Wild Adventures Core Rules

[jamesrbrown]

Here is something that I created awhile ago and just now put the finishing edits on. I truly hope it is a blessing to someone! Let me know what you think and if you have anything to add.

Wild Adventures (includes Lake-town tables)

You may notice that my Combat tables include a few adversaries that are not found in the official books. That's because I haven't made up stats for them yet! If you would like to help with this, please submit your ideas here and I may include them in the document and add you to the credits if you'd like.

ADDITIONAL TABLES:

Lands of the River by poosticks7
The Greatest of the Forests by poosticks7
Eastern Eriador by poosticks7
Kingdom of Dale by poosticks7, based on Rich H's Dale Supplement

[Glorelendil]

Wow! Impressive opus, James. Are you perchance a Pendragon fan?

I like the Attribute Focus concept. I have something somewhat analogous in my Delving rules...I may think about your version of it. Mind if I 'borrow' it?

[jamesrbrown]

I have read the Pendragon rpg and I have played it a tiny bit just to get the flow of the mechanics. It's pretty cool. I know Francesco is a huge fan.

Certainly you can borrow my ideas to mix with your own creations. No problem. From my perspective, I think we fans make a great team of tinkerers.

[Rue]

Wow, this is super fun and helpful! I think I'll have to roll up a couple of Wild Adventures just to play with the ideas. Thanks James--it's particularly useful for people like me who don't have a lot of spare time to create full adventures, but still like to dabble.

One minor copy edit I might suggest: on page 2 paragraph 2 you say the LM's adventure sheet is on the last page of the rules, which is true because after the Adventure Sheet the pagination restarts for the Tables, but is confusing since I assumed it was the last page of the document and there doesn't seem to be a reason for two sets of page numbers.

Thanks again for posting, very cool.

[jamesrbrown]

Wow, this is super fun and helpful! I think I'll have to roll up a couple of Wild Adventures just to play with the ideas. Thanks James--it's particularly useful for people like me who don't have a lot of spare time to create full adventures, but still like to dabble.

One minor copy edit I might suggest: on page 2 paragraph 2 you say the LM's adventure sheet is on the last page of the rules, which is true because after the Adventure Sheet the pagination restarts for the Tables, but is confusing since I assumed it was the last page of the document and there doesn't seem to be a reason for two sets of page numbers.

Thanks again for posting, very cool.

First off, you're welcome Rue! I hope you have fun with it. Secondly, thanks for pointing out the edit stuff. I can fix that very easily. Check back again soon and hopefully I'll have everything fixed.

EDIT: It's done! Re-numbered and the Adventure sheet is now on the last page.

[Wbweather]

Wow. That is really great stuff. I think I will definitely incorporate them in my DoM campaign as I try to add more material to the tale of years. Any plans on adding more tables for other regions of the map?

[jamesrbrown]

Wow. That is really great stuff. I think I will definitely incorporate them in my DoM campaign as I try to add more material to the tale of years. Any plans on adding more tables for other regions of the map?

Thanks Wbweather! Right now, I don't have any plans on adding new tables, but I was hoping other people might create some...

[jamesrbrown]

Here's an example of a Wild Adventure I created tonight:

I began by rolling a Success die on the Heroic Venture table and got these results for my adventure:

Part One: Encounter
Part Two: Combat
Part Three: Journey
Part Four: Combat

Then, I rolled for adventure seeds on the appropriate tables and added to my story outline:

Part One: Encounter with Volunteer Wife
Part Two: Combat with Marsh-ogres on the hunt; they are Full of Hate (+1 Hate each) and Weakened (less Endurance than usual)
Part Three: Journey to find a hammer and anvil
Part Four: Combat with easily ambushed Hobgoblins

Next, I rolled on the Company Challenge table to determine the main purpose for this adventure and I rolled the Search (missing people, treasure, Lore, etc.) result.

I used all of these main ingredients to form my Wild Adventure outline. After thinking for a few moments, here's what I came up with (each part is summarised here, but if I were playing this out, improvisation could drastically change things and I would have to be ready to go with it):

The Song of Hammer and Anvil

Part One: A Broken Smith
On a particularly cloudy day in Esgaroth, the companions visit the town hospital by invitation of a prominent woman named Runa, who is a volunteer healer, and the wife of a town official. Runa is caring for a man who is wounded and feverish: a smith from a village south of town who claims to have been attacked by large Goblins that carried off his magical hammer and anvil while leaving him for dead. They said their master needed it for something important. These tools are very special and valuable to him, passed down from many generations before him. He swears that all weapons made with them have sharper edges. Without them, he has lost all purpose and may even lose the will to live. If the companions recover these tools and rid the village of the Hobgoblin threat, they may help to restore his hope and become heroes to the hospital's volunteer wives of Lake-town. Just before the man falls into a deep sleep, he whispers these words: "When the magic hammer strikes the anvil, the sparrow sings it's song."

