Session sequence

[Stormcrow]

(Latest version kept here.)

There are a number of housekeeping tasks one needs to perform when running a game of The One Ring. I know I've forgotten some when running it. I've been musing about what the sequence of a session looks like. Any thoughts?

1. Create the Fellowship Pool.
2. Adventuring and Fellowship Phases; repeat these as required, continue to next step whenever ready:
   1. Adventuring Phase
      1. The Loremaster presents the beginning of the adventure.
      2. The players choose a Company Objective.
      3. Play out any number of encounters, journeys, combats, tasks, and tests.
   2. Fellowship Phase
      1. Decide where to spend the Fellowship Phase
         • Any place the company has previously visited
         • A sanctuary
         • The company disbands temporarily
      2. Each player describes what his character does during the Fellowship Phase.
         1. Spend Experience and Advancement Points.
         2. Undertake a task.
         3. Describe sundry details.
      3. Year's End (only if the year has indeed ended)
         1. Players must spend Treasure Points equal to their current Standing ratings or lose one point of Standing.
         2. The Loremaster describes events that have been occurring in the world over the last year.
         3. Players with Standing ratings may attempt to intervene with events.
3. Distribute any remaining Fellowship Points.
4. Each character whose Fellowship Focus was not wounded during play gains one point of Hope.
5. Each character whose Fellowship Focus was wounded during play gains one point of Shadow, or three points of Shadow if his Fellowship Focus was killed.
6. Award Experience Points
   1. Each character receives one Experience Point.
   2. If significant progress was made toward achieving the Company Objective, but the adventure has not yet been completed, each character receives an additional Experience Point.
   3. If the Loremaster's story was completed in the Adventuring Phase this session, each character receives one supplementary Experience Point for every two game sessions spent in the Adventuring Phase.

[James Harrison]

Nice! I've saved it and will use it for reference when I run. Link in resources?

[Stormcrow]

Updated to include the distinction between additional Experience Points and supplementary Experience Points. Also corrected actions to tasks.

[Stormcrow]

(Latest version kept here.)

And just for fun, here's the combat sequence.

1. Onset
   1. Surprise attacks
      • Being ambushed: Test for all heroes (usually Awareness). Great and extraordinary successes may be shared. If more than half the heroes are surprised, company is surprised.
      • Ambushing enemies: All involved heroes roll task according to company’s plan. Great and extraordinary successes may be shared. If all heroes have success, enemies are surprised.
   2. Determine initiative
      • No surprise: Defending side has initiative. If unclear who is defending, sides make opposed Battle/Vocation rolls.
      • Surprise: Ambushing side has initiative.
   3. Resolve opening volleys: One or more missile attacks at TN 12 + Parry of target [+shield]. Surprised combatants are not allowed an opening volley.
   4. Assign combat advantages: All unsurprised heroes make Battle rolls. TN 12 if enemy surprised; TN 14 if defending; TN 18 if attacking. Ordinary success grants one extra success die; great success grants two extra dice; extraordinary success grants three dice.
2. Close quarters
   1. Select stances
   2. Engagement
      1. More enemies than heroes
         1. Loremaster assigns enemies to heroes in a close combat stance.
         2. Leftover enemies may engage a hero already engaged (maximum three man-sized or two large) or may stand back.
      2. More heroes than enemies (or sides equally matched)
         1. Each hero in close combat chooses one enemy until all enemies engaged.
         2. Leftover heroes may engage an enemy already engaged (maximum three against man-sized enemy or five against large enemy).
   3. Resolve actions of side with initiative
      1. Forward stance (TN 6): close-combat attacks, Intimidate Foe, Escape Combat, non-combat action.
      2. Open stance (TN 9): close-combat attacks, Rally Comrades, Escape Combat, non-combat action.
      3. Defensive stance (TN 12): close-combat attacks, Protect Companion, Escape Combat, non-combat action.
      4. Rearward stance (TN 12): ranged attacks, Prepare Shot, non-combat action.
   4. Resolve actions of side without initiative: Same as side with initiative.
   5. If enemies remain, repeat step 2.

[Stormcrow]

More fun! Here's the journey sequence. This one is a bit more controversial than the others.

