“The world is indeed full of peril, and in it there are many dark places; but still there is much that is fair, and though in all lands love is now mingled with grief, it grows perhaps the greater.”
— Haldir, The Fellowship of the Ring
Right, I’ve been running Middle-earth games for years now, and here’s the thing—the timeline isn’t just some boring history lesson. It’s everything. Get this wrong and your campaign feels off, like wearing a winter coat in summer. Get it right, and suddenly everything clicks into place.
Each era has its own feel, its own stories. This isn’t about memorizing dates—it’s about understanding how history shapes your characters’ choices, how the weight of centuries presses down on their shoulders.
TA 1-1000 The Glory Days
This is the good stuff. Arnor at its height, Gondor expanding everywhere, hope in the air. The kingdoms of Men still remembered what greatness looked like—they’d seen it, built it, lived it. This wasn’t some distant memory or legend, but something real and present.
For gaming, this era is brilliant. Epic campaigns across vast territories, massive battles that actually shape the future, exploration into lands that haven’t been mapped yet. Your characters aren’t just wandering adventurers—they’re part of something bigger, builders of the last great age of Men. Every victory matters, every alliance counts, every decision ripples through history.
The tone is bright, even when things get dangerous. There’s always another horizon to reach, another mountain to climb. The world feels alive with possibility.
TA 1000-1640 The Slow Decline
Nothing gold can stay forever. Arnor starts fraying at the edges, internal squabbles eating away at its strength like rust on metal. Gondor stays powerful, but the cracks are showing—not obvious ones, but the kind that make you wonder how much longer things can hold together.
This is where politics get interesting. Your campaigns shift from pure adventure to something more complex—border disputes that could spark wars, diplomatic missions where one wrong word means disaster, the careful dance of maintaining alliances while threats gather in the shadows. It’s still hopeful, but there’s a sense that the best days are behind you, like looking at old photos of happier times. Your characters become diplomats, spies, and negotiators as much as warriors.
TA 1635-1637 The Great Plague
Then came the plague. Not just any plague—this one swept out of the east like a dark wind, killing everything in its path. People, animals, entire communities gone in the blink of an eye. Eriador never really recovered from this one; the population just kept dwindling for centuries after, like a fire that never quite goes out.
For the next two hundred years, everyone was too busy trying to survive to do much else. Gondor, its allies, even its enemies—they all just hunkered down and tried to get their strength back. It was like the whole world had caught a terrible cold and couldn’t shake it off.
TA 1640 The MERP Era
This is where MERP found its sweet spot, and for good reason. The world is in decline, but not yet fallen—like a grand old pub that’s seen better days but still has plenty of character. There are still kingdoms to explore, ruins to discover, adventures to be had—but now they come with a sense of melancholy, of exploring a world that’s slowly dying.
Perfect for campaigns where your characters are trying to hold back the darkness, one small victory at a time. It’s like being the last few people keeping the lights on in a town that’s slowly emptying out. Every success feels earned, every loss cuts deep.
TA 1974 The Fall of Arnor
This is where things get dark. The Witch-king breaks the North Kingdom—this isn’t just a military defeat, it’s the end of an era. The last great northern realm falls, and suddenly the world feels smaller, more dangerous, like the walls are closing in.
This is grim survival territory. Your characters aren’t conquering heroes anymore; they’re refugees, rearguard fighters, people trying to save what they can before it’s all gone. Perfect for Five Leagues adaptations where every victory is hard-won and temporary, like trying to keep a candle lit in a hurricane. The stakes are personal now, not epic—survival, not glory.
TA 1981 The Fall of Moria
Here’s a tragedy. Durin’s Bane awakens, and the greatest Dwarf kingdom becomes a haunted ruin overnight. The Dwarves lose not just their home, but their greatest achievement—like watching your life’s work go up in smoke.
