Lamp of the Wood-Elves

[Arthur Fisher]

I ruled that if the elf knows the magic to make the spell and it doesn't affect her, then she probably also knows the magic which makes one immune to it.
I said she could carve a ring or a necklace or something with a rune or ward of protection from her specific elf lights. That sort of stuff shows up all the time in Celtic mythos.
That way, if I want to fiddle with it, I can say the charms got stolen or they don't work for some reason.

Saying that the ability always works on the other party members means that the rest of the party isn't going to want the elf to use an ability she spent a Fellowship Phase and XP on. So she's either going piss off the rest of the party or have a useless ability; because an ability you don't use is indistinguishable from an ability can't use.
Frankly, I've found it's not really that powerful. Almost every creature has Hate to spare or a leader with Commanding Voice. It's a very situational power.

[Blubbo Baggins]

One more question for everyone:

When dousing the lamp, it causes one round of Weariness to everyone nearby.

Should that take an action? Part of me thinks no, because if you give up your entire action to cause (at most) 3 enemies (mortals only) to be Weary for a round, then it would be only circumstantially helpful, instead of generally helpful (and again, you spent Hope to use this ability). In a big battle where every PC is engaged by 2 enemies, if you douse the lamp then the 2 your Elf was engaged with are now Weary. Sure they might miss you now, but you won't be able to attack them to take advantage of their Weariness. In a small battle against a big foe it could really help, but only against a foe like a giant spider, great orc, or troll. Against something bigger, like a Dragon, Undead, or Nazgul, it would do nothing, since those are not "Mortal."

So, should dousing the lamp cost your entire turn?

[aramis]

So, should dousing the lamp cost your entire turn?

No... but it should affect your turn with weariness...

[Blubbo Baggins]

It doesn't affect you; you're not a mortal.

[aramis]

It doesn't affect you; you're not a mortal.

You're literally snuffing a small part of your soul...

[Blubbo Baggins]

But you had to spend Hope to light it, which represents the "soul" part, does it not?

[aramis]

But you had to spend Hope to light it, which represents the "soul" part, does it not?

there, you're giving it a life of its own... which you then snuff out.

Very tolkien to be wearied when your creation is destroyed.

[Blubbo Baggins]

Lol, by that logic you should also be Weary once you've created it.

[mica]

Lamp of the Far Traveller: You learn the art of making crystal lamps that hold your magical light. You may start an Adventuring phase lighting such a lamp with your magic at no cost. This lamp works like a continuous Elf-lights spell, but its glow can be shut out if needed. You can snuff the lamp out to dazzle foes, or to put someone into an Enchanted Sleep, as per the normal Wood-elf Magic rules. The lamp then can be lit up again without paying a point of Hope.

Elf-lights
You know how to make a torch or a lamp burn with a peculiar flame that attracts all mortals who see it.
Spend a point of Hope to light a torch, or a lamp. Any speaking creature who sees its flame must try to get near it by any means possible, or spend a point of Hope (or Hate) to ignore the spell effect.
You may snuff out the light at will, even from a distance, either to extinguish the flame quickly and quietly, or to cause it to flare suddenly to blind and confuse your enemies (those standing close to the flare fight as if Weary for one round of combat).

So together an elf can in theory machine-gun everyone each round from a 'rearward' stance. So unless you are going to go to extreme lengths to either penalise other characters for catching a glance at the flaring lamp or checks to avoid it, this at first seems like an unbalance ability. Thankfully though there is Rivendell:


The following Virtues are considered to be magical for the purposes of increasing Eye Awareness:
Elves of Mirkwood: Wood-elf Magic

Examples of Displays of Magical power
Here follow some examples of undisguised magical feats that may cause an increase of the Eye Awareness score of a company. Note that not every use of magic does apply; for example, tracing signs on a surface that will be visible only to friendly eyes, or embellishing pipe-smoke or fireworks with shapes and colours does not provoke the increase of Eye Awareness – unless they are done in the wrong place, or at the wrong time, of course!
• Lesser effects (+1 point): Illuminate a dark passage with a short blaze of magical light, open a locked door, play tricks with voices or sounds.

So each round the elf is flaring the elf-light increases the hunt by 1!

[Majestic]

Yep, I've been making it so that it increase the Eye Awareness each time our Elf uses it, which - due to the high status of many members of our party - is already insanely high! (enough that often a single Eye of Sauron or use of Wood Elf Magic causes a Revelation Episode!)