Yes I know, not usually a big 4e fan but I have come around a bit. First I have been trying to build a good middle earth game for some time. Using 3e/Pathfinder just makes for some messy stuff because of healing.
Let me explain though what it is about 4e that has gotten my attention and made me think much to my great surprise that it might be the system to use. I envision middle earth as having very little grand magical displays, magic is more obsure. It can be very strong but for the most part no one is whiping fireballs around regularly. More importantly there are no priests running around, no good ones at least and certainly none healing and removing poisons and deases. Healing is a very very rare and special thing and when you find it if you do, it will more then likely be in the hands of very special individuals so players may not have any regular access to it. That fact alone scared me in 3.5, sure I could do something with temp hit points and damage reduction and I have tried that road, but 4e seems built for what I am aiming at. If I stick to martial powers and classes for the most part I have a total package of classes and even "healers" that my players can choose from and still fit the world with very little alteration on my part. The Warlord, I might simply rename him, fits the roll of party "healer"/leader perfectly without magical healing of any kind needed.
Now this will be my first real attempt to really play a long term 4e game so I might be back weekly once the game gets started with questions and such, for now though I need to build the world and get the plot put together. But still I will be coming here to ask how to do things for a bit and any help will be appricated. I tried it as a player some, but not much and really not long at all. My initial reaction to 4e was very negative but many of my issues will not come into play in a middle earth game, for one magic, my players fully expect they will not be playing wizards, clerics, or any magic caster and they want that, no Miai PCs just makes sense to us all. The whole alignment thing that really turned me off, doesn't really matter, I simply allow all 9 alignments and it will not harm the mechanics of 4e which is all that matters.
First issue I see is races though. I need to have a couple that well no D&D game really has well mapped out. I would think the two elves from 4e will work for my Standard elf and wood elf, which is sweet, no PC Noldor they are by this time (Playing around with TA 1660 or so) very old and each is special and powerful. The dwarf and halfing(hobbit) work very well for me as well. No half-orcs yet so I don't need that. But for more diversity in the races we would like three races of Man, High Men (Dunedain/Numenorians), Westron (Bree men, Easterlings and the like) and Savages (Barbarians from Forochel and the like). Half elves as a race do not exist, at some point they either embrace their elven half and for all intents and purposes are elves or they embrace their human side and are Men.
Any thoughts on how to build the racial makeup of the men? I just want a little flavor differences maybe I toyed with simply taking their bonus feat away and giving say High Men +2 Cha, leaving he bonus feat for Westorn, and then taking it away and giving Savages +2 Con. Just thoughts but I would like to make them all good choices balanced but with slightly different flavor.
Another early question I have is what books should I look into getting? I have the core three and phb II only so far. I love the Fighter, Ranger, Rogue and Warlord for the game, ((And barbarian too)) am not sure but think the bard can work (with some work) as can the warden. I don't really need flavor books unless they directly pertain to Middle Earth. If anyone knows someone who has attempted a middle earth game for 4e that too would be helpful. I do promise when I get done I will post my game somewhere for anyone to use as they like.
Just to note 3E or 4E will support a middle earth setting and/or project. They just have different approaches. With that stated, while dodging the oncoming bullets, your basic concepts appear sound. Humans by nature vary, so I do not think you have to develop special subraces, but may simply assign what classes are favored by each. This would direct them to choose feats, the ability bonus, skills and extra at-will to support their favored class.
Another approach for humans is to develop specific backgrounds, for bonus to skills, extra skills, or other miscellaneous items.
You should get by fine wit the books you have, although I do not know of any middle earth 4E conversions.
I would recommend that you look at Iron Crown Enterprises' version of their Rolemaster line which they released for Middle Earth a number of years back before they lost the license and had to stop printing during a time of financial difficulty. (I believe it was known as Middle Earth Role Playing, or MERP for short, and second hand copies should still be in circulation here and there...)
Even if you're determined to use a 4E engine to run such a game, the ICE books should prove valuable flavour resources, and give you some idea of how a professional gaming company envisioned that a typical Middle Earth adventure might go.
