The Lamp of Balthi (Spoilers for Darkening of Mirkwood)

[Arkat]

Hi people.

I'm still running Darkening and I want to foreshadow the later events by introducing the Lamp of Balthi.

But this seems like a tough balancing act: It would be very cool if the the players knew about the lamp and still had a revalation about its use at the appropriate moment. And it would be equally uncool if the players went "lolz, lets fetch the lamp" after the initial encounter with the werewolf. Then there is a related question: how well known is the Lamp of Balthi among the Woodmen? Is it known in all the settlements or just Woodman Town?

How did you handle this in your campaign?

[Glorelendil]

And it would be equally uncool if the players went "lolz, lets fetch the lamp" after the initial encounter with the werewolf.

Easy solutions:
1. Don't let the Woodman allow their precious lamp to be carted off into the woods so easily
2. Simply change the plot. Turns out it's not really a magic lamp after all; just a bunch of Woodmen superstition.
3. "Wait! This one is a counterfeit. Where's the real one?" (With the sound of friends being eaten by a werewolf in the background.)

[Falenthal]

how well known is the Lamp of Balthi among the Woodmen? Is it known in all the settlements or just Woodman Town?

I'd say anyone who has travelled to Woodman Town, and has been welcomed there, has seen the Lamp.
It hangs openly in the Great House, and remember that in the cultural references Woodman are based, there are no inns in towns to spend the night: guests and visitors eat and sleep together in the Great Houses of each town.

But apart from having seen it, the most important matter is that there's probably no knowledge of its powers. Some old men and women might tale the story of Balthi, a young Woodman that helped a wise stanger in the past and received that lamp as a gift. Some more detail might be know, but all in all is just a mythic tale to be told around the fire, not history or knowledge.

Only an elf (might be a player character) with some lore about the works of his own race (Elf-lore Trait or a succesful Lore test) might know upon seeing it that it's a lamp of elven craft, and suspect that it might hold some elven power. A Search for Answers Undertaking might be necessary to learn more, probably with Thranduil, Gandalf or, if possible, with Ormal the Lampmaker.

[bluejay]

I would consider it an absolute treasure of the woodmen and specifically of Woodmen Town. From their point of view this is the very thing keeping them safe from both the werewolf and the shadow in Dol Guldur. Enough hunters have failed to kill the werewolf that I doubt they will happily let the fellowship take the lamp away from the town.

[Falenthal]

From their point of view this is the very thing keeping them safe from both the werewolf and the shadow in Dol Guldur.

I can't exactly remember what Heart of the Wild or Darkening say about this, but I seem to recall that, although we as LMs know that the protection comes from the Lamp's magic, Woodmen don't. They just know that, for some reason/luck/geographical situation/godly blessing, their town hasn't been targeted by the Shadow as much as other settlements.

[Finrod Felagund]

I'm still running Darkening and I want to foreshadow the later events by introducing the Lamp of Balthi

Reading the TOR guidance I get the impression that the Woodmen are well aware of the value of the lamp - it's brought out on festival days for example. Personally I think all you can do is introduce it as casually as possible and them move on, perhaps several games before the werewolf comes onto the scene.

[Cleggster]

Another thing to take into consideration is the fact that in DoM, after rescuing Duskwater, it is mentioned that Radagast removes it from the case it is in. So while the light was still doing it's thing, you could not actually see the lamp itself.

[Lifstan]

Another thing to take into consideration is the fact that in DoM, after rescuing Duskwater, it is mentioned that Radagast removes it from the case it is in. So while the light was still doing it's thing, you could not actually see the lamp itself.

Yeah, I used that trick with my group. My Elf asked me questions about it, but since it's in a case, and the case is woodmen culture, he couldn't tell anything about the lamp itself.

Anyway, I think if my player tried to take the lamp before it's time in the campaign, the woodmen would simply not let them do it, and on top of that if they would manage to do it there would be a significant loss of shadow point (since it would be an evil act to steal it).

They talked briefly about it, but mostly as a joke: my group understood it was not a good idea to steal it if I don't give them narrative clues that it's time to do it.

[Hermes Serpent]

My players had an encounter where Woodmen asked for help with the depredations of a pack of wolves. There was a small fight and then they went to the village to talk with the elders. The elders said that the wolves were led by a larger wolf who seemed to not want to come close to the village and attributed that to the protection of the lamp given to their people by a wizard in years past They looked at the lamp and saw the finely crafted work of the lamp and teased out some of the story. The they went to Radagast to see about aid for the fight against the wolf pack who suggested they visit the leader of his order at Isengard. A trek done to Isengard to see Saruman and get information determined that the 'lamp' was of Elvish origin and the elf in the party wanted to recover it for Thranduil (who'se love of jewels was known to the group).

On returning to the woodman village there was a discussion about the lamp. The elf pushing for taking it to Thranduil as Elvish property and the woodmen resisting due to the proximity of the wolfpack. Eventually the group came to an agreement that they would destroy the wolf pack making the village safe and then they could bring the lamp to Thranduil.

A combined force of woodmen and party moved along the Old Forest road towards the Mountains of Mirkwood and located the tracks of a large wolf with other smaller pack members. Following up on the tracks they ended up in a ravine leading deep into the mountains where they were attacked by Hobgoblins and bats with the wolves in support. By the close of the combat several hobgoblins were dead plus a few bats and the wolves were prowling round the edges of the fight.

The group beat a retreat carrying a couple of party members who were unconscious back to the road where they are currently camped. Half the villagers escorting the lamp were eliminated by the attackers but the presence of the lamp kept the werewolf away or it would otherwise have been a TPK.

[uhu79]

Hermes, which year in the campaign did that episode take place?