Provisions and Hunting while on a Journey: A House Rule

[Mim]

@Beckett

Thanks for letting us know about Forochel. It sounds as if you guys are having a great time with it. I've often wondered whether that MERP module Palantír Quest is any good & whether to purchase it.

Speaking of which, that region shakes me every time I read this excerpt from the LOTR:

‘But the Snowmen were uneasy; for they said that they smelled danger in the wind. And the chief of the Lossoth said to Arvedui: “Do not mount on this sea-monster! If they have them, let the seamen bring us food and other things that we need, and you may stay here till the Witch-king goes home. For in summer his power wanes; but now his breath is deadly, and his cold arm is long.”

[beckett]

@Beckett

Thanks for letting us know about Forochel. It sounds as if you guys are having a great time with it. I've often wondered whether that MERP module Palantír Quest is any good & whether to purchase it.

Speaking of which, that region shakes me every time I read this excerpt from the LOTR:

‘But the Snowmen were uneasy; for they said that they smelled danger in the wind. And the chief of the Lossoth said to Arvedui: “Do not mount on this sea-monster! If they have them, let the seamen bring us food and other things that we need, and you may stay here till the Witch-king goes home. For in summer his power wanes; but now his breath is deadly, and his cold arm is long.”

We're having a ton of fun. It's especially exciting to be going off the Wilderland that comes with the core set. As a Hobbit, of course, I've been this way once before in my backstory (from The Shire to Wilderland). But the other players have never been this far from their homes.

I don't own Palantir Quest, our LM does. The used copies I've seen online are very expensive, like most of the old MERP stuff. Our LM put a lot of work into tweaking it for TOR.

[Glorelendil]

Is Palantir Quest a standalone product, or is it part of a larger sourcebook? I've never heard of it.

[beckett]

Is Palantir Quest a standalone product, or is it part of a larger sourcebook? I've never heard of it.

The first hit on a Google Search for Palantir Quest -- From the Tolkien Gateway website:

Palantír Quest is a supplement in the Adventure-series for Middle-earth Role Playing, 2nd Edition (Iron Crown Enterprises).

[Woodclaw]

While I'll have to test these rules I need to point out one thing: if one of the characters has a valid Trait (Beast-Lore comes to mind) this might lead to him calling an automatic success on every Hunting test, which means that finding food will become a trivial matter.
I know that this is against the general spirit of the game, but I know that some clever player out there will try this.

[Hermes Serpent]

When the clever player realises he/she is not getting Advancement Points for using the trait rather than rolling and so is falling behind in terms of skill levels they'll quickly stop spamming the trait. To stop it starting point this out to them at the start so they use the trait only when it's vital to pass the test.

Generally if the clever player thinks they thought of it first they aren't smart enough.

[Woodclaw]

When the clever player realises he/she is not getting Advancement Points for using the trait rather than rolling and so is falling behind in terms of skill levels they'll quickly stop spamming the trait. To stop it starting point this out to them at the start so they use the trait only when it's vital to pass the test.

Generally if the clever player thinks they thought of it first they aren't smart enough.

I agree with the general sentiment, but I think that the choice depends mostly from one factor: how important is the journey. In a very important and long journey I would much prefer my players to sue traits and skip all the routine checks for the sake of speed.

[Hermes Serpent]

It would be easier to skip over the journey via narration if you don't want to waste time. That's not how I see journey's but YM-eMV.

Legs of journeys are only as long as you make them, they could be a week or a month it just depends how you choose the end of the leg of the journey. Rarely is the advent of an Episode uninteresting unless it's a fight for the sake of a fight. Interesting Episodes are more interesting for many players and can move the story along better than a straight-up combat. They are a great way to introduce hooks for future adventures as well.

[Woodclaw]

It would be easier to skip over the journey via narration if you don't want to waste time. That's not how I see journey's but YM-eMV.

Legs of journeys are only as long as you make them, they could be a week or a month it just depends how you choose the end of the leg of the journey. Rarely is the advent of an Episode uninteresting unless it's a fight for the sake of a fight. Interesting Episodes are more interesting for many players and can move the story along better than a straight-up combat. They are a great way to introduce hooks for future adventures as well.

You got no argument from me on this point.

[Corvo]

(...)We never had a problem with the rules as written. In summary as we understand them: You can only carry enough food for one week and after that your Huntsman must gather food and can do so using the two actions per day while on a journey rule.
(...)

Excuse me the basic (maybe dumb) question.... Where is this rule?
I mean, that after a week the hunter start rolling for food?