Hey gang; just some questions for game-play ideas. I have a new player joining the fellowship. This is a player that’s very interested in learning the game – will probably be a new addict to it so I want to give a very good first impression. He’s also wanting to try it as a player for the purpose of learning and transitioning to be a Loremaster for another group of acquaintances.

Some Common Skills and Traits are easier to conceptualize in-game use than others. I would like some ideas from the community on how to develop situations to utilize some of his:


HERO:
Male – Woodman – Seeker – Wanderer
Val: 1 / Wis: 2 (Virtue: Natural Watchfulness)
Specialties: Beast-Lore, Leechcraft, Folk-Lore
Distinctive Features: Adventurous, Bold


Leechcraft – is that as simple as allowing him to activate his trait for a Healing skill check?

Folk-Lore – Fellowship is heading towards the outskirts of Dorwinion (at the confluence of the River Running and Red River). What kind of tidbit of useful info could I provide the player about Dorwinion that would be useful???

Adventurous – Obviously I know what the word means – but applying this feature In-Game – what kind of scenario could be presented that would allow him to make an obvious use of the trait?

Natural Watchfulness – I’m guessing this is a Once-per-Day type deal. “during the day you may make AN Explore check….” As opposed to “during the day you may make Explore checks to….” Regardless – I think I can adjudicate this one well enough – it’s fairly descriptive. I just wanted to make sure that I’m not restricting it too much – nor allow it to dominate the game to where it’s too useful.

Thanks in advance for all help.

Also, while i'm being a complete leech for ideas, I figured I'd just hit you up with another plea for help:

The next game (Friday) will find the heroes in a desperate attmept to liberate a few sailors of a river wine barge who were captured by bandits near Dorwinion.


Can anyone provide some ideas for a situation where the PCs will have to invade a bandits lair/hideout or other? Who are the bandits? Dorwinions? Servants of the shadow? Were they looking for ransom?

I'm asking YOU in hopes that you may have more of an idea as to who or what non-good people in that area may be a part of. Are there notorious bandits or uncivilized barbarians of that nature in the area?


(The heroes will be a town that I am placing at the confluence of the River Running and Red River - they are after a missing elf who was looking into the disappearance of his wine shipments. The barge that carried the elf has had its crew captured, and the captain is begging the PCs to liberate them, and they may then be able to tell the heroes what happened to the elf.)

I searched online for info on Dorwinion and found that it is not even sure whether the inhabitants of that land are elves or men. All that is known is that it was a very fertile land of gardens and vineyards, and that Dorwinion wine was traded with the dwarves and with the elves of Mirkwood. If they are elves then I am not sure you could really have any "bad" people there acting as bandits, as I doubt the elves would do such a thing themselves or tolerate outsiders doing it.

You could have the area populated by men who were once part of the lands of Gondor long ago (apparently Gondor's reach might have been that far at one time, according to one source I found). The bandits could be Easterlings, who sometimes raid Dorwinion for its wines.

This article is pretty well informed, and suggests it was an Elven Kingdom. I don't think that helps your story much.

Was Dorwinion an Elf Kingdom

Thanks for the replies Geekdad.

Here's how I envision things to work out in my games (without specifics of who or when)


History:
Dowinion was indeed an elven populace in ancient times.

Men migrated in - the elves migrated out.

Elven settlements have mostly disappeared or destroyed over time.

At the confluence of the two main rivers, there is a hodgepodge port town - which is actually on the outskirts of Dorwinion - not in the heart of. It is ripe for a number of urban encounters, and possibilities to happen outside the town in the hills, fields, and woods that are nearby since the town serves as a melting pot of cultures, and trade.



Plot Design:
A notorious band of brigands (thieves? ransomers? pillagers/looters? Terrorists...??) is nearby in a camp.

I think i will use them at descendands of the those who fought on the Celebrant fields against Eorl. Easterlings, Wainriders......i'm thinking Balchoth ancestors. (since my story includes a Rider of Rhovanion in search of an ancestral blade to bury with an ancestor I can see that storyline weaving into the story of Eorl vs the Balchoths).

