"The Fall of the North Kingdom" campaign resources and rules

[Otaku-sempai]

There is a potentially significant difference between the Dwarves of Belegost (apparently the Broadbeams) and their cousins from Nogrod (the Longbeards). The Dwarves of Belegost have traditionally enjoyed good relationships with other folk, especially the Elves. It was Dwarves of Nogrod who made the Nauglamir for King Thingol, killed Thingol to reclaim the necklace, and later returned as an army to sack Menegroth. Perhaps there should be a Background Option applicable to Broadbeams that gives them a more favorable chance to interact with Elves.

[Blubbo Baggins]

That said, I'm not sure they mesh perfectly with what I want to do here - this Virtue is supposed to represent the assistance of a smaller band of men, but over a longer term than just a single battle. It's supposed to be the Rangers of Arnor showing up in the Two Towers and helping out Aragorn from that point on, if you see what I mean.
That said, I do agree that it's probably too complex. What if I boiled it down to a few sizes of group ("Tiny, small, medium, large", perhaps), and just abstracted the bonus in combat they give you, rather than rolling for each individual soldier? I think I'd prefer to keep the officers as individual characters, but since there's a lot fewer of them, I don't think that would be as disruptive.

Well, having the officers could still be a lot of NPCs to keep track of, for the player or LM. However, see Elfcrusher's comment, right below mine. He suggested crafting "Raise a Company" after the "Hound" Virtue available for Woodmen.

Actually, here are a few more thoughts:
- You could have 1 Officer that can grow in experience (when you spend XP and a Fellowship phase) that has abilities that are similar to "The Hound", but obviously more appropriate for a fellow soldier. Instead of training a Hound to help you with certain skills like Awareness / Explore / Hunting (rerolling the feat die and taking better result), your Officer/Soldier could help with Awareness / Battle / Awe , or something like that (you'd get 1 skill for taking the Virtue, and then could add the others). Also, the Officer could take a wound for you. Finally, the Officer could perhaps cause an opponent to be Weary, enable you or another companion to be in Rearward, or even engage in a combat task of some kind, like Protecting a Companion (being in Defensive) - spending your Hope to do so but having a high Parry... etc.
- You could have Soldiers that accompany you from time to time. Whenever any companion rolls a Gandalf rune in battle, one of your Soldiers has fired off an arrow or also made an attack. The creature that the companion is attacking (or engaged with) takes 4 Endurance damage.
- Your Soldiers could help with Explore or Inspire rolls or something along those lines.

Just for those abilities, I'd say the Virtue is really, really good.

I understand the concern, but only one of their Virtues focuses on Song - does that mitigate this?
Would requiring spending a point of Hope to get the Tolerance bonus balance this better?

I think the main thing is that the Virtue itself is too powerful, that's all.

I think so, spending a point of Hope to get the Tolerance bonus, OR, not getting both bonuses. I think the latter one, giving a Wisdom bonus when spending Hope, would be fine by itself.

I think you're right on both counts. For the Intimidate thing, what if, instead of just straight-up acting as an Intimidate, it gave a bonus on the next attempt to intimidate foes - something like +2 on a success, +4 on a great success, and +6 on an extraordinary? That way, Song could still be useful for these purposes, but the party still has to invest in Awe/Battle.

I think that could definitely work well, but give the players a choice:
Make a Song roll (in Open Stance); if successful, the players can either regain Endurance, or have a bonus to the next Intimidate Foes roll, +2 / +4 / +6, AND if the Intimidate Foes roll is successful, it causes an additional loss of 1 Hate.

Hmm. I was comparing it to the Dwarves Helm of Awe reward, and I increased the bonus compared to that because this provides less armor. Would it be balanced if it reduced to only rolling the Feat die twice, but provided +3 protection instead of the normal +1 for a leather cap?

The Helm itself is already balanced - if you want to use it, it will "cost" you 6 Fatigue. I'd say if you want the Reward to be more armored, allow it to be a Helm or a Cap.

Perhaps, but I've added a couple of big treasure-sinks (Dwarf-smithing, Honor the Fallen undertaking), and I figured it was appropriate to add a way to get some back in. Also, Treasure doesn't seem to do much, besides letting you live at a higher standard of living and raise your Standing, so I didn't feel like adding more Treasure would seriously break things. That said, am I missing something? Does a bunch of Treasure have potentially-unbalancing effects that I'm missing?

