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The only reason I suggested leaving Luthwen an archer is that we end up with the greatest weapon diversity. Although I suppose she could go regular spear & shield rather than great spear, which may make sense if she takes Shadow Bane. Are you considering Viglund's men, or at least the leaders, to be Servants of the Shadow? If not then Shadow Bane doesn't make sense. In which case there aren't really any Reward/Virtue options for spear-wielding Elves that meet the "high probability of being used in one play session" criteria...unless The Speakers is useful for chasing the bandits (in which case you'd want to make sure she has the common skills necessary to make The Speakers work in whatever situation you envision.)

So the simplest solution is to leave her with the bow and make Walfred a swordsman.

Here's Walfred as a swordsman. With Parry of 9 he can fight in Forward Stance, so I left him with Short Sword: 2 (and gave him Reckless trait). But he's also a stealthy little bugger (Stealth: 4, Elusive, Small), which will get used in this adventure, and has the gift of the gab.

Name: Walfred Took

Culture: Hobbit of the Shire Standard of Living: Prosperous
Cultural blessing: Hobbit-sense
Calling: Wanderer Shadow weakness: Wandering-madness
Specialties: Smoking, Story-telling, Folk-lore, Small (from Small Folk virtue)
Distinctive features: Elusive, Reckless
Body: 2 Heart: 7 Wits: 5
Body (favoured): 3 Heart (favoured): 9 Wits (favoured): 8

-Common Skills-

• Awe: 0 Inspire: 0 Persuade: 3
• Athletics: 0 Travel: 1 Stealth: 4
• Awareness: 2 Insight: 1 Search: 2
• Explore: 0 Healing: 0 Hunting: 0
• Song: 2 Courtesy: 3 Riddle: 3
• Craft: 0 Battle: 0 Lore: 0

-Weapon Skills-

• Short sword: 2
• Bow: 1
• Dagger: 1

-Rewards-:
-Virtues-: Small Folk
-Gear-

• Short sword damage: 5 edge: 10 injury: 14 enc: 1
• Dagger damage: 3 edge: G injury: 12 enc: 0
• Leather corslet enc: 8
• Buckler enc: 1

Endurance: 23 Starting Endurance: 23 Fatigue from Encumbrance: 10 Fatigue from Travel: 0 Total Fatigue: 10
Hope: 19 Starting Hope: 19 Temporary Shadow: 0 Permanent Shadow: 0 Total Shadow: 0
Armour: 2 Headgear: 0
Parry: 5 Shield: 1
Damage: 0 Ranged: 0
Wisdom: 2 Valour: 1
Experience: 0 Total Experience: 0
Fellowship: 0 Advancement: 0 Treasure: 0 Standing: 0

Glorelendil wrote:The only reason I suggested leaving Luthwen an archer is that we end up with the greatest weapon diversity. Although I suppose she could go regular spear & shield rather than great spear, which may make sense if she takes Shadow Bane. Are you considering Viglund's men, or at least the leaders, to be Servants of the Shadow? If not then Shadow Bane doesn't make sense. In which case there aren't really any Reward/Virtue options for spear-wielding Elves that meet the "high probability of being used in one play session" criteria...unless The Speakers is useful for chasing the bandits (in which case you'd want to make sure she has the common skills necessary to make The Speakers work in whatever situation you envision.)

So the simplest solution is to leave her with the bow and make Walfred a swordsman.

That is a question (are the Viglundings Evil Men™) that is so bound up in everything that I'm hesistant to answer it. Are the thralls evil? No. They are being forced into being the disposable patsies for Viglund's ambitions. Is Cenric evil? He's committing crimes for love of gold. But he might really believe that Viglund has the right to bear the Sickle... so maybe, probably not. Is Jarn evil? He's helping his own ambitions by helping his boss, but he considers everyone under him expendable. So, yes, I would count him as an Evil Man.

Is Viglund directly serving Sauron? I doubt it. But he is helping to fulfil Sauron's goals for the region, so he's probably been subtly influenced by the Shadow.

