Tale of the Ghost Hall [and Encounter Mechanics]

[tomcat]

The details of this post are for characters to unveil through Lore checks (TN 16-18), but also upon encountering the Hall of Ghosts and struggling against it.

In the middle-days of the Third Age, when the Éothéod still lived upon the plains of Rhovanion and begun to cut into Greenwood the Great, creating the East Bight, there was a selfish and cruel master of Men. His name was Aldor and he had three sons, all of which shared in his greed and selfishness. Along with his sons, Aldor had five strong retainers - good with bow and steel.

His house was great and there were many folk that kept residence there, but for most it was out of fear to leave and need for shelter. For there was no other house near at hand, only the terrifying vastness of Greenwood sat close by and these men only dared to enter its eaves.

The cruel master kept his people well enough, but it was hard on them. What was worse, Aldor's greed and bitterness grew stronger over the years. When the first of his sons was slain, it became even harder for the Folk of Aldor. By the time his last son had pre-deceased the master, he treated all as animals. Hatred and bitterness ruled the hall and none would he let escape. Even as his strong-arms grew old and weak themselves, the folk of Aldor were so broken of spirit that they did not leave, or contest the old man's rule.

It is said the fire was of natural cause, but there are none with living memory of the night. The House of Aldor bloomed into a great pyre and Aldor, feeble of body, was unable to leave his bed even as the flames surrounded. He cried out to any of his folk to aid him. He called to offer riches. He called out curses in vain. Aldor died screaming in his hall.

Outside the wooden structure, the folk of Aldor watched and listened as the old man cried for help, but none did they offer. Years of cruelty and suffering had numbed their hearts to the master. Some walked away into the night and never were seen by their kin again. Others stood and watched until the house was consumed, speaking curses of their own upon Aldor and all of those who served him or were of his blood.

The cruelty of it all is that even in their freedom, they were bound by their mutual curses. The sad spirits of those that watched him die were tied to the cruel strength of Aldor's shadow.

In the Halls of Thranduil, there are some Elves that remember this night, if you can get them to stop their merriment long enough to speak of it. From the green eaves of the wood, the Elves watched as Men let their own be consumed alive.

------------------

Woodmen of Mirkwood speak of the Hall of Ghosts. It appears when there are any who need shelter or safety. What lies within the hall is a mystery, as no man has ever walked out alive.

Some say it is a house of weal and provides for those that find its shade. Others say it is woe and is best left abandoned. But again, there are none to confirm such tales.

[tomcat]

Hall of Ghosts Encounters

Any party of travelers that are lost, famished, or struggling within the bounds of Mirkwood might find themselves at the door of the House of Aldor.

If they ignore the structure and struggle on, the Loremaster may decide to have the Hall reappear before them at a later time within their journey - or it may never appear again to them.

If anyone enters the hall, the following encounter rules begin:

• First, as each individual enters, they will find themselves within a dark hall and by themselves. Faintly - ghostly - they may hear the cries of their companions as they call out in search of their friends.

• Second, each character within the hall must all make a Valour [Fear] test TN 16 (or 18), as terrible visions appear before them. If failed, the character is considered Daunted and may not use any Hope during the rest of the encounter with the Hall of Ghosts. If the roll resulted in an , the Loremaster may determine the result as a Bout of Madness.

The visions the character sees should be something that could be misconstrued as a selfish or cruel act that the character might have performed. This vision will manifest as a ghostly spectre that has cruel intentions of torment and quickly attacks  with initiative.

• At this point, the character has the option to defend himself and attack in reply, or try to reason with the ancient spirits that create the dread hall. A Lore check TN 16 may be rolled to see if the character has any previous knowledge of this legendary place, or just remember spooky bedtime tales. If the Valour test was a failure above and a Bout of Madness occurs, there is no choice but to fight back.

• The Hall of Ghosts will be treated as an Adversary and has the following stats: Attribute Level 6 Endurance 40 Hate 10 Parry 6 Armour 2d Weapon 1 Special Abilities Reckless Hate, Great Might, Great Size, Thing of Terror (TN 16 - 18)

• The Hall can spend its Hate points at need to activate its abilities, but they are one of the keys to diminishing the evil spirit. If the Hall is reduced to 0 Hate, it acquiesces and releases its captives. If it is reduced to 0 Endurance, it will also release those caught within.

• Each PC will have a choice to try and either beat their terrible ghostly vision in melee, or use the Encounter Mechanics to overcome its tolerance and thus reduce its Hate. Each character inside, though they are 'alone' will still be working together against the singular set of statistics above.

• If the character uses melee - maybe they have to because of madness - then they will have to struggle in normal combat with their visionary opponent. The opponent might be a spectral soldier and may not seem to be harmed by any attacks, but the Loremaster will apply all damages as normal.

• If the character chooses to pursue an Encounter, the Loremaster will apply those rules. A Lore or Insight test TN 14 may be rolled for bonus dice. An introduction must be successfully made by the character using Awe, Courtesy or Riddle TN 16. If failed, the character must forget this option and must face the encounter as a melee. The Introduction success does not apply to the Tolerance of the Encounter. If successful, the Interactions may occur using Awe, Persuade, Riddle, or Song TN 16. The Tolerance of the encounter is equal to the highest Valour rating of all the companions (this includes those that are outside the hall and did not enter). The Loremaster is free to include any modifiers based on Standing, prejudice, or any other as she pleases.

• While the character is reasoning with the Hall in the encounter, the Hall will still attack. Each party will get to make their Interaction roll and then must fend off a vicious attack. Their defense rating will be TN 9+ parry rating. Each successful Interaction roll will not add to an overall degree of success, instead it will diminish the Hall's Hate score: -1 on success, -2 on great success, -3 on extraordinary success.

