Greetings all!

I realize the game itself is still fairly new, and not many have had a chance to run it yet, but I'm wondering - how have you handled the Fellowship phase?

When pitching the game to my crew (mostly my wife), and I try to describe the Fellowship phase, their reaction was like "why do you need mechanics to do that, why separate it out mechanically like that?"

And I struggle to answer it. While she likes Mouse Guard - the similar "post mission" phase in MG rubs her the wrong way. Should one maybe kind of "hide" the fact of the Fellowship phase, or is it tied into the game too much?

For the record - I love the idea, and again is very much in line with the source material...I think most of my group at least may need a little more convincing...

My answer would be:

You don't. Really.

But it does help you with "pacing" in the campaign. Since the campaign is supposed to last a certain number of years it would maybe become too easy too quickly if you don't control the pacing a little. Not that this would be such a disaster maybe but still.

I think that is primarily what it's for.

/wolf

That's what I was kind of thinking - but most of them have never played games such as Pendragon (on which this idea is based).

Ahh well - I'll figure out a way Though more insight would be helpful!

Btw Wolf - where bouts in Sverige are you (at least I think it was you who's in Sweden :S)

I'm in Göteborg.

Pendragon had a more natural feel to their "winter phase" since that is when you bring in the harvest, count your coppers and take care of your estates. For convenience sake they also bundled in childbirth etc into all that, but in general it felt like a natural thing to do.

The argument I always used was: "Adventuring? In winter time!? Are you mad? Now it's time to sit down in front of the fire, feast, swap stories, and enjoy a simple life. It's COLD outside. I'm not setting my foot out there."



/wolf

Yeah, do what feels best. Essentially it's just downtime like in any RPG and common in Tolkien's stories. Its the later which is why it works if more formalised IMO. The phases are strongly represented in the Hobbit and Lord of the Rings. But mechanically it much more flexible than MouseGuard and Pendragon, so go with what works best.

Greetings

I would think that fellowship phases can easily be portrayed as natural safe breaks with undertakings being handled as what PCs want to do while everyone recovers, replenishes, avoids the weather etc as in most RPGs. If the PCS aren't worried about home standing etc then travel back home isn't as important.

Regards

Edward

Hi Kalan,

The structure of Episodes and Fellowship Phases can be downplayed as much as you like. See 'Structure and the Experienced Gamer', Adventurer's Book p. 18.
Experienced gamers will take for granted the social things that are TOR 'Encounters' and the antisocial things that are 'Combats', and whatever bits of skill use, in-character roleplaying and general decision making might happen in amongst those.
TOR's 'Journey' mechanics are new. I think the risk is that experienced gamers will view them as just delaying the 'real' start of the Episode , and costing them Endurance where they've previously expected to be fresh as a daisy when first stepping into the adventure . Clearly we true lovers of Middle-earth will want to educate such crass combat-hounds -- but do it gently, with carrot and stick, since they're not used to it yet. (TOR offers the ability to bribe them as shamelessly as you like, with any characterful exercise of a skill netting them Advancement Points to spend on combat skills if that's what they really want...)

And to 'pitch' the Fellowship Phase, without necessarily calling it that (after all, it can be the time where they split up and each go back to their home territories!), I'd emphasise it as the time where the Loremaster hands the 'Storytelling Initiative' (p. 19) over to the players and lets them move the larger tale in their desired direction.
You already mentioned Mouse Guard, and we're all talking about Pendragon. Runequest 3 is in the same camp too, with the assumption that even 'heroes' are too sensible to journey in the wintry half of the year if they can help it, and have regular lives, and have to research and plan their expeditions over a fair period of downtime before setting off again, such that there's assumed to be only 10 weeks of the year open to actual 'adventuring'.
And since the emphasis in TOR is interestingly more on the gifts given you by your lord (Rewards for Valour) than on the treasures you loot from tombs and enemies (kiling things and taking their stuff), then you need to be in your Folk's good books in order to get the good stuff out of them.

If you have MERP 2nd Ed., see p. 77 where it talks about 'hierocratic exchange'. I got very satisfactory outcomes from working this approach with my players in a Dunland-based game a few years ago.
The principle is that the heroes and warband of a lord or king -- often referred to as a "ring-giver" -- live under his protection, and at his expense, and everything they do is in service to him (possibly in his capacity as the figurehead of the Folk, possibly more on a person loyalty basis). And then he rewards them as he sees fit. To the shock of players who expect to act like capitalist entrepreneurs in killing things to take their stuff this actually means that the heroes take all the gains back and lay it at the feet of their lord, who then he gives them something in return.
I have a sneaking suspicion that the numbers add up the same either way (if PCs were actually required to pay for their own mead and ale in between adventures etc.). But it's far more heroic to give away your gains than to money-grub it because you're saving up for a +1 sword from the magic item shop...

I may be getting carried away here. But Francesco's suggested 'rules' do look like they'll nicely ease people into a good representation of life in Middle-earth.

Players can have their characters do whatever they like during the (Fellowship Phase). Like it says under Undertakings, p. 171:
"Here is a list of typical endeavours that characters may choose during a Fellowship phase." (bold emphasis mine).

Cheers,
--Os.

It also helps, I think, to follow Francesco's lead and think about how Tolkien's own works fall into the Adventuring-Fellowship sequence. (Ursula Le Guin has talked about how the books have a rhythm like breathing: in for danger and out for sanctuary.)

For example, Frodo's quest in Book One of FOTR could be broken down as follows:

ADVENTURING PHASE 1: Journey across the Shire, encounters with Nazgul, Elves, and Farmer Maggott

FELLOWSHIP PHASE 1: Crickhallow

ADVENTURING PHASE 2: The Old Forest, encounters with Old Man Willow and Bombadil

FELLOWSHIP PHASE 2: Tom Bombadil's House

ADVENTURING PHASE 3: The Barrow Downs

FELLOWSHIP PHASE 3: Bree (although this really stretches the idea of a Fellowship phase)

ADVENTURING PHASE: 4: Midgewater Marshes, Amon Sul, Trollshaws, Ford of Bruinen

FELLOWSHIP PHASE 4: Rivendell

Looting the bodies! Curse you D&D (but thanks for spawning role-playing)!

TOR will cure players of looting the bodies... the walking arsenal with 12 swords and a spare set of armour will be Weary before he gets his sword out of his sheath!