf
Druid - Elf, Human, Half-Elf
Fighter - Human, Elf, Dwarf, Hobbit, Half-Orc, Half-Elf
Ranger (needs work, maybe) - Human, Elf, Half-Elf, Hobbit
Paladin - Human, Half-Elf, Half-Orc
Scout - Hobbit, Human, Elf, Dwarf, Half-Orc, Half-Elf
Soulknife - Human, Half-Elf, Half-Orc
Mindbender - Human, Half-Elf, Half-Orc

Races usable as PCs
Elf
Half-Elf
Human
Dwarf
Half-Orc
Hobbit

Nationalities of Humans for specific classes
Mindbender - Requires Haradrim blood from a Mindbending family, either 100% or 50% for purposes of game play. Half-bloods require raising in area that has a Mindbender to train.
Soulknife - Requires Haradrim blood from a Mindbending family, either 100% or 50% for purposes of game play. Half-bloods require raising in area that has a Mindblade to train.

Barbarian prestige classes - King/Queen of the Wild
Fighter prestige classes - Cavalier, Duelist, Halfling Outrider, Order of the Bow Initiate
Scout prestige classes - Dungeon Delver, Thief-Acrobat,
Bard prestige classes - Virtuoso
Cleric - Contemplative, War Priest, Sacred Fist
Paladin prestige classes - Contemplative, Consecrated Harrier, Holy Liberator
Soulknife prestige classes - Ghash, War Mind
Mindbender prestige classes - Ghash, Metamind
Ranger prestige classes - Deepwood Sniper, Foe Hunter, King/Queen of the Wild, Tempest
Druid prestige classes - King/Queen of the Wild, Verdant Lord

So as you can see, there are a large number of options to a person in Middle Earth, but fireball fiends are not really going to enjoy this. Having said that, the "Ghash" is actually Uruk for fire, and that refers to the Pyrokinetic prestige class, so there's hope for firebugs.

Regional Peculiarities in the 4th Age of Middle Earth

The Shire:
Following the restoration of the Shire due to Samwise's efforts, the Hobbits settled back into their regular rhythyms. However, as King Elessar (Aragorn) aged, they realized that their isolation could come back to hurt them again if they didn't use the fame of Frodo, Samwise, Pippin and Merry to their advantage. So, they appealed to the King for aid. They wanted to learn to defend themselves.

The King sent some of his Numenorian relatives and Rohan sent cavalry to the Shire to begin the formation of a Hobbit militia and cavalry. Up to now, the Shire had depended on the vigilance of Gondor and Rohan for their defense, so teaching the Hobbits to protect themselves would greatly ease troop demands. In quick order, the Hobbits formed quite a cohesive, fierce and competent militia. And their mounted soldiers quickly began to vigiliantly patrol the outer edges of the Shire, earning the nickname of "Outriders".

Aside from that, Hobbits also began to circulate their crops and goods among the big folk, mostly in Bree and other nearby human settlements during good harvests. Beyond that, however, Hobbits remain pretty isolated by choice and continue to live agrarian lives, except for those who volunteer into the militia (now considered an honorable occupation for young, strong Hobbits).

Occassionally, though, the more adventurous Hobbits do go out into the world to learn other crafts in Gondor and Rohan, sometimes finding employment by teaching land management skill to Rohan farmers. Others become free-lance scouts and thieves, lured by the riches and potential fame like the now legendary Bilbo Baggins.

Ithilien:
With the end of Sauron's reign, the fair lands of Ithilien flourished even more under the stewardship of Lord Faramir and Lady Eowyn. Not heavily populated, it nevertheless became a good source of timber for Gondor once again and a key trading outpost with the Harad region. More comfortable dealing with the Rangers in the forests of Ithilien rather than traveling to Minas Tirith, Faramir's lands became the hot land trade route for Haradrim caravans to and from the south. As a result, most of the intermarriage between Harad and Gondor occurs in this region, the hardy rangers more accepting of mixed blood and Haradrim cultural differences than the citizens of Minas Tirith.

