I haven't run one yet, but I'm running two games this week so I'm making some decisions about how to handle a few of the looser aspects of the game. One big area is Journeys.

I'm think of running them one Fatigue test at a time, and stopping when a Hazard comes up. For an example I'll use the first sample Journey on page 37 of the Loremaster's Book, travelling in Autumn.

First leg, just one test, narrate the journey a bit, if there is a Hazard, resolve it.

Second leg, four tests, have the players roll each test as a group, one test at a time. What I mean is all three players will roll the first test together. Assuming there is no Hazard, they roll the second test together. No one gets ahead of anyone else in number of tests. If they run into a Hazard, we stop, resolve it, and then roll any remaining tests for that leg.

Does this make sense? It seems to preserve the narrative a bit more than just rolling them all at once, though it definitely is slower than saying, "You walk from the Lonely Mountain to Beorn's House, roll seven Fatigue tests."

What do you guys think?

Though there is some debate over the matter, I believe that what you describe is how it is intended to be done. So, I think its a good idea.

Excellent, thanks for reassuring me.

Is anyone else seeing a sort of "hexcrawl" aspect to this part of the game? It brings back memories of going hex-by-hex across Greyhawk or the Isle of Dread, rolling for random encounters and mapping points of interest along the way. I understand that the Journeys system is more sophisticated and is there for the story, but there are still some similarities.

Not that I want that hexcrawl style of play, but it would be useful to have hex numbers or column/row numbering on the Loremaster's map to keep track of what happens where.

That is certainly part of the appeal for me too.

One of the important aspects of Journeys IMO is by slowing down the narrative, you give both players and the GM more opportunity to respond to recent events and actions, and evolve the story in an organic way.

IRT Skywalker: The debate in question not really being a debate at all.

The only thing I'm (and I'm of course assuming you mean our debate Skywalker ) hammering on about is that I lack guidelines on how to apply the rules given.

And other peoples questions, such as this, is fuel on my fire.

IRT Narl: I think you are running it like it was meant to be run too. But it does raise a few questions on some of the Hazards, and it also raises questions of recovery from a possible Battle Encounter. You need to keep track of how many nights (Rests) you have between each Fatigue Test so you know if Characters are still Weary for instance, and some Hazard halve that number... and if you throw that in there after you already spent half your rests... I don't know.

I guess we just have to wing it and find out. And have discussions like this amongst other players to get some sort of feel for what works and what doesn't.

What ticks me off (like I said) is that I would have expected something like that to be in the actual rules... i.e. a discussion about how to apply the rules in a practical sense; even if that means telling me they are loose and should be applied as LM sees fit because in the end it doesn't really matter.

/wolf

If you are on a 10 day journey and you get uncomfortable lodgings on day 3, you can't recover Endurance on days 4 to 8.

If you are on a 10 day journey and you get uncomfortable lodgings on day 7, you can't recover Endurance on days 8 to 10. Journey's end would necessitate the end of the effect pretty clearly IMO.

So loose half the number of rests (10/2=5) if possible else loose as many as possible. All lost nights should be bundled together after the hazard occurs.

Sure I can see that working, makes it a little easier to keep track of than loosing every other night for instance...

/wolf

This is how it was run in the demo I played in at Gencon, and is also how I ran it in the demo I ran locally, so it sounds right to me. I plan to do the same thing when my game starts up in a couple of weeks.

If one of the Hazards is a combat encounter, has anyone decided (or figured out yet) if you should apply the effects of failed Fatigue rolls during such an encounter, or do we still wait until the end of travel?

Personally, I view a hazard as an episode and I will be applying the effects during the hazard.

I don't know what the official line is, but I'd probably go ahead and have the added Fatigue affect them in the combat. Doing otherwise would make my simulationy self uncomfortable.

John

Yes, I would consider a hazard an episode. The AB references a 'hazard episode' as part of the journey phase, so I would apply the failed fatigue roll to it. Seems to stress the hardship of long journies that much more to do so.

Good deal, that is pretty much the only question about Jounrneys that I had...

I'm in the process of preparing my campaign. My approach is similar to Narl's. The heroes will be departing Woodmen-town late summer and traveling to Dale. (Hopefully they make it before winter sets in!)

Using the TOR langauge, the first half of the adventure (Woodmen-town to the Mountains of Mirkwood along the Old Forest Road) involves two narrative sequences and two episodic sequences. Each narrative is essentially a journey: First is a journey north to the Old Forest Road. The second takes the heroes from a planned encounter on the Old Forest Road to the entry into the Mountains of Mirkwood.

For the journey to the Old Forest Road, all players will make their first fatigue test at the outset, and the results will flavor how I narrate this leg of the joutrney. If the roll generates a hazard, I will draw it into the narrative when the timing seems right. Whatever hazards beset the heroes along this leg will remain with them unless they choose to "pull" the story out of its narrative sequence (and possibly delay the overall quest) to take action and counter any adverse affects. The second leg will begin with the second Fatigue Test and this will again color the narrative that completes the journey to the Old Forest Road.

Whether they arrive to their first destination (the Old Forest Road) when planned and in what condition will depend a lot on how they interact with the two legs of the journey.

As a side note regarding the rules on prlonged rest, I am interpreting "prolonged rest" to exclude having to field sentires at night. This creates another critical decision for the heroes as it relates to the journey: to set a watch or not during the journey, to allow some to rest while others have sentry duty, the consequences of no night watch, etc. IMO this really draws into the narrative heightened moments of difficult choice similar to those we read about in the Hobbit and the LOTR: the dwarves not posting any sentires while taking refuge in a cave and the Goblins that ambush them, Sam choosing to let Frodo sleep while he stays awake, an unexpected encounter (e.g., Faramir) that allows a Frodo and Sam finally to let their guard down and rest together.

I would be interested to here some thoughts on my interpretation of prolonged rest...

Most players set watch and share the burden throughout the night.

Sitting by the fire and smoking pipeweed, even if on watch, are rest of sorts, so I would not deprive them of the benefits of 'prolonged rest'.

Let them have their endurance recovery!

But fatigue is recovered only in a safe place, not in camp on the road.

This is just as I see it as well.

I like that, it provides a tangible impact to specialties like smoking or even cooking...

That's how I see some of those traits working.

A chance meeting in the wilds with a stranger is more likely to go well if you offer him a finely cooked meal or share tales while smoking pipeweed.

If they are not encouraged to do so, when will players ever pick: cooking, gardening, smoking or story telling? (Well, one in my group has taken cooking, which works nicely with the fisherman and the fire maker!)