5e Middle Earth Adventures (Inactive)

Game Master Therenger

Sorry guys I am still here I have been going thru a lot here lately my plan is to be back to posting soon

Struggling with this one, going to keep trying...don't give up on me yet.

Thorgrim: It is the Ways of the Wild trait from the Wanderer class that gives me advantage anytime when tracking someone through the wilderness.

So if I Assisted you, does that let you roll three times?

Nope. That is I'm assuming the rule in the Player's Handbook applies that only allows for one additional D20 roll regardless of multiple instances of advantage or disadvantage.

I've a business trip, so I'll post in a couple of days.

Feel free to post some RP to justify rolling again to get out your mess

cheers

Leaving tonight for another week long business trip with limited, random access to post.

cheers

Take care. Enjoying the posts as they come.

That's it for my posting. Drag out the RP until next Saturday!

Enjoy

Apologies, I glanced at the post on sunday and then forgot to reply till now.

Hi players

I'm back for a week. Reading the thread, you posted to day 2 of the pursuit of Oderic, so I reposted Day 3 to build momentum for the next scene.

Gomdebo has decided that this game is not for him and has retired. Krogen has had significant RL issues and has fallen away. So, we're down to 4 active characters.

Please let me know if you want to recruit again, or I can return the hobbit NPC to fill that sneaky skillset. The story would work, because you're actually close to where Mal was heading: Gladden Fields.

cheers

I have a slight preference for recruiting, but I wouldn't object to sticking to ourselves and Mal for now.

We had a hard time recruiting, so I'm not sure how well it would go. Tareth is a Player of rare skill, and finding him was the best luck. I'm not sure if we could recreate it.
Also, I liked Mal. As DMPCs go, he was played with a kind of humility that made him likable. I've no problem with bringing him back.

I admit, I had no idea what Gom was doing. I know little of Mishma, but I've found him a creative Player. But here, it seemed like he was determined to craft a story apart from the party. Perhaps that would've worked at the tabletop, but in PbP it's hard enough to maintain party cohesion. I thought eventually he'd enter the fold, but on the whole the character's story was...dizzying.

I'm fine with not recruiting. Let's give things a go with the group we have and the DM-NPC.

Hey guys, it looks like an idea on the table is some kind of protracted guerrilla siege.

Now, I am -completely- for this. One time I was in a party that took over an occupied castle. Very fun. But very long, and pure combat.

I'm not saying this'll be the same thing, far from it, but it does root a party down to a certain spot and things tend to get repetitive. Just so you know.

(Hmmm. Actually, DM of the Rings seems remarkably apt for what game we're in. Okay, everybody needs to have that series read by the end of the month. This will be on the final exam. Go!)

And just so everyone knows, it is just an idea. Happy to go with whatever everyone feels most comfortable doing given the pbp format.

And although it has been a while, I've totally read DM of the Rings. :)

I'm not up to date yet. Darn.

To all my games, two pieces of news:

1) I'm currently job hunting, though that is going well. That said, I might have less free time than usual.

2) I'll be at a gaming convention this weekend, so I'll likely be less active online.

Good luck with 1.), and 2.) sounds like fun!

As far as the question of recruiting goes, I don't have any strong preference for either one. While I really enjoy the energy that the rest of you bring to the virtual table - given that, I don't feel like we're at a standstill. So a new player might be fun, but I feel like we're in a fun spot anyway.

Um, I'm talking to a IRL friend of mine who may be interested.

He even has been known to enjoy playing a rogue, so we might be able to replace our beloved DMPC.

I'll let you know how it goes. =)

Good news: My buddy is down! He's a long time gamer that is already familiar with D&D, LOTR, and PbP! I've already forwarded him the books.

Bad news: He still have to read up on 5E, and our own particular version of insanity here, (and hasn't "technically" created a Paizo profile yet ^_^). Hence, while signs point to yes, it won't be real soon, so let's not hesitate just for him. Let's do what we've been doing and see how it goes. =)

I’ve another week long business trip. You’ll run into the patrol on Saturday. Please RP at the camp site until then. Maybe share stories of how you know Mal.