I have all the old MERP and Rolemaster books, but both systems are well...it can be brutal. I want a more streamlined game frankly. But those old books are filled with great fluff.
I have all the old MERP and Rolemaster books, but both systems are well...it can be brutal. I want a more streamlined game frankly. But those old books are filled with great fluff.I would recommend that you look at Iron Crown Enterprises' version of their Rolemaster line which they released for Middle Earth a number of years back before they lost the license and had to stop printing during a time of financial difficulty. (I believe it was known as Middle Earth Role Playing, or MERP for short, and second hand copies should still be in circulation here and there...)
Even if you're determined to use a 4E engine to run such a game, the ICE books should prove valuable flavour resources, and give you some idea of how a professional gaming company envisioned that a typical Middle Earth adventure might go.
Healing is an elven or Wizard thing really so can be approached in a couple of ways.
Wizards could be considered to have Multiclass Cleric Feat Automatically or vice versa( cleric have mage multiclass automatically)
Characters like Aragorn have the warlord inspirational word going on so can inspire men to continue fighting despite their injuries ( sort of healing them).
I figure with the white lights that he was blasting around in Lord of the rings Gandulf could easily be a cleric( radiant damage and healing)
he did use a burning hands type spell against the wargs in 'the hobbit' I think.
Radaghast the Brown could be a druid.
Saruman a pure mage (fires of Isenguard sound like long distant fireballs to me!!!)
For obvious reasons these three were almost gods but mortal mages were around but a shallow version of the three above.
So really it's very possible. I've done a map using Nentil Vale to be below Bree. Some of the races MAY be an issue unless a really good background is created( Dragonborn, Teifling) but Elves and Eladrin would represent the different wood elf and high elf.
Another early question I have is what books should I look into getting? I have the core three and phb II only so far. I love the Fighter, Ranger, Rogue and Warlord for the game, ((And barbarian too)) am not sure but think the bard can work (with some work) as can the warden. I don't really need flavor books unless they directly pertain to Middle Earth. If anyone knows someone who has attempted a middle earth game for 4e that too would be helpful. I do promise when I get done I will post my game somewhere for anyone to use as they like.
Do you have a way of looking at books before you purchase them? Your doing something different enough that I hesitate to actually recommend books because it might not work for you.
Adventurers Vault ha rules for riding things (animals and vehicles) so it might be worth a look. Martial Power seems focused on the kinds of characters your running so it may be worth checking out.
Monster Manual II has more monsters - not sure if you need that or not however. DMGII has lots of good advice for designing and running encounters and could be well worth it for a DM starting a new 4E campaign.
I have all the old MERP and Rolemaster books, but both systems are well...it can be brutal. I want a more streamlined game frankly. But those old books are filled with great fluff.I would recommend that you look at Iron Crown Enterprises' version of their Rolemaster line which they released for Middle Earth a number of years back before they lost the license and had to stop printing during a time of financial difficulty. (I believe it was known as Middle Earth Role Playing, or MERP for short, and second hand copies should still be in circulation here and there...)
Even if you're determined to use a 4E engine to run such a game, the ICE books should prove valuable flavour resources, and give you some idea of how a professional gaming company envisioned that a typical Middle Earth adventure might go.
Healing is an elven or Wizard thing really so can be approached in a couple of ways.
Wizards could be considered to have Multiclass Cleric Feat Automatically or vice versa( cleric have mage multiclass automatically)
Characters like Aragorn have the warlord inspirational word going on so can inspire men to continue fighting despite their injuries ( sort of healing them).
I figure with the white lights that he was blasting around in Lord of the rings Gandulf could easily be a cleric( radiant damage and healing)
he did use a burning hands type spell against the wargs in 'the hobbit' I think.Radaghast the Brown could be a druid.
Saruman a pure mage (fires of Isenguard sound like long distant fireballs to me!!!)
For obvious reasons these three were almost gods but mortal mages were around but a shallow version of the three above.
