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Finished reading.

I am really impressed with what you did here. A very nice campaign built on the official materials, but with a distinct feeling about it. I like the change of the gibbet king to a Nazgul working on his own, and how you made orcs not so common at the start, as well as the changes to some opponents like Valter, that I always thought to be cheesy as written in the adventures. I don't know if an embodied Nazgul will be too much for a mauled party, though...

I would like to hear more about the Erringmen and other less common treats here. I like how not all stuff is black and white here. Kudos to you and looking forward to future developments!!

Cheers,
Xavi

Thanks a lot for your kind words, Xavi.

Next Tuesday is scheduled for the next session and the battle against the embodied Nazgûl.
I have planned this adventure as a scenario where it would be acceptable for a hero to die in an epic way (as I already said somewhere in this thread, I don't like characters to be killed when facing mere goblins).
I'll report in here to share my results.

2951 (Autumn) - Muder in Lake-town and Crossing of the Celduin
Part II

To keep it short, I'll say that after almost 3 months we managed to meet again and finish the last night stand of Crossing of the Celduin.

Do you remember that the adventure tells that, during the evening prior to the last assault, the Gibbet King hosts one of the defender's deceased body and menaces the survivors in the town hall? I did the same, only that it was the Nazgûl who did that (I didn't think much if a Nazgûl could host a dead body, I guess not, but it was dramatic enought for me to like it).
Do you also remember that the adventure tells to Inspire or Awe the spirit, so that it leaves the body? Well, I left the decision of how to handle the "possession" in the hands of the group (i.e. didn't tell them anything about Awe or Inspire tests). The dwarf in my group decided it would be a good idea to chop the poor fella's head. When the head rolled on the floor of the town-hall -to the despair of the present widow- and started laughing again, the dwarf though it would be better to throw the head into the river. Well, he solved the problem, only that he gained a few Shadow points in the process.

As for the battle, the whole group survived. But barely. It came in the end to one of this rounds when either the heroes succeed at a test/attack, or the enemies give the final blow and everyone dies. Epic.

The Nazgûl was a blast. He made all heroes gain a few Shadow points. Also, all became daunted and couldn't use Hope points. They knew their rolls were all that's left for them. The Lake-town man was made unconsciouss by the Black Breath special ability the first round of the combat. The hobbit lasted a little more, but also felt unconsciouss pretty fast. Only the dwarf and the wood-man managed to resist enought to try to push the Nazgûl's horse over the bridge to the river (I considered this as being in Forward position). The Nazgûl attacked with his sword (Favourite + Denizen of the Dark gave him a +8 for every attack. So nearly no chance of missing). Also the Nazgûl had some Orc Guards by him that attacked the heroes, too.

As said, the dwarf and the wood-man had to roll Athletics for two rounds to add up 6 successes and throw the Nazgûl overboard. In the second round, the dwarf had 8 Endurance points (Weary, of course) and the wood-man had 6 (Also Weary). When doing their rolls, they knew only 4, 5 and 6s would count, and that they couldn't use any Hope points. Also they knew that a single hit would kill anyone of them. And that would allow for a Côup de Grace to all the company. But several 6s appeared on the table, and the Ringwraith shrieked in despair as it lost it's physical form in the running waters of the Celduin.

The embodied Nazgûl proved a formidable enemy, as it managed to take two members out of the fight fairly quick, and raised the Shadow score of everyone by 2 or 3 points.

As for the development of the heroes, I see now that most of them only have a difference of 4 or 5 points between their Shadow and Hope score. We still have to make the Fellowship phase, and probably some will take the Heal Corruption Undertaking. But after 9 years of intense adventuring, the heroes are getting close to their first breaking point...

That sounds sufficiently epic. Well done, Falenthal!

Great read as always! May I ask you, in the adventure as written The big bad arrives only after 12 rounds of combat during the third and final assault. Did you go with this for the arrival of the nazgul? 12 rounds feel like a terribly long time, especially since the heroes can't really do anything except trying to survive during these rounds. The adventure is up next in my campaign and I want an epic feel for the fight without it dragging along forever.

I thought the same, Dunkelbrink. Fighting enemies without face during 12 rounds is boring, not tense.

I made the Nazgûl arrive after the Troll managed to smash the bridge door. In the first rounds, his Fear was present in a circle of darkness. Then he appeared at the far end of the bridge. Slowly he advanced towards the heroes, using his special abilities, while some Orc Guards protected him (reluctantly) with their shields. When all heroes were either unconsciouss or daunted and weary, he charged with his sword.

From the moment he appeared, I counted 6 rounds until sunrise for the army of the North to appear (unbeknownst to the players). After 3 rounds I told them that the sky was tuning purple in the eastersn horizon, and that sunrise couldn't be long. But they managed to push the Nazgûl's steed to the river in 5 rounds.

Most of the timing was improvised, seeing what made sense due to the actions and expectations of the group, though. This time it all went well.