For gaming, this opens up all sorts of possibilities. Dwarven expeditions to reclaim their homeland, expeditions into the darkness where every shadow could be your doom, the weight of history pressing down on every decision like a lead blanket. There’s something deeply personal about exploring the ruins of your own people’s greatest achievement.
TA 2941 The Hobbit Era
Here’s where things start to get interesting again. Bilbo’s adventure marks a shift in tone—like the sun breaking through after a long winter. Things are getting serious, but there’s still room for lighter adventures, treasure hunts, quests that don’t end with the fate of the world hanging in the balance. It’s the perfect sweet spot between epic and intimate.
The Battle of Five Armies gives you epic battle scenarios, but it feels like a prelude to something bigger, like the opening act before the main event.
TA 2946 The One Ring 1st Edition
Post-Hobbit but pre-crisis, this is adventuring in a world that still feels relatively stable—like a calm before the storm. Your characters can explore, help communities, investigate threats—but the shadow is still distant, something to be studied rather than fought, like watching storm clouds gather on the horizon. There’s time to prepare, to build relationships, to gather information.
TA 2965 The One Ring 2nd Edition & LOTRRP
The shadows are getting closer, and you can feel it in the air. The tension is building like a pressure cooker, allies need to be gathered, preparations need to be made. This is the calm before the storm, but you can feel the storm coming—like the moment before lightning strikes. Your characters become scouts, diplomats, and spies, gathering intelligence and building alliances.
TA 3018 The Fellowship Begins
This is it—the year everything changes, like the moment the roller coaster starts its big drop. The Ring is found, the Fellowship sets out, and suddenly the fate of everything hangs in the balance. Most games set themselves here for good reason: the stakes couldn’t be higher, the drama couldn’t be more intense, like watching your team in the final minutes of a championship match. Every decision matters, every choice could tip the scales.
TA 3019 The War of the Ring
War across Middle-earth—and what a war it is. Epic battles, desperate struggles, everything at risk. This is where MESBG and Warmaster really shine, capturing the scale and intensity of the conflict that defines an age, like the grand finale of the greatest story ever told. Your characters aren’t just fighting battles—they’re fighting for the fate of everything they hold dear.
Why This All Matters
Here’s what I’ve learned from all these minutes—almost hours—of Middle-earth gaming: the timeline isn’t just historical background—it’s the emotional core of your campaign, the secret sauce that makes everything work.
The Feel of Different Times
Each era has its own heartbeat, its own rhythm. The early Third Age pulses with possibility and hope like a young person’s first love; the middle years carry the weight of slow decline like a once-great pub that’s seen better days; the later periods thrum with desperation and gathering shadows like a storm about to break; and the crisis years race toward an inevitable climax like a runaway train.
Get this wrong, and your campaign feels like it’s wearing the wrong clothes—like showing up to a funeral in a Hawaiian shirt. Get it right, and everything just works, like a perfectly tuned instrument.
What Your Characters Face
The threats evolve too, like a good story that keeps you guessing. Early on, it’s external dangers and the thrill of exploration—like being a kid in a candy shop. Later, it’s internal politics and the slow erosion of what once seemed permanent, like watching your favorite team slowly fall apart. As the shadow grows, survival becomes the name of the game, like trying to keep your head above water in a rough sea. And when crisis hits, it’s all or nothing, like putting everything on red at the roulette table.
The Stories You Can Tell
Different eras support different kinds of stories, and that’s the beauty of it. Want epic exploration? The early Third Age is your playground, like having the whole world as your oyster. Prefer political intrigue? The middle years are perfect, like a good mystery novel. Looking for grim survival? The fall of Arnor has you covered, like a horror movie that won’t let you look away. Need ultimate stakes? The War of the Ring delivers, like the final episode of your favorite series.
The key is matching your campaign’s tone to the era’s natural rhythm. When everything aligns, magic happens—like that perfect moment when everything just clicks into place.
Pick your era carefully. The timeline isn’t just history—it’s the soul of your campaign.