FELLOWSHIP PHASE: Part 2 - Surprises at home

[Eclecticon]

I am fine with all of that, Bandy can hold with what he has so if you guys want to divide the remainder gonfor it. 

How does this sound: Arbogast will draw back up to maximum -2 ('cause life is hard and he's probably spent some Hope just getting by), Bandy goes to maximum -1.  Grimbeorn and Rorin, who don't have a huge number of points to squander, go back up to maximum. 

Next Adventuring phase, I'd really like to track down the Hobbitt inn - we didn't get around to it last year, and Arbogast has the guilts about it. 

Other things to consider: tracking down the red moon raiders, investigating the old forest road, following up on those rumours of an Enemy stronghold in the Gladden Fields, possibly other things I can't remember. 

[Telcontar]

The hope plan works for me. In terms of our next moves I think we need to look at what our goals and objectives are. Sunstead is going to be an issue that we need to deal with at some point but the holds west of the wood are gonna be in trouble if we dont deal with these blood moon fellows. Also the Tyrant's Hill gamg are still of unknown loyalty.
Overall it feels like we are loosing ground on all fronts, some slower than others, but everywhere seems at risk. There needs to be a party decision on how hard we want to hold the Black Tarn as an outpost. If so we need to fix the issue with the River Maidens and the Blood
moon as our lead prioriry. Mayne we can use our standing to get the various Halls to kick in some men for a company to patrol the border lands?

[Eclecticon]

We're going to run into the problem that (as per my understanding of the setting - Doug, let me know if I've got it wrong) the Woodmen don't have the manpower to spare for a long-term watch on the borders.  Their main defence is being able to pull back into the forest when they're hard-pressed. 

An interesting option would be to scout out their hideout and, if we can't settle matters ourselves (and I should point out, there may yet be a peaceful resolution to all this), to hit up Tyrant's Hill for manpower for a punitive expedition.  They'd get the lion's share of the loot, but they'd also do the heavy lifting in terms of casualties.  At best, one threat wipes out another, and becomes more of an ally to the Woodmen.  At worst, the two get busy fighting each other for a while. 

Also (and Arbogast has almost certainly made this point in character) it's worth remembering that keeping up the morale of the Free Peoples is as important as dealing with physical threats if not more so.  Symbols of growing unity between the various cultures will be as valuable as armies in keeping the Shadow at bay, especially if they also come with tangible benefits as well.  That's one of the reasons I think restoring the road should be a priority.  The other, of course, is that we could get rich from collecting tolls, but gentlemen ought not discuss such things...

[Eclecticon]

I don't have my books with me at the moment so I can't do my undertaking or advancement. I'll make a post tomorrow with my character advancement.

This may or may not interest you, but you have 84 points of Treasure to play with after the last two adventures.  That's enough to buy you up to Standing 4 (36+48).  It's obviously a matter for a future Fellowship phase, given that you've already said that you're spending this one at Rhosgobel and you need to go home raise Standing.  Standing 4 makes you the equivalent of a high ranking office-holder or a trusted counsellor to the King Under the Mountain - perhaps a permanent ambassador to the folk of the Anduin vales? 

This phase, I'd recommend Receiving a Title (TOR p. 199) - Rorin is obviously a valued craftsman among the Woodmen - he's been sought out by one of their leaders - and it makes sense for him to be accepted as one of them.  Mechanically, it means that his Standing won't drop next year for failing to either go home or send some Treasure to his relatives at the Mountain to remind them that he's doing heroic things on their behalf.  Going by the Fellowship Phase structure on p. 193, you'd need to spend two points of Treasure to stop it dropping this year, though I suspect Doug would be lenient about it given that we haven't been using that rule much. 

As you can probably tell from the ramblings above, I'd like to see Standing play a little more of a prominent role in the game.  To me, the tension between the necessity of cooperation to hold back the Shadow and the desire to have, or maintain, the goodwill of your own people (whose perspective is often far more insular) is one of the more interesting facets of the TOR mechanics - hence my foregrounding it in Arbogast's story.  I understand that it's not everyone's idea of a fun time, but I think it has the potential to feed into some really cool stories. 

For example, if disench4nted does as suggested above, it'll mean that, west of Mirkwood, he speaks with the voice of King Dain Ironfoot.  This could lead to a whole different kind of 'customer' arriving at the door of his forge!  Similarly, Grimbeorn's Standing of 2 means that, while he's certainly a valued member of the Folk, there are quite a few people who think that he hasn't really proven himself as Beorn's heir.  Some of them may be starting to rally around a different candidate, who may or may not be completely loyal to Beorn. 

