New GM needs help with encounters and trait usage

[Mordjinn]

I'm a new One Ring GM trying to wrap my head around this wonderful game. After reading the rulebooks I have many questions, but lets start with a couple.

ENCOUNTERS
Could someone explain to me how the encounters work? You set the tolerance and then there are two stages, introduction and interaction. But there are no instructions if the rolls during the introduction already count toward the tolerance or not? When tolerance lowers with each failed result isn't it always "safer" to use a spokesman? Then "only characters who were properly presented during the introduction may propose further actions" (in interaction phase). If the spokesman introduces the other characters during introduction phase are they properly presented? What happens if a spokesman initiated the conversation, but then at some point a character who wasn't presented during the introduction has some specific knowledge or wants to cut in to the conversation? He can't? Or it is an automatic failure and tolerance drops?

To me it seems that they came up with some rules to handle encounters, but kept it so vague that it is very hard to really explain to my group how to handle them.

TRAITS
One of my players asked me how to invoke traits like Wrathful and Vengeful. Keen-Eyed, Elusive and others directly related to actions seem very easy to implement to the game, but how to use and invoke the more personality based ones? The ones I'm specificly interested are: Wrathful, Vengeful, Grim, Fierce, Hardy. I noticed that Rich H had compiled a pdf about this, but it was unavailable for now.

Thanks in advance for your answers.

[Hermes Serpent]

Regarding Traits. you mention that Rich did a write up on how he suggested dealing with traits in play. As that is now temporarily unavailable you might want to PM him to check if he's willing to provide a copy until he reposts it.

Read through the Encounters in the published scenarios to get a feel for how they work or check through the various discussions in the old forum. Garn did a zip file for all the old forum pages that you can download and unzip to read through both the discussions and the actual play reports.

[Hermes Serpent]

I've spent some time doing something a little more in depth to help you with your problems.

ENCOUNTERS
Could someone explain to me how the encounters work? You set the tolerance and then there are two stages, introduction and interaction. But there are no instructions if the rolls during the introduction already count toward the tolerance or not? When tolerance lowers with each failed result isn't it always "safer" to use a spokesman? Then "only characters who were properly presented during the introduction may propose further actions" (in interaction phase). If the spokesman introduces the other characters during introduction phase are they properly presented? What happens if a spokesman initiated the conversation, but then at some point a character who wasn't presented during the introduction has some specific knowledge or wants to cut in to the conversation? He can't? Or it is an automatic failure and tolerance drops?

Quick answers - 1) all failures in direct interaction count towards the Tolerance limit (the opening Insight or Lore rolls probably shouldn't as that's sort of gathering background information and looking at body language).
2) Everyone introduced by name/title or deeds counts as properly introduced and it would be bad manners not to include everyone present in the introduction.
3) Both sides should do Introductions, look how many times introductions are made in The Hobbit - Dwarf's Name, At Your Service, for example.
4) I'd play that anyone who wasn't introduced by name or title at the start would be ignored (perhaps as inconsequential) or the current speaker asked about the interrupter - "who is that annoying person, you were rude not to introduce them" - and might even lower the Tolerance level for such rudeness.

Some relevant points first:
LM p51 "While much of an encounter is
played out in the dialogue between the Loremaster and
his players, the rules presented in this section and on
page 163 of the Adventurer’s Guide are used to determine
the progress of the meeting and its consequences."

LM p52 Setting Tolerance
"When the company fails a number of rolls in excess of
the tolerance rating set for the encounter, the meeting is
essentially over: from that moment on, the players may
not propose or attempt any further tasks. "

and

"As a rule of thumb, individuals who prize courage,
renown or prowess will favour Valour (like warriors,
soldiers or captains, etc.) while peace-loving folks, or
people not especially familiar with warfare or heroic
deeds will favour Wisdom (common folks, merchants,
Elves, Hobbits and Wizards, etc.)."

Heroes set Encounter Goal
LM adjusts Tolerance by the Standing of anyone from the same culture and the situation or for anyone not liked by the target.
Heroes use Lore or Insight to determine attitude of the target of the Encounter.
(Due to the possibility of failure starting characters should seriously consider using a Spokeman with the highest Awe or Courtesy skill rather than allow everyone to introduce themselves and risk a quick failure).
Heroes choose to do Individual introductions or use a Spokesman.
The Spokesman or the whole Company roleplays the Introduction of the company.
Roll against Awe, Courtesy or Riddle according to the LM's understanding of the statements made by the hero(es)
This will set the tone of the Encounter.
Anyone properly presented during the Introductions - formally introduced and presented to the target may make a statement/roleplay and the LM chooses the skill (Insight, Inspire, Persuade, Riddle or Song) for the hero to roll against according to the tone of the speech.

When the heroes feel that they cannot gain any more information or the LM feels they have come to a natural conclusion or the number of failures have exceeded the Tolerance of the Encounter then total the successes and compare those to a list of possible outcomes. There are examples in Tales from Wilderland.

We'll take the example of the adventure in the rule book.
Gloin prizes Valour over Wisdom LM p125 so Tolerance is set to highest Valour of the group, probably 2. Adjustments are -1 for Elves present, but +1 because he needs the Dwarves rescued.

Insight allows the Company to determine he's a no-nonsense guy and wants action not words so they infer Valour has been used to set the Tolerence and that using a single Spokesperson is the best approach.

Using Awe or Courtesy is best method as Riddle is likely to infuriate Gloin by appearing as 'cunning words' and time wasting.

The spokesperson, having made introductions through roleplay, asks Gloin about the missing Dwarves and their route. He responds with the information from LM p126 and the map of their route. There should be no need to roll any dice here as it's simple questions and answers, but you could ask for Riddle if trying to ascertain further information about their purpose in travelling the long unused road.

If the heroes need more information they can pose extra questions.The extra information is doled out according to questions asked and the result of the rolls for Insight and Riddle as listed. Bear in mind that the Tolerance is likely to be as low as 2 for starting characters so risky (as in low skill levels) questions will bring the episode to a swift end. Spending Hope to get a success is not a good idea at this point.

If the heroes ask about transport then perhaps a Great or Extraordinary success could offer the opportunity to have a writ provided for travel at Gloins expense, otherwise on a plain success instructions about who to ask about hiring a boat/raft could be given, for a failure, a statement about "a fine set of heroes you are turning out to be" might be appropriate.

The reward is glossed over but the act of asking does not show the company in a good light. Questions about reimbursement of expenses as per Bilbo's interaction with the Dwarves is perfectly acceptable though.

[Treadwell]

My advice is have a quick read over of a formal encounters in Tolkien's books The Hobbit - e.g. Gandalf with Beorn or even Bilbo with Smaug or those in The Lord of the Rings e.g. Aragorn meeting Eomer on the Wold or Gandalfs entry to Edoras.
The rules in TOR neatly capture what Tolkien is presenting - a far more formal set of social relations than we are used to in modern society. First everyone of importance is clearly introduced there lineage and relationships clearly explain to everyone present. Then begins the negotiation using coutesy, awe ,riddle, or swapping between them as seem appropriate.
I think the closest we get to this today is a business meeting - next time your in one think about what would happen if someone just came in and sat down then started interupting everyone - not recipe for success.

[Mordjinn]

Wow! Thank you so much for all the help. This was exactly what I was looking for. All the examples are very helpful, especially the ones about the Gloin-encounter in the Loremasters Book adventure. Also the business meet parable is very enlightening.

I feel a lot less nervous running the game when I know there are such great people helping out if I have some questions. Cheers!