From Little Delving to Nobottle to Long Cleeve

An installment of my hexmap for Middle-earth project. Follow the "Middle-earth Hexmap" tag for all entries in this series.

North of Michel Delving, a road runs to Little Delving, continues on to Nobottle, and then arcs up to Long Cleeve in the Northfarthing. These hexes contain the first site-based adventure of our Middle-earth Hexmap experiment. Here, the problems of the populous are still pedestrian, but you'll soon start to see how queer things can get on the borders of the wild.

Map credit: Idraluna Archive. Click for the full map.

46.53

LITTLE DELVING. A Hobbit town with many holes bored into the hillside. It is more traditional and sleepier than the "metropolitan" Michel Delving (48.54). A round watch tower stands at the heights of the town, looking down into the White Downs. The Three Roses Inn caters to hiking enthusiasts from Michel Delving. The inn's patrons complain of gorecrows roosting to the north (45.53).

✦ - OFTEN HERE: 1. Lobelia Hornblower (hobbit - doe-eyed, outspoken, amateur lepidopterist) is interested in all sorts of wildlife and has explored the region more than almost anybody, 2. Debin Diggle (hobbit - pockmarked, shy, stonemason) is looking for tips to improve his golf game, 3. Posie Pasturedale (hobbit - homely, chatterbox, servant) says that Farmer Hornblower has a cat named Her Ladyship that attacks only those hobbits that indulge in infidelity, 4. Adelia Waymoot (hobbit - round-faced, dopey, messenger) runs mail between Little and Michel Delving, and is often found at the Three Roses Inn having one (or more) for the road.

! - LITERARY BURGLARY: Mrs. Plenty Fairbanks (hobbit - always carrying two tiny dogs in her sleeves, pretentious, goodwife) is always trying to play matchmaker for the young hobbits of the town, but has never learned her letters—which she keeps as a grave secret. Her request is this: Break into her neighbor, Mrs. Heather Hornblower's, hole. Find the RSVP responses for her upcoming party. Comb through them to see who shall be in attendance, and report back if either the mayor, Pitt Proudfoot (48.54), or thain, Peregrin Took (48.57), is in attendance. Absolute secrecy is a must.

46.54

NEEDLEHOLE. A rural Hobbit village. The Water flows from Needlehole into the Rushock Bog (46.55). The few families that live in Needlehole make their living as hunters, trappers, and fishers; they're some of the rare folk who venture regularly into Rushock Bog or Bindbole Wood (46.56).

! - BOG-WOOD: Adalgrim Goodbody (hobbit - uses an earhorn, unmannered, pipe-carver) needs petrified bog-wood from the Rushock Bog (46.55) for his pipes. Uses special dwarven-bought tools to carve it. Willing to pay the usual fee or carve a custom pipe as payment.
[Inspiration from TOR2E - Starter Set - Shire]

NOBOTTLE. A rural Hobbit village, famous for its lack of inns. The Banks family who have lived in Nobottle since its founding are one of the few families of Hobbit tea-totalers. Their influence ensures that Nobottle keeps a somber, sober tone. Folk complain of gorecrows roosting to the west (45.53).

! - SCARECROW: Rosamund Banks (hobbit - mole with hair on her chin, severe, goodwoman), the matriarch of the Banks clan, has had it up to "here" with the gorecrows. She demands the construction of a giant scarecrow to keep the gorecrows away. Needs (1) Man-sized clothes (shirt, pants, and hat) to construct the scarecrow, (2) shiny objects to hang from the scarecrow, and (3) at least six gorecrows worth of feathers to stuff the scarecrow with.

! - SCANDALOUS PARTY PREPARATION: Buying beer isn't illegal (by any means) in Nobottle, just difficult and discouraged, with no regular traders bringing any from outside town. Halfred Bunce (hobbit - mustached, even tempered, fisherman) is trying to get together enough stock to throw a coming-of-age birthday party for his son, Norbit. He'd like bottles from Hammidge Estates (50.53), Old Winyards (48.55), and Apple-bright Meadery (46.59).

45.53

WINDMILLS. Windmills dot the landscape of these fields. One is broken and abandoned, infested with gorecrows.

! - GORECROWS: Exploring the broken windmill triggers a site-based adventure.

