I also think it's worth noting that in the art for Merry, he is depicted with what is clearly a Barrow-blade, so that shows at least that FFG is aware of them and their relevance in the story. I still think we won't be visiting the Barrow-downs but FFG has been suspiciously silent about the issue, so I guess there's still some hope, at least for having Barrow-blade attachments.

Haven't checked in here in a bit and I missed out on some good discussion! So sorry if I retread some ground.

I tend to fall on the "Bombadil fan" end of the scale. I actually enjoy those chapters quite a bit. On the other hand, I fully back the decision to cut that content out of the Saga Expansion. This expansion is all about the Black Riders, and I think it's important to maintain the tension of being constantly hounded by Nazgul. Suddenly cutting away to have us deal with Old Man Willow or Barrow-wights would be fun, but would interrupt the thematic flow. In book form it works (in my opinion, I know others disagree!), but in game form with only a few scenarios, I think sticking to the Black Riders theme makes total sense.

Bombadil will surely come into the game. I think we'll get an Old Forest or Barrow-downs themed scenario as part of a cycle or expansion at some point. It's nearly a certainty. This is where Bombadil can show up. He'll need to be very powerful but limited in scope or duration.

As far as Tolkien being wordy, it's kind of interesting, but compared to some modern, epic fantasy writers, I actually find Tolkien kind of concise in comparison! In my most recent re-read of LOTR, I was struck by the relative fast pace of the story, again compared to some modern works, and that's including the chapters that can be viewed as extraneous.

(Of course, I have said that the long dialogue of the Council of Elrond is one of my favorite parts of the whole work, so that should give you an idea of my taste.)

Maybe we'll get an Old Forest/Barrow Downs POD adventure down the road with Tom and Goldberry as Objective Allies. I hope so at any rate.

i am a bit on the side of not wanting pod packs. they are good for getting content that wouldnt be able to be released normally, but something like this should be in the main packs. i can understand bombadil isnt for everyone, but anyone who has ever interacted with the tolkien fan base should know he is a fan favourite, and i hope the designers recognise that (i will be surprised if they dont as its obvious caleb and the other designers are knowledgeable about tolkien)

While I would have liked it "In the Box" too, I DO like POD packs. Being able to bust out an adventure without having to scrounge around for the appropriate cards is nice. But we digress. I was simply saying that it might be the best we are going to get.

so, the nazgul didn't expect any resistance (aragorn: "there seem to only have been 5 of the enemy. why they were not all here, i don't know; but i don't think they expected to be resisted") - they thought they would surprise them at weathertop - and were afraid of the fire brands that aragorn was wielding. two of the nazgul halted when frodo took out his sword but the 3rd kept moving forward and stabbed frodo.

while it's true the weapons are what merry uses at the end - the weathertop encoutner wasn't really revolving around the weapons the hobbits got at the barrowdowns.

to the comments on weathertop plotline: the reason the nazgul didnt attack further is stated that they knew the company had about a fortnight's hard travelling between them and the ford. they knew the ford was the obvious direction hence an ambush was a good plan which would have worked were it not for glorfindel...who most certainly is powerful enough to take on the nazgul

i dont see any plot mistakes there, apart from some poor leadership choices on behalf of the witchking, who should have realised help would be near so close to rivendell

Hmm, I know both Dain and Rich are huge Tolkien fans, but I swear I've read it somewhere that burrow-blades did play an important factor when Witch-King decided to delay the chase for the Hobbits.

I went back to the source materials and the materials publisehd by Christopher Tolkien, but found nothing to back me up.

After wondering if I was delusional, I went to internet as my last resource and found where I must've gotten the idea Burrow-Blades were important:

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"'Escaping a wound that would have been as deadly to him as the Mordor-knife [sic] to Frodo (as was proved in the end), he withdrew and hid for a while, out of doubt and fear both of Aragorn and especially of Frodo.'

The excerpt says that his fear of Frodo was a combination of several factors, including Frodo's ability to resist attack at all, his use of an "enchanted sword" (presumably gained after overcoming a Barrow-wight), and his use of the name Elbereth, "a name of terror to the Nazgul" that connected Frodo to the High Elves. Realizing for the first time that this mission to find the Ring "was one of great peril to himself", the Witch-king fled, until "fear of Sauron, and the forces of Sauron's will" drove him back to the hunt. (Unfinished Tales indicates that all versions of "The Hunt for the Ring" were written between the publication of FotR and the completion of RotK, so this passage does reflect Tolkien's belief while writing the story.)"

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This is from a random website I found on a google so it does not have much credibility,

but their source seems to be the The Lord of the Rings: Reader's Companion, which is still not very credible as they get some stuff wrong, but the Reader's Companion is using unpublished portion of The Hunt for the Ring as its source, so the ultimate source is the man himself.

So yeah.... that's all I have to back myself up about the burrow-blades-are-essential-part-of-plot argument I started.

I guess I just really wanted to see this card game staying as close to the book as possible.

Maybe if Peter Jackson's movie didin't skip The Old forest, I wouldn't be as much outspoken about LotRLCG skipping The Old Forest, feels like part of that part of the book is somehow being forgotten almost.

On the sidenote, I do suppose we could always visit Old Forest as part of Adventure Pack Cycle or Print on Demand challenge.

which reader companion is that from? i am not going to mention a name here, but there is an author that is known throughout the tolkien world for 'elaborating' tolkien factcs with their own flavour. a quick search will bring up the name.....not that i am saying you are wrong ellareth, i am just interested to see if i can get my hands on this source first hand

rich

which reader companion is that from? i am not going to mention a name here, but there is an author that is known throughout the tolkien world for 'elaborating' tolkien factcs with their own flavour. a quick search will bring up the name.....not that i am saying you are wrong ellareth, i am just interested to see if i can get my hands on this source first hand

rich

Yes, I have realized that my belifs are not-well founded after I checked my source as they are based on readers companion... I, too, am on the side that generally reader's companions (and atlas) assumes too much.

The companion in question is by Hammond and Scull. The first part of (about The Black Rider being afraid of Frodo) seems quote from Tolkien's unpublished essay, but I do not have the book myself so I cannot tell, it might not be