Cheersz

@Thorgrim: Sounds good! Hopefully he'll be able to join soon enough.

@Jubal: Take care.

Alright!

Okay, guys, my friend is onboard.

Mind you, he's a little but shy, because apparently his last couple (several) PbP attempts have gone...poorly.

So do your best to make him feel welcome. =)

(Also, yes, playing hobbit thieves is like his bread'n'buttah.)

OK, players. Kill this patrol.

Hobwise will join you in two more scenes.

cheers

Rules question that pertains to the current fight: The enemy is 120' from the party's position. If Mal were to use Cunning Action and Dash as a bonus action, could he then also Dash as his action for the turn, and then Move again, for a total of 150' of movement? Not that it would make any sense to do so, excpet perhaps to divide the enemy. That seems like it is legal in the rules but I wonder about the spirit of the rules? Watching the Halfling outrun the Hound would be hilarious.

And one more question: In 5E Handbook it states a character can only take 1 bonus action per turn. I didn't see that in the ME Guide, but I suspect in this case the 5E rule is not superseeded. So Mal, or, soon, Hob, cannot use Cunning Action to Dash, then use Small Folk to enter an opponent's space, then also Attack, correct?

Mal's move with short legs is 25 ft. Move +Dash +Cunning Action = 3x Move = 75 feet in a turn

Yes, only one bonus action per turn.

cheers

Ahh, I misread the Dash rule. It's not that you run twice as fast, just twice as much. Thanks!

Remember, Findegil said that he is job hunting, so maybe we should bot him now? It's been 48 hrs, and that's usually a good spot for botting in combat. Jus' sayin'. =)

Just dropping in to say that it’s finals week for me and one of my classes is going ... poorly, so I probably won’t be able to post until Thursday evening at the earliest. (I might be able to sneak away from finals crunch! But it’s looking unlikely).

Feel free to NPC Cereidh until then. And maybe pray to whichever higher or lower powers you usually do, on behalf of my final project.

Lord Megatron's blessings for your success! ;)

May Crom bless thy final effort...with STEEL!

Hey, actually, that segues perfectly with a question I've been meaning to ask: What IS the religion in LOTR? I keep wanting to swear that a thing WILL be done, BY ....?

In a vacuum, I keeping leaning toward inserting Howard, or even Lovecraft, contemporaries and pen-pals that they were, but I thought I'd ask first.

I started reading the Silmarillion in college but the prose proved to be too high of a bar for me to climb over. From what I remember, there is a Genesis chapter where Morgoth betrays the Valar and takes the role of Satan on Middle Earth. I'm relying on 25 year old memory here - haven't hit Wikipedia yet - but I believe the Elves are the direct descendants of the Valar, or are the first creation. That's probably wrong. Anyway, I suppose any intelligent creature could, in theory, worship the Valar if he or she was aware of such beings, or the ultimate God among or above them. But yeah, I do not immediately recall any such religious aspect of LOTR. If anything, LOTR is a great agnostic work, from the perspective of the principle characters.

Tolkien himself was raised Catholic and was by some measure Christian, although the extent to which he practised seems no greater than any modern-day American Catholic, and that's a low bar.

Hmmm.

Since I'm taking that as gospel *heh* I don't think humans would worship the Valar, since that seems like an "elvish" thing. A bit like D&D humans worshiping Glanggadin, the dwarven deity that created dwarves.
That's cool and great that the Elves have their thing, but if a human worshiped the Valar, that seems like they'd have to worship, or at least be deferential, to elves.

Alright. Hey DM, any objection to me inserting some Howard-ian mythology here? I doubt Tolkien would object. =)

Hi. LOTR is religion free.

Can I ask what is driving you to add that aspect? What itch are you scratching?

Thorgrim as a Beorning, you effectively worship/follow Beorn who is very close to a god anyway.