This region is a common starting point for human rangers, and for any psionic characters not 100% ethnically Haradrim. Any rangers or fighters originating from Ithilien still have strong kinship ties to their lords and will answer calls for arms if the region is under assault. Though unwavering in their loyalty to the King of Gondor and Arnor, the hardy folk of Ithilien still hold the most love for their own lord and prefer to defend their own lands if given the choice rather than to travel to Minas Tirith.

The region is also commonly traveled by adventurers convinced that there were hidden stashes of Haradrim and Mordor weapons and plundered treasure left over from the war. As the Fourth Age continues and evil begins to creep back into the wilderness after a brief respite, these adventurers are given more latitude to explore the wilds since they also serve to keep monster numbers down as they explore. This eases manning requirements of Ithilien patrols.

Arnor:
This northern half of the joint kingdom of Gondor/Arnor, it was abandoned many years before the War of the Ring at the end of the Third Age. Patrolled almost exclusively by Aragorn's kin and followers during those abandoned years, it was a wild, overgrown region rife with monsters driven from other lands. Also, close to the northern mountains that marks the beginning of the polar regions, it can have harsh winters and hot summers in the same year.

When Aragorn, now King Elessar, returned to Gondor to claim the crown, he intended to bring Arnor back under control and make it a prosperous part of his kingdom once more. Early in the 4th Age, many hardy folk went north to populate the new lands and carve out a new life. Making great progress in these early years in routing out monsters, the King began to set up a new city Annuminas as the capital of Arnor and the capital of the joint kingdoms of Arnor and Gondor. As the region became tamed again trade and skilled craftsmen began flowing north again.

Then, the barbarian hordes of Uruks began to descend periodically and ravage all the lands that they could in their bloody raids. Traveling through the hills and mountains that used to be part of Angmar, the fierce orcs also attacked the elves of Mirkwood via passes through the Grey Mountains. These periodic invasions south always caused great damage to both races, for these barbarian Uruks were harder to kill than even the Uruk-hai of Mordor after growing stronger in the northern wastes for years. The cycle of repelling Uruk assaults and re-building is the only thing that prevents Arnor from totally eclipsing Gondor in power and prestige in the unified kingdom.

In an attempt to curb Uruk incursions south and allow for advance warning, Aragorn's son begins sending the hardiest volunteers up into the frozen wastes to serve as border guards and begin exploring the wastes to locate where the Uruks maintain their territories. Although they locate those lands, they quickly realize that the assaults come regularly whenever the population of the Uruks becomes too great to live off of the natural resources, and they come down simply as a means of survival. Although attempts were made to begin exterminating the Uruk nomadic tribes in the region, one-by-one, all efforts have been violently repelled by the barbarian tribes.

Characters from Arnor favor rangers, some barbarians, and fighters, mostly. However, the region can also produce Clerics and Paladins. In the lands that the King of the Unified Kingdoms uses as his capital, this region is the most valient and dedicated to the crown, and most adventurers also serve as eyes and ears for the crown with regular reports made to his officials.

Gondor:

Shattered during the War of the Ring, Gondor required extensive re-building. With the aid of Gimli's people from Aglarond and also from Erebor, work was energetically completed on Minas Tirith in quick fashion. Osgiliath, however, was a total loss and had to be rebuilt from the ground up. Starting first as an outpost guarding the approaches to the Pelennor Fields and Minas Tirith, Osgiliath continued to grow throughout the lives of Aragorn and his next two successors until it once again became a gleaming sister-city to Minas Tirith.

The regions around Minas Tirith and Osgiliath form the most solid area of the Gondor/Arnor unified kingdom. Despite the heavy losses during the war, birth rates were high and their people recovered greatly by the time Aragorn's son ascended to the throne. The church of Gondor is the central location for clerical orders and Paladins in the unified kingdom. So while Arnor is the political capital, Gondor quickly became the spiritual capital of the unified kingdom.