So really it's very possible. I've done a map using Nentil Vale to be below Bree. Some of the races MAY be an issue unless a really good background is created( Dragonborn, Teifling) but Elves and Eladrin would represent the different wood elf and high elf.
Races would be limited to those which appear and fit the middle earth cosmology. Teifling and Dragonborn are toast, as are half-orcs, half-elves, gnomes, and others. ((Yes Half-orcs exist in the end of the Third age but not in 1660 TA.))
Saruman, Radagast, and Gandulf were all angelic beings called Miai, same as the Balrog actually and Sauron are. Saruman's magic was alchemical, not fireballs so much as well gun powder like substance or explosive greek fire. Now charm and enhancement magic certainly exist.
I don't think any of them even have entered middle earth yet ((Sauron hasn't even re-manifiested himself yet)).
Totally agree healing persay is really a elven thing though some of the Dunedain have some skill in it. Later that knowledge would be all but lost but for now some of it survives.
(( Brief look the current events of Middle earth in 1660 TA))
Bree is an important town but not the only northern town at this point. Arthadain still stansd and has a king in power, though they would be calling themselves the kingdom of Arnor now but Gondor refuses to accept them as such. Gondor has a King as well, but if it accepted the Arthadain king as the king of Arnor then it would have to at least pay lip service to their king as the High King and thus over the king of Gondor which they will not do. Now that aside they are very interested in keeping Arthadain standing and have sent troops and help to keep them up in the face of the Witch King.
The shire exists, but is very new, was formed in 1600 by edict of the current king of Arthadain. And it falls under his command. The great plague just about ended but the populations are wicked low right now because of it. Easterlings and the forces of the Witch King took it espically bad so they are in even worse shape but Arthadain is so weak they can't exploit the situation, let alone really patrol all their own boarders.
Another early question I have is what books should I look into getting? I have the core three and phb II only so far. I love the Fighter, Ranger, Rogue and Warlord for the game, ((And barbarian too)) am not sure but think the bard can work (with some work) as can the warden. I don't really need flavor books unless they directly pertain to Middle Earth. If anyone knows someone who has attempted a middle earth game for 4e that too would be helpful. I do promise when I get done I will post my game somewhere for anyone to use as they like.
Do you have a way of looking at books before you purchase them? Your doing something different enough that I hesitate to actually recommend books because it might not work for you.
Adventurers Vault ha rules for riding things (animals and vehicles) so it might be worth a look. Martial Power seems focused on the kinds of characters your running so it may be worth checking out.
Monster Manual II has more monsters - not sure if you need that or not however. DMGII has lots of good advice for designing and running encounters and could be well worth it for a DM starting a new 4E campaign.
Not really, no gaming stores around me carry 4e but I could find one within say a couple hours for sure (NYC is only an hour or two away from me so ...). I buy most of my stuff online. I was not happy with DMG I, but I have heard I should but been afraid to try DMG II. The martial powers book does seem like a good thought. Should I maybe just sign up for their computer thing for a month and check out whats out there?
Not really, no gaming stores around me carry 4e but I could find one within say a couple hours for sure (NYC is only an hour or two away from me so ...). I buy most of my stuff online. I was not happy with DMG I, but I have heard I should but been afraid to try DMG II. The martial powers book does seem like a good thought. Should I maybe just sign up for their computer thing for a month and check out whats out there?
If you hated the DMG I then you'll probably hate the DMG II. What the DMG II does well is 'bring it all together'. 4E is a new system and even the designers are learning a lot as time goes on. DMG II does a good job of providing advice on skill challenges and alternate frameworks for their use as well as more thought on encounter design etc. But it really shares a lot of the same type of philosophy as DMG I.
Not really, no gaming stores around me carry 4e but I could find one within say a couple hours for sure (NYC is only an hour or two away from me so ...). I buy most of my stuff online. I was not happy with DMG I, but I have heard I should but been afraid to try DMG II. The martial powers book does seem like a good thought. Should I maybe just sign up for their computer thing for a month and check out whats out there?That is not a bad plan at all, to get a sense of what books might be useful, if nothing else.
