Corruption in Southern Mirkwood

[Stormcrow]

The rules make it quite clear that Dark Lands do not automatically equal Blighted Lands. The Loremaster decides which places are blighted. As a rule of thumb, if the player-heroes experience an oppressive feeling of danger or depression because the Shadow has touched an area, that calls for Corruption tests.

Page 224 also has the procedure to randomly decide if a particular area is blighted by rolling the Feat die, but this is only "if the Loremaster isn't sure and needs a hard and fast rule."

The size of the area under consideration is not specified. The examples include an "area," a "village," and a "place." If you're rolling the Feat die to see if an area is blighted, you're rolling for the entire area, not according to the Frequency column. Frequency is for Corruption tests, not checks for Blighted Lands.

In "The Marsh Bell," the entire intersection of the Long Marshes and Mirkwood counts as a blighted place. This doesn't correspond to any "region" on the Loremaster's map. It's simply that the marshy part of Mirkwood is blighted, and if you spend any time there, you have to make Corruption tests.

[Falenthal]

What about the TN of these corruption tests? Does it really 20 like the fatigue test?

Remember that even for Travels, using a TN different from 14 is just an option.

p.158

The Target Number of each Fatigue test is usually 14. If
the Loremaster prefers to reflect the characteristics of the
traversed region in the difficulty of the roll, he can use the
Region table below (the same table can be used to affect
the TN of any roll concerning actions accomplished when
on a journey).

I'd use the higher TN, though, but that makes more rolls AND higher difficulty.

[zedturtle]

Hmm. I tend to agree with this idea... I wonder why it's once a day, instead of twice a day (like it should be, according to the chart)?

Because Darkening of Mirkwood wasn't using the table in the revised rules. Or... they'd adopted my house rules that Dark Lands are rated as Shadow Lands (and Shadow Lands as Wild Lands) until 2951 when Sauron declares in Mordor.

The rules for Twice a Day in Dark Lands are in the original Loremaster's book, so that theory is right out.

Gareth using your house rules seems more likely.

[zedturtle]

What about the TN of these corruption tests? Does it really 20 like the fatigue test?

Remember that even for Travels, using a TN different from 14 is just an option.

p.158

The Target Number of each Fatigue test is usually 14. If
the Loremaster prefers to reflect the characteristics of the
traversed region in the difficulty of the roll, he can use the
Region table below (the same table can be used to affect
the TN of any roll concerning actions accomplished when
on a journey).

I'd use the higher TN, though, but that makes more rolls AND higher difficulty.

Yep, and that just gets ridiculous. As I think I mentioned, I ended up doing several (four) TN 20 Corruption tests instead of twenty Corruption tests (at TN 14 or TN 20). I think reducing the amount and increasing the TN is a valid solution, but that implies the entire tract of land that the heroes choose to traverse on their way to Fenbridge was blighted, which seems unlikely.

I will proceed more cautiously in the future, and let the heroes know before I dump a ton of Shadow on them.

[Terisonen]

So my big group (9 heroes) is on the way between Amon Bauglir and Fenbridge Castle. According to the official material, the journey takes ten days. If we consider the whole of the land Blighted, that means twenty Corruption Tests. That's a lot of die rolling. Is there any official or unofficial other ways to handle this?

Loremaster Guide:

Blighted Lands:
REGIONS FREQUENCY

Free lands, Border lands: Only when required by the current adventure

Wild lands: Once every week

Shadow lands: Once a day

Dark lands Twice a day

Clarification Rule, Guide to Laketown:

When is an area blighted?

If the Loremaster isn’t sure and needs a hard and fast rule
to determine if an area currently traversed by the company
is blighted, he can roll the Feat die a number of times based
on the region type:

Roll the Feat die once if the area is inside Free or Border
lands, twice for Wild lands, three times for Shadow lands,
and four times for Dark lands. If the Feat die produces a
C result, the area is blighted, and the company is
required to make Corruption tests as per the table on page
57 of the Loremaster’s Guide.

The Feat die could be rolled additional times if there are
other reasons to consider the place to be unwholesome. For
example, an area that has been inhabited for centuries by
minions of the Dark Lord, or is currently infested by them;
the soul of a village has been tainted by a terrible murder
or act of treason, or the spirit of a place is being poisoned
by dark sorcery, etc…

[zedturtle]

So my big group (9 heroes) is on the way between Amon Bauglir and Fenbridge Castle. According to the official material, the journey takes ten days. If we consider the whole of the land Blighted, that means twenty Corruption Tests. That's a lot of die rolling. Is there any official or unofficial other ways to handle this?

