Crafting in Fellowship Phases

[Ferretz]

Well, it's basically so to players don't have to start crying when they roll an Extraordinary Success... but an Eye of Sauron.

But seriously, I think that there should be a chance to get the "excellent sword with a flaw" concept in the campaign. It gives a sword a bit more character, something that is very true to Middle Earth, I think.

I did actually consider making a list of Distinctive Features that could be added for weapons and armour. For instance, an Good Quality Sword (which is made with an Great Success) would have one Feature. An Excellent Quality Sword (Extraordinary Success) would have two. If an Eye of Sauron was rolled, it would give the weapon a negative Feature, and so on. However, I didn't figure out just how these would work in the rules, so I went for a straight bonus/penalty system.

E.

[SirKicley]

Hey Ferretz.

Let me first start off by saying that your ideas are fantastic. The work and thought you've put into is inspiring. I especially like the idea that different areas contribute differently to what can be crafted. For those (like me) who play LOTRO, it has that feel in there that you go to certain towns for better access to SUPERIOR crafting spots.

(i.e. Michel Delving in The Shire for superior Oven, and Hobbiton for Superior Farm, Rivendell for Superior Library, Thorin's Hall for Superior Forge, etc).

I also commend you on the ideas for minimum wealth levels. Nice touch.


The one area that I personally would want to change for MY purposes would be the "bonuses" the items grant - even on a temporary basis. Why? Well for me personally I found TOR refreshing after years of D&D/Pathfinder where there are just too many modifiers. I loved the simplicity. That being said - I know that my opinion doesn't necessarily reflect that of everyone, so to each their own.

I love your concept - just not the end result.

Instead - what I would do is: either work it to where the item allows the TN for the next phase of (Insert skill), OR allow 1 auto-success of a skill with the item's use. (x2 w/ Great, x3 w/ Extra success).

FOR INSTANCE:

Trail-Mix made by hobbit with Craft Skill / Cooking Trait -
Player decides at time of crafting if he wants to a) have a lower TN (-2) on for the next adventuring phase, OR use it to auto-succeed ONE test.

(note there are precedents set for this paradigm - similar to the LORE skill check when made during planning stage of adventure).

As was noted above - a Great Success would allow 2 players to have have the lowered TN, or allow the player TWO skills to auto-succeed.




FINALLY -

The maps are an awesome idea! My concern is with the roll of the EYE consequence. 1 in 12 chance of auto-doubling the number of potential hazards seems excessively harsh.

As an alternate idea, may I suggest instead:

"An EYE result when crafting a map, increases the TN of all Lore checks made for that adventure by 2 grades."

(Which can actually hinder if you take the gamble of it failing and making the journey worse for everyone - all due to a wonky map).


As always, YMMV. My opinions along with 2 dollars, might get you some coffee. But I will say that the system does carry with it a lot of promise.

Robert

[Ferretz]

Good ideas here. To be honest, the thing with the bonuses was something I tried to avoid, as I've become completely allergic to everything d20 over the years. I will take your ideas into consideration.

I could streamline it a bit. I really like the idea I described by having giving items their own Distinctive Features, for example. A sword being described as "Sharp" and "Well-Balanced" is much more interesting that one with a +1 to hit and -1 Encumbrance.

I'll fiddle with it some more. Thanks for the input. Keep the ideas coming.

-E.

[Beleg]

I really like the idea of distinctive features for weapons actually. Definitely seems like fun, and fits within Middle Earth, to my mind at least. Glamdring, Orcrist and Sting's ability to make goblins terrified, even those who hadn't seen the blades, is something that immediately springs to mind

[Ferretz]

Ok, I've been giving it a bit more thought, and I would like to get rid of numerical bonuses and penalties as much as possible.

Distinctive Features on weapons, armour and other permanent gear is a good idea, and it really follows up the flavour of the books too. But to avoid any confusion, I would call them Qualities instead.

Here's one idea for how to handle permanent gear:

Each piece of permanent gear has a TN (for example TN 16 to craft a Sword). If the roll succeeds, the item gains one point to spend on Qualities. A Great Success gives two points and an Extraordinary Success gives three. If the roll is failed, a regular item is produced without any Qualities, and if an Eye of Sauron is rolled, the character fails to even produce that.

