Boromir Lives is a partially guided solo campaign for The One Ring 2e rpg that takes place in an alternate version of the War of the Ring. It is written by WIll at the World’s End.
In this version of events, Boromir is wounded, not killed, at Amon Hen. You will take on the role of Boromir after he makes the fateful decision to follow Frodo and Sam into Mordor...
You can buy ( or PWYW) the campaign here
I’m giving it a try and so far I absolutely love it. Will wrote he worked a very long time at it, and it clearly shows. The bulk of the campaign is made up of descriptive locations, who all have their own possible events and encounters.
There are also rules for the influence of the Ring and even specific Ally rules.
The timeline is helpful to compare your story to the written events. And the Distance Tracker helps to keep the story centered around Boromir’s oath to protect the ringbearer.
I’m actually having the most fun to reason how Boromir would react and how the story would unfold in this What-If scenario. My Boromir believes the Ring belongs to him and the Men of Gondor. He’s convinced the ring can be used as a weapon against the enemy, and he thinks entrusting the hobbits with such a power was a mistake. In short, believing he can act successful against the Council’s decision because no one is protecting the ‘little ones’ at the moment.
But, the scenes where I try to decide ‘like Boromir’, the One Ring doesn’t offer much mechanics to help you. This is why I’m running it together with my Omen GME, a “Gamemaster Emulator” and work-in-progress. Omen so far has been very mild but the few nudges pushed the story in an unexpected and very exciting direction. (Omen by the way is just the working title for now)
Here’s a short timeline of how my story goes:
Timeline
27 Feb - 5 Ma 3019
Boromir awoke, wounded and unarmed, crossed the Anduin and found the North Stair onto Amon Lhaw. He picked up the orc trail of the pack who hunted the ringbearer. The trail went down from the North stair, across the Nindalf into the Dead Marshes for a couple of days.
In the marshes, Boromir lost the trail and got lost himself. He found his way out of the marches by entering Ithilien in the north on March 5th.
7 Ma 3019, morning
Having Boromir at the exact same time and place as where Faramir found the hobbits in the story, here’s where the game shifted gears.
Boromir spotted Haradrim on the march, from a vantage point. Despite him being stealthy, he was spotted by Rangers who first mistook him for a dangerous stranger. Hearing these were Faramir’s men, a scout and Boromir quickly made way to the spot where Faramir lay in ambush.
7 Ma 3019, Afternoon
They did find Faramir, who just took 2 little hobbits prisoners. All of them were very surprised to see Boromir alive, though the hobbits (and Boromir) all pretended not to know each other. Faramir quickly wanted to return to their camp at Henneth Annun to talk in safety to his brother and these 2 strange little ones.
7 Ma 3019, Evening
Faramir released the hobbits and kept Boromir away from their chamber. It became clear why Faramir reacted rather coldly: For some reason the hobbits had told Faramir - a complete stranger - about Boromir’s Bout of Madness, and so about their mission and the Ring, minutes before Boromir arrived.
Their meeting was interrupted by a ranger who spotted a creature in the sacred pool. Boromir urged Faramir to shoot Gollum at the spot - as he’s surely a threat to the Ring. But Faramir, in a rare indecisive mood, gave the order to just observe him.
Boromir tried to persuade Faramir to take the ring and bring it back to Minas Tirith. Faramir appeared undecided and urged Boromir to take rest (who really is exhausted), saying he would decide in the morning.
7 Ma 3019, Night
Faramir knew the presence of the Ring would be extremely dangerous to Boromir’s sanity. To protect his brother and to obey to Gandalf’s council, in the midst of the night the hobbits and Gollum were put on their way to the Morgol Road.
8 Ma 3019
When Boromir learned about Faramir’s decision, he again tried to persuade his brother the decision is a mistake. To no avail, so Boromir proposed to go into pursuit of the hobbits to protect them. Faramir knew his brother too well and when Boromir became adamant, loyal rangers of Faramir eventually had to point an arrow at Boromir to calm him down. Faramir’s plan was to create a safe distance between his brother and the ring, and to give his brother a purpose, a place where he can serve their cause better: the fort at Cair Andros.
9 Ma 3019
Boromir marched with the rangers back to Cair Andros. He was no longer their prisoner (though he was mightily insulted) but marched with a ranger named Falborn, who kept an eye on him. Faramir wanted to have Boromir in charge of the garrison of Cair Andros, while he wanted to return to Minas Tirith to relay the latest movements to his father.
A strange darkness grew in the South and came across the land in the afternoon. When the party arrived in Cair Andros, it was already deep into the night - they had been traveling cautiously, many orcs were on the roads. Yet the garrison and lord Gilhir were still busy preparing the defenses of the fort.