- - - - -

Hobbits have good options for close combat, so Walfred as a fighter is cool. And it preserves the 'Elf Archer' archetype...

One test for "Evil Men" might be: if the War broke out tomorrow, whose side would they be on? If the answer is, "they would try to stay out of it" or "they would prey on both sides equally" then they are not Evil Men, just evil men.

Another test might be: do they every cooperate with orcs?

But either way it's too sketchy of a thing to rely on for this adventure, in my opinion.

zedturtle wrote:
Hobbits have good options for close combat, so Walfred as a fighter is cool. And it preserves the 'Elf Archer' archetype...

Luthwen could still go with The Speakers if you think that would add some cool Tolkieny flavor to the first adventure. You could add a note to the LM to drop hints to her player at the right moment.

Here's Luthwen with Bow:3 and Speakers. I picked a Background that let me give her Patient and Quick of Hearing, as they seemed appropriate for The Speakers. And I gave her Insight: 2 in case she needs to ask the River which way the Bandits went (and Riddle: 1 in case there's an opportunity to ask the Stones.)

Name: Luthwen

Culture: Elf of Mirkwood Standard of Living: Martial
Cultural blessing: Folk of the Dusk
Calling: Scholar Shadow weakness: Lure of Secrets
Specialties: Mirkwood-lore, Swimming, Rhymes of Lore
Distinctive features: Patient, Quick of Hearing
Body: 5 Heart: 3 Wits: 6
Body (favoured): 8 Heart (favoured): 5 Wits (favoured): 7

-Common Skills-

• Awe: 2 Inspire: 0 Persuade: 0
• Athletics: 3 Travel: 0 Stealth: 2
• Awareness: 2 Insight: 2 Search: 0
• Explore: 0 Healing: 1 Hunting: 1
• Song: 2 Courtesy: 0 Riddle: 1
• Craft: 0 Battle: 2 Lore: 3

-Weapon Skills-

• Bow: 3
• Sword: 1
• Dagger: 1

-Rewards-:
-Virtues-: The Speakers
-Gear-

• Bow damage: 5 edge: 10 injury: 14 enc: 1
• Sword damage: 5 edge: 10 injury: 16 enc: 2
• Dagger damage: 3 edge: G injury: 12 enc: 0
• Leather shirt enc: 4

Endurance: 25 Starting Endurance: 25 Fatigue from Encumbrance: 7 Fatigue from Travel: 0 Total Fatigue: 7
Hope: 11 Starting Hope: 11 Temporary Shadow: 0 Permanent Shadow: 0 Total Shadow: 0
Armour: 1 Headgear: 0
Parry: 6 Shield: 0
Damage: 0 Ranged: 0
Wisdom: 2 Valour: 1
Experience: 0 Total Experience: 0
Fellowship: 0 Advancement: 0 Treasure: 0 Standing: 0

Ok. The document has been updated. Luthwen now has The Speakers (I didn't even have to change her background), Dhuoda is fixed and I rejiggered Walferd to be a Warden (otherwise we have lots of Wanderers). We still need to have some sort of background for him.

Thanks to everyone for all the great suggestions!

Urrgh. Trying to come up with something for Walferd.

He's a Took. He's Reckless. Well, that's repetitive.

He's Small and Elusive. But he's a Warden. So he probably was a Bounder, who has realised that there's a wider world out there.

He likes Smoking and Story-telling.

So I'm thinking a trip to Bree that turned into something a lot more... wide ranging. Maybe tied up into the Easterly Inn?

Ack, help me fellow forum-goers, I stink at this!

zedturtle wrote: Ack, help me fellow forum-goers, I stink at this!

I will ruminate.

A very short practical comment.

Glorelendil, in my opinion in this game it is suicidal to play with a PC with travel 0 (Luthwen) or travel 1 (Walfred Took). The minimum to start with I would say it is travel 2, although I always give my starting PCs a 3 in travel.

Looking at the document I will for sure increase the Travel or Biarnor to 2