Does the Honor the Fallen undertaking apply to Dwarves, or just to Dunedain with the Raise a Company Virtue?
Regarding Dwarf-smithing costing Treasure - that's good, that does help balance it.
However, raising Standing quickly is powerful; not only it is a real measure of power (a Standing of 6 is equivalent to a King), but Standing adds an bonus to most Encounters, at least those among your own folk.

As in, provide the equivalent of those qualities even if the companion doesn't have them normally? Or just provide the improved effect if the character has those qualities, and leave out the other enhanced qualities?

I mean, the Dwarf-smithing Virtue should ALMOST duplicate the Artificer of Eregion Virtue entirely. You could get rid of the ability that enables a weapon attack the Undead, but instead add the ability to improve a piece of armor by adding -1 Encumbrance (to max of -2), or +1 Protection (to max of +2); the Dwarf would go about doing this the same way a High Elf can with the Artificer Virtue. Again, the main issues here were 1) Being able to lower Edge, Raise Injury, Raise Parry, Raise Damage, are probably just too powerful (perhaps not Raise Damage, but even that ability wasn't given to the High Elf Artificer). 2) Possibly losing all the time, resources, etc. spent in Smithing if an enemy creature can just destroy it all.

I don't have the Lake-Town supplement, unfortunately (it's included in the Loremaster's Screen, right?). Are you saying that characters can buy items in the Market that can give them a bonus of their Wisdom, or +2, whichever is lower? If so, that might work, but I think the Experience Point cost should be reduced or eliminated in that case (no fair paying points for an item you could just buy with Treasure, I feel). What if the bonus was capped at +3 (so, a bit better than what's commonly available for sale), and you paid 2 XP for it?

Characters can buy items in the market to add +1 to a skill (for 2 Treasure). If they improve their skill with AP, they lose that bonus. They can go back to the market to upgrade the item, again spending 2 Treasure, to make the bonus +2. Again, the bonus is lost if they improve their own skill via AP. They can always go back to the market to spend 2 Treasure to start over with a +1 bonus (the max bonus is +2). The items you can buy are including, but not limited to, Musical Instruments (bonus to Song), Journey equipment (good backpack or walking stick, boots, etc., bonus to Travel), etc. etc.
So, why not allow a Dwarf to craft the same kind of thing? A small bonus, that is lost if a the skill itself is upgraded, but of course can be improved to get the +1 bonus or increase to +2. Hope that makes sense.

The latter is already part of it, since you gain extra Hope every time you'd gain Hope from your Fellowship focus, which includes the "your focus is unwounded" gain. But I take your point about spamming Protect Companion. I was thinking of it in terms of only getting the Hope point back if you succeeded, but on re-reading the Protect Companion action, I see success or failure doesn't really enter into it. Would just recovering the extra point of Hope at the end of a session be enough to make this Virtue worthwhile?

I think if the Virtue gave a +1 bonus to the Fellowship pool, and enabled you to regain +1 Hope at the end of every session if your Focus is unharmed/untainted, etc. it could be good. Probably it needs more than just this latter ability, I agree.

What about allowing only one category at a time, but allowing it to change as an undertaking?

In terms of rules, why not. However, I think story considerations should come into play. Why is the PC changing their whole focus now? It wouldn't make sense to do it all the time. Well, perhaps you could have it change, just to signal the PC is preparing for their next journey, expects they may run across Orcs, Wolves, a Dragon, etc., and did some studying / practice, etc. to be more prepared to face such foes.

Would expanding it out to more types of foes needing to spend extra Hate cover this?

Yeah, I think so. I don't know what types though, that such a mask could help against.

Are you suggesting replacing all the War-Trained tricks with just this one? Or adding it as an additional option? Or suggesting it replace one of the tricks?

No just replace the trick that lets you do extra damage based on Valour.

Would requiring an extra expenditure of Experience Points to pick up the arrows balance this?

Maybe spending Hope when using such Arrows, or, to recover each Arrow? That way its use it limited to Hope expenditure. Or, you can use them for free, but when you run out, can't get new ones until the end of the Adventure or a Fellowship Phase.

