Please help this newbie on Patrons & Meet Patron"undertaking

[lucacherstich]

I do not know if this is an error...but a friend of mine gave me his copy of heart of the wild and at page 41 (undertakings regarding Old Fort) one of the results regarding Gandalf or Radegast says:"..any one encounter with that notable figure, and may later UNDERTAKE TO GAIN THEM AD A PATRON". (emphasis is mine).

So....does it imply that taking a patron IS an undertaking?

[Wbweather]

Yes, making a notable person a patron is considered an undertaking.

[lucacherstich]

Well, but it's against what many people believe (which is that acquirng a patron is not an undertaking).

[Otaku-sempai]

Yes, making a notable person a patron is considered an undertaking.

Under RAW, acquiring a Patron is NOT an Undertaking and need not be done during a Fellowship Phase. If a Loremaster wishes to make a Patron more hard-to-get, than he/she might house-rule that it must be done as an Undertaking but that is not the standard rule. The confusion might be caused by the Undertaking "Meet with Patron," which is a whole different animal. "Meet with Patron" assumes that the Hero has already acquired the Patron with which he/she wishes to speak.

Acquiring a Patron is resolved as an Encounter which ends with a high-ranking non-player character accepting the role of Patron and charging the Hero(es) with a mission, or offering assistance in exchange for the fealty of the Hero(es).

[Falenthal]

I agree with Otaku in all points.

[Wbweather]

Yes, I was confusing meet with a patron and making an NPC a patron. Apologies for any confusion.

[Majestic]

Certainly the example used (from Heart of the Wild) suggests that this (making a significant person become a Patron for the company as an Undertaking) could potentially be an option, if you as LM wish to use it.

Even though, technically, that is not one of the standard Undertakings according to the RAW.

[Rich H]

Yeah, it's a little confusing perhaps. In Horse Lords of Rohan it also mentions Saruman:

A company who meets Saruman for the first time will be enchanted by his wisdom and nobility and must take him as a patron (see also the New Fellowship Phase Undertakings on page 116).

Which perhaps would imply to some that there's an undertaking that players must chose but there is no mention of a Take Patron undertaking anywhere in the Fellowship Phase rules.

The Meet Patron undertaking is primarily used by my players to get 'cool stuff' from the patron in question - this kind of thing is detailed a lot more in the Adventurers Companion so would recommend LM's refer to that for ideas as it provides far more options to justify why a group would select the Meet Patron undertaking rather than other options like Heal Corruption etc.