Thought: Repercussions of the Watch on the Heath (spoilers)

[Ernst-Jan]

Yesterday my group finished the Watch on the Heath. I ran a modified version as I have no Gibbet King and interwined most of the Tales from Wilderland material with the Darkening of Mirkwood, making the Chain and the Dragon a plot implemented by of one of the wraiths previously hidden on the Dwimmerhorn, now rejoined with his brothers in Dol Guldur, and enacted by agents. But it comes down to much the same, evil people attempt to enslave dragon and must be stopped.

They succeeded quite spectacularly even though they were forced to take down the Dragon as well (through rather clever use of the Chamber of Winds - did not expect them to). However, in planning this adventure, I was struck by the thought of What if they fail? An indentured Dragon in the North is rather a sizable problem. At first I thought I'd better plan a contingency adventure in case this came to pass, but even if a new Company did manage to stop the Dragon, I couldn't see that happening without a considerable amount of damage to either the Woodland Realm or Dale and Erebor - which would pretty much derail everything pertaining to the Darkening of Mirkwood. Not that it would be uninteresting of course, but possibly hazardous for the professor's canon.

Anyone had any thoughts on this? Has this gone wrong?

[zedturtle]

I had had similar thoughts when my players undertook the adventure (they even solved much like yours, using the chamber of winds). My only idea was to have the bad outcome occurr off-stage. Just narrate something to the effect of "Raenar brings great destruction to the north; eventually the combined forces of Bard and Dain are able to drive it away, thought their losses are high."

There's enough of a gap in the timeline such that Erebor/Dale could have recovered in time for The War of the Ring.

[Indur Dawndeath]

In my game the players defeated the Gibbet King, but were not able to do anything about the dragon. They fled from the Tower.
So I have been thinking how to play this out later. Right now Raenar is far to the North at the edge of the withered heath, but he may venture further South, perhaps going in Smaugs footsteps to retake Erebor!

But the dragon should be happy with his new treasure for at least a few years before looking for more...

Anyone played a second scenario where the players returned to take the dragon out?

Cheers

[Glorelendil]

I had had similar thoughts when my players undertook the adventure (they even solved much like yours, using the chamber of winds). My only idea was to have the bad outcome occurr off-stage. Just narrate something to the effect of "Raenar brings great destruction to the north; eventually the combined forces of Bard and Dain are able to drive it away, thought their losses are high."

There's enough of a gap in the timeline such that Erebor/Dale could have recovered in time for The War of the Ring.

I'm still waiting for the Dwarf in our group to propose going back for the secret treasure chamber. I suppose my Ranger could be talked into it, both to support my comrade and in the hope of uncovering some Old Lore.

[Ernst-Jan]

All I had planned so far was that as the Orcs used by the enemy to capture the Dragon in my scenario issued from Gundabad, it was logical that they would take it back there, as the text states that the Dragon is still reltively weak and shrunken from centuries of sleep, I supposed feeding on the wildlife in the Gundabad Vales, where relatively few free folk are likely to encounter it, should give it time to grow without the free folk having the the opportunity to mass a large force against it.

[Majestic]

I just got done playing this adventure this weekend as well.

It was pretty touch and go for awhile, being as the encounter with Raenar had a Tolerance of 1 (one new player had a beginning character!). I had mercy on the group, though, as when one of the Elves went to introduce himself I pointed out that his character (over a century old) would know that it is probably wisest for all Elves and Dwarves not to speak.

My group almost quit at only four successes, but I allowed an Insight roll for the party spokesman to discern that the Dragon was likely to double-cross them. They got another success (so five total), and though he failed the following Insight roll (believing that the Dragon was now an uneasy ally), it didn't really matter, as Raenar was now of sufficient mind to aid them.

The beast now has claimed the watchtower as his new home, so I've got the opportunity for future plot events regarding that. The truce between the Dragon and the adventurers was tenous at best, but at least they helped Raenar avoid being enslaved, so they've at least got his begrudging respect.

It was funny when the battle was over and the Dragon declared that he was staying in the fortification. I simply asked (as the Dragon) if there were any objections? and the exhausted companions (every one of them Weary, at least one was Miserable, numerous had been Wounded multiple times, and one was dead) didn't give even a tiny bit of resistance!

[Indur Dawndeath]

I just got done playing this adventure this weekend as well.

It was pretty touch and go for awhile, being as the encounter with Raenar had a Tolerance of 1 (one new player had a beginning character!). I had mercy on the group, though, as when one of the Elves went to introduce himself I pointed out that his character (over a century old) would know that it is probably wisest for all Elves and Dwarves not to speak.

My group almost quit at only four successes, but I allowed an Insight roll for the party spokesman to discern that the Dragon was likely to double-cross them. They got another success (so five total), and though he failed the following Insight roll (believing that the Dragon was now an uneasy ally), it didn't really matter, as Raenar was now of sufficient mind to aid them.

The beast now has claimed the watchtower as his new home, so I've got the opportunity for future plot events regarding that. The truce between the Dragon and the adventurers was tenous at best, but at least they helped Raenar avoid being enslaved, so they've at least got his begrudging respect.

It was funny when the battle was over and the Dragon declared that he was staying in the fortification. I simply asked (as the Dragon) if there were any objections? and the exhausted companions (every one of them Weary, at least one was Miserable, numerous had been Wounded multiple times, and one was dead) didn't give even a tiny bit of resistance!

This is almost exactly how it went in my game. The players were wounded, Weary and misserable. But our Hobbit did ask if he could see the weak spot, when Raenar blasted the Gibbet King with his breath weapon.
All the other players were horrified by the idear of attacking the dragon, so they fled instead

[Ernst-Jan]

My group were all telling each other to leave, very Bridge of Khazad Dum, but they've been together for 10+ in-game years, so I supose it was warranted. In the end they managed to stay alive long enough to configure the Chamber into skull-crush mode, and barely escaped the collapsing tower. Most of the Company is retiring now due to exhaustive use of last Hope points.