1. Approach: The road is overgrown. A broken lantern hangs from a pole at the turn towards the windmill, its tattered sails flapping in the breeze. 1d4 gorecrows attack any characters who pass the lantern pole.
   1. Observing the windmill shows there are two entrances: one on the ground floor (2), and one on the walkway used for servicing the sails (4).
2. Entrance: Circular room, with the central shaft of the mill dominating. The meal chute and meal troughs are broken, the barrels in disarray, and any corn once here long eaten. A rickety ladder is set against a hatch to an upper story about 12' up. The croaking of gorecrows can be heard in the upper levels.
   1. Ladder: Using the ladder breaks it when first used (obvious if observed). The character using it can catch the ledge and pull themselves up or drop back to ground level.
3. Mill: The second story houses the mill itself, the grindstone turned by the shaft of the mechanism. The third story has collapsed; the wreck is piled here. Gorecrow droppings and greasy black feathers are everywhere; they can be heard clearly above. A round door provides an exit to the exterior.
   1. Wreck: Searching the wreck reveals a single silver coin, dropped from above. Characters can intuit the gorecrows have some sort of hoard in their nest in the roofing.
4. Walkway: The exterior walkway on the second story is used for servicing the sails. They can be climbed from this vantage.
5. Sails: Climbing on the sails requires Strength Δ4. As soon as 50% of the characters begin the ascent, 1d4+2 goregrows attack. Suffering damage while climbing requires another Strength Δ4 check; on a failure, fall and suffer 2d6 damage.
6. Nest: At the top of the windmill is the gorecrow's nest: a bristling expanse of sticks and wreckage. Inside the nest is a hoard of stolen goods from Little Delving and Nobottle:
   1. Hoard: a pearl necklace, a lady's lace fan, 14 monogrammed handkerchiefs, a single diamond cufflink, a locket with a cameo, a walking stick with a mother-of-pearl handle, a porcelain pipe carved like a grandfather's face, a bronze trophy for 2nd place in lawn bowling, a silvered letter opener, a brass candlestick, a child's stuffed rabbit, a wig (ruined), a dog collar with an engraved silver nametag ("Tricky Woo"), 164 pence, 46 silver pieces.

44.53

ROAD. The road from Nobottle to Long Cleeve runs along the Water.

(1) - SIGNATURES: Members of the Matronly Order of Good Members are stationed on the road south of Long Cleeve soliciting signatures for a farthing-wide ban on dancing of the "Springle-ring" (a pretty dance, but rather vigorous). Naysayers have their names and descriptions taken down in a big book by Lobelia Sackville-Baggins of Sackville (52.56).
(3) - GULLION: At night, the Gullion (45.52) skulks along the road. It will attack those it encounters, trying to carry off one adventurer to its lair.
(6) - CHALLENGE: Salvia North-took (hobbit - chipped tooth, brave, farmer's daughter) guards one of the footbridges to Long Cleeve. She challenges tough-looking sorts to a staving competition: Valour Δ6 or be knocked into the water. She gives hobbits who win a kiss!

43.53

LONG CLEEVE. A Hobbit town, carved into a high hillside, looking down into a valley cut by the Norbury river. Downright mountainous by Shire standards, with an Alpine flair: lederhosen, obstinate cliff goats, and an even longer model of smoking pipe. Long Cleeve's public house is called The Dig. The Hill Dog's Croquet Club has their headquarters here.

✦ - OFTEN HERE: 1. Gerontimus Gammich (hobbit - ear hair, eccentric, clockmaker) is proudly displaying their latest mechanical clock, which has a funny story of an amorous hobbit lad chasing a goatherd lass that plays each hour, 2. Samwise Mugwort (hobbit - plump and red-cheeked, optimistic, green grocer) has a black eye from the latest all-out brawl during the past weekend's croquet game, 3. Ruby Goodenough (hobbit - beauty mark, sanguine, weaver) waxes lyrical with old wives' wisdom about the amount of snow that will fall this year, 4. Azamanthus "Manny" Underhill (hobbit - always dirty, circumspect, miner) swears that he's heard wolves howling in the foothills of the Twilight Hills.

REEVE OF YONDERSHIRE: The North-tooks are the chief family in the region; the head of that clan is Blanco North-took, the Reeve of Yondershire (hobbit - dashing, pragmatic, shirriff). Speaks warmly of a statue built in honor of his ancestor at the site of the Battle of Greenfields (43.58).

