Travelling through the Halls of Durin's Folk

[Hermes Serpent]

Following up on my post about con scenarios, I'm after some more comment and discussion. The second of my scenarios involves a trek through part of Moria and the normal travel rules seem inadequate for the dark and dangerous passages under the mountains. Has anyone given any thought to adapting the travel rules for such a trek, frequency of tests, possible hazards, maybe even revised journey roles?

[Beran]

I haven't got an suggestion for you question. However, I have one of my own. How are you mapping Moria? Wouldn't that turn into a project on a scale of something like Rappan Athuk? Or, are you using the most direct path?

[Mim]

In addition to Orcs, Trolls, and the like (I presume you already have a feel for how you want to write them in ), I've tweaked a few hazards from their existing adventures. They don't seem to space correctly for me on here for some reason (probably user error ). BTW, you can use them for any companions.

Cloud of Hate (Huntsman)
The Huntsman discovers the deadly purple moss known as Gorfang (Dread-beard) nestling in a dimly lit cranny. The peculiar moss emits a reddish telltale spray that causes sleep; and on occasion, the Dread-beard’s juices can be fatal—once the victim falls asleep, the moss covers the victim. The Dread-beard places you into a deep sleep, one in which you can not awaken on your own until the effects wear off. Other people can awaken you by successfully testing versus TN 14 in the usual ways — such as jostling or shouting at you, or by splashing water on your face. This slumber lasts for up to one hour per point of Body rating.

Great Bats (Huntsman)
The companions enter a cave where Great Bats hang hungrily from the roof. If the company investigates, a number of the unusually large bats flutter angrily around — one for each hero. In the confusion, the companions will drop any light source, which will probably extinguish. Anyone striking at the bats in the darkness may hit their nearest friend instead of their intended bat.

Fine Eaters (Huntsman)
The Shadow corrupts Death Shrews into vicious and aggressive little rodents. Their enormous appetites drive them to feed on nearly anything. They are fierce, cunning, and superb climbers, and attack even the tallest warriors. Explorers in Moria should take care where they rest or sleep…

ATTRIBUTE LEVEL
3
ENDURANCE HATE
10 1
PARRY ARMOUR
4 1d
SKILLS
Personality, 1 Survival, 2
Movement, 3 Custom, 0
Perception, 2 Vocation, 0
WEAPON SKILLS
Bite 2

SPECIAL ABILITIES
Bewilder (four or more) Fear of Fire

WEAPON TYPE DAMAGE EDGE INJURY CALLED SHOT
Bite 2 10 14 Pierce

Red Jaws (all Companions)
A pack of these four to six foot long fish with large flat heads and huge red jaws filled with rows of sharp teeth scavenge within the murky depths of the water. Woe to anyone who falls in, because these voracious eaters can devour a Man’s leg in seconds. You can convert the Death Shrew stats.

Tap-Tap-Tap (all Companions)
Ranging ahead in the darkness, the company hear a noise echoing through the rock from far away and far below. Tap-tap-tap, it says, tap-tap-tap. The noise is unsettling, and everyone must make an immediate Valour test (TN 12) to avoid losing a point of Hope.

Treacherous Footing (any Companion)
The tunnel opens up into a chasm. A raging underground river plunges into this pit, falling into the uttermost deeps of the world. The tunnel continues on the far side of the chasm, and a narrow ledge runs along the opposite wall of the chasm to the waterfall. The company can — if they dare — clamber along this water-slick ledge to continue their journey. A wise guide will advise the travelers to rope themselves together, and then have the most agile companion make the first crossing. The first crossing requires passing an Athletics test (TN 14). Failure means the adventurer falls into the depths and perishes, unless he is roped to other companions. If a hero is lost this way, then all his companions must pass a Corruption test or gain one Shadow point for the distressful experience (recall the rules in the Loremaster’s Guide, pp 50–51).

Sinkhole (all Companions)
The constant erosion occurring within the limestone deposits beneath cause an enormous sinkhole that effectively blocks the passageway. It measures twenty feet in length and disappears to a depth of one hundred feet, emerging into an icy cold underground rivulet that flows hard and strong toward the Sirannon (Gate Stream) or Glanduin (Border River) toward the westward, or the Celebrant (Silverlode) toward the eastward. There are isolated spots where the water has worn the roof of its passage smooth with time, thus allowing anyone falling in (and taking the normal falling damage as appropriate) to come up gasping for air. This potentially allows for his survival by being swept downstream with the current, if he can survive the bitter cold immersion and being slammed against the rocks en route his merger with the aforementioned stream — several miles on. If the heroes secure a rope to the opposite side with a sure cast (Athletics or a ranged shot at TN 14), they can swing or climb across, Athletics (TN 14).

