Servants of Saruman

[Glorelendil]

Should the Woodman be archer or melee?

My sense is melee. "Woodman" and "Axe" just go together like...peas and carrots?

We have an archer already, so close combat is alright by me.

I think Feathered Armour might be a bit of a miss, if any of "A Secret Folk" are about. But I would like 7+ options, so we can't assume that everyone will make an appearance.

Yeah and it might not be that on-target with the character anyway. Maybe make his axe Keen instead.

[zedturtle]

Alright, here's a first pass at Sibil's background:

As a shieldmaiden of Rohan, Sibil strove ever for greater mastery. She wished to be first among all the éored, and that she was a maiden was all the more reason for success. Indeed, she attracted the respect of the King and his household, and many months ago she was sent to Nan Curunir: as a liason to the master of Isengard. There she has learned even more about the world and her potential. Her reports to Thengel do not reflect her ambitions, and she is tardy with her last report. The Wizard has need of her, perhaps greater than her duty to the Mark.

Always trying to skirt the edge with these things. Hopefully that works.

[Falenthal]

Sibil is a good one.

Will she have a bow at the Horseman's Archery [if I remember the name correctly] Virtue? I like this combination a lot.

[zedturtle]

Okay, final characters:





— • —





— • —





— • —





— • —





— • —





— • —





— • —

I am most worried about Mund, because I don't have access to the updated version of Erebor presently. If anyone finds any egregious errors, let me know. This is for the Sunday game, so it's always possible to scratch things out if need be...

Thanks to everyone who contributed!

[Falenthal]

Sibil would be my choice: she's got exactly the virtues, rewards, traits and overall configuration I most liked when reading Horse-lords. Including that I prefer the Shieldmaiden's blessing to that of the male Rohirrim.

Enjoy your game on Sunday! I'm sure your players will.

[Glorelendil]

Would love to hear report/anecdotes about how these characters worked out and how they were played.

[zedturtle]

Would love to hear report/anecdotes about how these characters worked out and how they were played.

Okay, in the Sunday game we had Sibil, Dianach, Mund and Mendellon. All were played by fantastic roleplayers; Mund had the least amount of experience with the system but instantly grokked how traits worked and played the dwarf to the hilt.

Avoiding spoilers:

After a brief "getting to know the heroes" bit, the game started with an Encounter with an individual of strong personality. They rolled really well, and bold Mund sealed the deal, securing promise of great reward if they successfully completed their mission.

Next came a long journey. With the characters in play, it was decided that Sibil had to serve as Scout. As chance would have it, she had to find a river crossing, which she did without too much trouble but then she Wounded herself struggling to get her horse across.

During the Journey, we had several Hazards. Most were dealt with easily enough, but one of the last made Mendellon Miserable for the remainder of the Adventuring Phase. This, of course, had tragic consequences in the end.

The heroes reach their destination and after a frosty conversation with their contact (and a break for lunch) they agree to aid him. He leads them to a dangerous location, but Mund's Awareness in dark places and Dianach's sense of an Ill Omen (Extraordinary Gandalf on the Riddle test) allowed her to sneak in and realise that they must confront a dangerous foe in order to get where they need to go.

They come up with a plan. Sibil cannot get her horse into the location, so she goes rearward and the others charge forward. The adversary is Hideously Tough and piercing shots are unsuccessful at bringing it down. Eventually, mostly through dwarven steadfastness, the enemy is worn down and defeated. That it raged from foe to foe with no plan (and I still think we might have accidentally skipped one of its turns) means that the heroes are able to recover relatively easily.

They find the object of their quest, but during this scene Mendellon's Bout of Madness occurs. I pull the player (wbweather) out of the room and tell him that Mendellon will make an error of judgement the next time he is alone with the object and for him to act out the consequences of that action whenever he has a chance.

The heroes come up with a clever plan to get the object back to their final destination, and Mund is called upon to Craft a way for a boat to become a sled so that it can travel overland (a brilliant plan by Sibil). Near to the execution of this plan, the heroes are ambushed by a teeming horde of orcs. They decide that discretion is the better part of valour and flee from the orcs. A tense chase scene follows, and unlooked-for aid arrives (Esmund and his Riders).

This turns into a tense Encounter. Fortunately, Sibil is with them and invokes her mission from Thengel to explain their destination. Dianach and Sibil are clever and Esmund is mostly satisfied with their answers. Things take a turn for the worse when he asks of their cargo and Mendellon freaks out. But ruffled feathers are dealt with, and the heroes achieve an acceptable success from the Encounter.

When they return, the Master is most happy with their success... until he learns of Mendellon's tampering. He demands that the other heroes leave (after accusing each of them in turn of being the tamperer) and Mendellon suffers some permanent consequences for his ill judgement.

Of course, if it wasn't a con-game, I doubt I would have pushed so hard on Mendellon's Bout. But (I think) it provided a nice ending to the story, and the heroes got to see two sides of their master, which is appropriate.

[Wbweather]

My son (Sibil) wants me to say that of course his idea for the boat sled was brilliant. I thought the characters all played well. It was an interesting mix with some distrust between the Rohirrim and Dunlending and I tried to play the Wulfing as if I had to prove myself an equal to the Eorling Sibil but also aware of the disdain (if only in my perception) of the Dunlending Dianach. Of course the dwarf added an interesting dynamic as well.

[Falenthal]

Great times, it seems!

Thanks for posting this teaser, zed, and very jealous for your chance to meet each other!

I hope Mendellon and Sibil get along well in the future.
I like both characters and are the type of heroes I'd wish to play in a Rohan setting.