! - MISSING SHEEP: Several farmers have complained of missing sheep or goats; so many that it seems that some foul play must be at the bottom of it. Shirriff North-took will hire burglars to investigate: he has a notion that something uncanny or queer is at work.

The truth is that the Gullion, a monster from Hobbit folktales, is to blame. See that creature's entry in 45.52 for more details. Discovering the true culprit will not be easy. Those with Wilds Lore can track its footprints back to its lair. Those with Beast Lore can tell that no natural animal left any sign in the pastures. It is not unlikely that, while exploring the Northmoors, the fellowship might encounter Ed and Ned (44.52), though they're not the true culprits.

Five Hexes Around Michel Delving

An installment of my hexmap for Middle-earth project. Follow the "Middle-earth Hexmap" tag for all entries in this series.

Michel Delving, as the chief settlement in the Shire, deserved an especially large entry--outside the bounds of what I'd normally like to dedicate to a hex. But I suspect that you can run an entire campaign built off of the plot threads in this city!

Map credit: Idraluna Archive. Click for the full map.

48.54

MICHEL DELVING. The chief settlement of the Shire and the Hobbit's "capital." The Town Hole, where the mayor resides, the museum known as the Mathom-house, and the storage tunnels known as Lockholes can all be found in Michel Delving. There are several taverns and public houses to be found in the city, but the best is the Bird & Baby Tavern. In the center of the town are statues of Marcho and Blanco, the founders of the Shire. Outside of town, there is a golf course.

✦ - OFTEN HERE: 1. Rosie Heather (hobbit - cleft chin and buckteeth, free-spirited, shopkeeper's daughter) is good at hustling chess games for free drinks at the Bird & Baby, 2. Penny Cotton (hobbit - pleasantly plump, proper, tea seller) is always on the look-out for interesting people to come to her famous tea parties, 3. Neville Periwold (hobbit - wet-eyed, offensive, under-jailer) laments that the Lockholes haven't been used to lock anyone up in a generation, 4. Miles Sittish (hobbit - dandy, charming, haberdasher) offers to patch or mend any travel-worn outfits the fellowship is wearing, 5. Peck Whitfoot (hobbit - freckled, good natured, smith) wishes he had more time for artistic pieces, but mostly spends his time hammering out horseshoes, 6. Three dwarves—Erik (dwarf - tall, hasty, butcher), Baleog (dwarf - fierce, grumpy, baker), and Olaf (dwarf - stout, cheerful, chandler)—plying their wares.

! - FLOWERS for HEARTBREAK: Miss Tilly Whitfoot (hobbit - pretty, practical, debutante) needs to end her engagement with Master Jon "Stony" Gorges. To this end, she is looking for someone to assemble and send the perfect flower arrangement. Hobbit gentry use coded meanings for each flower: white rose means "I cannot," pink roses mean "yes," and so on. The actual text of the flower message is up to the sender, but it must be clear that it breaks their engagement, must be firm, and must be kind.

Fellowships without Hobbit Lore can inquire at the Mathom-house to find the appropriate array of flowers. Once the correct bouquet is selected, they must be picked in the wild. Then, they must be hand delivered to the hole of the Gorges family.

TOWN HOLE - MAYOR PITT PROUDFOOT: The current mayor, Pitt Proudfoot (hobbit - ostentatious, puttering, lawyer/mayor) is the only real official in the Shire. The mayor's role is mostly ceremonial, presiding at marriages and settling informal business disputes. In addition, the mayor is the nominal head of the Shire-post and Messenger Service and serves as the First Shirrif. The mayor also operates as a lawyer in his spare time.

! - CHEESE SYNDICATE: Mayor Proudfoot has been trying to get to the bottom of the city's cheese shortage. The dairy farmers claim to have had good years with better-than-normal yields, but the grocers report empty shelves. He's looking for a worthy person with a good brain to investigate. Requires at least one hobbit character to be deputized.

In truth, the Cheesemongers Guild has a scheme to fix prices in Michel Delving. They've hidden the cheese shipments from farms outside the city in the Lockholes, getting access by way of a junior under-jailer (named Neville Periwold) until the grocers agree to pay their outrageous fees. They use bullying and intimidation to keep the matter hushed up. The head of the guild is Mrs. Goldilocks Curdletoe (hobbit - mean smile and gold tooth, conniving, businesswoman).