Therefore, Clerics and Paladins are most likely to hail from Minas Tirith and Osgiliath, the re-built Osgiliath holding the majority of temples and places of worship. The holy knights of Gondor ride the lands of Gondor in the shining plate mail that was used in the War of the Ring. In addition to fighters, rangers can also come from these areas.

In the southern regions of Lebennin, Belfalas, Umbar and South Gondor, the control of Minas Tirith is not as strong as close to the city, so some of the shadier elements of society are more apt to flourish there. One thieves guild is thought to operate out of the port of Umbar, another out of Dol Amroth. To combat them, Gondor has made use of scouts (good thieves loyal to the crown or any other source of official authority) to try and locate these guilds to root them out. Thus, both scouts and thieves are likely to hail from these areas, and can be just about any race imaginable. If there ever was a "wild west" in Middle Earth, these are the regions for it.

Umbar, Belfalas, Lebennin, South Gondor:

In addition to information in the Gondor entry, these coastal regions have become important trading hubs and stops for ships going north and south along the coasts of Middle Earth. Despite the large amount of land trade going north to Ithilien from Harad, some intrepid Haradrim merchants have opted for a sea route, making use of the merchant fleets out of Umbar, long an important port from back even in the 2nd Age.

With the law of the King being somewhat removed in these southern reaches of Gondor's realms, most law is locally enforced with reports then filed back to Minas Tirith as a formality. Barring gross examples of abuse of law, the officials in Minas Tirith are likely to let the reports stand without investigation since it eases their work considerably. However, concerned that the southern regions might get too independant minded, the King wisely sends his Paladins on patrol through those lands frequently to remind the officials that he is watching. The Paladins are the most mobile, awe-inspiring and capable reminder of his power at his disposal without him going himself to visit the region, a long trip from Arnor in the North.

Though the mounted Paladin patrolling on his mighty steed causes great concern for the officials in the region, it has little effect on the actual inhabitants since they only have to visibly obey the law to avoid the Paladin's attention. What causes more concern for criminal factions are the King's regular troops who maintain garrisons in key locations in the region, troops who maintain constant vigilance to back up royal law. Again, thieves and scouts are the most likely characters to emerge from these southern regions, though fighters are also present in the area.

Rohan:

Once again a strong ally of the King of the unified kingdom, Rohan is a land transformed in the Fourth Age. Once a decrepit, aging land under the constant, withering influence of Isengard, Rohan now is restored to former glory under the diligent and valiant efforts of Theoden's nephew Eomer.

Seeing the state of his kingdom at the end of the war, the newly crowned King Eomer wisely realized he needed help. Reaching out to the elves of Legolas' kin and the dwarves of Gimli's kin, he also reforged anew the alliance with King Elessar (Aragorn) of Gondor/Arnor. From the elves, he learned much of land management, crop planting, and greatly educated his people in many academic pursuits. From the dwarves, his smiths learned even better ways to use steel and engineering to improve his towns, fortresses and irrigation. Though the church of Rohan is devoted to a different Vanyar than the unified church of Gondor/Arnor (Orome instead of Tulkas), the two churches maintain friendly ties, and Rohan's Paladins are even more capable on their steeds than the unified kingdom's Paladins.

By reaching out, Rohan has transformed into the backbone of the south-central region of Middle Earth. Her mounted patrols sweeping far and wide through the Gap of Rohan and the Mark, they also go as far west as the lands of Dunland and as far East as the Emyn Muil. Though these patrols would seem to cut the unified kingdom in half, the King welcomes Rohan patrols in these lands and the stability in the center that they bring. It allows him to spend more of his resources in central Arnor and Gondor with less attention needed to those outlying regions.

With Arnor to the north, Gondor to the south, Ithilien to the East and relatively unpopulated lands to the West, Rohan has little threat to it in the 4th Age, allowing it to build strength steadily. In addition, Dwarves now live in Aglarond. This means that if Rohan ever needs to retreat again to the even stronger re-built Helm's Deep, mighty Dwarf warriors will also be manning the walls alongside the Rohan army.

