Starting the marsh bell

[Platon]

So, we're finally gonna tackle the marsh bell, as our first ToR-session ever.

A few things struck me as i was reading through this adventure:

1)Why does the travel down the lake go faster by boat, what is it i'm missing here concerning travel rules? As per p 158 (revised) one travels 20 miles per day on foot and 20 miles per day downstream on boat. Same speed. Why does this adventure explicitly specify that it takes 4 days by boat and 8 days by foot?

2) wouldn't it be better to use a marsh-ogre than a stone troll for the big-badie encounter?

3) if you fail to spot the elves (which you probably will since it requires a great success on a awareness-roll) they just don't enter play at all? In the adventure, the only way the enter play seems to be through the look out spotting them and then actively aproach them. Is this the way you guys played it?

Thanx guys!

[SpottedBill]

1) The Terrain Difficulty is Hard, giving an x2 modifier, when travelling on land. The Long Marshes and Mirkwood are slow to traverse on foot. In addition, using boats makes travel less taxing as it reduces the amount of fatigue gain on a failed travel fatigue test by 1.

2) Sure, it probably doesn't make much of a difference, though I suppose a troll is more iconic to the setting. There is also the fact that the troll has been driven out of its habitat in the Mountains of Mirkwood by some stronger entity. You can use that to set up another adventure or just add a bit of mystery, a sense of things happening around the players, and give the players a chance to roll or use their traits to try to figure out why a stone troll would be in the marshes.

3) If I recall correctly, if the players do not spot the elves, the elves approach them at some point. You can be creative with this. Maybe if the player characters did not spot the Elves, they are caught in some compromising situation (Hazard episode perhaps) when the Elves decide to reveal their presence, or perhaps the Elves have time to overhear their conversations about the Dwarves before they approach. Just use it to your advantage.

[Platon]

Great answears, thanx man! Totally forgot about terrain modifiers not affectin boat-travel! Regarding the elves, I really don't think there's any mention of them aproaching the players if they haven't been spotted. But as you say, that is easy enough to modify any way one sees fit.

Since I have your attention; I forgot one question I had. The maps in this adventure (Balins "route" and the Lair of the marsh-dwellers) Are they available for download somewhere so I can print them in A4?

[SpottedBill]

Since I have your attention; I forgot one question I had. The maps in this adventure (Balins "route" and the Lair of the marsh-dwellers) Are they available for download somewhere so I can print them in A4?

Not that I know of, no. But if you have the PDF, you can copy-paste the images from there into your preferred graphics program and print it out (for personal use, of course).

Let us know how it goes!

[SirGalrim]

Everyone in my company failed tho spot the elves. I had the elves observe the heroes for some time then approach the company. The company did not notice the elves until Galion spoke to them. There was then to many elves with bows uncomfortably close to the company. viewtopic.php?f=7&t=4403&sid=bae95c1c7a ... 986#p39852

[Platon]

Yeah, well I don't have the PDF:(

[SpottedBill]

Yeah, well I don't have the PDF:(

You'll do fine just showing Balin's route on the map and sketching out the lair on paper as they progress through it. Don't worry about it.

[Stormcrow]

Don't feel you have to have the heroes encounter the elves just because the encounter is written up in the adventure. The adventure doesn't hinge on talking to them or getting anything from them. They're there as bonus help for the party. If you don't notice that they're there, you just continue to the next scene without their help.

[Earendil]

Don't feel you have to have the heroes encounter the elves just because the encounter is written up in the adventure. The adventure doesn't hinge on talking to them or getting anything from them. They're there as bonus help for the party. If you don't notice that they're there, you just continue to the next scene without their help.

It's certainly not necessary, but meeting the elves is fun, especially if your players are familiar with the Hobbit and find out who Galion is. My players found it hilarious! (Their characters included an Elf of Mirkwood who recognised Galion.)

[Earendil]

wouldn't it be better to use a marsh-ogre than a stone troll for the big-badie encounter?

I did exactly that, and it worked just fine. Of course when the adventure was first published Marsh-Ogres didn't yet exist.

Good luck with it! It's the first scenario I ran too, and it went down well. Do you know yet what you plan to run after it? Or is it just a one-off?