(It's worth noting that hobbits have very few actual laws, but this sort of bullying is universally understood as practically criminal behavior.)

If the adventure has a satisfactory outcome, Mayor Proudfoot will give hobbit characters an indefinite honorary deputyship.

! - MISSING MESSENGER: A messenger for the Quick Post, Mrs. Adelia Waymoot, didn't return from her rounds last night. Her normal route is between Michel Delving and Little Delving (46.53) every other day.

Those with Wilds Lore who follow the road between the two towns can see a place where feet left the track, seemed to lay down against a tree, and then rejoined the road. Tufts of red fur are found nearby.

Messenger Waymoot can be found in the Three Rose Pub in Little Delving (46.53), practically hiding in a cup of beer. She admits that she took a nap on her route and woke to find her satchel of letters being pulled away by a clever fox (Under Hill, By Water, p. 86). She tried to recover it, but gave up when it began to get dark.

The fox has hidden the satchel in the bowl of a tree. Every day that goes by before solving the mystery loses 1% of the satchel's contents to the weather.

MATHOM-HOUSE: A point of interest. The Mathom-house, a Hobbitish museum, displays antiques and trinkets for which Hobbits have no particular use. It is also the chapter house of the Mathom-house Curators, who keep small collections throughout the Shire. A couple, Malva and Bingo Slowfoot (hobbits - old, crotchety, curators) tend to the hoard. Here, you can see antiques such as a pair of sparkling diamond studs once belonging to Gerontius Took, a wheeled contraption called a 'velocipede' constructed by Thattle Sandyman, and the first tobacco pipe used by Tobold Hornblower himself, in addition to genealogical records, cook books, and maps.

While in Michel Delving, you can ask questions about Hobbit Lore for 1 silver. You can use the Mathom-house to conduct the Research downtime action.
[Credit: TOR2E - Starter Set - Shire]

! - TRANSLATION TROUBLE: The Mathom-house has acquired a parchment, allegedly a record of the deed to the Shire and the election of the first thain, Bucca of the Marish. The Sindarin written in the mode of the kings of Arthedain is difficult for the lore-masters of the Mathom-house Curators to translate (the ambiguity of the genitive ending for the first and second declensions). The Curators are hiring someone who can do first-hand research to resolve the dispute.

A lore-master with both Ranger Lore and Elvish Lore could translate the relic directly. If no member has this combination, they must travel outside the Shire to seek these specialists. The stone found by Farmer Maggot (50.60) could also be used to settle this argument.

FREE FAIR. During the three intercalary days of Lithe (midyear's day), the Free Fair is held outside of Michel Delving. It is so named because booths may be erected without paying a fee. The wizard Gandalf the Gray regularly attends these fairs and puts on a fireworks display. Every seven years, the Free Fair is also used to elect the next mayor; the next election is next year.

47.53

WHITE DOWNS. Hills turfed with grass, with limestone and white chalk showing bare at the tops.

THE BIG MAN. A point of interest. A chalk hill figure said to resemble a tall warrior of the Big Folk. Drawn long ago, currently maintained by Burgo Bracegirdle (hobbit - freckled, friendly, farmer).

47.54

WHITE DOWNS. The road between Michel Delving and Little Delving runs through chalk hills turfed with grass, with limestone and white chalk showing bare at the tops. Small farms lie in the combes of the downs, raising mostly ponies and sheep (the region is agriculturally poor).

KNOCK HILL. A point of interest. Not technically the highest point in the Shire, but the one that commands the best view; can see all four farthings.

48.55

OLD WINYARDS WINERY. Farmlands, rich with grapes. The Shire's oldest winery, Old Winyards, is the chief landmark in the region. Owned by Old Tallyman Mazer (hobbit - beesting nosed, exacting, wine-maker), who's quite advanced in years but has no successor to the business. (Except his eldest daughter, Lavender ((hobbit - ginger, capable, farmer's daughter)), who has helped capably at the farm for all of her 33 years. But Old Tallyman doesn't consider hobbit maids to be worthy successors to such an esteemed institution.)

Bottles of the wine make excellent gifts: last year's bottles (3 pennies), 2935 vintage (7 pennies), 2930 vintage (1 silver).

