The Black Arrow

[Agnot]

Hey gang,

I've been a long time lurker on the forums, but finally decided to post to share an adventure I wrote to help bridge the gap between "the Marsh-bell" and "Don't Leave the Path". It's lengthy, but I thought I'd share it in case anyone else had a use for it.

The Black Arrow:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/qpnlcr7sayqkg ... s.pdf?dl=0

I'm open to any suggestions or criticisms.

[poosticks7]

Will give it a read and give some feedback. Thanks for sharing.

[Vuriche]

Impressive. I at first thought you were simply connecting the dots left by the author of the Erebor supplement and while that is true on some level, I quite enjoy what you've done with the material, as well as the bits of your own making. I really appreciate your attention to detail while writing, such as your comments on what different skills might accomplish and the various ways a fellowship phase can follow up on the adventure. Good stuff and thanks so much for sharing it!

[Otaku-sempai]

I'll admit that I have a difficult time imagining anyone recovering the Black Arrow buried in the heart of Smaug under the waters of Long Lake, much less the former Master of Lake-town getting hold of it. Your explanation does tie into the Master's greed and I can at least understand where you are coming from. If you can buy into that premise then the adventure seems just fine.

'Historical' Note: The Master aided by a number of followers did indeed run off with much of the gold that Bard donated for the rebuilding of Esgaroth and the relief of the survivors. However, from what Tolkien wrote, he didn't get all of it.

The old Master had come to a bad end. Bard had given him much gold for the help of the Lake-people, but being of the kind that easily catches such disease he fell under the dragon-sickness, and took most of the gold and fled with it, and died of starvation in the Waste, deserted by his companions.

[Agnot]

Impressive. I at first thought you were simply connecting the dots left by the author of the Erebor supplement and while that is true on some level, I quite enjoy what you've done with the material, as well as the bits of your own making. I really appreciate your attention to detail while writing, such as your comments on what different skills might accomplish and the various ways a fellowship phase can follow up on the adventure. Good stuff and thanks so much for sharing it!

Thank you. I did utilize a lot of material from Erebor. As I read through it for the first time, I remember thinking how much I liked the open story hooks the author had plugged in and several ideas of how I could incorporate them into a story kept coming to mind. I finally decided to center my story around that area since the fellowship's subsequent journeys would take them far away from that region for quite some time.

Many of the details I threw into the writing were to help keep me organized. My memory is the worst, so I add in all that I can in order to not leave out any key details.

[Agnot]

I'll admit that I have a difficult time imagining anyone recovering the Black Arrow buried in the heart of Smaug under the waters of Long Lake, much less the former Master of Lake-town getting hold of it. Your explanation does tie into the Master's greed and I can at least understand where you are coming from. If you can buy into that premise then the adventure seems just fine.

I considered it a bit of a stretch myself, but most adventure hooks are to some degree. Given that the lake is not outrageously deep under old Lake-town and that two years had passed before the old Master fled with the gold, it was at least plausible. And in Middle Earth some things are just meant to happen.

For their part, the players had a blast. As players do, they took an unpredicted path starting in Part 4, but that just made it more fun.

[poosticks7]

I found it a well written adventure, Kudos.

The black arrow thing is a bit of a stretch but I think it is feasible. I liked the use of the two nobles, perhaps introducing them before the adventure would be a good idea for anyone wanting to run the adventure. interesting idea having the NPC having a tolerance score with Bard, that has some potential as a way of running debates, trials, arguments etc.

I think I'd enjoy playing up the serpent pretending to be a warm, I could certain picture the reluctance of the Heroes/Players in pursuing.

Perhaps a way of removing the curse could be found, the black arrow deserves a better fate.

Thanks for sharing.

[Rich H]

Thanks for posting this, always great to read some fanmade adventures.

I do think the adventure could do with another read through and edit in order to improve the clarity. For instance, who is Hergar? He is never introduced as a character, as far as I can tell, and is only first mentioned on page 8 (Hergar’s Tale). The text in that section reads like an advisor of Bard, who is unnamed, approaches a character (Hergar). There are a few other things like this throughout the adventure which really impact on its ease of use - especially critical for investigative scenarios.

Other than that though, I quite liked this; granted the Master's acquiring of the Black Arrow seems a bit of a stretch but if this can be ignored then there's a fun adventure to be had.

[Agnot]

Thanks for posting this, always great to read some fanmade adventures.

I do think the adventure could do with another read through and edit in order to improve the clarity. For instance, who is Hergar? He is never introduced as a character, as far as I can tell, and is only first mentioned on page 8 (Hergar’s Tale). The text in that section reads like an advisor of Bard, who is unnamed, approaches a character (Hergar). There are a few other things like this throughout the adventure which really impact on its ease of use - especially critical for investigative scenarios.

Other than that though, I quite liked this; granted the Master's acquiring of the Black Arrow seems a bit of a stretch but if this can be ignored then there's a fun adventure to be had.

Ack! I forgot to delete those sections. Hergar and Rolf are both player characters. I like to have personal narratives that run concurrently with my adventures. That way every player has a secondary story arc that is just for them that plays out over the course of the campaign. The sections labeled "Hergar's Tale" and such are player specific story arcs that are not necessary for the overall adventure.

Thank you for taking the time to read it and give me feedback. I've made revisions until my eyes crossed. Having someone take a fresh look at it is very helpful.

[Agnot]

I found it a well written adventure, Kudos.

The black arrow thing is a bit of a stretch but I think it is feasible. I liked the use of the two nobles, perhaps introducing them before the adventure would be a good idea for anyone wanting to run the adventure. interesting idea having the NPC having a tolerance score with Bard, that has some potential as a way of running debates, trials, arguments etc.

I think I'd enjoy playing up the serpent pretending to be a warm, I could certain picture the reluctance of the Heroes/Players in pursuing.

Perhaps a way of removing the curse could be found, the black arrow deserves a better fate.

Thanks for sharing.

Thank you for the feedback. Traveling in the Waste took a real toll on the players. When the possibility of a worm being out there at the end of their travels was suggested, it gave them real pause. All in all, it was a blast to play and it really pushed the fellowship into making some heroic choices.