Cheers

I think the Valar also created Men and Dwarves, and all living things, but I'm not sure any but the Elves are aware of that mythos in Middle-Earth. I agree that proper homage to a liege/line of succession seems the right fit.

In Gondor, in the absence of the True King, what would be appropriate? I'm not sure. Maybe that absence of a spiritual focal point accounts for the corruption of Minas Tirith.

Ummmmm, to illustrate what I'm trying to do, here's a quote from another character. In combat:

""By Odin's thronging member I am DONE with these Loki-sent insects and their COWERING lord. We shall end their foul siege NOW!""

Soooo, just swearing. Making a shout to do something sound MORE AWESOME, by the Hammer of THOR!

Ummmm, do the Valar have, like, individual names? How many are there? Is it like the Roman Pantheon?

I admit I don't know that much about Beorn, but I haven't heard anything to give him diefic-status. He sound more like a hero, like maybe Hercules before his ascension.

The Valar of LOTR

Curse away

Just so we're all on the same page:

Lords of the Valar

Manwë Súlimo, King of the Valar, husband of Varda
Ulmo, King of the Sea
Aulë the Smith, husband of Yavanna
Oromë Aldaron, the Great Rider, husband of Vána
Mandos (Námo), Judge of the Dead, husband of Vairë
Lórien (Irmo), Master of Dreams and Desires, husband of Estë
Tulkas Astaldo, Champion of Valinor, husband of Nessa

[edit] Queens of the Valar (Valier)

Varda Elentári, Queen of the Stars, wife of Manwë
Yavanna Kementári, Giver of Fruits, wife of Aulë
Nienna, Lady of Mercy
Estë the Gentle, wife of Irmo
Vairë the Weaver, wife of Mandos
Vána the Ever-young, wife of Oromë
Nessa the Dancer, wife of Tulkas

Morgath = dad of Sauron.

Ungoliant = Mom of Shelob

Simarils = Infinity Stones.

Yes. Those are the valar. Equivalent to gods without religion. More like Greek gods.

Ok, thanks.

Also, we're more than 48 hours since the start of this round. Anyone mind botting the others so we can continue with the combat?

Hello all (including Hobwise)! I'm catching up, and will hopefully be back to a more normal posting rate from here on. I love the LOTR discussion. Tolkien was a complex and subtle writer and careers have been made debating his works. One article on the inspirations for his writings.

And as a rule, I have no issue with my pbp characters being botted, so long as they aren't doing something fragrantly out of character. Fighting foes is very much *in* character for Findegil. ;)

I'm back!!! Still waiting on my final scores, but hey, it's no longer crunch time.

- Would it make sense for Cereidh, as an elf, to particularly revere one of the Valar?

@Amalina

Why are you rolling disadvantage for your bow attack? You get disadvantage firing into melee. That's a house rule in some campaigns, but not 5e RAW.

cheers

Er, how did the spearman hit Findegil?

AC: 20 (Ring Mail, Shield of the Citadel +5, Virtue +1)

Edit: Ah I left the line above it saying 14 AC. My oversight.

Cause your stats said 14. ;D

I guess he didn't hit, then

Fixed now. :)

And it's apparently Tolkien Reading Day today.

Let's do our part!

It doesn't look like anyone is too enthused about the part, so I'm going to start a loot log, for two reasons:
1) It's best to keep the loot in one place, and,
2) It's actually conceivable that my character could carry it all. ^_^

We're going on a need/first call basis. If you need it, just say you're taking it and take it. I've noticed that if you is stopping and asking if it's okay if you take something, most people will just defer anyway. 99% of the time the mage won't ask for the Longsword +2 anyway, so there's no reason to stand on ceremony.

Gold we'll divide evenly. If you want to give more to the healer so they can buy healing, just do it. (I plan on doing that.)

If I have stuff and there's a merchant, I'll just sell whatever excess I'm carrying, that way no one else has to worry about it.

Not saying this is the best plan, if you have better, now's a good time. =)

I think that's a fair assessment, and a solid solution. Thank you for taking care of that Thorgrim.

In other news, I've a new job starting on Monday. :)