(Also, with some visual restyling, Deva make for a remarkably good representation of Maiar with not too much work...)
As for your main question, coming up with multiple races for humans - I like the idea of it. Especially with humans being so prominent, having some diversity among them will work well.
One simple option, of course, is to just snag the stats for other races for them - Half-orc stats could easily represent savage men, for example.
For directly adjusting them, though, I think your suggestions are on the right track. Westron men can be the standard 'default' human-kind, and the other simply variations from there. I might even suggest having them borrow elements from other races: Half-elf for Dunedain, Half-orc for Savages, as I think the thematic elements of those races will borrow easily enough.
So, for example:
Westron Men: +2 to any ability score; +1 Fort, Ref, Will; Speed 6; Bonus At-Will Power; Bonus Feat; Bonus Skill; Languages: Common, one of their choice.
High Men: +2 to any ability score, +2 to Cha; +1 Will; Speed 6; Dilletante; +2 Diplomacy, +2 Insight; Languages: Common, Elven, one of their choice.
Savages: +2 to any ability score, +2 to Str; +1 Fort; Speed 7; Furious Assault; +2 Endurance, +2 Intimidate; Languages: Common.
Those races should be pretty close to balanced, while remaining distinct within the setting and filling the role of some of the races missing from the campaign.
Excellent ideas. Strange but true, most Dunedain have no elven blood, only the royal family and those out by Dol Amroth do. I could go with Deva for Maiar but it shouldn't be needed, there would be nearly none to stat out. I guess Tom but for a Balrog I would just use a demon/devil of some type or an elemental. As tempting as it might be for a player to play one we all talked about that and actually Noldor elves and decided against either being playable.
BalrogDoes the MM still have the Balor in 4e?
Yep. Page 53.
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Don't be so quick to toss out half-elves and half-orcs. What if you opened the 4E PHB to Half-Elf, ignored the fluff description and focused on just the mechanics. Then, whenever the word half-elf appeared you read numenorean? I think half-elf mechanics would make a great High Man. The same goes for half-orcs and easterlings or savages. I'd even go so far as to say tiefling mechanics might work ok as easterlings.
The key to 4E is to do exactly what you are proposing to do: re-tool. I would simply do what I've proposed for the races of men, and tweak as needed. If a player doesn't choose to play an easterling, then its a moot point anyway. DM creations do whatever the heck you want them to do, so easterling NPCs are no problem. If a player does choose an easterling (a re-skinned tiefling) and something doesn't sit right with you or the player, discuss it and make the adjustment. You'll be happier for it. My advice to DMs doing some world-building is to PLAY PLAY PLAY. The details will grow as you go. Getting the players involved and letting them have some leeway goes a long way towards a long and healthy campaign.
Mini Market still has a few sale copies of the LotR RPG core book
and a few supplemental books from Decipher. It's a really nice product (I bought a bunch of them myself), and the price is great for a hardcover RPG book. Plus they are having a sale this weekend.
http://www.miniaturemarket.com/lord_of_the_rings1
So really it's very possible. I've done a map using Nentil Vale to be below Bree. Some of the races MAY be an issue unless a really good background is created( Dragonborn, Teifling) but Elves and Eladrin would represent the different wood elf and high elf.
LOTR book from Decipher is not a good system from personal experience, Lovely Book, awesome presentation and artwork but I bought the book, suppliments and it now sits festering. The system was too clunky and took way too long to run a basic encounter. The Old MERP stuff ran better but I'd run it now in 4E.
Yeah, the central town I was using was Fallcrest renamed to Tharbad and pushed the eastern mountain range on the map to become the Misty Mountains.
In have a more recent RPG for Lord Of The Rings which defines mortal mages (not Istari like Gandalf etc) as people trained by the great mages to aid the world.
I figure characters like Saruman, Radaghast and Gandalf to be Epic level mages who can use Rituals as Standard actions or similar.
Holy magic is old magic of Arnor and the elves so taking a Cleric and calling him a Wizard would work.( I sort of figure Elrond to be a Cleric character).