! - LETTER OF SHOP TALK: Old Tallyman regularly corresponds to other brewers and vintners in the region, but the Post doesn't carry letters out of the Shire. Willing to trade a case of his 2934 vintage for delivery of a letter to Mr. Thad Butterbur, The Prancing Pony, Bree (47.66).

49.54

ROAD. The road runs between Michel Delving and Hardbottle. Outlying farms, staple crops, and tobacco fields lie on either side of the road.

(1-3) - OLD GUS: An ornery goat blocks the path ahead. If the fellowship approaches, it lowers its head and charges. Stats as bear. (Won't fight to the death.)
(5-6) - HOBBIT-IN-A-HANDSOME: A passing hobbit in a pony-drawn cab warns you about Old Gus, a mean goat that patrols this stretch of road.

48.53

ROAD. The East Road stretches between Michel Delving and Greenholm. The White Downs rise to the north and tidy farmlands stretch out to the south.

(1) - BEES!: Hobbit children off the side of the road, playing at throwing stones as the fellowship passes. All who pay attention to the game test Understanding Δ4. Those who succeed see them throwing at a bee hive. If not stopped, the furious bees chase the fellowship. Those without a clever plan to avoid the bees must test Strength Δ8 to avoid 1d6 damage.
(6) - TRAVELING TINKER: A dwarf's traveling wagon is stationed by the side of the road. Vestri (dwarf - forked red beard, amiable, smith) is selling a small collection of metal tools, weapons, and cookware. Will sharpen any edge for a penny (+1 to hit for the next 2 weeks).

A Hexmap for Middle-earth

I reread The Lord of the Rings most years, and have done so since I was 12. As I was reading it this year, I was thinking about the physicality of journeys and exploration embodied by the books, even in the early chapters. It is a book about journeys: walking through your home country, taking shortcuts, getting water from a stream, repacking your bags for weight distribution, avoiding roads, finding river crossings, and so on. As ever, I was wondering how to reflect this experience at the gaming table. 

I found that Idraluna Archives had done the yeoman's work of putting together a hexmap for Middle-earth. And I began thinking...

Click here to check out the post and download the high-res map

As a daily writing exercise in the vein of Dungeon23, I've committed to keying one hex on this map per day. 

There are thousands of hexes on this map. I'm only going to do this as long as the daily-writing exercise is interesting to me. Perhaps only as long as it takes me to complete this year's reread. 

I am going to focus my attention on clearing out regions: all of the Shire, all of the Trollshaws, all of Erebor, etc. We'll see how far I get! I'll post my progress here, sporadically. 

Notes

The year I am focused on is T.A. 2940--the year before Bilbo Baggins went on his great adventure. The main threat in the world is the Necromancer, lurking in his fortress of Dol Guldur in Mirkwood. 

12-mile hexes can sometimes compress a lot of information near civilization: for example, villages in the Shire tend to get clumped up into the same hexes. But, as you can see, there's also vast tracts of emptiness on the map where one will have to be creative to keep these keys interesting. 

In addition to the map, I'm going to be relying heavily on Karen Wynn Fonstad's Atlas of Middle-earth.

This is an opportunity for me to use the vast wealth of licensed Tolkien game material that I own, but adapted and rewritten for my sensibilities. When I lean on one of these sources, I will cite it. '

In addition to the hex keys themselves, I am assuming a game would use the machinery of hexcrawling rules: random encounters, rumor tables, weather, etc.

Stats are written for a Lord of the Rings game that does not exist. The assumption is that player characters are burglars who can be hired to take on adventuring or treasure-finding opportunities, professionally.

How to read the entries

HEX #

SITE NAME IN CAPITALS. The site name is mostly to help the GM remember the contents of the hex. The site description is given in Roman font. The type of terrain, which is needed for random sites or wandering encounters, is listed on the map. Particularly interesting sites where quests, rumors, random encounters, and interesting NPCs can be found are given in bold. Hidden features are given in italics. 

HIDDEN SITE. Hidden features of the hex are presented in italics. These can only be found during certain times or by exploring the main feature of the hex.

! - QUEST NAME: Details a potential job for a burglar, if the players go sniffing around for work. 

✦ - OFTEN HERE: If the region is inhabited, a quick list of NPC names and descriptions for the GM to easily pull from. The number of NPCs is reflective of the size of the settlement, ranging between four and twelve. 

