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We're coming to the end of a short run of TOR games from Tales From Wilderland mostly just to try the system out (the players have really enjoyed it). I ran Don't Leave The Path and after a short stay at the Easterly Inn started Kinstrife & Dark Tidings. The company tracked Oderic to the camp of Valter The Bloody and then decided to head back to Stonyford and send a message to Beorn (the dwarf has a raven who he is going to send as a messenger).

My problem is that in the adventure it's expected that the company will be nowhere near Stonyford when it's attacked and will arrive with an army of Beornings. I'm not sure how to handle the mechanics of the company being in the village while it's attacked by an army of overwhelming numbers. I don't want to take away player agency so I'm thinking that I'll probably have the Beorning force arrive while the village is on fire but I'm unsure of how to get to that point without just running a whole session of unending combat that slowly slaughters the party. Any ideas?

UncleRiotous wrote:My problem is that in the adventure it's expected that the company will be nowhere near Stonyford when it's attacked and will arrive with an army of Beornings. I'm not sure how to handle the mechanics of the company being in the village while it's attacked by an army of overwhelming numbers.

Any ideas?

I'm not trying to deflect you from your path but if the PCs have seen the brigands, then they likely know that a bunch of villagers are going to get slaughtered so why don't they tell them to flee North, leading them deeper into Beorn's lands. My players did exactly this when I ran the scenario; it made for a great bit of interaction with the village elders. They then aided them, leading the villagers away from the threat, and reaching the Beorning force just in time before Valter caught them. Worked perfectly.

Nice. I think I might well try that. It'll be an even more interesting bit of RP since our Beorning took Helmgut and dropped him in the water trough in the town square when he passed out after attacking him.

I confess being a bit confused, because I thought that the heroes delaying until the Beornings arrived was a valid option in the adventure. At least when I ran it, the heroes managed to lead a rag-tag force of Beorning ford guards and combatants from Stonyford in a desperate attempt to hold the bandit army off until Beorn's army arrived. They used the defenses of the Old Ford, personal challenges, and a lot of ingenuity (and a lot of dice-rolling) to mount a successful defense.