New Arda – Blank First Age Sandbox
1. LotR: Realms in Exile (2291024373)
2. Eriador Expanded (3453968369)
3. Numenor Submod for Realms in Exile (2902243711)
4. Realms In Exile: The Quest for Erebor (3740679766)
5. Rings of Power and the New Dark Lord (https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3744945750)
6. New Arda – Blank First Age Sandbox (THIS MOD – load LAST)
In the New Arda bookmark the map is a blank wilderness held by Tom
Bombadil – no realms, no borders, no history yet written. You and the AI
build Middle-earth from nothing.
1. AUTOMATIC COLONISATION (the heart of the mod)
A toggleable, self-running engine that peoples the empty map over a
couple of centuries with INDEPENDENT, lore-coherent native realms.
– Decisions: Activate / Pause Automatic Colonisation.
– Each year it raises new realms on random wilderness with a CULTURE and
FAITH that fit the land’s lore (every culture matched to its own
race-coherent faith; unmapped regions are left wild, never peopled
with nonsense). It settles a county or a whole duchy, raises the right
holding type, gives a culture coat-of-arms, sets government, and forces
the realm independent.
– LORE LINEAGES: iconic homelands are taken up by their own legendary
line – the lord himself if alive, else a kinsman of his House, else a
fresh native: Lothlorien=Galadriel/Finarfin; Imladris=Elrond;
Lindon=Gil-galad; Eregion=Celebrimbor/House of Feanor; Arnor &
Arthedain=House of Elendil; Gondor=House of Anarion; Rohan=Eorl/
Marhwini; Greenwood=Thranduil/Oropher; Erebor, Moria & the Iron
Hills=Durin’s Folk; the Shire=the Tooks (Hobbits only).
– The Shire is reserved for Hobbits; Numenor is left to its own submod.
– Also: Establish a Settler Camp, Settle the Wild Baronies, Replenish
Settlers, Replenish Provisions, and Adopt the Local Culture.
2. THE AINUR COME TO MIDDLE-EARTH
Sauron and every Maia and Istar begin as landless adventurers with
wandering camps (Sauron in Mordor, the Wizards at the Grey Havens), and
their cultures get the men-at-arms they were missing. A good Maia and an
Elf may wed.
3. RINGS OF POWER & THE NEW DARK LORD CYCLE
There is always meant to be ONE master of the Shadow; the world can cycle
through Dark Lord after Dark Lord.
– Ring Lore -> Forge a Ring of Power (open to Elves and to the Ainur).
– The first ring forged becomes the one MASTER RING (doubled bonus); a
landed Man/Orc bearing it may rarely gain the Conqueror trait.
– Become the New Dark Lord: claim the Kingdom of the Shadow, become Head
of the Lidless Eye, then Forge new Rings of Power.
– EASTER EGG: by Surrendering to the Shadow, Saruman founds the Cult of
the White Hand and rules as his OWN Dark Lord – every system treats him
exactly like a Lidless-Eye Dark Lord. Only ONE Dark Lord at a time.
– THE NAZGUL DOOM: a mortal who bears a Ring takes the Black Breath while
any Dark Lord reigns; at his "natural" death he rises as one of the
Nine – immortal, his frailty stripped away, bound to the Dark Lord.
– Corruption: lesser Rings corrupt Men/Orcs (dark traits, Black Breath)
and madden Dwarves with gold-lust; even an Elven ring on a mortal hand
corrupts once a Dark Lord rules.
– Forge the Three Elven Rings – the rightful making: a smith of the House
of Feanor who holds Eregion (Celebrimbor or a kinsman) wroughts Nenya,
Vilya and Narya, keeping one and granting the other two to Elven kings.
Also a general good-Elf-smith forge and a Dark-Lord "Deceive the Elven
Smith" path; the Three are forged but once.
– Forge the Seven Dwarven Rings; a Dwarf may Renounce his Ring. Offer,
covet and hunt Rings, and ask Who Has the Master Ring.
4. THE FREE PEOPLES’ RESISTANCE (refreshes against each Dark Lord)
– Convene the White Council: the wise bind a grand ALLIANCE – every good
Istari Maia plus a king of each free people (Elves, Dwarves, Men).
– March on the Shadow: raise a ~2000-strong host and ally with one of up
to three rulers bordering the Dark Lord.
– Summon the Army of the Dead: ONLY a member of the dynasty that FOUNDED
the empire of Gondor may call the Oathbreakers of Dunharrow – a
deathless, terrifying host – and raise the Stone of Erech. Once ever.
– Call the Great Eagles; Cleanse the Dark Tower; Unmake a Ring of Power;
Destroy the Master Ring at Mount Doom; Destroy the New Dark Lord in war
(casting down the Dark Lord and ALL his Nazgul).
– Gather the Istari; Olorin’s errands and ring-hunt; recover and gaze
into the Palantiri (beware the Dark Lord’s will); bestow the Phial of
Galadriel; Reach for Wisdom; seek a scion of the White Tree.
5. GONDOR & ITS CROWN
– Founding the empire of Gondor ANCHORS that dynasty to the crown forever.
– If the crown passes to a stranger’s line it is cast down, and the realm
endures only as the STEWARDSHIP of Gondor.
– Restore the Kingdom of Gondor: a founding-dynasty heir retakes the
Winged Crown – the Return of the King.
– Claim the Crown of Gondor: a foreign Steward who commands Gondor crowns
himself and founds a new royal line.
– Plant the White Tree of Gondor: a permanent blessing for Gondor’s human
lords, with two tiers – fullest only when the Kingdom is truly restored.
6. THE DARK PATH
Surrender to the Shadow; Claim the Throne of the Dark Lord; Crown a
Witch-king; Raise the Dark Tower; Spread the Dark Worship; Corrupt the
Land; Take Dol Guldur (Sauron the Necromancer) and Send forth a Nazgul;
Breed Orc Legions, Call the Orcs, Forge Black Arms, Gather the Morgul
Host, Rouse the Trolls, Summon the Uruk-hai; Saruman’s Claim Isengard.
7. PEOPLES & QUALITY-OF-LIFE
– Numenor: the Blessing (disease resistance, long life), the preserved
Blood of Numenor, the WONDERS of Numenor (Armenelos, the Meneltarma…)
buildable from the start by Numenorean lords, and Seduce the Men of Numenor.
– Elves: the Grace of the Eldar (safer travel, stronger in battle).
– Dwarves: found a kingdom from a single de jure duchy, so Erebor, Moria
and the rest rise from the wild; Durin’s Gear in Durin’s Hall.
– Only the rightful Dark Lord may claim a head of the Shadow’s faiths –
the "Create Head of Faith" button is barred for the Lidless Eye and the
White Hand.
New Arda overrides several Realms-in-Exile / Eriador systems and MUST
load last. Built for the New Arda bookmark. All in-game text is English.