(d6): A special encounter could be here. Roll a d6. If the face equals the number shown, this event is currently occurring when the fellowship arrives, if it possibly makes sense.

Six hexes around Hobbiton

Official and unofficial support for this region:

• The One Ring: Starter Set - Shire, Free League Publishing
• Middle Earth Role-playing: Realms - The Shire, ICE
• Pipedream, Role Over Play Dead
• Under Hill, By Water, Josh McCrowell

Note: If you ever need to build out one of the many Hobbit villages mentioned in these hexes with more substance, use the procedure provided on pp. 23-33 of Under Hill, By Water. 

47.56

HOBBITON. A prosperous Hobbit village, comfortably situated under the Hill, where the windows of grand, old smials look out onto the Water and the East Road. The Water churns the wheel of the Old Mill. Near the Hill is the Party Field, where local festivals are often celebrated. 

✦ - OFTEN HERE: 1. Bingo Baggins (hobbit - jolly, respectable, goodman) will be delighted to hear stories of adventures and would be tickled to buy trinkets and artifacts from outside the Shire, 2. Halfred Gamgee (hobbit - brown-skinned, plain-spoken, manservant) plays a fiddle that never fails to make people dance, 3. Holman Greenhand (hobbit - aged, overly talkative, gardener) knows the properties of most herbs and plants, 4. Lassy Twofoot (hobbit - plump, friendly, baker) sells ornate cakes and confections; can make a cake appear like "almost anything" (1 penny per syllable of description). 

(5-6) - PARTY: A party (or preparations or post-event cleanup) is happening at the Party Field. The party is 1. Village fair, 2. Pott Whitfoot's birthday party, 3. Master Bill Bracegirdle and Miss Patty Proudfoot's wedding, 4. Historical reenactment of the Invention of Golf

! - RATS: Thattle Sandyman complains that rats have taken up in the Old Grange, the village granary (2d12 rats, larger than most). Will pay a copper penny per rat tail. 

! - LOST DOG: Holman Greenhand has lost his dog, Grim. His arthritis disallows him from searching for him. 

Grim has wandered into the Rushock Bog (46.55) and become stuck. Successful recovery is rewarded with six bottles of Old Winyards 2931, a surpassing vintage. 

BYWATER. A small Hobbit village situated near the Pool of Bywater. Fishing and agriculture occupy the locals, when they aren't trading gossip and rumors at the Green Dragon Inn.

✦ - OFTEN HERE: 1. Farmer Cotton (hobbit - weatherworn, traditionalist, farmer) is happy to talk about the weather and share his opinion on the veracity of local rumors, 2. Largo Grubb (hobbit - scarecrow-esque, jocular, driver) will drive Hobbiton folks visiting Bywater's pubs back to the Hill for a penny, 3. Ruthie Overwater (hobbit - rosy-cheeked, chatty, bar-maid) will sell passable portraits (oil on canvas) of anyone who wants their likeness captured for a few pence, 4. Duri (dwarf - smallish, money-minded, rope trader) is worried about not hearing from his companions who went to Tighfield (45.51).

! - MYSTERY MUSHROOMS: Polly Twofoot (hobbit - pinched, nosy, goodwife) can't stand not knowing how Gerda Boffin always has crops of mushrooms of such surpassing quality without keeping a garden; suspects thievery. Will hire private investigators for 1 silver penny. 

Gerda Boffin (hobbit - well-fed, matter-of-fact, goodwife) has a secret mushroom stash growing in a hollow tree in Bindbole Wood (46.56). She will not divulge this secret spot willingly; the fellowship must follow her in stealth. 

[Credit: TOR2E - Starter Set - Shire]

46.55

RUSHOCK BOG. A rushy swamp. Entering this hex costs 1 Endurance due to the treacherous paths and biting insects. Little visited except for duck hunters and apothecaries on a hunt for herbs that don't grow elsewhere in the Shire. 

(1) - GALLOW'S WEED: The last person in the party's marching order runs afoul of gallow's weed—a wicked plant that has no love for those who go on two feet. They must test Strength Δ8 or be snared by the throat and hoisted into the low branches of the trees from which the weed grows: on a failure, suffer 1d10 damage and remain trapped and choking until rescued. Those who travel with an Herbalist make this test at Δ6 instead, as their herb-lore allows them to warn their companions.