In keeping a paladin could be a Dunadain warrior trained in the knowledge handed down by the Valar or an Elf knowledgeable in calling the light of the Valar.
Warlocks could easily be another fey connected people (Tom Bombadil style), Wizards (star pact) or Morgoth(infernal).
Druids could be Wizards from Radaghasts line of training in Wizardry.
Lots of options.
Thing is with Middle Earth it's become a bit known as a magic low setting but look at the Hobbit....the dwarves leave bagend and getting to the Troll Shaws they meet 3 trolls with a magic talking purse, find a cache of magic weapons.
Going through the mountains there are Storm giants playing catch in the mountain and they end up in the orc tunnels where bilbo find 'the ring'.
They get out of the orc areas to be attacked by Wargs, saved by giant eagles then dropped off to near a shapechanger (Beorn), enter the Mirkwood where they see rather magic and mischievous elves and fight giant spiders before being captured by the elves.
And as for the final chapter with Smaug and the battle of the five armies.
In short a very rich tapastry of creatures to fight, magical treasure to be had.
I have all the old MERP and Rolemaster books, but both systems are well...it can be brutal. I want a more streamlined game frankly. But those old books are filled with great fluff.
I have done a map of the area for Tharbad by adjusting the Nentir Vale from the 4E DMG. If anyone interested I can send it to them.
I have done a map of the area for Tharbad by adjusting the Nentir Vale from the 4E DMG. If anyone interested I can send it to them.
I have all the old MERP and Rolemaster books, but both systems are well...it can be brutal. I want a more streamlined game frankly. But those old books are filled with great fluff.
Well in 1660 tharbad is like the place to be, things are on a razors edge with various powers struggling to maintain order and maybe even rebuild but the end is near enough that people can sense it coming.
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Nice idea. Nothing tangible to add (that hasn't already), but now you have made me think of it 4e would make an excellent system for Middle Earth, and re-naming some of the races in the PHB/PHB2 seems a quick way to get those other races. By savages do you mean Eastlings/Variags or Hillman type people? If so does it matter as most won't be PC I would have thought?
Keep us posted please,
S.
Nice idea. Nothing tangible to add (that hasn't already), but now you have made me think of it 4e would make an excellent system for Middle Earth, and re-naming some of the races in the PHB/PHB2 seems a quick way to get those other races. By savages do you mean Eastlings/Variags or Hillman type people? If so does it matter as most won't be PC I would have thought?
Keep us posted please,
S.
All goes well with the maps and the plot line so far. Think I might actually start them in the shire, well what will be the shire. In 1600 TA the King of Arthedain granted the land that would become the shire to the Hobbits. So 60 years in they are still building towns, villages, and farms and clearing land. They will also need some help I figure, a classic enemy of hobbits is wolves, and that also makes an excellent low level enemy. The Hobbits also fall under the protection of the King still so any PC that isn't from the Shire or near there about could be sent by the King as his "help" (after all he has little time and very few resources to send to help hobbits at this time). Wolves, goblins, maybe spiders will be their early enemies I figure. When they hit mid level I am thinking since they are near the barrows well undead could become their next foes. Finally when they are level 11+ Tharbad and the king once again needing to send support but having little resources he could send the PCs to Tharbad to be his envoys and they could help maintain order and fight back the continued advances of the Witch King.
That is just the basics so far, but I think with some devious Noble looking to drive the hobbits off land he wants (using wolves and or goblins as his unwitting tools) maybe a Dark Numinorian Warlock being resonsble for the undead in the Barrows, who flees to the Tharbad area with PCs in hot pusuit and all. Who knows. Half-Orc for Savage men works well, I am altering them a little (+2 con instead of silly +2 dex as all my Half-Orcs in any world would have anyway) and a few other things. Half-Elf for Dunedain...still not sold but with some work maybe. The Paladin class is a go, but we are calling him the Cavalier and changing his power source to martial. The Bard will work as will the Warlord (renamed Knight) and those two will be our only leader classes, but they are enough. Is there a martial controller? We will as of now lack one and it might be nice to have one as an option. Oh we are renaming the Ranger as the Military Scout (Ranger is a member of a specific organization (well two both the North and South have Ranger Cores) not a class).
