5e Middle Earth Adventures (Inactive)

Game Master Therenger

So, the stealthy attacking seems to have worked well for us.

I wonder, how about Doderic sneaks up, and at the same time he sneak attacks, Ingold and Cereidh loose a flight of arrows?

Then we can catch them in a pincer move. Doderic, Ingold, and Cereidh on one side, and me on the other.

How's that sound?

Sounds good, although we might want to have a fallback position in the tunnel to limit how many of them can get at us at once—classical defense with melee in the front and ranged/healing in the back…

Okay, so, you guys roll your attacks and I'll fall on them once you've taken them by surprise.

All, unfortunately another busy pre-holiday work day. Things should slow down over the next couple of days. In the meantime, I think we need surprise attack rolls from Doderic and Cereidh.

Doderic, if your going for melee, then I'll also need another Stealth roll prior to your attack. No stealth needed if your going range for the surprise.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays all. I hope you all get to have a little down time and relaxation over the next few days. Cheers.

apologies, hectic work week for Christmas (work with package delivery company) and a lot of family time. Sorry for the absence.

Oh. Um, heh, I didn't know we were in a surprise round. Can I have that action surge back so I can spend it this round to Dodge?

Like, it didn't really say that the first was a surprise round, do I used the Dodge, but obviously that's silly if it was a surprise round, which I didn't know that it was.

Shall I just hold on to the Action Surge and use it later?

Thorgrim of the Red Shield wrote:

Oh. Um, heh, I didn't know we were in a surprise round. Can I have that action surge back so I can spend it this round to Dodge?

Like, it didn't really say that the first was a surprise round, do I used the Dodge, but obviously that's silly if it was a surprise round, which I didn't know that it was.

Shall I just hold on to the Action Surge and use it later?

Sorry, my fault. I totally spaced applying the Dodge to the orc attacks. That would have eliminated their advantage. It wouldn't make a difference on the first attack as the first roll was still a hit. On the second, it would have been a miss.

So I'll give you the option. You can not take the 9 points of damage and lose the Action Surge. Or you can take the damage and keep the Action Surge to use this turn or another upcoming turn. Choice is yours.

Blargh, since I've already updated the sheet (and, this late at night, the math is starting to make my head hurt) let's keep it as you had it. I keep the Action Surge, take 15, 2nd Wind it all back, and this round I take 9, putting me at 65, with the Surge still.

They just don't make 'em like The Crow anymore.

Happy New Year all. I hope 2022 treats you all well and is filled with plenty of gaming fun. :)

As an extra note, I'm taking the weekend to do a little creative recharging and family time. Will bump things forward on Monday.

Thorgrim, sounds good on the action surge.

Cheers!

Hey sorry all, I've been sick with Covid past few days, and will be dealing with that. I'll try to post if possible, but feel free to bot me. Just notifying my games.

Starting this year off full swing let me tell ya.

Doderic, thanks for the heads up. So sorry to hear you've got covid. Here's to a speedy and full recovery.

Sorry all, I got swamped at work today, will bump things forward tomorrow. Also it sounds like Cereidh is having some trouble posting to the forums, so I'll bot her for the time being.

Wait, are we actually proposing staying here and fighting ~200 orcs?

Thorgrim has motivation to do so, because he wants to live here. ^_^

Also, I have no problem logging in and just posting to-hits for Thorgrim because that's what he's built for. =)

I'm not sure if that would get monotonous for you guys.

This is something we might wanna talk about. Knowing Tareth, it sounds like he's pushing us to evac this place for some other adventure, but, also knowing him, I'm sure he has no problem serving up near-infinite combat, if that's what we're looking at.

Also, Doderic, don't forget that, 1) You are a better front-line fighter than me, and, 2) to have two in the front line would be much, much appreciated than standing on my own.

I know you're well-built for ranged combat, but half the party is also ranged (Ingold isn't really built for tanking and Ceredh is built around the bow) so it would be great if I could, well, always see you in the van next to me.

You have a higher AC, and your sneak attack damage gives you GREAT slaying power.

Jus' saying. Don't sell yourself short. =)

Cereidh's pushing to decline the infinite opponents and take the better part of valor, but we shall see what the party decides :P

Ah, okay, it looks like we're for leaving now.

That's fine, I just wanted to toss up the choice.

Mind you, Ingold, it sounds like he's going to stay, not leave right away, to cover our exit.

I don't want to hold things up too long, but do want to make sure we've got general agreement before I bump things forward. It looks like everyone good with leaving? If you do want to convince Talandil to stick with you, then that'll take a Persuasion roll. Otherwise he'll take his chances to buy the rest of you more time. You can post your preference here or just RP it out in Gameplay.

Oh yeah I'm fine with going.

Wait, there’s a treasure room?

Are the foes between us and the exit?

Yes, the room with the head and the big spider.

No, the enemy is not blocking the stairs out.

Wow, I could swear this answer wasn’t refreshed on here until this afternoon, but it says you made it 5 minutes after my question…sorry about that.

You've escaped the ruins. Are you heading back to Bree or Rivendell? Staying on the road or heading overland? There will be some initial pursuit, so I'll need a group Survival roll to see if you can throw off the pursuit. DC to beat is 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (20) + 5 = 25. Huh...it looks like they are onto you. ;)

On another note, a previous player, Anar, has asked to rejoin the group. Since we are short of players, I'm all for it if folks are okay continuing on.

I'd be entirely happy to welcome back an old player : ) Cereidh's vote is for Bree but I'm happy with either.

