New Loremaster, new to the game: a few questions

[Dunkelbrink]

All the things you say sound good to me but the reference above sounded very odd.I know that Hobbits raise the Fellowship rating by one (Revised Core Rules 2014 p.62) but I have not found the "ONE Fellowship point/Hope recovery per session" limitation.

Let's not confuse this more than necessary...
1. The Fellowship pool at the start of a session consists of one point per Hero (plus one for every hobbit/beorning with honey cakes). The pool refreshes every session.
2. Heroes can replenish Hope by drawing from the pool. One point from the pool replenishes one Hope for the hero. At least half the table has to agree on the hope being taken (otherwise you gain Shadow if you claim the Hope).
3. There is NO LIMIT on the number of Hope that at single hero can recieve from the pool during a session. You're free to distribute the Points in anyway you see fit, for example giving the whole pool to a hero who is low on hope, as long as the table agrees.

[lucacherstich]

Thank you, Dunkelbrink.
In fact I've never seen that "one point per hero" limit

and for the sanctuaries. No, you can spend your fellowship phases wherever you like. It should be a safe place though because otherwise it would be an adventure wouldn't you agree?

Ok, so, just to summarize the effects of a "sanctuaty" over a normal place where to spend fellowship, I see only the following:
- They make you roll twice for the "Heal Corruption" undertaking
- ???

I know that "Heal Corruption" bonus is great...but what else bonus do they get?

There are some special undertakings that can only be made in a Sanctuary, or that provide benefits if taken in a Sanctuary.

Which other undertakings?
Maybe the possibility of passing more Fellowship phases in the sanctuary?

I own also the "Rivendell" book and at page 22 I see that if one enters Rivendell during the Adventuring phase there is a "free" Fellowship phase in Rivendell. To have more you have to open a sanctuary there.
Is it true also for other sanctuaries?

And, furthermore, if I check other "rivendell-specific" undertakings in that book they do not look like limited to those who have Rivendell as a sanctuary.

[uhu79]

In fact I've never seen that "one point per hero" limit

I lost the context of this statement when I replied. There is no limit on recovery of hope but on the size of the pool. But Dunkelbrink put that straigth already. Thx!

And for the sanctuaries again:
they offer fluff-advantages + the heal corruption bonus. That's it as far as I am aware.

A number of locations are considered sanctuaries, special
places particularly suited to support the needs of a
company of adventurers, and inhabited by a host willing
to welcome them. ...
Characters in a sanctuary dedicate their time to telling
and listening to stories and to the exchange of adventuring
experiences.

[Earendil]

My understanding is that you can only rely on being able to spend a fellowship phase at home or in a sanctuary. If you travel somewhere during an adventuring phase then you may spend the next fellowship phase there, if the Loremaster agrees it's reasonable. Otherwise, you may not be able to stay where you want to, depending on circumstances. A sanctuary is somewhere you're always welcome, just like your home.

There are a lot of new Undertakings in the various supplements, many of which require you to be in a specific location. (And of course the Loremaster should feel free to create more, depending on what the players want to do.) That's one reason not to spend a fellowship phase at home.

I usually run 2 adventuring phases per year (the rules suggest this in one place, but suggest 1 per year in another place!) and it's only the Year's End fellowship phase that needs to be spent at home to avoid losing standing. Anyway, there's no need for the characters to worry about keeping their standing up until they raise it, which won't happen until they get a substantial amount of treasure! Even after that, the cost of upkeep isn't very expensive.

Hope is meant to be hard to regain, but the LM can always introduce ways for the heroes to get some. Look at the example under "Announcing a Test" on p144: there, the heroes gain a point of hope if they succeed at a Wisdom test (but gain a point of Shadow if they fail). Basically, things that reinforce your sense of good and right can give you hope; things that make you see the world as a place full of dark and terrible things can give you shadow.

[Otaku-sempai]

I introduced and Undertaking that allows an Elf to recover a point of Hope by gazing into the palantír at the Tower Hills to view the Undying Lands.

[Glorelendil]

I introduced and Undertaking that allows an Elf to recover a point of Hope by gazing into the palantír at the Tower Hills to view the Undying Lands.

Doesn't it contradict canon to have a Palantír there?

[Otaku-sempai]

I introduced and Undertaking that allows an Elf to recover a point of Hope by gazing into the palantír at the Tower Hills to view the Undying Lands.

Doesn't it contradict canon to have a Palantír there?

Not at all. The palantír of Elostirion was kept at the tallest of the White Towers until the end of the Third Age, when it was placed by Círdan on the White Ship that bore the Ring-bearers into the West. It was linked to the Seeing-stone that remained in Valinor and could only look to the Undying Lands.

[zedturtle]

Right. It tends to get ignored because it's limited to only one "channel" and this not much use inside Middle-earth.

[Stormcrow]

Ok, so, just to summarize the effects of a "sanctuaty" over a normal place where to spend fellowship, I see only the following:
- They make you roll twice for the "Heal Corruption" undertaking
- ???

You can't spend the fellowship phase just anywhere. You must secure the goodwill, or at least the permission, of whoever lives where you want to spend it, and it must contain the needs of a party that is resting, relaxing, and being creative. You can't spend a fellowship phase camping out in the middle of the Wild.

Opening a sanctuary means you secure the goodwill or permission and resources necessary for that place such that you can return there whenever you want and not have to get all that again.

For example, if your party stops at Beorn's house and convinces him to put them up for a few weeks, you can spend your fellowship phase there. He's got plenty of food and his house is safe; there are plenty of things to do there. But if you haven't opened his house as a sanctuary, the next time you go to Beorn's house you have to convince him all over again to let you stay there. If you DO make his house a sanctuary, you can automatically spend your fellowship phases there from then on; he'll automatically welcome you.

Furthermore, although you can go anywhere you've already traveled when it's time for a fellowship phase, you can only have an encounter with Beorn, including rolling to convince him to take you in, as part of the adventuring phase, so if you haven't made his house a sanctuary you can only stay there if that's where you are when the fellowship phase starts. If his house is a sanctuary and you end the adventuring phase in Dale, you can go to his house for the fellowship phase.

So: places you can spend a fellowship phase:

• Home
• A sanctuary
• Anyplace you've previously been or where you are now, IF you secured permission to spend it there during that adventuring phase, and IF it has sufficient resources to support the fellowship phase

[Indur Dawndeath]

And now with Eye of Mordor rules, if you are strict as I am. The company count towards revelations outside Sanctuaries or Home...