If nothing else, we're out of the Last Good Years.  Sauron is back, the Shadow is spreading and things are going to suck pretty hard for the people of Wilderland.  Without Standing in the culture where you live, when the chips are down and people are wondering whether to eat the nettles or the shoe leather, your neighbours will absolutely be thinking that you're not really one of them. 

[GandalfOfBorg]

Grimbeorn's time spent with his father in the kitchens and walking the bounds of his lands is his attempt to Heal Corruption.

  What were the group's sanctuaries now?

 

TN 14 Craft -  1d12 : 3, total 3
Rolled 1d6 : 6, total 6

[disench4nted]

 

Thanks for the recommendations, that's very helpful. I always have trouble finding a good undertaking, and I have been trying to start thinking about how I can tie Rorin back in with the Dwarves somehow. After seeing the goblin caves at the Mountain hall and delving into the Barrows at Sunstead, he's starting to miss the sight of caves and being underground and he's due for a trip to Erebor soon.

Advancement:

I will not spend any XP or AP
My undertaking will be to Receive a Title from the Woodsmen.

[Telcontar]

I think the only group sanctuaries are Rhosgobel.

As for standing I had brought this up early and Dougs opinion was that we have been open to do what we want narratively without using Standing. I think a valid argument has been made about Standing also as to what level of influence someone has. My issue is the way standing works, especially in Bandys case. His standing should only be among Woodmen, makes no sense in terms of Hobbits. One idea floated is that standing be regional instead of racial.

I think we should work our influence on Ingomer and have him call a Folk Moot in the spring. This will save us from having to travel everywhere to see everyone, give us a good idea of what the current situation is, show unity, and allow for our plan to be part of a larger effort with all the Woodmen.
Proposed Topics at the Moot
- coordinated blood moon attack
- tolls paid to the Beornings
- support to Tyrants Hill that recognizes their efforts but isnt exploitive   
- opening the forest road to the west and Sunstead
- delegation to the Leofrings to get some cav support for the woodmen.
- have the folk moot at the Field of Heroes, because that would be cool.

[disench4nted]

I like the idea of trying to convene a Moot, we've seen glimpses of several threats and have heard rumors, but there is not a whole lot for us to directly act on other than moving to re-open the road or start trying to hunt down the blood moon raiders.

As for Rorin, he would very much like to go find that Hobbit inn we keep hearing about, and he'd also like to stop the blood moon attacks. But all of the suggestions above are good.

[tomcat]

This game is so damned fun! I love reading the posts from you guys. Excellent planning!

Okay, to let you all know:

• I updated ALL the PC's Hope based on Paul's post above:

Arbogast 14/16
Bandy 17/18
Grimbeorn 12/12
Rorin 10/10

• Everyone's PC sheets should be updated to start the new Chapter.

• We've resolved how to use the Fellowship pool and the Focus

• Paul - are your children identical or fraternal?

• I actually agree with Tom on Standing. I understand why it is in place in regards to your own people, but I think of it more as Renown for your actions and isn't really something you buy, but earn (thus I would award it as GM). I could House Rule a new statistic for Renown, which would reflect how well your names are know. It could even play into the Eye Awareness component that we are using from Rivendell. If I do the house rule, we can leave standing as it normally functions. Otherwise, I am going to give it some more thought.

• Rorin is named Hero of the Woodmen

• Sanctuaries, like Standing, are another function that I think should be earned in actual game play, not in the off-season Fellowship phase. I could add Patrons to this argument, too. I look at Sunstead as an example - you guys went there and helped those people. The doors are now open to you all for the most part; the Master of Sunstead would provide for you while you visited (within reason). I am not saying that the Fellowship undertaking cannot be made to open a sanctuary, but I see this more as reinforcing the relationship that you already made. For me as GM, I see the following sanctuaries open to you all:

-Rhosgobel (Radagast a patron)
-Black Tarn (Amaleoda a patron)
-Beorn's House - (Beorn a patron, for this one Grimbeorn would need to be present until you prove yourself to the master)
-Mountain Hall (Hartfast a patron)
-Sunstead (Ceawin a patron)
-Tyrant's Hill - (Mogdred a patron, for this one Esgalwen would need to be present until you prove yourself to the master)
-Woodland Hall - (Ingomer and the council a patron, although this sanctuary is based only on the fact that Arbogast was born and raised here)

It is not my desire to give freebies, but I just don't like the mechanic of needing to do an undertaking to open a sanctuary that we just spent three months RPG'ing about. Anyway, that is the list I have as open sanctuaries to you all. If you guys disagree with my assessment on the rules, feel free to chime in.