[Beran]

Don't forget "Drums in the Deep."

[Morgoth]

Of leaves and Stewed Hobbit (Tales from Wilderland, pg 35-37) has some information for tunnel journeys that might be useful.

[Hermes Serpent]

I haven't got an suggestion for you question. However, I have one of my own. How are you mapping Moria? Wouldn't that turn into a project on a scale of something like Rappan Athuk? Or, are you using the most direct path?

I'm not. Basically there are a few named places/areas and I describe the long dark passages, the occasional ventilation shaft or illumination windows high up out of reach, stairs, ramps, subtle changes in elevation, evidence of both dwarven and orcish habitation - the books are full of the this sort of thing. I'm mentally adding in extra areas after a failed search roll at junctions or where a choice of direction should occur or indeed even when the clock tells me they are going too fast or too slow for the four hour time slot.

[Hermes Serpent]

@Mim, Thanks for those suggestions, I shall adapt them to the narration and throw them in as hazards.

@Morgoth, Thanks, I'd forgotten that section of TfW as I have been using my own adventures for my normal games and haven't thought much about those since first reading through the pdf. It's got possibilities for underground navigation tests and some good ideas that I can put into the demo scenario.

With the various cons (e.g. Wyntercon, Dragonmeet, Conception) where I can expect players who haven't played before to sign up for sessions a scenario that plays upon all the stereotypes and tropes of the films and books and shows how the One Ring game can mimic those is going to be important now the revised edition is shortly due for pre-release.

[Falenthal]

Thought this book wasn't really one of the best from Middle-Earth Quest (http://tolkiengateway.net/wiki/Mines_of ... st_book%29), you can find lots of ideas for dead end passageways, noises and atmosphere to make your players nervous, descriptions of dwarven halls, ways of going in and out of Moria, etc.

[Otaku-sempai]

Basically there are a few named places/areas and I describe the long dark passages, the occasional ventilation shaft or illumination windows high up out of reach, stairs, ramps, subtle changes in elevation, evidence of both dwarven and orcish habitation - the books are full of the this sort of thing. I'm mentally adding in extra areas after a failed search roll at junctions or where a choice of direction should occur or indeed even when the clock tells me they are going too fast or too slow for the four hour time slot.

If you're interested, Karen Wynn Fonstad worked up a partial map of Moria that traced the route of the Company of the Ring. A much more detailed map was produced for the MERP suppliment, Moria: The Dwarven City (1984; Iron Crown Enterprises; ISBN 0-915795-27-2).

[Glorelendil]

As I've mentioned in other threads, I've been thinking a lot about how to make Moria as scary as it should be. In addition to making Travel and Corruption rolls frequent and steep, it seems to me that the word "lost" has a different meaning underground than it does outdoors. The relative absence of clues to direction and distance, and the impossibility of leaving the path, leaves the would-be navigator reliant mostly on intuition and/or direct experience.

I wanted to track not only absolute lostness, but also the heroes perception of lostness. I.e., they could be on the right path but convinced they are lost, or they could be completely lost but convinced they are on the right path. I'd love to encapsulate both of those extremes in a single variable, that goes up or down based on various rolls, but I'm not quite sure how to do it.

But implementing such a system lets the LM introduce various clues (actual way-markers, the occasional shaft of sun or moonlight, recognition of landmarks (either personally experienced or described by others), decision points, paths blocked, etc.) that let players make decisions that influence their orientation.

My ideal outcome is that players have moments where they sigh with relief, and others that they moan with despair, without the LM having to resort to metagame mechanics (e.g. "Your lost-ness just increased to 18").

As I said, I don't have the solution figured out, but I think it's a worthwhile goal.

EDIT:
Example:
LM: "You come to a small room that is both a 4-way intersection, and one of the resting points you have begun to recognize, with some benches for the weary and a now-dry cistern. Carved into the wall is an inscription in dwarvish runes."
Dwarf Player: "Can I read the runes?"
LM: "Yes, they say <insert something here>."
Guide: "Do I know anything about this room?"
LM: "Roll Moria-lore."
Guide: (rolls Great success) "Wait! My grandfather told me about this inscription! It refers to <insert some family lore>. The inscription is on the north wall, so we want to take the passage to it's right..."
LM: (secretly modifies the lost-ness variable)