Fighters, Clerics, and Paladins are common in these lands. Druids and Bards are also sometimes found to hail from Fangorn Forest, as some of the elves of Mirkwood have traveled to Fangorn to help Treebeard tend to the trees after their mighty overtake of Isengard and the destruction of Saruman's army at Helm's Deep. From an adventuring standpoint, little goes on in Rohan, though. Usually, Rohan adventurers end up traveling to other lands to find adventure and danger, sending back reports of the outlying world to the King of Rohan (Eomer dead now by two generations and revered alongside his uncle Theoden for their deeds in the War of the Ring.)

Mordor:

Once the bastion of Sauron, Mordor is now a dead land. Very little of anything is alive on the Plain of Gorgoroth. All of Mordor's forts and bastions of power were destroyed with the end of Sauron's power. Careful to expose, destroy, and cleanse all of Baradur's vaults, the final, mighty fortress of Sauron is truly dead and none of the horrors Sauron made there have lived to trouble the 4th Age.

Other areas of Mordor, however, are not as carefully cleansed. The valley of Minas Morgul, though cleansed and left alone for seven years by decree from King Elessar, has attracted darkness from monsters fleeing Moria and the ruins of Dol Guldur in Mirkwood. Though watchful eyes are watching the valley from Minas Tirith, there are places in the ruins of the Morgul Vale that are not seen, caves and vaults not found in the aftermath of the War of the Rings. In these vaults of the Witch King, Lord of the Nazgul, abominations still exist and are beginning to seep out into the world, and to plan their own designs. Also, the inhospitable, impassable mountain walls of Mordor have become the refuge of foul, polluted beings. Shelob, though dead, still left many powerful, minor kin alive in those mountains. With the end of the war, these mountains have become the hunting grounds of these spider-children of Shelob, feeding off of who-knows-what. Rumors and seemingly far-fetched tales by explorers are now beginning to reach the ears of officials in Minas Tirith and Osgiliath of the horrors around the Morgul Vale and adventuring parties are sent to explore new rumors as they surface. Owing to the fact that a number of those parties do not return or else return with horrifying tales, it confirms concerns of the officials that something evil might well be blighting the cursed valley again.

Mirkwood and the Wilderlands (Rhovanion):

Though Mirkwood was cleansed at the end of the War of the Rings, with the passing of many of the strongest elves from Middle Earth, including Legolas' kin, the elves of Mirkwood saw a great decline in their power. With this decline, their vigilance in the south of Mirkwood was not complete. Believing that Dol Guldur, the sanctuary of Sauron after the end of the Second Age before he returned to Mordor, was fully cleansed and destroyed at the end of the Third Age, the elves did not notice the slow trickle of evil from the ruins. Not all of Sauron's labs and vaults were uncovered, and his deepest vaults eventually opened up in the Fourth Age, opened by foul creatures. Also, evil took refuge in the darkness of southern Mirkwood. As the Fourth Age deepens, the entire south of Mirkwood is a dangerous affair for anyone traveling through it. There are no roads or safe passages through it, and is generally avoided at all costs. The elves of north Mirkwood do not have the strength to search out the evil and destroy it by themselves. Instead, there is a constant, low-level war waged under the boughs of the woods, fought mainly by elf Rangers and Druids against the evil centered around Dol Guldur. The actions of the elves is to contain it, rather than to eradicate it since they don't have the strength of their ancestors. Their efforts are largely unseen and unheard in the settled lands of Arnor/Gondor and Rohan. Additionally, the unholy Church of Melkor has recently seized control of Dol Guldur and enlisted many of the foul creatures under its control as guards and agents. In addition to the Morgul Vale, south Mirkwood has once again become a bastion of evil. There are even reports of multitudes of undead now roaming the cursed forests of southern Mirkwood.

With evil spreading out from southern Mirkwood, the Wilderlands have become the most dangerous they've been in over three generations. Many monsters now lair in the vast regions of Wilderlands, hidden in the wilds from the dedicated hunters of the King. This area of Middle Earth is a common location for adventurers to search out glory, treasure and danger, and remains an unsettled, dangerous region to cross.

