Before diving into this new expansion for The Lord of the Rings – The Roleplaying Game compatible with D&D5e, I want to thank Free League Publishing for sending us the Tales from Eriador module in digital format to analyse it together in this review. The text collects six independent adventures that can be played as a campaign.

If you want to buy it, you can find the volume on the publisher’s store for 438 Swedish kronor (about 39 euros) for the physical copy, including the digital copy.

As with the other supplements in the line, Tales from Eriador also requires the core manual we have already discussed.

Tales from Eriador Aesthetics Review

The Swedish publishing house’s ability to make each product elegant and evocative is unquestionable. Also in this case the aesthetic choice, which recalls (as for the other products in the line) the Red Book of Westmarch by Bilbo Baggins, highlights the main text in black. The characterization includes rumours and parts of the setting taken from the work in italic red. In the boxed boxes we find suggestions for the Game Master to modify the plots to adapt them to each gaming group.

The beautiful illustrations by Antonio De Luca, who also designed the cover, are highly evocative. The addition of Jan Pospíšil and Federica Costantini‘s work makes the manual a real joy for the eyes. Mygeneral impression, thanks also to the sandblasted pages, is that of having in your hands the work of an inhabitant of Middle Earth, a set of notes and portraits that will catapult you into the atmosphere of the Tolkienian world.

The maps, created by Francesco Mattioli and Niklas Brandt, are perfectly readable and very useful and, once extracted from the text, can be used directly in game.

Structure of the Book

Tales from Eriador, as anticipated at the beginning of this review, is a collection of six adventures set in the region of Middle-earth known as Eriador.

Each adventure can be played independently, but the text also provides support for a broader management that includes all the plots in a campaign. The focus of each adventure is equally divided between the journey and the destination. This approach fits well into the concept of the game and the work from which it draws inspiration.

All adventures assume that the era is the same as The Lord of the Rings – The Roleplaying Game: the years around 2965.

Six Adventures to Explore the Territory…

Let’s take a closer look at the playable plots in the volume. As per our tradition, we will avoid making too heavy spoilers. During these adventures, the heroes will confront the spies and stratagems of the Enemy, they will be able to explore the lost wonders of the North and travel far from their home hearth.

A Troll-Hole, If Ever There Was One offers an interesting narrative hook and overturns the classic structure of exploration, transforming it into a trap as big as a troll’s web. It is an adventure that can remain independent and autonomous, but that hides a threat that can be used in the cliffhanger in the campaign.

In Messing About In Boats, an astrologer’s divination leads the characters to take a ship in Lond Daer and sail to the Occupied Isles. There they will face the shadows of the dead and other dangers from the distant past. They will also face important questions about the price of heroism and what it means to stand against the Shadow.

Kings of Little Kingdoms presents the characters with a mother begging them to bring back her son Hamfast. He is a member of the company of Gandalf, that nosy wizard who encourages young men to set out on dangerous adventures!

…that Can Become a Campaign

Not To Strike Without Need presents the characters with a great dilemma. In this adventure, the heroes are called to bring an outlaw to justice. But when their prisoner claims to have secret information and a higher purpose behind his crimes, will the heroes listen?

In Wonder of the Northern World, the characters are asked to deliver a message to a dwarf settlement. The request comes from a dwarf named Floki, whom the heroes have probably already met in the storyline A Troll-Hole if Ever There Was One. It will also see them face a war that has never really ended.

The Quest of Amon Guruthos closes the volume. This plot pushes the heroes to undertake a journey to the far north to seek answers among the people of that region. The journey is long and dangerous, but the characters will find friends among the snow and ice, perhaps even unexpected ones.

Tales from Eriador Review Conclusions

In conclusion, I can say that the 112 pages of this volume are perfect for those looking for a good number of playable plots for The Lord of the Rings – The Roleplaying Game. The volume integrates organically with Ruins from Eriador, which we have already dealt with. It provides a solid geographical structure, and offers compelling stories to allow gaming groups to influence the future of the Free Folk.

If you are passionate about the region of Eriador and want to delve deeper into it with original plots, this manual is for you!

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