1. Set Route: Players use their map to show the Loremaster their intended route. The Loremaster may consider splitting longer journeys into multiple legs; perform each of steps 2–6 once for each leg. The majority of any leg should be of one terrain. If the Loremaster intends to interrupt the journey with a prepared scene, he should only perform this sequence for the journey up to the interruption.
2. Distance: The Loremaster measures the distance of the route or leg on his map.
3. Terrain: The Loremaster multiples the distance of the route or leg by the appropriate terrain modifier. If the route or leg covers more than one terrain, use the terrain that covers the majority of the distance.
4. Speed: Divide the modified distance by the company's traveling speed to get the total number of days it takes to traverse the route or leg.
5. Fatigue Tests
   1. For each period or partial period of days according to the season as shown on the Season Table, the heroes must make a fatigue test. The Loremaster may optionally set the difficulty of this test according to the Region Table.
   2. The Loremaster notes how many fatigue points each hero gains from failed fatigue tests, but these are not applied to the character yet.
   3. The Loremaster notes how many times the Eye of Sauron icon appeared on the feat die during all fatigue tests.
6. If the journey consists of multiple legs, return to step 2.
7. Traveling
   • The Loremaster describes the journey.
   • Players may have their heroes perform up to two tasks on each day of the journey.
   • Hazards: If there was at least one failed fatigue test during the entire journey, perform this step as many times as there were Eyes of Sauron on the feat die. Hazards may occur at any point on a journey, and will interrupt heroes rolling tasks.
     1. Select the Target: Roll the feat die on the target table.
     2. Select a hazard according to the result.
     3. Play out the hazard at a specific time during the journey, selected by the Loremaster.
8. Arrival: The heroes arrive at their destination. If any heroes failed any fatigue tests, the Loremaster tells them how many fatigue points to add to their character sheets.

I interpret the text on hazards to mean that over the course of the entire journey, a single failed fatigue test enables every single Eye of Sauron icon that appeared over all fatigue tests, whether those Eyes appeared during failed tests or not. Breaking a journey into legs does not break the fatigue tests into groups; a failed fatigue test during the first leg should still enable an Eye on the fourth leg. As per "The Marsh Bell," hazards occur when the Loremaster decides they do, not on every 3rd/4th/5th/6th day of the journey. Also as per "The Marsh Bell," fatigue is not applied until the end of the journey.

[killianred]

I think I missed that in Marsh bell. Fatigue doesn't come into play until the adventure is over?! I don't think I get that part

[Stormcrow]

Fatigue added by a journey doesn't come into play until the journey is over. It doesn't apply to hazards played along the way.

The Loremaster can choose to apply it during a scene along the journey if he wants, but this is not the default assumption.

See Fatigue Tests Resolution on Loremaster's Book, p. 129.

[Valarian]

I've been musing about what the sequence of a session looks like. Any thoughts?

I'd say that this is more what an Adventure looks like, rather than a session. There are some things mixed in to the Fellowship phase that are rightly in the Adventuring phase (as modified below)

1. Create the Fellowship Pool.
2. Adventuring and Fellowship Phases; repeat these as required:
   1. Adventuring Phase - May repeat over more than one Session
      1. The Loremaster presents the beginning of the adventure.
      2. The players choose a Company Objective.
      3. Play out any number of encounters, journeys, combats, tasks, and tests.
   2. End of Session
      • Distribute any remaining Fellowship Points.
      • Each character whose Fellowship Focus was not wounded during play gains one point of Hope.
      • Each character whose Fellowship Focus was wounded during play gains one point of Shadow, or three points of Shadow if his Fellowship Focus was killed.
   3. Award Experience Points
      1. Each character receives one Experience Point.
      2. If significant progress was made toward achieving the Company Objective, but the adventure has not yet been completed, each character receives an additional Experience Point.
      3. If the Loremaster's story was completed in the Adventuring Phase this session, each character receives one supplementary Experience Point for every two game sessions spent in the Adventuring Phase.
   4. Fellowship Phase - once Adventuring Phase has been completed
      1. Decide where to spend the Fellowship Phase
         • Any place the company has previously visited
         • A sanctuary
         • The company disbands temporarily
      2. Each player describes what his character does during the Fellowship Phase.
         1. Spend Experience and Advancement Points.
         2. Undertake a task.
         3. Describe sundry details.
      3. Year's End (only if the year has indeed ended)
         1. Players must spend Treasure Points equal to their current Standing ratings or lose one point of Standing.
         2. The Loremaster describes events that have been occurring in the world over the last year.
         3. Players with Standing ratings may attempt to intervene with events.

[Stormcrow]

No, those end-of-session things do indeed happen at the end of a session, not at the end of an adventuring phase. Check the text.

[Valarian]

I know, that's why I called it End of Session. The experience is also awarded per session. The fellowship phase only occurs after the adventure is over and the normal end of session tthings done.