Despite the best efforts of our, ahem, "heroes," they are offered the privilege of seeking the lost dwarves. They set off in a boat down the Long Lake, reaching the falls as the sun begins to set. The standard practice of travelers here is to portage from the lake to the river below the falls, and a village stands at the edge of the lake, apparently for the sole purpose of carrying boats for the very few travelers that come this way. Like once a month or so. Hey, gotta make a living somehow.
The fellowship stayed with these villagers for the night, dining and drinking with them in the common mead hall. I noticed several of the players seemed impatient that I would even make mention of their characters' last comfortable night for some time to come. There was a general sense of "Let's get on with the asskicking." Robbie, however, was keen to interact with these folk, and had his character regale them with songs of the Shire. Succeeding nicely on his Song roll, he made fast friends with the lake-villagers, and was introduced to one of the elders. This old fellow spoke mostly in gibberish, only becoming lucid long enough to offer warning of something in the swamps called "gallows-weed." The group took note of his warning, and in the morning, continued down the river.
It is here that The One Ring diverges in "intended playstyle" from most RPGs. In most games, the Journey is generally treated as "what we do between encounters." There are usually rules for distance traveled per day, a roll or two to avoid getting lost or exhausted in particularly difficult areas, but it's often waved aside by the GM. In The One Ring, the Journey is really a large encounter itself, and this is a clear part of the game's design. Each character takes a role, such as Guide, Lookout, Hunter, and so on. During the journey, they will be making a lot of rolls to avoid fatigue and hazards, and it seems to be these failed rolls that cause interesting things to happen.
The trouble is in pacing, I think, and giving your players the impression that something is actually happening. Even when trying to be descriptive, it is very easy to lay it out all at once, and then call for a half dozen rolls for each player. This is boring. I tried to break it up a little, which helped a tiny bit, but I think if I have another chance it will be more structured. Figure out how many days the journey will take, and more importantly how many Fatigue rolls (it's something like 1 roll every 4 days). Before every roll, have some kind of scene, or "camera shot." Think back to the films by Peter Jackson. Long stretches of time and travel would have a camera flying over the Fellowship, and often a focus on some interesting bit of scenery, or discussion between the Fellowship. Consider just The Fellowship of the Ring. As Sam and Frodo set out across the Shire, Sam mentions that this is the farthest he's ever been from home. Later, as Aragorn leads the group through the Midgewater Marshes, we have more brief dialogue about "second breakfast." Setting out from Rivendell, the group argues about the best path, with Gimli urging the Mines of Moria while Boromir gives Merry and Pippin a lesson in swordsmanship. These are all brief snippets from days-long legs of the trek, and feature little action, but they break up the monotony and give us a sense of time, as well as the relationship between the characters.
In game, this would be a prime place to encourage roleplay, but the GM should provide some manner of catalyst between each fatigue roll. Perhaps the group passes a crumbling ruin on the shore, with Dwarven runes carved into the arches, and a broken statue covered in lichen. If the players are not inclined to expand upon this, it simply serves as a scene between fatigue rolls. However, perhaps a Dwarf character wants to stop and investigate. Another character may want to push on, and it could become an issue. Perhaps, after investigating the small ruin, the Dwarf could regain a point of Hope, kindled by the craftwork of his ancestors. Any sort of reward should be granted based on character actions, and the initiative of the players.
Ok, digression over. The characters made it through their Fatigue checks unscathed, though less entertained than possible, I suppose. As they paddled their boat through the swamps of Mirkwood, Kiah's character noticed they were being followed (ok, besides actually seeing someone following you, how do I justify, "You sense you're being followed?"). A couple more perception checks, and they determined their pursuers were elves. They called out, and the elves approached cautiously. It seems these same elves had followed the missing dwarves along the same route, until the dwarves disappeared one night. The elves assumed they dwarves sensed their presence and slipped away in the middle of the night. They showed the Fellowship to the abandoned camp, then left.
The group searched the camp, and Bulbar the Dwarf found a rune carved into a hollow stump marking a Spell of Secrecy. Inside was found a small chest, containing a jeweled golden necklace, with a letter presenting it from King Dain to the King of the Eagles. At this point, the adventure calls for Wisdom checks for each character. Those who fail gain a point of Shadow, as they are filled with greed for the necklace. My players, of course, feel no internal conflict. Even before the check, Luc calls out, "I wanna take it!"
*Sigh*
The group then followed the trail left by the dwarves... and whatever carried them off.
That night, after making camp, flickering lights in the swamp caught their attention. Of course, the adventure makes a foolish assumption that someone will go investigate. Who the hell does that? Come on, is there a clearer setup for an ambush or trap? Robbie's hobbit fired an arrow into the cluster of lights, and something stirred in the darkness. Moments later, a scrawny, emaciated troll came tearing through the trees. The three Men took a forward stance, harrying the troll. Luc and Kiah beat their weapons on their shields, making Awe rolls to intimidate the troll. Scoring a series of successes between them, they drained off every point of Hate the troll had. Hate is a resource enemies get. It fuels their special abilities, and when they're out, they're Wearied. That is to say, their rolls suck. The troll managed to clobber the Dwarf a little, before being hacked to pieces in two rounds.
It was here that we concluded the session. Then holidays started happening, so even the hiatus has to take a hiatus. When next we play, I'll pop another one of these things up, and offer my thoughts on The One Ring as a whole. So far I'm pretty impressed. There are a few things I would tweak, but it's solid. In the meantime, I'll drop in with random ramblings about gaming in general.
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