Intimidate foe and rallying comrades

[doctheweasel]

I do think it's fairly thematic while facing a single Troll to harass, humiliate, and intimidate him to throw him off his game before moving in for the kill.

It's all how the narrative is framed.

[Francesco]

I do think it's fairly thematic while facing a single Troll to harass, humiliate, and intimidate him to throw him off his game before moving in for the kill.

It's all how the narrative is framed.

This is true indeed...

Francesco

[jamesrbrown]

Funny, tonight we played A Darkness in the Marshes from Tales from Wilderland. The company was small at only three players and I accidentally scaled up the fight in the Gladden Fields called "The Fight in the Marshes" on page 97. So, I gave them each two Wild Wolves, one Orc Soldier, and one Black Uruk. They had their hands full! I ended up having the Orcs and Uruks called back to the Dwimmerhorn after a few rounds and let the company finish off the Wolves. Otherwise, things could have gone very sour for the characters. The Dwarf was already Weary with only 10 Endurance remaining.

After battle, we had a discussion on the importance of combat tasks; they had failed to use any!

Now, the 3 Orc Soldiers and 6 Wild Wolves each had 1 Hate point, while the Uruks had 4 Hate each. By using Intimidate Foe, they could have depleted the Hate points of their enemies some (loss of 2 on a success, 3 on a great success, or 4 on an extraordinary success).

Adversaries that have 0 Hate points are considered Weary at the top of a round. Not only that, but the Orcs are Craven, which means they also try to flee combat when they have no Hate. So, if the company had only used this task, they could have seriously changed the results of the combat.

With the Uruks' Horrible Strength ability, those 4 Hate points each are extremely potent, causing 5 extra damage each time the Uruk gets a successful hit and spends a point of Hate.

[zedturtle]

Yeah, when my players ended up fighting my undead troll that I posted about a little while back, the Elf did Intimidate Foe and took 4 Hate away from it. Since it had Hiddeous Toughness that stole 24 points of Endurance soaking.

[Andrew]

I was just typing a big reply when I saw Francesco had replied, but I thought I'd post my thoughts anyway...

There's nothing to say you can't use them as much as you like, but remember:

• You can't use them and attack at the same time.
• The TN to intimidate a foe is 10+the highest attribute level involved. In fights featuring tougher opponents, this could mean a TN of 18 or 19...
• You can't intimidate foe if you've just received a wound.
• No amount of endurance will stop you being wounded, or killed.
• Reducing a foe to 0 Hate will not necessarily win you the battle. A Troll will pound you into dust with or without Hate.
• Some foes restore Hate...

But anyway, Intimidate Foe and Rally Comrades is a valid combo - just make sure you have allies who are fighting too or you'll be ground down before the enemy is.

[Rocmistro]

Yeah, when my players ended up fighting my undead troll that I posted about a little while back, the Elf did Intimidate Foe and took 4 Hate away from it. Since it had Hiddeous Toughness that stole 24 points of Endurance soaking.

I know a lot of forum members thought Intimidate Foes was weak, in the past, and poo-pooed on it, but I love the use of this action. It's so Tolkieny. And of course I really like running Amroth as a support character so that scene was right up my alley!

If you read the Lord of the Rings with an eye towards the Heroes endeavoring to exert their will over the enemy, there are so many places where they used "intimidate foe", and they always use them against the MOST POWERFUL enemies:

"I am a servant of the secret fire! You cannot pass!"

even Frodo, wounded at the river:
" By Elbereth and Luthien the fair" said Frodo with a last effort, holding up his sword, "You will have neither the Ring nor me!"

and of course Eowyn defying the Witch King:
"Be gone foul Dwimmerlaik, Lord of Carrion, leave the dead in peace..."

I tend to self-regulate, as it just feels wrong to me to attempt more than one Intimidate Foes check against the same foe, and I don't wish it to be abused, but I would agree there's no reason you can't do a special action more than once per combat. If a hero failed a previous check, especially with an Eye, I might say that they cannot do it again.

Oh and here was the prose I drafted for Amroth, my wood-elf-who-thinks-he's-a-high-elf, for his intimidate check against the Undead Troll:

"By sunlight and by Laurelin,
by starlight and by moon!
By silver of Telperion
by all light yet to come!
By the grace of Varda and her halo of stars, I consign you to oblivion, thing of evil! Go back to the pit that awaits you and your dark master!"

I was quite pleased with it, and thought an Extraordinary success a fitting roll

[Stormcrow]

"I am a servant of the secret fire! You cannot pass!"

Another movie-ism. The chamber is silent, except for Gandalf speaking in a normal voice.

'You cannot pass,' he said. The orcs stood still, and a dead silence fell. 'I am a servant of the Secret Fire, wielder of the flame of Anor. You cannot pass. The dark fire will not avail you, flame of Udûn. Go back to the Shadow! You cannot pass.'

There is only one exclamation point here, and it is used to indicate a command, not a shout. Except for "Go back to the Shadow!" Gandalf is not making any commands; he is stating fact. He's not making a prediction, which would be "you will not pass," or a statement of his own intent, which would be "you shall not pass." He's telling the balrog that it does not have the ability to pass Gandalf.

[Rocmistro]

Utterly irrelevant, in my opinion. He doesn't have to be shouting like a rock star to be intimidating his foe, especially if you consider his "intimidation" attempt as a projection of his willpower. Gandalf's assertion's of himself, and confidence in the face of one of the most powerful beings in Middle earth is what drains the Balrog of hate. In fact, his ability to keep control of his fear may have in fact been doubly "intimidating" to the Balrog, as any mastery of fear by its enemy would have shown itself to be immune to his terror, and thus powerful.


As an aside, and this isn't directed so much at you, Stormcrow, but the movie-hating is getting old. It has many failings, yes, but Ian McKellan's interpretation of Gandalf at this scene is a good one. And even if it one thinks it isn't, one of the up-sides of referencing the movie is that everyone can talk about it with roughly the same shared experience, whereas what goes on in our mind's eye is as different as each reader.

[Andrew]

Let's not get into the pedantry of exclamation marks (that's my job) or how great The Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug is (really great is my answer; not great at all is Jon's) on a Friday afternoon...

[Glorelendil]

"My name is Iñigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die."
OOC: Eye + 1 + 3 (Weary) = Fail

"My name is Iñigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die."
OOC: 2 + 2 + 4 (Weary) = 6

"My name is Iñigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die."
OOC: 4 + 1 + 5 (Weary) = 9

"My name is Iñigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die."
OOC: 6 + 4 + 5 (Weary) = 6 = 15

LM: "Uncertainty creeps over his face. Minus one hate."

"My name is Iñigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die."
OOC: G + 6 + 6 (Weary) = Extraordinary Success

LM: "He runs for it."