Middle Earth Campaign Setting (4e Campaign Setting)/Introduction

Introduction
"The Road goes ever on and on Down from the door where it began, Now far ahead the Road has gone, And I must follow, if I can, Pursuing it with eager feet, Until it joins some larger way Where many paths and errands meet, And whither then? I cannot say."

"Three Rings for the Elven-kings under the sky. Seven for the Dwarf-lords in the halls of stone, Nine for Mortal Men doomed to die, One for the Dark Lord on his Dark Throne In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie. One Ring to Rule them all, One Ring to find them One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie."

For more than seventy years, Middle Earth has drawn its many fans into a world of amazing depth with a fascinating and detailed history. J.R.R. Tolkien’s books have become a foundation of modern fantasy, having influenced authors, artists and game designers.

This Campaign Setting is designed to allow you to explore Middle Earth in your games of Dungeons and Dragons. The information in this book provides a framework which you can use to explore Middle Earth.

Tolkien's Mythology
In 1917, J.R.R. Tolkien began writing The Silmarillion with the intention of building a mythology for England, which—at the time—had no mythology of its own. The sheer scale of the undertaking is staggering, as if Homer had to invent the entire Greek mythology before writing the Iliad and the Odyssey. It is therefore not surprising that, although he undoubtedly succeeded, he was working on his mythology until his death in 1973. The staggering detail of his invented history was revealed when The Silmarillion was published in 1977, four years after his death.

Tolkien could not have anticipated the massive popular and commercial adoption of his mythology, though he had hoped for a more specialized appeal for those fascinated by mythology. “I would draw some of the great tale in fullness, and leave many only placed in the scheme, and sketched,” he said. “The cycles should be linked to a majestic whole, and yet leave scope for other minds and hands, wielding paint and music and drama.”

This campaign setting is intended to be a tool through which “other minds and hands” can explore and add to Middle Earth.

How Do You Use This Book
This book provides all the information required for both players and dungeon masters to play Dungeons and Dragons campaigns set in Middle Earth. It provides races, character options and flavor for PCs and monsters and campaign information for DMs. It also presents information about the geography and mythology of Middle Earth.

The information in the book assumes that you are playing a campaign set in the Third Age of the Sun, though some information is provided about other ages in the history of the world for if you want to set your campaign in an earlier time, however because Middle Earth has changed greatly over its history, you should research the time you intend to set your campaign in if you choose not to use the Third Age.

Playing in a Middle Earth Campaign
As a player character, you should use the first five chapters to help create your character, particularly the back-story of your character. Chapter 1 has details about the races of Middle Earth, and should provide the foundation of your character’s background. Chapter 2 can help you adjust the flavor of your class to better fit Middle Earth. Chapter 3 provides feats and equipment that can add to the flavor of your character, while chapters 4 and 5 will provide you with geographical and mythological details which you can use alongside the racial details in Chapter 1 to write your character’s back-story. When building your character, you could use The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings to help inspire you.

Running a Middle Earth Campaign
When running a Middle Earth campaign, chapters 4-7 are useful. Chapter 4 provides details of potential adventuring sites, chapter 5 provides details of the history of the world and chapter 6 provides details of the monsters of Middle Earth. Chapter 7 gives more detailed advice about running a Middle Earth campaign. In addition to The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, The Silmarillion can provide a more in-depth view of the history for campaigns set in older ages, and there are numerous encyclopedias that can help provide detail about a specific character, time, location or creature, which are available both online and in books. These can be invaluable in creating both campaigns and characters, and were invaluable in the writing of this book. You should remember that it is more important to remain true to the spirit of the setting than the letter.

What Else Do You Need?
As with any D&D campaign setting, you will need a copy of the Player’s Handbook (PH), Dungeon Master’s Guide (DMG) and Monster Manual (MM) to make full use of the material in this book. It is also recommended that you have copies of The Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit and The Silmarillion in order to provide additional detail about the setting.