Sanctuaries and Patrons, what are they for?

[Timmity Took]

Can anyone try to explain to me exactly what Sanctuaries and Patrons do?

I think I am starting to get the gist of it, but I am still a little confused.

In a fellowship phase...
You can disband and go to wherever you have been in the adventuring phase, or(usualy) home.
But as a group you can only go to a sanctuary(or patron?).
So what happens if everyone disbands and more than one companion, maybe even all but one, wants to go to Dale, a place they visited in the adventuring phase?

Yes, I am quite new to the system

[Stormcrow]

Sanctuaries are places that are safe and especially suited to supporting a group of adventurers. Joe's barn is not suitable; Rhosgobel, as a whole town, is. Sanctuaries grant you some boons on certain fellowship phase undertakings, and by opening a sanctuary you never thereafter have to convince the host to let you stay there.

[Stormcrow]

Patrons give you help and stuff and send you on adventures. A clever player will also work his patrons into his year's end intervention, especially if he spends it in the same place as his patron. You have to earn the patron before claiming him as a patron in a fellowship phase undertaking, and how to do this varies by the patron. The Adventurer's Companion expands the rules for patrons with much more specific details.

[Timmity Took]

Sanctuaries are places that are safe and especially suited to supporting a group of adventurers. Joe's barn is not suitable; Rhosgobel, as a whole town, is. Sanctuaries grant you some boons on certain fellowship phase undertakings, and by opening a sanctuary you never thereafter have to convince the host to let you stay there.

Aaaah! They grant you boons of some sort?
I missed that, hence my confusion..
But you can spend fellowship phases there as a group even if it's not a sanctuary?
Boons.. like what?

[Stormcrow]

In the Heal Corruption undertaking, characters in a sanctuary get two rolls instead of one. In the Adventurer's Companion, Men of Bree with the Traveller's Blessing virtue may add their Wisdom scores to their Travel rolls if they're going to a sanctuary they've already opened; High Elves (from Rivendell) can use their "marked" skills inside an elven sanctuary without fear of shadow points. There may be other benefits I haven't mentioned.

But the main benefit is being able to go there for any fellowship phase, no questions asked. Imagine you're a party tromping through Wilderland. You finish your adventure and think it'd be cool to meet Beorn and stay at his house. You turn up, don't do very well in an encounter with him, and he turns you away. You have to go somewhere else, and you can't interact with Beorn or anyone who comes to Beorn's house.

Now imagine you succeed in your encounter with Beorn and you are allowed to make his house a sanctuary. You now have access to Beorn in any fellowship phase. He may not be your patron, but you'll have the benefit of being in a place of importance in the region, where adventures are bound to come. In any fellowship phase to come, you can sojourn at Beorn's house and engage with the locals there. Remember, each player gets to seize the narrative initiative during the fellowship phase and dictate the things his character does. Being in a sanctuary gives you access to interesting people and circumstances to put in that narration.

[Rich H]

Aaaah! They grant you boons of some sort?

Boons.. like what?

I worked on a set of Boons for each Patron with some qualifying requirements. I'll dig out the link to the document when I'm back home.

[Stormcrow]

But you can spend fellowship phases there as a group even if it's not a sanctuary?

If you can convince the host or people there that you should be allowed to stay, then yes. But if it's not a sanctuary then you'll have to convince them every time you visit. And there's really no particular benefit in staying together as a group during a fellowship phase outside of a sanctuary, unless you plan to do something as a group when you have the narrative initiative.

[Timmity Took]

Aaaah! They grant you boons of some sort?

Boons.. like what?

I worked on a set of Boons for each Patron with some qualifying requirements. I'll dig out the link to the document when I'm back home.

Please do

[Timmity Took]

But you can spend fellowship phases there as a group even if it's not a sanctuary?

If you can convince the host or people there that you should be allowed to stay, then yes. But if it's not a sanctuary then you'll have to convince them every time you visit. And there's really no particular benefit in staying together as a group during a fellowship phase outside of a sanctuary, unless you plan to do something as a group when you have the narrative initiative.

Thank you. Very helpful
And do you get the benefits of a sanctuary even if you go there alone or not as a full group?

[Majestic]

Once it's a Sanctuary, even a lone person going there alone would reap the benefits of it being a Sanctuary.