I was thinking that the limitations on this ability (only use it once per combat) balanced out the benefits (doesn't inspire hatred in enemies), and that lacking the "upgrade a success by one step" benefit warranted adding something extra to the weapon stat. Would making the intimidation attempt even more limited (Only after an enemy unsuccessfully attacks you, for example) balance this?

[/quote]

Oh right, you do get to upgrade a success with the RAW Virtue.
Yours is probably fine, in that case!

[Kelly Pedersen]

There is a potentially significant difference between the Dwarves of Belegost (apparently the Broadbeams) and their cousins from Nogrod (the Longbeards).

Actually, the dwarves of Nogrod are the Firebeards. The Longbeards are Durin's Folk, from Khazad-Dum.

Perhaps there should be a Background Option applicable to Broadbeams that gives them a more favorable chance to interact with Elves.

I do realize that the two houses aren't necessarily identical, but it does seem to me that they're pretty close - that's why I built them as a single Culture, rather than two. A way of distinguishing them would be nice, though. I'm not sure about a background doing it, though - are there any other backgrounds that give benefits besides the attributes, favoured skill, and Traits?
In any case, I think if someone wants to play a dwarf of Belegost who's got less of a grudge against elves, they can just play it that way. I don't think that a mechanical bonus is necessary, particularly since the Dwarves of Khazad-Dum don't get one, and they're noted as the dwarves most friendly to elves of all the Houses.

[Kelly Pedersen]

Well, having the officers could still be a lot of NPCs to keep track of, for the player or LM. However, see Elfcrusher's comment, right below mine. He suggested crafting "Raise a Company" after the "Hound" Virtue available for Woodmen.

Right, here's a revised version, based on your and Elfcrusher's suggestions. I've eliminated the "officers" bit entirely, and just left the soldiers (I'm considering creating a separate, general Virtue to let people have an NPC companion). Let me know what you think.

Leader of Men
"And as a great captain may to a young soldier he seemed to you admirable."

While a captain can succeed with even a small group of close companions, they truly become a threat to the Enemy when they can command a group of loyal soldiers. You have been recognized as being worthy of leading such a troop. When you take this virtue, you recruit a band of loyal fighters to aid you in battle. While they are not as individually competent as a companion, together they can act to bring down the greatest foes.

When you first recruit your warband, it is Tiny, perhaps two or three fighting men, and knows one of the tactics described below: Support Companion, Shield Wall, Defend Companion, or Harry Foe.

You can increase the size of your warband from Tiny to Small (4 to 6 fighters), from Small to Large (8 to 12 men), or from Large to a Throng (16 to 24 men). Each expansion to the size requires you to take the Recruit Fighters undertaking, and spend 5 experience.

You can also teach your warband new tactics, as an undertaking. Choose one of the tactics below that you don't already know, and spend 2 experience.

In combat, you must choose which stance your warband will be in. It counts as a certain number of companions in that stance for purposes of how many companions can be in Rearward stance (Tiny: 2 companions, Small: 4 companions, Large: 8 companions, a Throng: 16 companions). In addition, the warband may use any tactic that it knows and its stance allows.

If you have a band larger than Tiny, you may also decide to divide it into smaller groups, in order to accomplish more tasks. Such divisions count as the smaller size for purposes of any tactics they undertake. A Small warband may be divided into two Tiny groups, a Large band may be divided into two Small divisions, and a Throng may be divided into two Large groups.

Enemies may attack your warband in order to reduce your fighting force. The warband has a Parry rating equal to half your Wisdom (round up), +2 for a Small band, +4 for a Large band, or +6 for a Throng. If an enemy hits, the band has Endurance equal to your Hope + 10, multiplied by 2 for a Small band, by 4 for a Large band, and by 8 for a Throng. If an enemy scores a penetrating blow, the band's Protection depends on your Standard of Living: 1d for Poor or Frugal, 2d for Martial, 3d for Prosperous, or 4d for Rich or better. Each Wound taken by the band reduces its effective size by one. A Tiny band that takes a Wound is effectively disabled and unable to fight.