Harad:

The regions of Near Harad and Far Harad are both exotic and barren. The lands give rise to exotic peoples and culture and many strange creatures, the best known of which is the "oliphaunt" or Mumakil. Populated by the Haradrim, a nomadic desert-living race, the sands and forests of Harad have only been explored from outside by the ancient Numenorians and the Nazgul. These people, therefore, are barely understood by those in the northlands.

After the fall of Sauron at the end of the Third Age, King Elessar granted amnesty to the Haradrim in return for peace and fealty from them. Determined never to fall under the clutches of someone else again, and humbled by the mercy of the new King, the Haradrim have walked the path of peace ever since. As a people, they adhered to conditions placed upon the Mercy of the King so well that Elessar's grandson released the Haradrim from the service of Arnor/Gondor and granted political autonomy to the nomadic tribes.

As the psionic talents of certain family and tribal bloodlines have risen to the notice of the unified kingdom, the Haradrim have been careful not to use this power to provoke the King. Instead, it is used to protect their trading caravans and defend against the predations of the Yuan-ti, currently infesting the southmost tropical forests and southern deserts of Far Harad. Despite the threat, the Haradrim maintain their ancient ways, as steeped in culture and rich in history as any kingdom of the north. Along with their Mumakil, the psions and soulknives of the Haradrim strengthen the battle capabilities of the Haradrim warriors against their reptilian enemies.

Any and all psionic characters have blood tracing back to a full-blooded Haradrim family member, either the father or mother, or both in most cases, making this the region most likely for psionic characters to originate from.

Although the Unholy Church of Melkor has attempted to sway the Haradrim into its service, that effort has failed entirely. And since the dry conditions of the southlands don't lend too much in the way of large amounts of buried dead, there isn't much for the clerics to use to raise undead in the region. As such, undead are not much of a concern to the Haradrim as compared to other regions.

The Misty Mountains:

One of the most important mountain ranges in the Lord of the Rings, the Misty Mountains are the main barrier separating the east of Middle Earth from the west. Rich in minerals and ore, it is the range that holds Khazad Dum, or the mines of Moria, the greatest city of the dwarves still in existence.

Moria itself is undergoing a purging. Durin VIII, a descendent of the original Durin, Lord of all Dwarves, is holding the upper halls of Moria with his kin and level-by-level cleaning out the lower halls. Despite the increased birthrate of Dwarves in the Fourth Age, the work is slow and bloody. To minimize the blood of Dwarves spilled, Durin VIII is paying handsome rewards to adventurers to go deeper and slay any monsters they can find. It is believed that there were no other Balrogs under Moria, but there are still many other fell beasts hiding out from the days of Melkor in the First Age. To date, the lower halls continue to resist expunging efforts to clear them. Indeed, it seems that there are monsters everyday coming up from somewhere below, maybe through a network of caves and tunnels far into the Misty Mountains. It is Durin VIII's goal to find those networks of tunnels, seal them, and place magic wards upon them to prevent any more creatures from plaguing his kin as he restores the mines and glory of Khazad Dum.

In other sections of the Misty Mountains, some of the Uruks from the Northern Wastes have migrated back south into the northern Misty Mountains, where conditions are much better and easier to support growth. And, since the north is much less patrolled and populated, the barbarian tribes of Uruks have a chance to grow unchallenged into old orcish tunnels and strongholds. Raids from these Uruks in the north Misty Mountains on human settlements in the Rhovanion and Eriador are responsible for the majority of half-Orcs present in Middle Earth. In addition, there are many trolls and giants that inhabit stretches of the Misty Mountains, making them as treacherous as they were in the Third Age. These mysterious mountains also hold the eyries of the Giant Eagles, though this great race has receeded into seclusion, even more than they were in the Third Age.