46.56

BINDBOLE WOOD. An evergreen forest—pines, junipers, and yew. It is an old wood, older than the Shire, and sleepy. There are no good walking paths through it.

(4) - A clever fox (Under Hill, By Water, p. 86) digging beetles from a fallen log. (5) - A split bag of 1d6 silver coins, dropped in a dry creekbed. (6) - At night only. A wandering company of elves, led by Saelin Wise-heart. They will hide themselves from parties of mostly dwarves.

46.57

FARMER LIGHTFOOT & FARMER LONGDWELLER. Large tracts of farmland abut one another here: Well Hollow (owned by the Lightfoots) and The Longhole (owned by rgw Longdewllers). Mostly tobacco fields. ! - PRIZE COW: One family has stolen another’s prize cow, Mabel. Mabel gives milk sweet as cream and always produces two healthy calves each spring. This isn’t the first time this has happened; the two families are always stealing Mabel from each other. Randomly determine which family currently has Mabel; the other family is willing to hire help to recapture her.

47.57

THREE-FARTHING STONE. Point of interest. Marker stone stands at the center of the Shire on the East Road, where the East, South, and West Farthings meet.

(4-5) - KING-OF-THE-STONE: Hobbit youths in two teams playing King-of-the-Stone, where they try to climb and throw each other off the marker.

(6) - MAYORAL SPEECH: Hobbit mayoral candidates giving stump speeches by standing on the stone, with small crowds applauding or heckling based on how bored they are.

48.56

TOOKBANK. A small Hobbit village, peopled predominantly by Tooks looking to escape the close confines of family life in Tuckborough (48.57). There are good orchards here, mostly growing apples of a breed called whitcyser brought back by Blossom Took from a short adventure outside the Shire. "Ain't natural," complain neighboring villages, upon tasting the sweetness of these apples (and byproducts). "That Wizard probably blessed them."

! - A QUEER HAUNTING: Lately, Whitbough Hall has been plagued by one (or more?) nocturnal visitors. Draped in a funerary sheet and rattling chains, an apparition has moaned its way through the corridors, frightening the family to death. 

In truth, a small gang of Took cousins are pretending to be ghosts as a way to enter and explore the smial. They believe that Blossom Took brought treasure back from her adventure, in addition to her famous apple transplants, and are determined to find the hidden cache.

47.55

ROAD. The East Road runs through well-tended farmland (staple crops, pastureland, tobacco fields). A well-traveled section of road between Michel Delving and Hobbiton: roll twice on the encounter table to see who the fellowship meets along the way.

WAYMEET. A small hobbit village where the East Road connects to the road to Little Delving (to the north) and Tookland (to the south). 

! - FEVERISH CHILD: Lotho Brown's son, Little Lotho, is sick with the flux. He asks you to fetch Mrs. Muckle Took, the apothecary at Tuckburrow (48.57) to tend to him. As thanks, he'll give the party a beautiful walking stick carved in the likeness of a fox (+1 travel points). 

My personal Appendix N

When Warren first had the idea of an Appendix N blog bandwagon, I thought I'd skip it. His Majesty the Worm has an Appendix N section (Dungeon Meshi! House of Orr! Pornography!). But something funny happened that made me realize: "This isn't about the Worm. This is about Me."

A little story

After college, I was working my first job and playing a lot of RPGs. 4E had come out, and ever the conformist, I swore my fealty to the Pathfinder banner during the schism. I wrote a few third-party Pathfinder books for Purple Duck for pocket change. I loved doing it! I was making money (however small) on RPGs. 

Yesterday, I was doing a little writing exercise and had a dim memory of one of the books I wrote called The Heroes of the Fenian Triarchy. I dug the PDF out and looked at it. I didn't recognize it as my own writing. Legalistic game jargon. Long lists of the types of services you can expect in fantasy villages. But hey, that's the deal with Pathfinder. 

What happened? What gave me my current RPG tastes? What gave me my current RPG ethos? What gave me my current RPG aesthetic? 

Blogs. 