Is there a martial controller?
No martial controller,
Nice idea. Nothing tangible to add (that hasn't already), but now you have made me think of it 4e would make an excellent system for Middle Earth, and re-naming some of the races in the PHB/PHB2 seems a quick way to get those other races. By savages do you mean Eastlings/Variags or Hillman type people? If so does it matter as most won't be PC I would have thought?
Keep us posted please,
S.
Easterlings are not really barbaric, they are bad guys. True savages would be those from Forochel and maybe some Hillmen tribes(though not all).
Even in Forochel while they are barbaric they are not really like the norse. They are more peaceful then that. In the end the last King of Arthadain actually has their help in trying to flee...it doesn't end well for him but still they are relatively friendly enough at this time.
Is there a martial controller?No martial controller,
Bummer. Reading the Druid, Invoker (I think that is the name of the divine controller) and Wizard they seem really hard to make less flashy....ok well they can live without one I guess.
Looking at the Cleric carefully he seems very different in how he leads then the Warlord or Bard. Much more about healing it would seem. I might call him the Druid and add him in, his healing would be based on potions and herbs but could work I think.
If you want healing based on potions then I would recommend the artificer leader class from Ebberon Player's Handbook. As to the druid that may be a good stand in for one of the magical animal races, like horses, eagles, or if they have others like wolfs, etc.
In the PHB3, one of the upcoming classes is the Seeker - a Primal Controller that uses a bow. I suspect that it would be a good choice to reflavor as martial - there is a preview of one of the builds available through DDI, and while many effects involve channeling the forces of nature, many others could be reflavored without any great difficulty.Bummer. Reading the Druid, Invoker (I think that is the name of the divine controller) and Wizard they seem really hard to make less flashy....ok well they can live without one I guess.Is there a martial controller?No martial controller,
Interesting, isn't the druid the primal controller? I suppose they can create many classes within each power source that do the same jobs, ie rogue and ranger. Still if they plan to do this with an archer type...seems that should have been the ranger. For my game the ranger class not being magical works best, but over all I prefer the class be as connected or more to the primal power source then the barbarian. Anyway lacking a controller I suppose wont be the end of the world, mostly the players are talking about making a Warlord, Fighter, Rogue, or Rangers...could end up with an all Fighter and Rogue group actually but that's really their call, I will just make the game work with whatever they choose.
But yeah, in the end, a group can get by with no Controllers. Any combination can...
More then anything that is why I think 4e will work best for my Middle Earth game. The fact you don't need any healer/leader or controller or heck anything other then 4 PCs playing whatever class they want really makes it fit. Who wants to be constricted to needing the classic 4, when 4 rogues can work or 2 fighters, one ranger and a warlord can do fine too, let the players simply play what they like. As a DM certainly I will take note of missing classes/roles and try and tailor encounters to challenge but not wipe out the party. Maybe with no healer/leader (hate to say it but I dislike leader term, it implies they are the party boss, I perfer sustainer or buffer over leader, but that is just sementics) I need to make sure they have more down time between encounters or make sure a few extra healing herbs (Athelas, but note you need the right blood line to get it to work for much, it aint called Kingsfoil for nothing you know.) show up, but I think it can be done.
Anyway I am at the point where I am mapping the early shire and naming/fleshing out some important NPCs. I have decided to start with the shire in part because that it what Tolken did. It is my nod to him and it helps bring the Middle Earth flavor into the game from the very start.
Ok so I have a starting point but have yet to get the players all on board for this being in 4e, really meeting resistance to 4e over 3.5 or 1e. But I mapped out and created a good starting story line. I am really aiming for 4e because frankly it works better for this game, it just does. Both other editions require magic or a lot of reworking (I am trying to make a 3.5 warlord (no the marshal they have doesn't work) that buffs by giving out DR and temp hit points, but the 4e one just works as is so I would prefer that.