Rhun, Dorwinon:

Rhun is the region east of the Rhovanion, surrounding the salty, dead Sea of Rhun. Since the First Age, the Easterlings have constantly invaded Rhun and used it as bases of operations to strike into Eriador and Gondor. Not much of Rhun is known among the common peoples of Middle Earth, but there are mountains to the southwest of the inland Sea of Rhun and forests to the northeast. It is from the area to the northwest that the most famous wines of Middle Earth come from, the region known as Dorwinon. Rhun itself stretches along the length of the Rhovanion all the way down the eastern side of Mordor. This close proximity to Mordor and easy geographical access has led to Sauron's control over the Easterlings for two ages, and Melkor's control of them in the First Age.

Unlike the Haradrim, the Easterlings were subdued after the War of the Ring by Eomer and Aragorn by force. Owing to this, there has been a tighter control on the governments in the region (though there isn't such a thing as an actual government in the region in any real sense). This has led to disgruntlement and a growing, but hidden support for Melkor's priests. Many hidden cults boast some length of magic abilities, owing perhaps to the the Blue Wizards possibly working in this region as well. Though psionics arose in Harad, witchcraft and shamanism seems to have been the type of magic within the Easterlings.

Despite this undercurrent, a culture has arisen among some of the most eastern Easterlings somewhat akin to the orient of Earth in the last 100 years, free of the taint of Sauron. It is an unexplored and uncharted region.

Angmar:

Located directly east of Arnor, Angmar was the realm of the ranking Ring Wraith as he battled against the Northern Kingdom long before the end of the Third Age. The Witch King succeeded in destroying Arnor before he was driven out of Angmar, but it has always been a cursed place ever since.

Angmar's immediate surroundings are the northmost Misty Mountains and the mountain/hill range that stretches around in an arc in a northeasterly direction. In this region, player classes do not originate. It is once again an area rife with active evil. The Church of Melkor has an intense interest and is quite active in exploring any ruins and caves in the region, looking for who knows what. Undead are now frequently spilling out from the hills, as are monsters and abberrations. These creatures make the regions around Angmar unstable and extremely dangerous. However, since there are no major fortresses, the army of Arnor has no enemy to march against. Thus, clerics, paladins and rangers form the forces that fight Angmar monsters more than army regulars.

While the Barbarian tribes of Uruks are gaining a stronger grip inthe northern Misty Mountains, they do not venture down into the cursed plains, valleys and hills of Angmar, mostly out of fear of the undead, which they have little ability to fight against.

Northern Wastes:

Long before the Numenorians fled to Middle Earth, there was a sub-race of tough, northern men who were the ancestors of the men of Rohan and the Beornings (skin shifters that can take the shape of bears). Not possessing the magic and charisma of Numenorian lords, they were still great men and tales of their deeds are long and proud. While many of them moved south into Rohan and the Wilderlands, many remained north.

These men live as barbarians, grouped into tribes, living in ice huts and traveling around on sleds along the frozen ice covering the ground. They hunt seals and other northern creatures, living much like eskimos, thriving where other races would perish. Those further south live much as the Norse did, living in turf huts, especially in the west along the coasts. In recent years, there has been a cycle of war and uneasy quiet against the Uruk tribes. The Uruks are now natural enemies, fighting for the same natural resources. Despite the ferocity of the barbarian Orcs, the Northmen have held their territory for millenia and use this knowledge of the north to their advantage. And their barbarian warriors are as fierce as any Uruk.

The typical class coming out of the Northern Wastes are Barbarians. Though there are some clerics and fighters up in the mountains that form the southern boundary of the Wastes, they usually become adventurers from other regions. LIfe up north is grim, brutal and often violently short. Dwarves originating from the north are almost always barbarians as well. Dwarves of other classes are usually from Lonely Mountain or further south.

Erebor and the Iron Hills:

The Dwarves of Lonely Mountain and the Iron Hills are almost exclusively related to Thorin Oakenshield or Dain Ironfoot, both kin themselves. The cultural center of Dwarf culture at this time, there are currently no threats to Erebor (Lonely Mountain) or the Iron Hills except for the periodic raids by Uruks. However, the Dwarves have built up their defenses so completely in recent decades that the barbarian hordes break under the defenses without causing much damage. By virtue of their proximity to Erebor, the men of Dale have strong allies to repel Uruk raids and in the worst of times are allowed to take shelter within Erebor itself.

