Tag Archives: thematic play snapshot
Quest Profile 001: Passage Through Mirkwood
In this new series on Master of Lore, we will profile individual scenarios, with an eye towards the geography and inspiration from Tolkien’s text. First up is the first quest of the game — “Passage Through Mirkwood”!
Celebrimbor’s Secret
Last November, the most anticipated adventure pack of The Ring-maker cycle hit the game with meta-changing might, introducing the last major character from the novels yet to receive hero treatment — the Lady Galadriel. I can barely think of the scenario without hearing Cardboard of the Rings host Brandon’s conspiratorial whisper. “Celebrimbor’s Secret!” But what […]
Thematic Playthrough #5: Wielders of the Three
Of the Three Rings that the Elves had preserved unsullied no open word was ever spoken among the Wise, and few even of the Eldar knew where they were bestowed. Yet after the fall of Sauron their power was ever at work, and where they abode there mirth also dwelt and all things were unstained […]
Gondorian Fire
Gondorian Fire is a card that captures a feeling of raw, massive, elemental power. Framed in the red border of the aggressive Tactics sphere, Michael Rasmussen’s artwork portrays a lone archer standing poised at a battlement beside a flaming cauldron. There is a single fiery arrow nocked in his bow. Sailing up the river behind […]
Theme Deck: The Three Trials
However it may prove, one must tread the path that need chooses! — Gandalf, The Fellowship of the Ring With The Three Trials, Fantasy Flight has taken their development of Middle-earth’s lore to a new level, fleshing out the culture and history of the Dunlendings with Tolkien-esque details to create a rich and immersive play […]
Theme Deck: Heroes of Wilderland
As I mentioned in our most recent episode of The Grey Company podcast, I’ve picked up the core rule book for The One Ring Roleplaying Game. Being one of the only tabletop RPGs set in Middle-earth (and, by all accounts, the most accurate), it had been on my radar for years. I finally possess the […]
Narvi’s Belt
Elves and Dwarves. They are the Hatfields and McCoys of Middle-earth. Their grudge match runs deeper than the Yankees versus the Red Sox, features more characters than DC versus Marvel, and has more products in dispute than Apple versus Samsung. Their selective recollection of history brings to mind Israel and Palestine while their rivalry has […]
Nazgûl of Dol Guldur
The Dark Lord, Sauron, has many servants and slaves. Orcs, trolls, beasts, Men, and evil spirits all subject themselves to his horrible will and wreak evil all across the lands of Middle-earth: North, South, East, and West. None, however, are more feared and terrible than the Nazgûl, the Ring-wraiths. Men they once were, kings of old […]
Dori
Amidst a rhyming mass of Dwarves, he is one of the few members of Thorin’s Company for which Tolkien actually wrote a distinguishable role in The Hobbit. Even so, he’s been given much less attention by both FFG and Peter Jackson than many other Dwarves with smaller parts. He is one of only three Dwarves […]
Hirluin the Fair
When Fantasy Flight Games released the Heirs of Númenor deluxe expansion and promised the Against the Shadow cycle would focus on the kingdom of Gondor, the anticipation of many fans began peaking for a hero card of Faramir, a powerful Denethor ally, and a manly Gondorian synergy that could rival the Dáin-driven Dwarves. Therefore, when […]
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