If a band's Endurance is reduced to 0, the soldiers composing it flee the field. After the battle, you must make an Inspire or Persuade roll to convince them to return, with a TN of 10 + the highest Attribute of the enemy they faced in the battle. If you fail, the warband disperses. If you succeed, some members of the band still leave, but not all - the warband decreases in size by one category, to a minimum of Tiny. On a great success, all members of the band stay, but they will be less effective, with only half their normal Endurance in the next battle. On an extraordinary success, no members leave, and they will be at full Endurance in the next battle.

If a warband receives a Wound during combat, some members have been seriously hurt, and may die, unless you can heal them. If circumstances permit, you or another companion may make a Healing roll after a battle, TN 12 + 2 per Wound the band received. Other companions with Healing may assist by making their own Healing rolls, TN 14. Each assistant who succeeds gives a bonus to the main healer, +2 on a success, +4 on a great success, or +6 on an extraordinary success. On a failure on the main Healing roll, no Wounds are removed. On a success, remove one Wound from the band, on a great success, remove two Wounds, and on an Extraordinary success, remove all Wounds from the band. For each Wound remaining after the Healing roll, some soldiers of the band have died. Each Wound reduces the size of the band by one step. If a Tiny band has a Wound, it is eliminated.

A warband is large, obvious group of people, and it is difficult to be stealthy or remain unobserved while accompanied by such a group. Increase the Starting Eye Awareness of a company that has a warband with them by +2 for a Tiny band, +4 for a Small band, +8 for a Large band, or +12 for a Throng. A companion may leave some or all of their warband behind in order to lessen how obvious they are, but a band left behind will desert, unless they were left in a sanctuary, in which case they will remain there until the end of the Adventuring Phase. If you don't return for a band left in a sanctuary during the following Fellowship Phase, they will desert in any case.

Warbands reduced by desertion or death can be restored by taking the Recruit Fighters undertaking during a Fellowship Phase.

Warbands may learn the following tactics to aid companions in battle. Each tactic notes the stances it can be performed in.

Support Companion
Stance: Close, Open, or Defensive, must be the same as the companion supported

The band backs the close combat attack of one of the companions in the company, attacking the foes they attack and distracting the enemy so that the companion can make more effective blows. Add your Valour to the Damage and Injury Rating of the companion being supported, and add an additional +2 for a Small band, +4 for a Large band, or +6 for a throng.

Shield Wall
Stance: Close.

The band holds the line against the foe, forcing any enemy to go through them to reach those behind the line. Add +2 to the Combat TN for all enemies who are making close combat attacks not against those in Close stance. This increases to +4 for a Small band, +6 for a Large Band, or +8 for a Throng.

Defend Companion
Stance: Defensive

The band stays near one companion and prepares to defend them as best they can from all attacks. The band acts as a companion taking the Protect Companion action, but they need not spend Hope to defend someone. A Small band gets +2 on its Parry against attacks redirected by this tactic, a Large band gets +4, and a Throng gets +6.

Harry Foe
Stance: Open or Rearward.

The warband attacks one enemy you designate on their own, attempting to bring them down. The band makes an attack roll, using half your Valour (round up) as the rating in the weapon skill, with an Edge of a Gandalf Rune, and a Damage and Injury rating based on your Standard of Living:
Poor or Frugal: Damage 3, Injury 14
Martial: Damage 5, Injury 16
Prosperous: Damage 7, Injury 18
Rich: Damage 9, Injury 18

A Small band adds +2 to damage and +1 to Injury, and has an Edge of 10. A Large band adds +4 to damage and +2 to injury, and has an Edge of 9. A Throng adds +6 to damage and +3 to Injury, and has an Edge of 8.

If this tactic is taken in Open stance, it is a close combat attack. If it is taken in Rearward stance, it is a volley of arrows. In order to take a rearward stance, there must be sufficient other companions in close combat stances to support the band: 3 other companions for a Tiny band, 5 for a Small band, 10 for a Large band, or 15 for a Throng.

New Undertaking: Recruit Fighters
“ Aragorn has need of his kindred. Let the Dúnedain ride to him in Rohan!”

You attempt to raise a force of loyal fighters who will support you in your future adventures, or replace men from an already-existing force who have deserted or fallen in battle. Make an Inspire or Persuade roll. The TN is 12, +2 for every size category you want the warband to expand, and an additional +2 for every Wound that has previously reduced the size of your force, as men are reluctant to join the force of one who has squandered the lives of his soldiers. (In order to remove this penalty, you must make an Honour the Fallen undertaking, as described below.)