Anyway that is an aside, honestly the game is made more by the adventure then the edition I suppose. A concept that I really never took a look at until recently. I was pretty anti-4e for a long time because well it doesn't feel like D&D to me, but I guess I got that wrong. D&D isn't about the system used to resolve conflict, it's about the settings and story shared at the gaming table. For me at least, D&D means the same as RPG, it is more a generic term less a specific one. If I tell you I am playing D&D I am more or less saying I am playing a fantasy game. I've done hero system fantasy, rollmaster, gerps, merps, and just a slew of others. They for me were all D&D, good fun with friends around a table rolling dice and experincing a shared story. 4e is no different, if it works to resolve conflict and fits the theme then it is a fine system. I think for my middle earth game it is the best available.
Ok now on with the story. The King is interested in why the shire isn't coming along better. It's been 60 years and while the hobbits have built one settlement (Michel Delving on the White Downs) and a handful of farms they have not done much else. The Kings troups are still needed to patrol the roads through the shire (part of the grant was the hobbits would protect the kings men and messengers in the shire) and they are producing very little extra food stuffs (which he despartly needs since his northern areas are all but depopulated right now so no farmers there to help supply his nation with food). So the King is hiring a small group to go and lend a hand to the hobbits.
The PCs will arrive and find the Town mayor Tobby Oldbuck (the Oldbucks will later change their names to the Brandybucks when they move to buckland, but at this time are still called Oldbucks). Tobby has an issue, farmers are afraid to stay at their farms at night, seems wolves can be heard throughout the land and it has the little hobbits all scared. He has been out with his hobbits in arms but they can't seem to find the wolves. He also mentions that part of why his people have moved here was to get away from vicious wolves and well this recent rash of wolves is enough to get his people to pick up and move again. He needs the PCs help.
The basic set up is a pack of wolves has been lead here by a warg (in middle earth wargs are very intelligent) after his favorite meal, hobbits. But more then that he is just a scout for a larger force which iclude goblins, seems the hobbits might have found something in mirkwood before they left and someone is after it.
The PCs will track the wolves, maybe fight a few encounters, then find the tracks of the warg and track him to his lair were they engage in a battle with the pack. After the heroic fight they will discover some interesting prints, looks like those of a small man (goblin). A little mystery as they try and figure out if there is a traitor amoung the hobbits, which maybe there will be I have not decided. Anyway that's my first adventure in a nut shell.
Ok so I have a starting point but have yet to get the players all on board for this being in 4e, really meeting resistance to 4e over 3.5 or 1e.
I was pretty anti-4e for a long time because well it doesn't feel like D&D to me, but I guess I got that wrong. D&D isn't about the system used to resolve conflict, it's about the settings and story shared at the gaming table. For me at least, D&D means the same as RPG, it is more a generic term less a specific one. ...
It sounds like a fantastic setting, I like the backdrop to the campaign.
I know the first issue you specified(shown above), I have one group who've taken to 4th Ed with no problems and are really enjoying it despite them all being D&D long time players of 2nd,3rd and 3.5 but other guys I know are still very resiliant to it.
The second point I shared myself for some time. I was very anti 4E until I finally stopped complaining about it 'not being D&D' then actually read the character creation and started to see the potential, read more of the character generation and got more exited. As I read the DMG(something I never did with 3rd ed) I saw even more potential. Finally I decided that I really wanted to run the game and see it in action and never been disappointed.
Don't get me wrong it's not perfect there are some issues( too many HP's on critters etc) but easily experimented with and resolved. None of which 'breaks' the system.
The powers have description's which are the designers 'take' on the powers applications but it's for the players to make the powers their own and describe them in their own style.
Ultimately it's about roleplaying the character and setting a story in motion. My players have gone in a direction that I never imagined but am very happy with it.
From there its just roleplaying the powers and the character. The Skill system is presented well in the DMG but the DMG2 really rock for my mind. Some fantastic idea's for characters, Skill setting, Divine Boons and many, many other tools for the DM. I have not regretted buying it and would recommend it for most games.