The "thugs" in the one of the Tales of the Wilderland adventures is perfect to serve as the stat-blocks. I'll just need a good story for a leader of them, a place to call their home/camp/fort/hide-out, and a better story as to what their role is in the area.


Thats mostly what I was trying to troll (fishing term of trolling - not internet hating) for tidbits of ideas from everyone.

I was hoping that at least one of the loremasters out there had had a player enact one of these traits so as to share a legitimate circumstance for when these would be appropriate to be used so that i could draw from those for coming up with analogous situations appropriately for them. Has anyone actually seem these in play yet?

Well, one of my players is an "Adventurous" Barding and he's invoked that trait a couple of times, but I honestly can't remember the specifics. An Explore roll perhaps? I know he's the group's Scout, and has the best Explore of the bunch.

That same character also has Folk-Lore, and the one time I remember him invoking that was to lift the spirits of some Woodmen (before the big battle in Words of the Wise, I think) with a culturally-appropriate song. He may have used it another time too, but again I can't remember the specifics.

Nobody in my group has Leech-craft, but it seems like invoking it to heal wounded companions would be a pretty effective use.

Leechcraft - I would allow its use where the PC could highlight their cultural healing skills, generally where they have time to use herbs, advanced healing techniques and have an opportunity to diagnose the ailment. It may not be appropriate to all Healing checks, especially first aid for Wounds in the field.

Adventurous - I would allow this when the PC was taking a particular adventurous course of action, especially when there were other courses of action available that we're just as good if not better. This would generally be situations which are new, untested and dangerous.

Natural Watchfulness - I agree it once per day.

Folk Lore
For Travel
— Automake: the lore roll for travel through settled lands (hitching rides or getting useful directions
— Learn From: earn AP from rolling lore rolls while travelling in settled lands
For Social
— To get a social roll after running out of tolerance (You know how to find someone cooperative)
— To learn from the common folk whose tales you're gathering (AP on a folk lore)
— To automatically find someone telling a useful tale to your situation (Autosuccess)

Adventurous
— Automake travel roll when going someplace new and neither weary nor miserable
— learn from just about anything novel to the character.

Leechcraft
— Automake a healing roll when leeches are available
— Allow a healing roll above and beyond normal limits (IE, after rolling a failed healing roll - This is "allow roll that otherwise couldn't)
— learn from some healing roll you made.

It is worth noting that "Leechcraft" does not directly refer to the use of leeches. That's how the term originated, but it most commonly refers to the physician's art of healing generally.

Re: Adventurous

The Scouting Movement motto of 'Be Prepared' springs to mind. A character with this trait simply has a better grasp and understanding of what an adventure actually entails. This is the sort of person who might, conceivably, have had the foresight to imagine what hardships might occur and have packed his/her kit accordingly. This may have ben passed on as words of wisdom from an elderly relative.
Invoking this trait allows a character to have something useful in his pack in almost any circumstance, from a ball of string to a tinderbox, from a candle to a length of rope.
A very important and useful trait to have in a game with virtually no emphasis on equipment.

I think this is brilliant and exactly what I would associate with Samwise!

One other thing to remember about the autosuccess mechanic - it is, to a great extent, self limiting.

When you use traits to succeed, you have chosen to learn nothing new from that task, instead relying upon what you already know.

This has seriously impacted my party's willingness to use it - they instead want to be able to learn from their actions... and so take risks they can't really afford, in hopes of self-improvement.

Likewise, for those who need to succeed, they won't learn from it, won't have great or exceptional successes, and won't fail...

It's an interesting decision.

Yeah, in my group it's more likely to be used with skills that a player doesn't have many ranks in. If they have a reasonable shot at getting an AP, they'll usually go for it. A few times they've also used traits to auto-succeed at things that they just really needed to work out in their favor.

Though my Beorning player balks at the idea of fleeing from combat, I'm just waiting for the day when they're obviously overwhelmed and he uses his "Swift" trait to automatically flee from combat...