The men of Laketown are not so fortunate, though. Tradesmen working trade not only with the men of Dale and the Dwarves of Erebor, but they also still conduct river trade with the Elves of Mirkwood. When the Uruk tribes descend, these tradesmen trade their paddles for spears and swords and gather with the army regulars as a well-trained militia. They also cut the bridges to Laketown so that Uruks have to swim if they feel inclined to attack the town itself. However, those caught out in the open are almost always slaughtered ruthlessly by the invaders.

Most classes hail from this region of men and dwarves, except for Paladins. These areas are not often patrolled by the unified kingdom's holy warriors. The men of this region have always been an independant-minded group, though they do give fealty to the Lord of Dale, the successors of Bard the Hunter (the man who slew the dragon Smaug in the tale of the Hobbit and the first Lord of Dale since Smaug first descended on Lonely Mountain.)

Rivendell and Lothlorien:

Seperated by vast distances of wild lands, these two bastions of Elven Lords from the 1st Age remain kept in good condition. When the elder elves left Middle Earth, some of Legolas' kin traveled both to Rivendell and Lothlorien to keep up the settlements and spread out. Initially outposts for the main kingdom in Mirkwood, the colonies of the Mirkwood elves eventually became autonomous in and of themselves. Many elves prefer the brighter, clean forests of Lothlorien, or the steep forested vale of Rivendell, and also the magnificent halls of Galadriel and Elrond.

The Elves of Lothlorien have re-established ties with Durin VIII's Dwarves of Khazad Dum, and trade now flows back and forth from the east gate, though the elves don't participate in the cleansing of Khazad Dum, nor do the dwarves help with the war in Mirkwood.

Rangers, Druids, Fighters, Scouts, Clerics and Bards all hail from these areas, almost always full-blooded Elves, though the occasional Half-Elf also comes from these areas, too. Both areas are relatively calm and peaceful, allowing Elves retreating from the war in Mirkwood to rest and regain their strength to return to the war. Both places, therefore, are used as retreats and back-staging areas. Should the war in Mirkwood become hopeless eventually, they will also serve as new strongholds for the Elf race.

The Lands of the Easterlings:

This is the one area of Middle Earth that I've seen almost nothing written about other than maybe Harad. I'm sure Tolkien had extensive notes on the area, since I've seen a map that detailed Middle Earth far farther than ever discussed in the Lord of the Rings and he's the kind of creator that took pains in fleshing out more than he wrote about. There's even two (or was it three) continents instead of just one! But, for this reason, since he seemed to describe Easterlings as oriental in appearance, I figured it would be a great place to plop an Oriental Adventures setting down into. So, to form the Easterling lands as they now exist (4th age, mind you), I've borrowed heavily from Legend of the Five Rings and Oriental Adventures. Since writing the notes for Rhun and Dorwinon above, this region has taken greater shape and definition and to me is a natural match for such an exotic campaign location.

The lands of the samurai and shugenja nobles, therefore, exist in the Easterling region, a location described in Tolkien's notes as having as much history and stories as that of any western kingdom (albeit in service of Morgoth and Sauron for most of its history). However, this transformation into the lands of silk and jade has happened in the last 100 years only as the Easterling culture has struggled to emerge out of the chaos of Sauron's fall. Using the Oriental theme gives me a rich tapestry to form an area that can incorporate more D&D into it than any other region, a situation that has been very exciting as a DM. Imagine what tales your Hobbit could bring home if he traveled there and the fame his name would garner as the first Hobbit to see the Eastern Sea!

So that's it for the background of the 4th Age of Middle Earth and outlying continental areas not really covered in the novels we all know. A lot of this came from the Silmarillion as background to draw upon and extrapolate forward, some from Tolkien's notes, some from the movies (yes, I know that's not canon Tolkien, but the changes I made are necessary to play in Middle Earth as earlier stated, so I'm deviating a bunch from canon Tolkien anyway...there were some cool things in the movies, and they help tremendously with the visualization of the world.)

