Crafting new Adventures... (to all the LMs out there)

[Oskar]

I'm new to LM'ing but I want to learn the craft. The prewritten quests are great, but few. How to make new quests and stayinng true to the Tolkien timeline?

I'm looking for several differently themed quests,
secondly I'm looking for tips on how to bring them to life.
What kind of game makes for an interesting game?
I imagine there being levels of difficulty in quest. Easy-to-make quests would be NPCs calling for the killing of differents beasts in the Wilderland for certain rewards. No timeline limitation.

2946. Assault on Dol Guldur. Only a sceleton-crew remains. (before PCs come)
From 2946-2951, there is a relative calm, to rebuild and prosper. Hints for quests in this Era?

2951 que the Darkening of Mirkwood.(Also Sauron declares in Mordor). With 4-6 adventures / year and suggested start in 2946, that makes for 20-30 adventures /sessions 2946-2951. Of course you could "skip ahead" if 2951+ seems for fun to play. Question - is it meant gaming sessions or completed adventures from start to finish? One adventure could take 3 sessions when I LM.
2951+ the Nazgûl move in to Dol Guldur, making the Beast of Mirkwood attack the woodmen (the light of the West?). 2nd they turn one of the Sea Maidens to wickedness at the Black Tairn(?). That's two cool to make adventures waiting to happen. Also Sauron declaring in Mordor making the narration of hero-characters with shadow points fun - imagine nightmares of the lidless eye haunting PCs?!?

Then what? 2951-301x: The Nazgul will try to mastermind new schemes to weaken the Free People of the Wilderland and in 3018 the One Ring is destroyed. Around this time a host of Easterlings assail Dale/Erebor. A siege, that the dwarves and men around Erebor break free from once Sauron is no more. Que 4th Age and then anything is possible. But what of the time between 2951-3018?

I want to craft a storyline that has impact on the bigger scheme of things.
*Errands.(e.g. investigations of locations; escort-missions; intercepting/tracking spies of Sauron; learning about a cursed weapon - destrying it / clensing it of the taint of evil)

*Find and defeat the bandits plaguing the trade caravans (that lack armoured escorts)
*Fighting old PC that succumbed to darkness, forming his/her own lair/outpost/gang of bandits? (that after too many bouts of madness turned to become "evil" NPC.)

*Weeding out agents of Sauron/The Nazgul of Dol Guldor when they somehow spread their lies in Dale or Esgaroth? Perhaps they try to pit the worried Lake-towners against the Bardings, convincing them that Dale looks south for easily-conquered-wealth? Assasination-attempts, false-flag operations? (Similar to how Gondor seemed to have been weakend by Grima Wormtongue) The PC moderating peace talks between the Master (and councilpeps) of Esgaroth and an angered Bard with his most trusted...

*Finding a Cure for a mysterious plague spreading in the Wilderland? Find source of plague, bring sample to Elrond/Radagast/Beorn/High-lvl NPC. Administer Cure to some place, e.g. PCs hometown or family. Or perhaps to save their common Sanctuary, netting the group closer together?

What are the Nazgûl or other malignant forces trying to do in the Wilderland and what will happen post 2951 if they are not stopped?

So I'm looking for several differently themed quests;
secondly I'm looking for tips on how to bring them to life.
What kind of game makes for an interesting game?
(I have yet to make journeys into something more than a hassle that saps fatigue. Found the tread about the 100 hazards and the errata on journeys, will try to use them to improve the narration/gaming of these parts.)

Oskar

[HorusZA]

In answer to your last question "What kind of game makes for an interesting game?"

I've been GM'ing since the early 80's and the most important lesson I have learned regarding adventures it is this:
The best sessions are those which are crafted by the desires and motivations of the characters.
While published adventures can be very enjoyable and fun, the most satisfying ones are those that are directly initiated by the players and not by some GM fiat (You get hired to do X, or King so-and-so commands you to do Y). The player's feel like they're in charge of their own destinies and not just along for the ride.

It's the old Theme Park Ride vs. Sandbox analogy.

So, my general suggestion is: prepare your adventures, don't plan them.
There's a subtle difference. In the former you have a general idea what the plot is, who the main antagonists are and a general timeline of events subject to PC intervention. You have no firm idea or conclusions as to how the adventure will actually unfold, but your preparations allow you to handle most eventualities (i.e. player decisions) with ease.
In the latter, you have an exact outline of how the show will go down: Characters travel to the ruins and get ambushed by Orcs along the way. They'll discover a map on one of the bodies that leads them to their hideout where they'll rescue a group of captured Woodsmen one of which will betray them later, etc, etc.
Both can be excellent fun, but I've found that the prepare approach usually requires less work as the details are left vague and only coalesce into concrete things when needed. Additionally, players generally feel more embraced and connected by the story as their actions tend to be less restricted by the GM-Player Social Contract.