Loremaster Guide:

Blighted Lands:
REGIONS FREQUENCY

Free lands, Border lands: Only when required by the current adventure

Wild lands: Once every week

Shadow lands: Once a day

Dark lands Twice a day

Clarification Rule, Guide to Laketown:

When is an area blighted?

If the Loremaster isn’t sure and needs a hard and fast rule
to determine if an area currently traversed by the company
is blighted, he can roll the Feat die a number of times based
on the region type:

Roll the Feat die once if the area is inside Free or Border
lands, twice for Wild lands, three times for Shadow lands,
and four times for Dark lands. If the Feat die produces a
C result, the area is blighted, and the company is
required to make Corruption tests as per the table on page
57 of the Loremaster’s Guide.

The Feat die could be rolled additional times if there are
other reasons to consider the place to be unwholesome. For
example, an area that has been inhabited for centuries by
minions of the Dark Lord, or is currently infested by them;
the soul of a village has been tainted by a terrible murder
or act of treason, or the spirit of a place is being poisoned
by dark sorcery, etc…

Don't take this the wrong way, but I'm confused by people just dumping the rules here.

What is an area/place? Is it a day's worth of travel? Is it a hex's? Is it a singular place? Or do you roll four times for the route and if you get an Eye does the whole route count as Blighted?

Those are the sort of questions that I'm wrestling with, not literally what the rulebook says... I have all of them.

[Terisonen]

You're totally right... After re-read my post, I don't answer your question... I would roll feat(s) die at the frequency asked for the fatigue test:

Season One fatigue test every...
Winter 3 days
Spring 5 days
Summer 6 days
Autumn 4 days

...In addition for the fatigue test, and roll the number of Feat Die accordingly of this rule:

-One Roll for Free or Border Land
-Two Roll for Wild Land
-Three Roll for Shadow Land
-Four Roll for Dark Land.

If the Feat die produces a
C result, the area is blighted, and the company is
required to make Corruption tests as per the table on page
57 of the Loremaster’s Guide.

[zedturtle]

You're totally right... After re-read my post, I don't answer your question... I would roll feat(s) die at the frequency asked for the fatigue test:

Season One fatigue test every...
Winter 3 days
Spring 5 days
Summer 6 days
Autumn 4 days

...In addition for the fatigue test, and roll the number of Feat Die accordingly of this rule:

-One Roll for Free or Border Land
-Two Roll for Wild Land
-Three Roll for Shadow Land
-Four Roll for Dark Land.

If the Feat die produces a
C result, the area is blighted, and the company is
required to make Corruption tests as per the table on page
57 of the Loremaster’s Guide.

So as many tests for Blight as Fatigue tests? That's an interesting approach... why would someplace be more Blighted in Winter than in Summer? Although, maybe that does make sense...

[Terisonen]

An exemple: Assuming that:

"So my big group (9 heroes) is on the way between Amon Bauglir and Fenbridge Castle. According to the official material, the journey takes ten days"

If the travel take place in Spring, you have to test two time the fatigue test (Spring, 5 days):

You're in Shadow Land: Roll 3x Three Feat die: If result C you're in Blighted Land... For 5 Days.

Statistically, 1 in 12 chance give that in Percentile:

1 Feat Die 2 Feat Die 3 Feat Die 4 Feat Die
8% 16% 23% 29%

So It means that your group has a 23% 'chance' to stumble on a blighted land per 5 days.

Have it going through Dark Land, It would be 29%.

[Terisonen]

You're totally right... After re-read my post, I don't answer your question... I would roll feat(s) die at the frequency asked for the fatigue test:

Season One fatigue test every...
Winter 3 days
Spring 5 days
Summer 6 days
Autumn 4 days

...In addition for the fatigue test, and roll the number of Feat Die accordingly of this rule:

-One Roll for Free or Border Land
-Two Roll for Wild Land
-Three Roll for Shadow Land
-Four Roll for Dark Land.

If the Feat die produces a
C result, the area is blighted, and the company is
required to make Corruption tests as per the table on page
57 of the Loremaster’s Guide.

So as many tests for Blight as Fatigue tests? That's an interesting approach... why would someplace be more Blighted in Winter than in Summer? Although, maybe that does make sense...

You can easily find a Tolkiennesque approch to that: more light in Spring and Summer. Light means Good, Dark mean Bad.

Unfortunatly, you have to track were are the area Blighted: PC won't understand why an area blighted last year is suddenly free of the Dark. The reverse not true, however: Dark is encroaching the Free Wolrd.