Blogs that touched me

After college, I was working my first job and playing a lot of RPGs. One of the people I played Pathfinder with was always integrating older editions of D&D into his games. I told him I preferred Pathfinder. "Old D&D has no rules for, like, disarming." He told me that disarming was always part of the game--but it didn't need that much page space and players didn't need a feat to do it. If the players did something the core rules didn't cover, the core rules gave the GM the template for how to handle anything else the players wanted to do. He added me to his circle on Google Plus. And boy howdy, I started reading things. 

Here is my list of inspirational blogs that changed the way that I thought about games circa ~2013. Here is a list of blogs I wish I could be like. 

Goblinpunch

What blog list would be complete without one of the most prolific, inventive, and radical blogs? When Arnold has the demon on his back, he posts like a madman. And what a variety of ideas! He both articulates RPG theory (Comprehensive Guide to Secret Doors), cool rules (Brute Rider & Rideable Brute), and wild flavor (The State Religion in Centerra). A perfect mix of great ideas. 

Last Gast Grimoire

The aesthetics of Last Gasp Grimoire have never been surpassed, even though it is one of the Blog Ruins now. Has anyone ever had a better list of starting equipment? Has anyone written a weirder city generator? 

And don't forget, this was the origin of the Mausritter cut&paste encumbrance system.

Goatman's Goblet

Dolmenwood was a big inspiration for me. It wasn't exactly Tolkienesque classic fantasy, but it wasn't the fantasy hodgepodge elfkissers of modern D&D either. Both Gavin Norman and Greg Gorgonmilk had blogs back in the day. But Greg was chased off of the internet and Gavin went ultra-professional. In the interest to linking to a blog (even a ruin), Brian's Goatman's Goblet was part of a trilogy of blogs designing in a certain Weird Old England aesthetic that made me want to leave the Pathfinder fantasy schlock behind. No tieflings, only gnomes! 

Necropraxis

Necropraxis stands out in my mind as one of the most influential blogs for me, but when I went to go select some favorite blog posts, I had a hard time thinking of one single "mindfuck" post. And maybe that's because Brendan was just so prolific. Like Arnold, the man could post. He addressed so many of the classic "OSR problems": thief skills, simple stunts (no need for feats to disarm!), carousing, dungeon keying, the ethos of play, etc. Flipping through his blog, this is what it was like back then. There were ideas, and people were postin'. 

Wonder & Wickedness is one of the core published OSR texts, enormously influential on me (no spell levels! every spell should be equally useful! magic should be weird!). Necropraxis is a bit of a blog ruin, but Brendan is still kicking around.

Coins and Scrolls

Another non-surprise; Skerples is one of the most popular OSR bloggers. (Although released after the OSR had finally died once and for all, Skerples also released one of the core published OSR texts, The Monster Overhaul.) He brought a grounded sense of history and non-fiction to the table that introduced me to some sincerely interesting ideas. His series on the Iron Gates setting remains my OSR white whale--I'd kill to have this campaign setting complete. The Monster Menu-All proves that the OSR scene was making Dungeon Meshi games back before it was cool. And, of course, I can't tell you how many times I've run Tomb of the Serpent King.

Ten Foot Polemic

For whatever reason, there was something in Ten Foot Polemic that scratched an itch in my brain. There was a playfulness combined with the DIY D&D ethos that I really enjoyed. James's house rules became my house rules for a time. I loved his take on elves having a heartspell. Plus, he had this wonderful line in the post about his setting's religion: 

The Termaxians are a weird bunch. They believe that the Apocalypse happened five hundred years ago when the Eris the Ninth God fell from heaven and became Queen Satan. Soon after, the prophet Terms Termax fused with the spirit of Jesus to form the entity called Maximum Godhead Hyper-Jesus and descended into Hell to defeat Queen Satan forevermore.

False Machine

Last but not lease, P Stu is one of the weirdest, biggest brains in the blogosphere. He creates art. Art is the essence of surprise. And man, I tell you, False Machine has some surprises in it--things I never would have thought of in a million years. Genuinely interesting, new ideas. I can't imagine how I could use all of them at the gaming table, but all of them are new and interesting: from the deRRo (hell, everything in Veins, another ur-text), to goose-gold for children, the world of 100 wonders, what happens when you sleep in dungeons, and so on.  

Anyway!

As evidenced by the fact that I'm joining in a blog bandwagon that has just so many participants, blogs are still going strong. The hivemind is still chattering away. We are all still trading weird ideas with each other. Who knows what will come out of this alzabo word soup?