[Oskar]

Exellent reply HorusZA!

I LM'd a few sessions and I just felt like the nastiest train-driver. Shoo-shoo, along the tracks. Railroading I take it, is an art. I did okay. I THOUGHT I wanted to give the feeling of the world being a sandbox while gently nudging them along the tracks. Or the three-door-question. Which door to take; which approach to choose? And then all paths leading to the next station along the line. The goal should be to make the suspension of disbelief easier for the participants, making the mechanics of the game blend into the storyline and creating a few game-session. Right?

But you're saying: let their motivations and desires drive the plot along. When you put it like that, it sounds so obvious. So preparations, not planning. Okay.

As of now: I write my own summaries about the inhabitants of the Wilderland, get a sense of the timeline, map the locations, so i don't have to go through lists of descriptions (and then translate to swedish in real time).

So the great plot-line, streching across the years,, what about it? Tolkien is vague about what happens in the Wilderland from 2951ish-301x. That's 70 years of game-time where a few Nazgûl try to weaken/crush the woodmen and other free folk. Where the Easterlings turn west for conquest of Dale. Where the goblins grow in number in the Grey Mountains and come down south?

What are your thoughts on that bigger storyline-thing?

[HorusZA]

So the great plot-line, streching across the years,, what about it? Tolkien is vague about what happens in the Wilderland from 2951ish-301x. That's 70 years of game-time where a few Nazgûl try to weaken/crush the woodmen and other free folk. Where the Easterlings turn west for conquest of Dale. Where the goblins grow in number in the Grey Mountains and come down south?

What are your thoughts on that bigger storyline-thing?

The danger of long-term planning is that very often you waste a lot of creativity on something that may not be needed for a variety of reasons: the campaign fizzles out, focus shifts, the unpredictability of players takes things into hitherto unexpected directions, etc.
While there's nothing wrong with taking a long view don't look too far out. Take two or three elements that interest you and start introducing them to your game. Are the players intrigued by any of them or are they "meh"? This will tell you which to develop further.

Depending on your adherence to canon, don't be afraid to kill a few sacred cows to stir things up.
For example: Maybe the characters kill a deformed, skulking creature that's been following them for days and turns out to be Gollum. Not necessarily a big deal for the characters, but for the player's it will be quite a shock as they realize that the future was not pre-determined by the pen of JRRT and that this is their world with its own destiny.

[Oskar]

Trial and error, get it.

What kind of feedback to you ask for? To the players,, or to the characters? Is it a meta-question, or how do you go about this? Or do you simple "read" your players and see when they seem to enjoy the game the most?

Slaughtering a white cow seems like just the right thing to shake up the PCs. Killing Gollum or similar would have that effect. I like that idea a lot!

And elements.. Which are intriguing to the players. The trial-n-error thing.
I'll need to think for about the elements.
Do you mean like tropes,, "the unreliable NPC (that gives you missions) with a secret agenda"?

A thing I would like to do is for one adventure to become something like a thriller-adventure. They happen upon a corpse, with a single wound to off-hand. No blood, in fact the body is drained. The blade though, looks awesome. One of the PCs equip it. After testing it against enemies, they conclude that it is in fact awesome. But possessed! It is the dreaded blood-drinker-blade from a previous age, with an angry spirit "living" in it. They throw the blade away, only to find it again armed to the new wielder of the blade the next morning. Now they must cleanse the blade or the hero will turn mad with bloodtirst. Quest to Radagast / Lorien / Rivendell to find the right Lore to figure out what to do,, while under preassure.

Is that an element? Or a theme? I guess it's a side quest.

Which elements are working for you in your present roleplaying group?

[jamesrbrown]

There are two quotes from the Loremaster's Guide that support the conversation so far, found in Part 2: Game Mechanics, The Adventuring Phase, pp. 12 and 13.

They are:

BE PREPARED
Before the game begins, the Loremaster should have at least a generic idea about how the plot of the adventure should unfold.

And...

BE CREATIVE
However, the key to a great game of The One Ring is to leave the players in control of their own actions. The Loremaster should not frustrate the characters’ efforts or prevent them from taking a certain direction just because he was not prepared for it. On the contrary, if their proposed course of play is interesting and appropriate to the situation, then the Loremaster should favour it over his own predesigned intentions.

With this in mind, a Loremaster could essentially decide on a basic outline for a plot, stat out the main characters and creatures, and then begin an impromptu adventure, allowing the player-heroes to propose Tasks and provide narration when they succeed. In this style of play, preparation that includes the Loremaster familiarizing himself with the player-heroes' traits, skills, Callings, Shadow weaknesses, etc., would be beneficial. That way he can include Tests and narration that highlights those things. This is the story of the player-heroes after all.