The outcome of the opening encounter with the woman should give the player-heroes rewards and blessings. Maybe something like this, according to their successes:

0-1 Runa is slightly concerned about the company's ability and offers only a small purse of coin equal to 1 point of Treasure if they complete the quest before the man dies.
2-3 All the wives are satisfied with the outcome and contribute to a reward equal to 1 point of Treasure for each of the companions if they complete the quest before the man dies.
4-6 As above, and Runa offers the companions free care at the hospital and lodgings at her residence for the winter. She mentions that her husband would also be very interested to speak with them about future assignments.
7+ Runa is very impressed with the player-heroes; apply the results above, and she gives them a bottle of Reedmace, enough for the entire company to benefit for the entire Adventuring phase (see Lake-town page 21).

Part Two: Hungry Ogres
Beyond the southern shores of the lake, along an opening path through the bogs in the direction of the man's village, the player-heroes come upon a hunting party of hungry, hate-filled Ogres. These creatures of legend have been stirred out of their holes in the marsh and are scouting dangerously close to Lake-town.

Part Three: A Wondrous Search
The journey through the Long Marshes on the eastern edge of Mirkwood is dangerous and hard, but it is only 25 miles and will only take a little over 2 days to arrive at the abandoned village. This requires 1 Fatigue test at a severe TN 18 difficulty. The Loremaster can also make 3 rolls of the Feat die to determine if it is a Blighted area (use the rules found on page 224 of TOR). If so, they must make 1 Corruption test each day of travel at TN 14 or gain 1 Shadow point.

The search for the hammer and anvil should be spontaneously narrated and the player-heroes given opportunities to propose tasks of search, explore, and whatever else seems appropriate. The final clue should be the sound of a sparrow; but this also brings a sudden revelation of horror that the tools are in current use!

Part Four: The Camp of Nasty Goblins
In a final scene, the companions gain the advantage to ambush a camp full of Hobgoblins busy sharpening weapons using the magic hammer and anvil. Some try to escape west towards the Mountains of Mirkwood after the arrival of some Great Bats.

Epilogue
After defeating the Hobgoblins and recovering the hammer and anvil, the company should return to Esgaroth with the items and to collect their rewards. Use the same numbers for the return journey.

[Wbweather]

I think I might have a go at making up some other region tables when I get some time.

[jamesrbrown]

Here's a short Wild Adventure I created at the breakfast table this morning:

I began by rolling a Success die on the Heroic Venture table and got these results for my adventure:

Part One: Combat
Part Two: Journey
Part Three: Encounter

Then, I rolled for adventure seeds on the appropriate tables and added to my story outline:

Part One: Combat with a swarm of Sting-flies
Part Two: Journey to find a hoard of treasure
Part Three: Encounter a Loremaster character who is soaked and bruised

Next, I rolled on the Company Challenge table to determine the main purpose of the adventure and I rolled the Destroy (enemies, locations, cursed items, etc.).

Putting all this together, here's what I came up with:

The Merchant's Secret Stash

Part One: A Curious Bag
The companions find themselves exploring an area of Mirkwood 40 miles west of Lake-town just south of the Forest River. Perhaps they are on an assignment from the Elvenking or they are on their way to Esgaroth after a long and tiring journey. In any case, as they cut through an especially tangled section of woods, they stir up a nest of Sting-flies: terrible flying insects with a painful and disorienting bite. They must fight off the frenzy of creatures for as long as it takes them to reach the river and get into the water.

Caught on the bank of the river is a leather satchel marked with initials from an important merchant from Lake-town. Inside is found a letter containing a farewell to the merchant's wife in case he should not return to Esgaroth. It also states the purpose of his journey so far from home: after recently considering their financial struggles, he went to collect some of the remaining treasure he buried in "the tree of crowns, beyond the enchanted stream" in Mirkwood.

Part Two: Coins of Darkness
The company must travel 40 miles upriver, past the enchanted stream and begin to look for "the tree of crowns." After a grueling exploration, they find the tree and evidence that the merchant has been here recently, but most likely robbed. Some of the gold coins remain, however, and when the player-heroes touch them, they are cursed by them, for they were originally stolen from the hoard of a Marsh-Ogre of considerable hate (although, they do not know this information yet). The cursed coins have a 2 point Shadow taint (see Rivendell page 103) and can only be destroyed by killing the Ogre...

Part Three: A Dying Wish
After searching the area, the player-heroes discover the merchant soaked and dying of bloody wounds to his body. The player-heroes must introduce themselves and convince the merchant that they are friends and not bandits. He asks them to bring his letter to his wife in Lake-town, and to destroy the Troll and lift the curse. Before the company leaves, he gives them the location of the Ogre's dwelling.

Epilogue
The company travels to Lake-town to complete the merchant's dying wish, to heal, and to prepare for their next Adventuring phase: a hunt for the Marsh-Ogre.

ALTERNATE ENDING: Perhaps even better would be to change the bit about the Marsh-Ogre and make the Tree of Crowns a cursed location that taints all treasure found beneath its roots. In this case, the company must destroy the tree to lift the curse...but the tree fights back, threatening to strangle the heroes and swallow them beneath the ground.