• If reduced to 0 Hate -OR- to 0 Endurance, the Hall will acquiesce to ALL the characters and offer a boon of any type - treasure, foreshadowing vision, a place to rest that offers extra healing or reduction of fatigue, etc. The Loremaster may determine the award. The darkness that surrounded them all and isolated them will fade and each will see the other within the longhouse. Aid can be given to those in need.

• If a character is slain within the Hall, their spirit is joined with the sad place and it will also haunt the woods until the world is unmade. If the Tolerance is not overcome, the character is trapped within the hall and so will no longer see beyond the windows and cracks of the world outside, until they finally perish - or could be rescued by some new hero? The Loremaster will have to decide this outcome.

[tomcat]

As I said to Paul, the Hall of Ghosts is some thin material to work with - both mechanically and as a story element, so I created the above. Let's see how it works out.

I did not want to give you guys a mechanical picture of this, but I wanted you all to understand what is happening and where I am coming up with stuff.

Know, too, that if something I have above is broken, I will fix it during play. That is not to say I am going to weigh the odds against you, I just want to see your characters challenged and I want you to have fun.

All of this now typed - I am going to start running each of your individual scenes. I am going to update each header post to list the current status of the characters and the Hall, just like any normal engagement.

[tomcat]

Situation: The company has entered the Hall of Ghosts

Encounter/Combat Advantage dice:
• Grimbeorn 1/1 die

Situation Modifiers:
• The Hall has Initiative
• Encounter Tolerance is 1/5

Physical Modifiers (complications):
• none

PC/NPC		PARRY		ARMOUR		HOPE		END		STANCE
Anar Arbogast Grimbeorn Hathcyn	• • • •	5 (shield n/a) 6 (shield +3) 4/7 [giant strength] (shield +4) 4 (shield n/a)	• • • •	3d (helm n/a) 2d (helm +1) 2d (helm n/a) 2d (helm n/a)	• • • •	8/8 11/16 5/12 10/13	• • • •	12/30 WEARY 13/26 WOUNDED 15/31 MISERABLE 23/29	• • • •	Defensive encounter TN encounter TN Forward

ENEMY		PARRY		ARMOUR		HATE		END	NOTES
Hall of Ghosts	•	6	•	2d	•	3/10	•	31/40	• none

STANCES

Forward - action order 1 Close combat TN 6+ parry Forward Stance maneuvers

Open - action order 2 Close combat TN 9+ parry Open Stance maneuvers

Defensive - action order 3 Close combat TN 12+ parry Defensive Stance maneuvers

Rearward - action order 4 Ranged combat Must be 2 other PC's in Close Combat May not use if outnumbered 2:1 TN 12+ parry Rearward Stance maneuvers

From any Stance Escape combat Must start in Rearward or roll TN 10 + highest attribute level of opponents Athletics roll. On success, may safely flee from the scene of combat

I am going to roll Anar's contributions here to this encounter/melee...

First his Fear roll
This dice roll has been tampered with!
Rolled 1d12 : 3, total 3
Rolled 1d6 : 3, total 3

Next the houses attack on him in his Open stance:

TN 14 1d
This dice roll has been tampered with!
1d12 : 2, total 2
Rolled 1d6 : 4, total 4
5  edge: 9  injury: 14

His attack back...

TN 15 great axe 2d
This dice roll has been tampered with!
1d12 : 11, total 11
Rolled 2d6 : 2, 3, total 5
9  edge:   injury: 20

[tomcat]

In this first go, it should be a 14 result for the Hall, which causes Anar 5 loss.

[Eclecticon]

I wondered why it was only using one die and no Attribute bonus.  I assumed it was because he was outside. 

[GandalfOfBorg]

Can you employ Defensive Fighting to counter the attacks while trying to negotiate with the house?

[tomcat]

I am going to say no on that, Matt, just to keep with the original idea in the Darkening book. In the book, your just supposed to take the hits and damage. I am ruling that you at least get the Open Stance TN plus your parry rating. To me it assumes you are making your debate with the hall all the while keeping yourself as protected as possible.

[tomcat]

ROUND 2

As the house has the initiative on everyone, let me do the next round of attacks and you guys can then give me your actions.

We will not be doing individual rounds in this thread, but I will header my post within each with the current round number.

Again Anar is attacked and he resists...
TN 14 1d+8

1d12 : 11, total 11
Rolled 1d6+8 : 6 + 8, total 14

5   edge: 9   injury: 14

His attack back...
TN 15 2d

1d12 : 7, total 7
Rolled 2d6 : 5, 4, total 9

9   edge:   Injury: 20

[tomcat]

Yikes! The Hall has dealt a piercing, great success

Anar suffers 13 loss and must make a  TN 14

TN 14 3d

1d12 : 6, total 6
Rolled 3d6 : 5, 1, 6, total 12

He returns 9 loss to the Hall

[Eclecticon]

ROUND 3

The struggle continues outside the Ghost hall: 

The Hall
TN 17 1d+8

1d12 : 3, total 3
Rolled 1d6+8 : 1 + 8, total 9

5, Edge 9, Injury 14


Anar
TN 18 1d+8

1d12 : 10, total 10
Rolled 2d6 : 1, 5, total 6

9, Edge , Injury 20

[Eclecticon]

The struggle outside the Hall continues inconclusively, as both combatants seek self-preservation over harm to their enemy. 

[tomcat]

Actually, Anar hits with his attack.

The Hall's defense TN is 15 and the Dwarf just made it causing 9 loss

Nope - forgot about Great Might

[Eclecticon]

How do you figure he made the TN?  I have it at 18 (base parry of 6, plus 12 for Anar being in Defensive stance).  Anar rolled a total of 16.

Just checking whether I've missed something.

[tomcat]

I was thinking he was in Open stance.