I would also add that Tolkien theme development is also the responsibility of the Loremaster. Even in an impromptu adventure, the Loremaster can be conscious of one or two primary themes, such as the development of courage or personal responsibility. In his narration, he can make sure to include these things. A very good way is through encounters with wise Loremaster characters; perhaps a patron.

One last thing, in my small opinion, a game of The One Ring isn't truly complete until the player-heroes have experienced all three heroic ventures: journey, combat, and encounter. So, try to set up circumstances where these are necessary. A suggestion would be to include at least one heroic venture in each part of the adventure. So, if you wanted a short adventure (3 parts), your goal might be to have an encounter in part one, journey in part two, and then a combat in part three. You never announce this, but having an idea of how the plot might unfold during preparation will ensure that your game includes all the elements of The One Ring.

[Oskar]

Encounter - Journey - Combat. I'll try to have that in mind, to include all three themes in my preparations..

What i don't understand is, what to reward as a LM, when it comes to the encounter?
I want to reward roleplaying efforts that make for fun gameplay,, players who try to act "in character". The rude dwarf can't be a silver-tongued devil when treating with elves etc. I'm not saying people should sing their phrases when using that skill, or rhyming when trying riddle-skill,,, but some effort to let their character come to life - good or bad, but true to character.

*What if the heroes want to try to roleplay an approach with a Patron/important NOC,, say excellent things "in character" and then roll a crappy roll?
*Or if they just crush the skill-check for the encounter, but don't feel like making the scene come to life?

What was fun for you guys, players and LMs? (related to the Encounters)

[jamesrbrown]

One suggestion for the issue of roleplaying and rolling would be to allow the heroes to roleplay a line or two and state what skill they are using. Then, judge whether it was "good" or "bad" in a narrative sense and set the difficulty of the skill check accordingly. So, if they did great, maybe you could lower the TN a level or even allow them an automatic success. If they fumbled badly, you could raise the TN. I don't think I would ever have them fail automatically. I would give the players who struggle with roleplaying a break and allow their dice rolling to dictate the outcome more than their roleplaying.

[Oskar]

In the "Tales of the Wilderland"-book it is quite nicely put (the Encounter with Beorn,, adventure 2 or 3 I think). Something like:
A good roleplay attemped could lower the TN,, a bad one increases the TN.
Still the element of chance/luck but their actions effect the difficulty of the role. (Better attempt: higher chance of success.)

[jamesrbrown]

Another suggestion I once made concerning encounters (which was not that popular, I might add - most people here seem to prefer roleplaying over dice rolling!), was to change the way the Tolerance rating works. Instead of measuring the number of failures the player-heroes can roll before an encounter is effectively over, allow Tolerance to determine the total number of rolls allowed during an encounter. This works especially well for players that aren't very skilled at roleplaying or if you need an encounter to be told in Narrative time (overview), rather than as an episode. You would still measure the overall outcome by the total number of successes gained during the encounter (if there are special boons to be had). Rolling an Eye effectively ends the encounter (or leads to a very bad complication). Rolling a Gandalf increases the Tolerance rating by 1 (or unlocks some special effect).

For example, two Woodmen and an Elf encounter the hermit in Don't Leave The Path. Tolerance is set using the highest Wisdom among them (which is 2) and raised by 1 for every Woodmen (which is another 2), and decreased by 1 for every Dwarf or Elf (which is minus 1), making the final Tolerance 3 for the encounter. The player-heroes will now make 3 rolls for this encounter, starting with the Introduction. The Loremaster (or the player-heroes can narrate in overview. "The Elf is our best speaker. So, he'll try to explain who we are and apologise for the intrusion." The player rolls Courtesy and gets a success. The Loremaster tells the players things went well; the hermit accepts the apology. Next comes the Interaction period. The player-heroes have 2 more rolls to make and they have 1 success so far. The Elf makes another roll of Courtesy to ask for permission to stay with the hermit, offering him food and water. This time, he rolls a failure and the Loremaster tells the player-heroes that the hermit is nervous and says they must sleep outside. With only 1 roll left, the Loremaster can either ask the players if there is anything else they would like to ask the hermit, or make the suggestion that they inquire about the carvings. He chooses to make the suggestion (just to keep things moving) and someone must make a roll of Persuasion to convince the hermit that they are enemies of the Necromancer, otherwise the hermit attacks them. One of the Woodmen has a high Persuasion skill and decides to do the convincing. He rolls and gets a Gandalf with a regular success. This increases the Tolerance by 1 and gives the company one more roll. They now have a total of 2 successes. The Loremaster describes the hermit giving one of the Woodmen the sword Wolfbiter, which they recognise right away. Not feeling good about being rejected, one of the Woodmen decides to use their last roll to intimidate the hermit into letting them stay. He makes a roll of Awe but rolls an Eye! The Loremaster describes the hermit screaming at them and chasing them out of his house. So much for that plan!