Healing corruption and other questions

[bluekabuto]

Hey Folks -

Had our first TOR game over the weekend. We started with the The Marsh Bell - overall things went well, the group really loved it. We are used to 5E, so the system is still a little new for everyone. However, during the fellowship phase there were a few questions:

Healing corruption - during the adventure, our Dwarf, racked up five (5) shadow points and had 6 hope remaining. at some point he had to use his last hope point before becoming miserable. He then asked to borrow from the fellowship pool - they agreed and this brought him to 6 Hope, 5 Shadow again. When the fellowship phase came, he rolled to heal corruption, but failed. He wanted to use a hope point to succeed at this roll.

Can you spend hope like this? I wasn't sure, as spending the hope point would put him back into the Shadow and miserable. I am looking to get some feedback from folks here on how they would handle things.

Additional questions:

Concerning the amount of experience points gained from this module. I am correct in assuming, it should only be 1 or 2?

Can a hero choose a rearward stance even if he is in base to base combat? We had a few instances where the players were surprised, but were able to warn each other and negate the surprise and then take initiative. (a troll). I know combat is somewhat abstract here, but I would think a character would need to hang back somewhat in order to assume a rearward stance.

When can hate be spent? at any time, even after the attack roll has failed? It seems the Bardling of the group has a huge shield and an insanely high parry score (21*) - and it's very difficult for him to be hit in combat. (*Swordmaster, +tower shield+defensive stance.)

Lastly, if you are not wounded, but are at zero endurance. Are you considered dying or just knocked out? We also had instances where some players were weary (well below endurance), but after resting overnight they could remove the weary condition. (but their endurance was still below their fatigue) - I am I understanding this right?

Sorry about the numerous questions, but I am hoping that folks here can assist and we can correct any mistakes were are making along the way.

thanks
Brian

[zedturtle]

You can spend Hope in order to Heal Corruption; this happens outside of the Adventuring Phase and their Shadow should immediately go down, so there's no chance of a Bout of Madness.

If the heroes are not outnumbered, they get to pick engagements so there should never be a situation where someone is in "base to base" contact and Rearward. Rearward, as you say is explicitly about hanging back... that's why Escape Combat is so easy for them.

I'm thinking that XP should be 2 or 3, depending on their level of success and how long the session lasted. Remember the XP schedule is based on sessions of 2-3 hours, so if you tend to longer sessions you may want to double the attendance XP point.

You're not done being Weary until your Endurance is equal to or above your Fatigue and you've taken a long rest.

At zero Endurance, you're unconscious and vulnerable to Coup de Grâce attacks.

More later... the other questions will need a glance at the rulebook.

[bluekabuto]

@ZedTurtle - thank you for the clarifications.

So, even if the party is surprised/ambushed - they get to pick the engagements? Hmm. not sure about that.

Also, if surprise/Ambushed - what combat stance is allowed? (if any)

thanks
Brian

[Majestic]

Welcome, Brian/bluekabuto! It's great that you had your first session and that you and your players enjoyed it.

Looks like zed beat me to most of them, but I'll try to clarify any that he might have missed.

You can use Hope at any time (even a Fellowship Phase). It's a dwindling resource, though (something I didn't get for awhile). Only the Fellowship Pool resets, the individual Hope scores don't.

I agree that you should probably go a bit higher with your XP, unless you only played for a few hours.

You can choose Rearward provided there are enough other characters in the other stances. For each person in Rearward, there have to be two other characters in Forward, Open or Defensive stances.

Hate can be spent whenever, even after the LM has rolled (it only makes sense to spend it when you can see that it will work to enable your adversary to hit). It's pretty much the same for the heroes; they usually shouldn't "waste" Hope unless they can see that doing so will turn their failure into a success. That's a pretty impressive defense, especially for a beginning hero!

Zero Endurance means you're unconscious and vulnerable, as zed said. FWIW, it seems most of us have been reluctant to use the coup de grâce in our games; it would really take the right story moment for that one. The bit about Weary is another thing I have missed before. I find the chart on p. 132 (Revised) is super helpful in reminding me how things work.

[Majestic]

@ZedTurtle - thank you for the clarifications.

So, even if the party is surprised/ambushed - they get to pick the engagements? Hmm. not sure about that.

Also, if surprise/Ambushed - what combat stance is allowed? (if any)

thanks
Brian

The heroes only get to pair up (pick engagements) when their numbers are greater or equal to those of the enemy.

Any combat stance is allows, even if ambushed, provided the requirements are properly met. Being surprised/ambushed hinders the PCs in other ways: they don't get to have Preliminary Rolls (of Battle, for extra dice), and the adversaries have the initiative.

Only the heroes pick stances, the bad guys don't. The enemy characters or creatures will have the same stance as the hero/PC they're matched up against (for the three forward stances, anyway).

[zedturtle]

Yeah, remember that Stances are much more about intent and strategy than physical positioning. In the case of an ambush, we imagine the Beorning and the Dwarf rushing forward to meet the enemy, whilst the Elf/Hobbit/Barding scrambling backwards to get some distance. Also, the requirements about not being outnumbered by more than two-to-one interface with the Engagement rules so that you can only go Rearward when the other party members can engage all the other foes.

[bluekabuto]

Guys - this is great. Thanks so much for all your help. Hope as a dwindling resource really just hit home now. Ouch. The players are going to be in a world of hurt as most of them were spending it like candy. I can see now why you can offload shadow for getting a flaw, but you're still stuck with a permanent shadow point because of it.

We really like this system, everything just makes sense, kudos to C7 for putting the game out - only if the player's companion would be released soon!

Another quick thought, would you agree that the culture: High elf of rivendel would be too powerful as a starting character? I read someplace that they are not recommended to start.

Thanks
Brian

[Falenthal]

High elf of rivendel would be too powerful as a starting character? I read someplace that they are not recommended to start.

Thanks
Brian

While they aren't meant as a culture to start along other starting characters from other cultures, my own opinion is that they're not so overpowered as it seems (although they are a bit).

Another user of this forum, Glorelendil, stated that the special powers and drawbacks of High Elves and Rangers imply much more that they're not suited for starting players, more than as starting characters. I agree with him.

[Jussi Marttila]

Another user of this forum, Glorelendil, stated that the special powers and drawbacks of High Elves and Rangers imply much more that they're not suited for starting players, more than as starting characters. I agree with him.

One of my new players has a High Elf, and I think that their drawback is better for new players than the Ranger one, unless the LM decides to inflict a whole lot of corruption on the Fellowship early on.

[bluejay]

Hi Bluekabuto! Welcome to the forums and it's great you are enjoying The One Ring.

I note you asked about when an adversary can spend Hate because it was very hard to hit the Barding.

First you mention that the Barding has the Swordmaster virtue and the Tower Shield reward. Is that right or were you just meaning a great shield? I ask because my understanding is that these were starting characters and so should have either one virtue or one reward, not one of each.

Secondly I get the feeling that you are treating the rules for adversaries like the rules for player characters but they are not the same. Adversaries get favoured skills (including combat skills). These skills are underlined in their stat blocks. When they use these skills they automatically add their Attribute level to their rolls without having to spend a point of Hate (see the Revised Core Rules, page 231). They cannot use Hate to improve non-favoured rolls.

I hope that is helpful!