Hello, everyone. I'm planning to run my first adventure on Saturday, set a bit early than the default point listed in the rules. It's the spring after the Battle of Five Armies, and a large caravan is heading from Rohan to Dale, bringing supplies essential for rebuilding both Lake-town and the ruins of Dale. The characters will be joining the caravan as potential craftsman contributing to the rebuilding of Dale, guards protecting the caravan on its journey, or both.

I would like to give a soft introduction to the Journey rules, and it seems that traveling with a caravan is going to be easier than travel with a small group. Do I run the Journey rules as written? Do I just handwave the trip, since a lot of the problems that occur during a Journey would be minimized or negated? Or do I pick something in the middle?

If you really want to introduce them to the journeys rules, just customise any hazards to fit a caravan scenario. Really, a caravan would take just as many days to reach a destination (maybe more) than if the company were travelling alone. But, since the player-heroes are not alone, you could lower the hazard TNs by a level or two to simulate help.

Give Francesco's Journeys Revisited 3.0 a try, while you're at it.

I was thinking that the normal Journey rules should be used the first time around, and then once the players have had a chance to see them, we'd try the alternative rules. Customizing the hazards and lowering the TN sounds like a good way to go.

Next question - a long time ago (when Decipher had the license) I calculated that it would take a caravan two months to go from the border of Rohan to Lake-town in the spring. Does that sound about right? That's a LOT of rolls to go through for a group playing TOR for the first time.

I would say the trip is somewhere around 700 miles across easy terrain and 110 miles through moderate terrain (if they follow the southern edge of Mirkwood east and then north to Esgaroth, the last part of the trip going through the Upper Marches). Travelling about 25 miles per day (assuming their will be heavy carts of supplies and horses*), the first leg of the trip will only take 28 days. In spring, that's 6 Fatigue rolls each (TN 12). The last leg will be modified (110 miles x 1.5 = 165 miles) to 165 miles for moderate terrain. That will take another 7 days and only 2 more Fatigue tests (TN 14).

So, the total trip will only take 35 days and they will all make 8 Fatigue rolls. To me - that's fun! I have found that my players love making rolls and 8 of them would be awesome. It adds something to the danger of the journey, without seeming ridiculous.

Again, if you want, you can lower the TN of the Fatigue tests to simulate help from the NPCs.

What gets a little out-of-hand sometimes, is that players are entitled to 2 actions per day to use skills (LB 37). That would be 70 entitled rolls per player-hero for this trip alone! As a Loremaster, you can put limits on this and I recommend it.

*I picked 25 miles per day because it was somewhere between 20 miles per day on foot and 40 miles per day on horseback. I thought the caravan would move slightly faster than foot simply because walkers could always switch with someone else and ride the back of a wagon or horse.

Sounds like a really fun idea for a campaign!

Don't have much to add to what James said, except that I don't think a caravan would exceed walking pace and might actually be slower. Large groups, whether on foot or riding, will generally move much more slowly than small ones unless they have special training. Being on carts and horses doesn't make up for that - it's more of an organisational issue.

He means the Hobbits don't want to wake up early and once you finally do get them up they want multiple breakfasts. Meanwhile the dwarfs are hung-over from the previous night's drinking and are not steady on their feet - particularly after seeing and smelling the Hobbit Breakfast. Of course the Men have visibly aged overnight and, opposite and equally, the Elves remain perfectly unchanged. The Men are threatening, if they have to face another morning of having to shave while the Elves dust themselves off and look like they've just had 8 hours of primping, that relations are going to devolve into chaos.

Well, more chaos.

So, here's what I've written up for the journey section of my module:

Journey
The journey is roughly 830 miles, following the southern edge of Mirkwood east and then north to the ruins of Dale, with the last 130 miles going through the Upper Marches. Including the last leg of the journey through more difficult terrain, this is the equivalent of 900 miles of travel. Caravans travel slowly, but Anvar has managed to keep the caravan moving equivalent to walking pace (20 miles per day). Thus, assuming no problems, the caravan should take 45 days. Since the trip is taking place during the spring, this is a total of nine Fatigue tests. Given that the characters are traveling with a large caravan instead of a small group, the TN for each test is reduced by 4. That reduces all the tests to the minimum TN of 10. Each failed test increases the character's Fatigue by 1 (assuming standard traveling gear).
Instead of rolling all the tests at once, it is suggested that the players roll the first five Fatigue tests, deal with any hazards along the way, and then the Loremaster can move to Part Two. Once they are finished with Part Two, roll the remaining tests, including any additional tests caused by an increase in time (due to failed Lore rolls or hazards).

Caravan Hazards
Broken Wheel (All Companions) – One of the caravan wagons breaks a wheel, or even an axle. It takes a TN 14 Craft check to fix the wagon so it can be used. Failure means the contents of the wagon are distributed among the people in the caravan, counting as an extra encumbrance point of traveling gear. This will increase the Fatigue gained from any future failed tests from 1 to 2. This lasts until the journey ends.
Bad Weather (Guide) – Storms batter the caravan, and the guide must find an appropriate to set camp for the night. The Guide makes a Travel test. If the roll is failed, the penalty for failed Fatigue tests is increased by 1. This lasts until the journey ends, or a (Gandalf) is rolled.
Unexpected Obstacle (Scout) – The way forward is sufficiently blocked that the wagons can't get through, and an alternative path must be found. All Scouts must make an Explore test. If no one succeeds, the caravan loses a day of travel, and the Scouts must repeat their rolls each day until one is successful.
Missing Supplies (Huntsman) – Some of the foodstuffs are missing from the caravan. The character is sent to bolster the supplies. All Huntsmen must make a Hunting test. If no one succeeds, all companions are temporarily Weary as the caravan is put on half rations. This lasts until the journey ends, or a (Gandalf) is rolled. If a Huntsman failed the roll with a (Sauron) result, he is accidentally Wounded during the hunt.
Runaway Horse (Look-out) – A horse is spooked by a noise, and pulls free from one of the wagons. A successful Awareness test is required to grab the animal's bridle before it flees. If the horse escapes, it slows down the caravan, adding one day for each test remaining in the trip.

Nicely done. I especially like the Broken Wheel and Runaway Horse hazards.