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Bit of background: I'm in a game on Roll20 right now, and was running a different game (Fantasy AGE) for friends IRL. Long story short, two didnt show up, so I asked them if they wanted a side mission, or if they wanted a new system to try out for a one shot maybe. They agreed to test this out, and I ran One Ring for them - the Marsh Bell adventure.

Had to take some liberties with char creation so they wouldnt suffer as badly due to a small Fellowship - I gave them like 20 starting exp and a choice of 2 virtues and 1 reward or 2 rewards one virtue. Probably overdid it there, but their third party member was Gloin, who I dumbed down a bit so it was easier to avoid him from stealing spotlight with a lucky success. Hilarity ensued due to one player not knowing overly much about LotR, but everything flowed very well and they had one hell of a time fighting the Troll.

They said they absolutely loved it, more than any RPG they played (only a couple, true). So now I'm considering completing my collection with Hobbit Tales, since I am going to probably be running the game at the cottage getaway on someone's birthday. Maybe wont have access to tablet, so was figuring out what I need to print and such, and then remembered about Hobbit Tales. Has anyone had some experience using the product, and did it work out well? Or I guess I can just compile a Hazard list from my other books and print that... Sorry for rant and thanks!

Hobbit Tales is a perfectly fine beer & pretzels game in its own right; incorporating it into TOR is completely optional, but it does provide a convenient source for Hazard episodes for your game.

If your players are good at improv storytelling, Hobbit Tales can be quite a fun game. If they're not quite as good, but someone at the table is willing to throw down the craziness it can still be a lot of fun.

I like Hobbit Tales, for inspiration at least, if not for literal Hazards. And you also get a lot of artwork in a format that's convenient to pass around a table.

I occasionally will draw a card for a hazard and improvise one on the spot. It might be fun to let the players have a go at it too. Show them the card and let them come up with something good.

Sounds good! Thank you for all of your replies, seems like it'll be quite useful for my group then.

Wbweather wrote:I occasionally will draw a card for a hazard and improvise one on the spot. It might be fun to let the players have a go at it too. Show them the card and let them come up with something good.

Having the players improvise hazards seem to me the most interesting option. I bought hobbit tales recently and I plan on trying it for my next game. I think that way to play the hazards makes the game a little bit more narrativst, and I'm curious to see where it goes...

I find it particularly useful in TOR...

1) for the imagery on the cards.
2) for the ability to subset them for specific cases if I want to tailor encounter probabilities.

The ability to use them as encounter generation is nifty, but only the subsetting makes it more valuable than the dice.

3) the visual tactile elements of using the cards instead of dice. It's just more dramatic.