Since we’re both new around these parts, I might as well explain a little bit about this blog, what I’ll be doing here over the next months (and maybe years), and what I hope to accomplish.

The core of this blog is going to be a thematic story campaign, taking several heroes through the various adventure cycles of the Lord of the Rings: The Card Game, by Fantasy Flight Games. I’ll be playing through each of the non-Saga quests in order (slotting any Gen-Con or Fellowship event quests where I think that they fit in the narrative, and skipping any that I can’t find a good place for – most particularly the ones that flesh out the Saga campaigns) with a largely consistent set of heroes, using thematically appropriate decks, and writing up a story to chronicle the (hopefully!) exciting journey throughout Middle-Earth.

I have no idea what my pacing is going to be yet at this point, and I’d rather not pretend I do. For each quest, though, I’ll do a preview post, looking at the specific demands each deck makes, and showing off the deck that I’ve built to take against it. That will be followed by a story update, where I’ll post the narrative version of the quest. At this point, I haven’t decided yet whether to record my playthroughs on OCTGN and upload them to YouTube, or to post a text play-by-play to accompany the narrative. We’ll see how things go.

In between story updates, I may very well end up posting smaller articles spotlighting cards (both player and encounter) that are particular favorites of mine, highlighting specific quests that I just really like, or showing off new decks that I want to talk about.

In my next post, I’ll go over the basic framework of the project and the rules that I’m going to adhere to in this campaign. Anyways, we’re off on a hero’s journey now. I hope you’re excited to come along with me.

It’s a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don’t keep your feet, there’s no knowing where you might be swept off to.  — Gandalf