Resolving Hazard Episodes

[VurtMan]

Hello again guys,

Sorry to spam questions today, but we're doing our first practice run through the various mechanics and figuring everything out before our real game begins. Here's the latest confusion:

In a party fewer than 4, there will be empty roles when travelling. Should a hazard episode address an empty role (we're using the Hobbit Tales cards), and nobody elects to spend a hope to assume the role, what is the penalty? Or is it required that someone spend a hope to assume that role?

Secondly, if we have a huntsman with 0 hunting pips who fails the hazard (huntsman - strain) and has rolled no success dice beyond the feat die, does he suffer zero endurance loss? Doesn't seem logical to work like that.

Thanks in advance for your insights (you have 4 pips in insight).

[Robin Smallburrow]

In answer to your queries, p.161 of rulebook:

"Make the Roll
Check if at least one character has been assigned to the role selected for the Hazard prior to the start of the journey. If no hero assumed the selected role, any companion may spend one point of Hope and be allowed to make the roll
(players should remember that there can be only one hero acting as the Guide for the company)."

If no one volunteers, the test fails automatically.

So what this means is that the Consequences of Failure for the Hazard Episode should be applied, if this is Strain then that is what is applied.

However, the rules are always meant to be guidelines that the LM can choose to apply (or not), so if it doesn't make much sense in the story for the Huntsman to suffer from Endurance loss (but you could argue that he/she suffers this due to the amount of exertion trying to find some game), then think up another more appropriate penalty for the Huntsman, such as 'Fails to find any food, unless the Fellowship have brought food with them they are now considered Weary until they find food'

Robin S.

This example is of course what happened to Thorin & company as they did not have a huntsman.

[zedturtle]

Robin's summary is good.

However, the 'success die' in the Strain column is a fancy way of saying 'take 1d6 Endurance damage'. It's not tied into any previous rolls.

[Otaku-sempai]

What is preventing a character from assuming more than one travel role? When Aragorn was guiding Frodo and his companions to Rivendell, the Ranger was acting as Guide, Scout and Huntsman.

[Glorelendil]

What is preventing a character from assuming more than one travel role? When Aragorn was guiding Frodo and his companions to Rivendell, the Ranger was acting as Guide, Scout and Huntsman.

Well, it is a Ranger virtue. "Ways of the Wild":

When on a journey, if you are the Guide of the company you are considered to be assuming all vacant travelling roles (you are considered to ‘fill in’ as the company’s Huntsman, Scout and Look-out man at the same time, if no other companion is already covering that role)

[VurtMan]

I see where I made the mistake. It does say "Lose endurance equal to success die result" not "the success die result" which had me referring to the dice used in the test itself. It's still not a bold and clear statement, but it's obvious that my initial interpretation makes so little sense that that I know how to play it now.

The implied answer to my second question is that if nobody elects to step up as huntsman and solve the problem, the entire party suffers the loss of a d6 roll. e.g. the party is running out of food and nobody hunts. everyone suffers short rations.

*in this case, all failed hazard tests that say "equal to success die result" will result in damages of a single die roll, separate from the test itself, and not hold the potential to deal larger amounts of damage, as in the case when a skilled hunter rolls 3 success dice during the test.

Another thing I'm running into is the problem inherent with having nobody in the hunting role after a week's travel. That means everyone's food is run out and nobody is hunting for more. In my practice test I mandated that one of the players needed to be hunting, the other acting as guide. Seemed sensible to me.

[Glorelendil]

I think technically it's not whether somebody "steps up" and makes the roll; its whether somebody was assigned to the role. It's hard to both take care of hunting needs AND be an alert lookout, for example.

[zedturtle]

Well, since you're able to spend Hope to make the test, it does seem like folks can 'step up', unless I'm misunderstanding you.


As for the rest, I'll note that TOR is reasonably consistent about using 'die' for 1d6 and 'dice' for 2d6 or Xd6. I'm not sure that we'll get official clarification on this, since sometimes the rules are written to encourage rulings and not to prescribe specific solutions to every conceivable situation.

[Otaku-sempai]

What is preventing a character from assuming more than one travel role? When Aragorn was guiding Frodo and his companions to Rivendell, the Ranger was acting as Guide, Scout and Huntsman.

Well, it is a Ranger virtue. "Ways of the Wild"

Okay, thanks. But is there anything in RAW that precludes other characters from assuming more than one traveling role?

[zedturtle]

154 of the revised rule book is very explicit:

With the exception of the company’s Guide, more than one player-hero may be assigned the same role (in other words, there may be more than one character acting as Look-outs, or more heroes going hunting regularly), but normally no character may assume more than one role at the same time (posing as the group’s Huntsman AND Scout, for example).