I am going to start the new chapter and it will hint at the things you guys are debating on your lists of options. It is a wide open Middle-earth and you guys can follow any course you want to go - even if it is not directly related to our opening scene.

[disench4nted]

It is a wide open Middle-earth and you guys can follow any course you want to go - even if it is not directly related to our opening scene.

To Mordor!

[Telcontar]

This changes the functioning of the Fellowship Phase a little bit and I dont know what the affect on the rest of the game will be. I have been anxiously awaiting the players companion for the section on Undertakings and Generational play.

In line with what Doug said I think from an RP perspective his anaylsis of Patrons makes sense. Do we formalize these and use the undertakings to do things like I did with Saruman?

I like the renown idea as a regional stat, how would this impact how we are and have been using Standing?

[Eclecticon]

This changes the functioning of the Fellowship Phase a little bit and I dont know what the affect on the rest of the game will be. I have been anxiously awaiting the players companion for the section on Undertakings and Generational play.

Likewise.  The main mechanical effect is that it becomes much easier for us to remove Shadow points.  Depending on which side of the screen you're on, this may not be a bad thing at all. 

In line with what Doug said I think from an RP perspective his anaylsis of Patrons makes sense. Do we formalize these and use the undertakings to do things like I did with Saruman?

I don't have a problem with that.  I think Meeting a Patron could also be used to allow repeated contact with someone who Doug didn't plan on us meeting regularly.  The Elvenking is a good example - ordinarily you might not even get into his hall without a good reason each time.  Take Thranduil as a Patron, though, and you can have a reasonable expectation of being allowed in to see him whenever you need to. 

I like the renown idea as a regional stat, how would this impact how we are and have been using Standing?

You could easily just mod Standing so that it applies in the character's 'home' region - in this case, the Western Eaves and mid-Anduin Vales - but I think that too easily divorces them from their ancestral haunts. 

My suggestion is that Standing applies to a character's home culture, plus any Sanctuaries that have been opened as an Undertaking.  This would mean that we're all well-known and respected in Rhosgobel, even if other Woodmen think we're a bunch of weirdos. 

I'd actually like to keep sanctuaries a bit rarer - again, this comes back to my understanding of the setting.  As I see it, it's only in the last few years that Wilderland has been anything like a nice, safe place to live.  It's not a standard, D&D-like fantasy world where adventurers are common and well-understood.  Most of the people we'll meet find the idea of a bunch of armed strangers showing up and not being utter dicks to them quite a novelty, as the opposite has been their consistent experience.  And even though we may stay somewhere peacefully for a while, people will still be thinking to themselves 'yes, well... we'll still keep the food/the silverware/the girls hidden away, because you never know...'

A sanctuary is something different - that's where we've spent time getting most, if not all, of the people on-side.  We're trusted and supported, and the people will help us get back on our feet when we show up tired, beaten up and sick of the adventuring life.  That's what we're buying with our collective undertaking. 

That said, I think it's reasonable to have some appear through the narrative - Mountain Hall and the Sunstead, for instance, both have good reasons to remember us fondly (and both have been described as giving us popular acclaim).  Tyrant's Hill, Beorn's House and even Black Tarn Hall I wouldn't count in the same category.  We may have been there, and we have a local to vouch for us, but we haven't built up that reserve of trust and understanding that makes a sanctuary special.  Maybe if our Standings were higher...

Ultimately, though, it's not my call.  And I don't think the game will suffer overly if things continue the way they are. 

[Eclecticon]

Oh, and the kids are fraternal.  I have it in my head that Lafwyne is going to grow up a lot like a female Arbogast, but that Cyffa will take much more after her mum. 

[GandalfOfBorg]

The reason I asked about sanctuaries is regarding the rule about removing corruption giving only one roll for returning home versus 2 when staying at a sanctuary.  If one's home is a sanctuary, you get hosed (relatively).

I'm good with the other changes, trusting y'all as I'm not as up on these rules.

[Telcontar]

I think there are some second and third order effects from changing the Fellowship undertakings and the standing rules. We should kick this around a little bit on the OOC board a bit more and see what shakes out.