If you are interested in playing in Middle Earth, let me know and we'll see how many there are. Just reply to this thread. Thanks in advance.

That is a LOT of new notes to go through....

~SE++

Can't be helped. To better understand what is going on in Middle Earth (far less known in depth by comparison than Forgotten Realms), I had to put in what things have transpired since the Return of the King. This will give a player an idea of where the danger lurks, by region, and an idea of where his character might want to hail from. For example, if the scout isn't directly employed by a local lord, Umbar, Belfalas, Lebennin, South Gondor are all places where rogues (scouts) might originate from, more than other places, simply because they aren't really beholden to the King of Gondor/Arnor in those locales.

A cleric would most often come from Osgiliath, or from Rohan, and so forth

So to help potentially garner some interest, here's the quick synopsis of this adventure. The great spear Aiglos, forged for Gil-Galad (the last Noldor King of the 2nd Age), was stolen by a terrible monster that the 4th Age elves were unable to stop. Your party has been commissioned to recover this lost heirloom and treasured artifact of the elvish remnant that remained in Middle Earth.

There are some other adventures that can be done, too, if this doesn't appeal.

One such possible adventure is to figure out why and where monsters keep boiling up from the depths of Moria, commissioned by the Dwarf King of Moria, Durin VIII. You are the latest group sent into the deepest warrens to battle the fell beasts and solve this riddle. More of a dungeon crawl than a search for an artifact like above, it's something that can easily be done by this format of adventure.

Really, there are a lot of adventures that can be generated in Middle Earth, I would just need to know what type of party and style of adventure you want, and I can generate one to suit.

OK - I'm a big fan of Middle Earth.
Just getting into PbP, and back into RPG's overall.
Starting my first one now, I expect I'll be interested in another, now that I'm starting to get my feet wet.

So - if you are taking noobs (who will hopefully be less noobish once it starts), I'll play.

Super. Thanks for the interest. No matter how many are interested, I will definitely give you a spin if you wish. Let's see how many we can get to join before we settle on an adventure. I'm not sending you after Aiglos if there's only one of you (you wouldn't make it... )

Quick couple of questions. Given what's above, are you OK with the fact that I had to make changes to what is canon Tolkien? My oldest brother would not be impressed, so I just want to make sure you're not in the same camp of purists.

Given what's above, do you have an idea for a class? I don't have levels to assign yet until I know how many are joining, and what adventure to throw you into, so a general idea will work.

Also, do you have 3.0, or at least 3.5, resources to use in generating a character?

As for the changes, nothing jumped out as not being in the spirit of the game/lands - I'm not a fanatic, so I'm not easily offended.
As for character creating...not sure, I used the character builder to build a 4.0 character...not sure if that does 3 or 3.5. I did see some links form3.5 docs, which I have on my comp.

As for class, I'm starting my foray into this pretty simply...as such, I'd likely stick with something somewhat basic, maybe a fighter or barbarian...

On a side note, I did have the privilege of working with one of the biggest die hard Tolkien fans for a few years. The guy dedicated his body to it, having the ring (with full elvish writing) tattooed around his wrist. He then added quite a bit to each arm, one dedicated to the good of middle earth, while the other was full of the evils of middle earth. It was quite a sight!

Wow, that is fanatical. I didn't go that far, but I did buy most of the weapon replicas from the movies. I ultimately gave away most of them to family (Legolas's knives, the wring wraith swords, Sting, and Arwen's scimitar, and maybe one other), but kept Théoden's sword, Glamdring, and the re-forged sword of the king, Anduril.

A funny story is that my brother uses the sword of the Witch King of Angmar to scare the schnockers out of trick-or-treaters by sitting on the porch dressed as a black figure, but sitting still until they get to the door, and then rising up with the sword in hand. The coolest thing about it is that if you put your finger into the notch at the top of the hilt, the sword is perfectly balanced to control with only one hand instead of two.