Qualities are advantages that can be uses once per Adventure Phase for each point that is invested in them. A Companion who rolled a Great Success could, for example have two different Qualities that could be used once each, or one Quality that can be used twice.

Qualities represent a moment where the item really comes into focus, like the places in the books where a specific sword, shield or other item is described. When a Quality is used, the player should roleplay it and describe how and why the Quality is used. For example, a Companion carries a sword with a Quality called Sharp Edge. He could spend one "Quality Point" to invoke it, giving a specific description of the sword and it's sharpness, and get automatic Edge for that attack.

Qualities for armour could be things like "Light" (automatically pass a Fatigue Check, maybe?), "Embossinged" (+1 Tolerance in Encounters that rely on Valour), "Solid" (pass one Protection test).

In addition, a Companion could even spend more Fellowship Phases working on his gear. Let's say he fashioned a sword with a Great Success, giving him two points of Qualities. Next Fellowship Phase, he could improve it, adding one more point for an Ordinary Success, two for Great and three for Extraordinary. But there's a risk here. On a failed roll, no points are added. But rolling an Eye of Sauron would remove a Quality point.

So, that's just off the top of my head. Any thoughts?

E.

[Beleg]

Well, I like it It definitely fits with the theme IMO, and the limitations of use mean they won't be seen as better than the Rewards you can add to weapons (I forgot the specific name for them, oops)
I'm wondering, what about special travelling gear and such?

[Ferretz]

Other gear could also have Qualities, and give for example lower TNs. Let's say you have a very nice map of Northern Mirkwood. It's made with an Extraordinary Success, and it's Quality is "Detailed". While travelling in that part of the forest, the TNs for the Travel Skill could be reduced up to three degrees. These could be on two or three seperate times, or all at once.

Another type of Quality I would like to add is Cultural. En Elven Sword is quite different from a Dwarven Sword. So, a Spear made with an Extraordinary Success could have Sharp, Elven and Well-Balanced as Qualities, or just Elven three times etc. Not every Culture would have a Cultural Quality, however. An Elven Bow makes sense, but even if Durin's Folk are known to use bows, there would be no Quality for Dwaven on Bows. And Provisions would of course have Qualities like Large and Hobbit on the list.

Each category of crafting would have a small list of available Qualities and their effects. These can be a bit stronger than what I first had in mind, since their limited in the number of times they can be used. Provisions, for example, would of course have Qualities like Large and Hobbit on the list.

E.

[Rich H]

"Crafting Projects" (looking for a better name, as many of them uses other skills than Craft)

Hmmm, how about "Works of Artifice", "Works of Artisanship", "Undertakings of Artificing", or "Undertaking of Artifice"? ... Crafting Projects sounds too modern as well as using other skills besides Craft.

Toy's & Trinkets (Craft, no speciality, Energetic, Erebor)

Rather than have no speciality for this, I'd go with Folk-lore as it relates to cultures, customs, and beliefs of the people of Middle Earth so would lend itself to creating toys, nik-naks, and trinkets that appealed to them either directly or by borrowing from elsewhere.

[Ferretz]

"Crafting Projects" (looking for a better name, as many of them uses other skills than Craft)

Hmmm, how about "Works of Artifice", "Works of Artisanship", "Undertakings of Artificing", or "Undertaking of Artifice"? ... Crafting Projects sounds too modern as well as using other skills besides Craft.

Toy's & Trinkets (Craft, no speciality, Energetic, Erebor)

Rather than have no speciality for this, I'd go with Folk-lore as it relates to cultures, customs, and beliefs of the people of Middle Earth so would lend itself to creating toys, nik-naks, and trinkets that appealed to them either directly or by borrowing from elsewhere.

Good ones! Folk-lore is going onto Toys & Trinkets (should this include Firework?).

I'm only calling them "Projects" now, but I need another name for it. Should sound a bit more "Tolkienish".

E.

[gorgonshead]

This is so cool! I am definitely going to have to implement some of this with our group. Thanks a lot!

Honestly, this is what I love most about this game. Everybody gets so creative. My little heart swells when I look at the thread count for the other forums, then look at this one.