If you succeed, you recruit the soldiers, though you must pay for their gear: spend 2 Treasure for every size category you are increasing the warband. On a great success, many of the soldiers are already equipped, and you must pay only 1 Treasure per size category. On an extraordinary success, all the soldiers have their own gear, and you do not need to pay anything.

New Undertaking: Honour the Fallen
"Then the Riders of the King's House upon white horses rode round about the barrow and sang together a song of Theoden Thengel's son that Gleowine his minstrel made, and he made no other song after."

A companion may publicly pay their respects to those who have died, speaking of their deeds or singing songs of praise and mourning. Make a Custom, Inspire or Song roll, TN 14 plus the Standing of the fallen you are honouring. Multiple fallen can be honored at once. Use the Standing of the highest individual to set the TN, and add 2 for every additional named character being honoured, or +2 for each Wound to a warband you are trying to eliminate the penalty for.

Costly grave goods can give a bonus: every 3 points of Treasure gives a +1 bonus, a precious object gives +1 and additional +1 for every 3 points of Treasure it is worth, a Wondrous Artefact gives +10 if it has one Blessing, or +15 if it has two Blessings or a Greater Blessing, and a Famous Weapon or set of Amour will give +20.

If you gained Shadow points as a result of the death of the person being honoured, a success on the roll above heals two Shadows point on a success, four on a great success, or six on an extraordinary success. Alternatively, a companion who succeeds on a roll with a great success can heal one Shadow and allow another companion participating in the Honor the Fallen undertaking to succeed without rolling, or heal one Shadow and allow two other companions to succeed on an Extraordinary success.

Make a Song roll (in Open Stance); if successful, the players can either regain Endurance, or have a bonus to the next Intimidate Foes roll, +2 / +4 / +6, AND if the Intimidate Foes roll is successful, it causes an additional loss of 1 Hate.

Here's what I changed it to:
Songs Against the Shadow
Your songs have great potency against the creatures of shadow. While in Open Stance, you may take a special action to sing a song of defiance and woe to the servants of the Enemy. Make a Song roll, TN 10 + the highest attribute level among the enemy. If successful, the next Intimidate Foes action made by you or any of your companions will receive a bonus: +2 if your Song roll succeeded normally, +4 on a great success, or +6 on an extraordinary success. In addition, add 1 to the Hate lost on a successful Intimidate Foes action.

Does the Honor the Fallen undertaking apply to Dwarves, or just to Dunedain with the Raise a Company Virtue?

Allowing anyone to do it was the intent - even if you don't have a company to recruit, the Shadow loss makes it an alternative to Heal Corruption, if you got Shadow from someone's death (plus, it lets a companion heal others' Shadow on a good roll).

I mean, the Dwarf-smithing Virtue should ALMOST duplicate the Artificer of Eregion Virtue entirely.

I revised Craft of Narvi to take your suggestions into account. I allowed the Common-skill-boosting bit to be a bit more generous, since it requires a bigger initial outlay of Treasure. I did revise the Dwarven-Smithing undertaking to only require 5 points of Treasure per craftsmanship point, since I realized 60 Treasure was a lot. How does this look?

The Craft of Narvi
You have studied from one of the last masters of the line of Narvi, the dwarven crafter of the Second Age who worked with the elf-smith Celebrimbor, creator of the Rings of Power. Narvi’s secrets lend your works an even greater degree of potency than even the usual standard of the Dwarves of Durin’s Folk. You learn how to Evaluate Treasure when you first select this virtue. You may later master the skill of making items of Peerless Craft as your undertaking, and spending 1 Experience point during a Fellowship phase; finally, you discover how to Enhance Equipment by spending another Experience point as another undertaking during a later Fellowship phase.

Evaluate Treasure

(Still the same)

Peerless Craft
Choose the Dwarven-smithing undertaking to craft an item of surpassing quality, which can be used by a hero to make their tasks easier.
• You may make an item that grants a bonus to a Common skill. Choose an appropriate item for the skill in question (a harp for Song, a staff for Travel, a fine set of clothes for Inspire, etc). The companion who uses the item gets a +1 bonus to the skill. You may later undertake to further embellish the item, for a total bonus of +2.

The improvement bonuses to an item last until the hero using it spends Advancement Points to improve the skill it grants a bonus to. When this happens, the companion loses the bonus, but you may eventually enhance it again. Restoring the bonus still requires the Dwarven-smithing undertaking, but only 3 crafting points must be accumulated, not 6, and no Treasure must be spent. If you already enhanced the item's bonus to +2 previously, only one new Dwarven-Smithing undertaking is required to restore the full +2 bonus.

Enhance Equipment
Choose the Dwarven-smithing undertaking to retire to your smithy and improve a weapon to make it more deadly, or improve a piece of armor to make it lighter or more protective.
• When you first enhance a weapon in your smithy, its user gains a bonus of +1 to all his attack rolls using the customised weapon. You may later undertake to improve the same weapon once again, for a total bonus of +2.
• When you first enhance a piece of armor, it gains either +1 to Protection rolls or -1 to its Encumbrance rating. You may later undertake to improve the same piece of armor again, to either increase the first improvement to +2/-2, or to apply the other improvement you didn't already choose.
Improvement bonuses to a weapon are applied until the hero wielding the weapon acquires a new level in the related Weapon skill, while improvement bonuses to armor last until the hero wearing it increases their Valour or Wisdom. When this happens, the companion loses the associated bonuses, but you may eventually enhance it again, repeating the customising procedure.
Note that while certainly skillful, you cannot improve the craftsmaship of old: you may only enhance a weapon that does not possess Enchanted Qualities.

I think if the Virtue gave a +1 bonus to the Fellowship pool, and enabled you to regain +1 Hope at the end of every session if your Focus is unharmed/untainted, etc. it could be good. Probably it needs more than just this latter ability, I agree.

I decided that adding 1 to the fellowship pool didn't feel right - this Virtue is about how strong the dwarf's friendship with one person is, not about lifting others' spirits. Here's what I revised it to:

Fast Friends
The Dwarves are bitter foes, it is known. But they are also firm in friendship to those who they have given their trust to. You are known as one who gives their heart deeply when they form bonds of fellowship.

Raise your starting Hope score by 1.

In addition, your Fellowship Focus is improved. If your Fellowship Focus is unharmed at the end of a session, you regain 2 points of Hope instead of just one. In addition, if you choose the Defend Companion action in combat to defend your Fellowship Focus, you may use your favoured Wits attribute for your Parry rating against any attacks redirected to you from your focus.

Would expanding it out to more types of foes needing to spend extra Hate cover this?

Yeah, I think so. I don't know what types though, that such a mask could help against.

Would just making it so that all enemies needed to spend an extra point of Hate to affect the character be balanced?

[Heilemann]

I have nothing more to offer than 'wow'.

[Tolwen]

Hi all! I'm gearing up to run a game of The One Ring. The campaign will be set about 1000 years before the time of The Hobbit/The Lord of the Rings. Like the title suggests, the primary focus of the game will be the last days of the North Kingdom of the Dunedain, Arnor [...]

You have given some great ideas for the timeframe, to which I have nothing to add mechanics-wise and can only gratulate you for your good work!

I have however, a few suggestions for sources of ideas that might be of use for you. They relate to the setting and background rather than game-mechanic questions. They can be found in Other Hands and Other Minds Magazines. All of the Issues of both can be downloaded for free from the website in my signature. From a short review, the following articles might be interesting for you:

Other Hands

• Issue 25 (themed "Dwarves of the Blue Mountains"): 'Dwarves of the Blue Mountains'
• Issue 33/34 (themed "War"): Armies of Eriador (supplement to Issue #33/34)

Other Minds

• Issue 4 (themed "Dwarves"): 'A brief History of the Dwarven Mansions' (and addendum to this in Issue #5)
• Issue 7: The Angmarrim
• Issue 9: Religion in Angmar
• Issue 11: The Tale of Years (revised from the LotR version and including HoMe material)
• Issue 13: Population and Urbanization In Eriador
• Issue 14: Population and Urbanization in Rhovanion (probably only peripherally relevant to your setting)

Happy gaming!

Cheers
Tolwen