Good with me…

Did we get in a short rest and any 10 minute increments to patch up some wounds, or is this right after we stop for the evening?

Ingold: There would be time for a short rest before you spot the pursuit, but not a long.

I seem to think that Bregghar might be radiant.

It is.

I wonder if this isn't a s+$~ test by the DM?

Like mayne this thing really does something cool, but we need to defend it against a very hard fight.

Sure we can avoid the fight by giving it away, but then we lose an item of real use.

Its possible, its also possible this a way of showing us there is something we must do. The way I see it, we could end up fighting these ghosts every night, or perhaps once a week, until X thing is done. Or, we could play for time to get it done. Perhaps, once it is cleansed, the spirit will go in peace? Or perhaps, while it is being cleansed we can learn what we need to do in order to let the spirit rest. It likely won't be a large amount of time, but, time is time.

Very cool...So how soon is the Hunter's Moon and what kind of ritual must Ingold perform to cleanse the shadow (if it is even within his capability)?

So Ingold would easily know that the Hunter's Moon comes in the month of Narbeleth or Sun-Fading in Westron also known as Winterfilth according to the Shire Reckoning. Approximately 12 weeks from your encounter.

As for a cleansing ritual, that is something you don't know for sure. At least it would require a Lore roll. But even if you roll low, the library and elves of Rivendell are also likely to have that answer.

Recounting of events for convenience in RP reference:

- Came across Toman and traders with wagonload of dwarven weapons & supplies for hillmen--Bragha of the Raven Clan. Harold the caravan master was rather upset, but held his peace. We found out that a bandit camp south of Weathertop was the source of the weapons and investigated while the caravan returned to Bree.

- Encountered a raiding party of orcs taking shelter under Weathertop during the day, then ambushed and killed them. Their captain had a cloth map of a location in the eastern edge of the south downs--the same location Toman had pegged as the bandit camp and source of the dwarven weapons.

- The location turned out to be the lair of a powerful petty dwarf who had enslaved several dwarves to turn out weapons. The hideout was actually built upon the barrow of the honored dead of Maithoth, the Gold Helms of Cardolan. The shadow of Princess Niradel of Cardolan inhabited the barrow's innermost sanctum and pulled us into a historical recreation of her assassination with barrow wights as the cast. After a fierce combat, the party destroyed the undead and killed the petty dwarf Nilm, though we were infected with a shadow parasite.

"So ends the reign of King Nilm of Underbarrow. A petty little dwarf with a petty little kingdom of shadow, death, and lost dreams built from spit, betrayal and malice."

Treasure:
'The rest he gathers and makes excitedly joyous comment on; the ancient sword, Nilm's 3 knives, his pendant of obsidian, and the thick gold chain he found on the queen."

"Gilgador: Bane vs Orcs and Trolls. Upon a successful hit does an additional 1d8 cold damage. Wielder gains 1 Shadow Point. Upon any critical failure when fighting with the sword, the wielder must make a DC18 WIS save or gain 1 shadow point.

Knives: Dwarf make, +1 to hit and damage.

Pendant: Can generate powerful and realistic illusions over a large area when wearing the pendant. The wearer gains 3 shadow points, no save. Whenever an illusion is activated, the wearer must make a DC22 WIS save or gain 2 shadow points. A second CON save DC15 must be made. On fail, the wearer suffers some form of physical deformity."

"Doderic finds a trove of ornate plates of silver and copper, offering cups of gold, ceremonial knives of little combat use but that may have historic value to a collector or scholarly background. Clay urns. Coin filled boxes that crumble upon first touch, the tin, silver, and gold coins tumbling to the stone floor. All marked with the faces of long dead kings of Cardolan, or occasionally Arthedain."

We rescued the three dwarves and gave them a share of the treasure, then headed to Bree to recover and find a cure for the shadow parasite...

...to be continued...

Got to Bree and worked a deal with the innkeeper Master Butterbur to sell our loot on consignment. Found out the location and name of a master healer -- but first had to deal with an agent of the shadow, a spy with a coin of ancient Gondor tainted by shadow our clever Doderic lifted off of him before he escaped us.

Arrive at the village of Archet to the abode of Oswald Fallowhide. The Took was indeed a skilled healer and set about making a cure. Overnight, though, the village was attacked by orcs, who set fire to buildings and were looking for us. Defeating the orcs, we were healed the next morning, then figured out how to stop the shadow coin from broadcasting our location to the creatures of shadow.

-Recall that we were supposed to meet up with Mara in Archet on the way back to Rivendell.

Heading to Fornost, we came across a Dunedain Ranger, Talandil, who joined us in our journey.

Experiencing a vision of the past, we fought with Fornost's defenders against the Witchking of Angmar's forces. We were joined by hobbits:

"Shouts are heard further down the street. A band of a dozen green and white clad hobbits cross an intersection. Armed with short bows and swords, they clear a path for several citizens trying to escape. One of the women see them and grabbing her companion they hurry toward the band after shouting their blessing and thanks to their mysterious rescuers."

"The hobbit glances at Thorgrim and and the fallen Angmarim laying about the big warrior. A smile break out upon his smoke covered face.

"Rufus Took! Of the Green Company!" He shouts above the growing din of battle. "I'd offer to share a smoke and a pint, but I'm afraid we've a long days work ahead." He adds with a grim laugh before following the others up the road toward the great citadel above."

- Escaping the past through a wall of goblins and wargs, we get back to the present.

- Ingold manages to bring a trinket back:

"Upon closer inspection you see it is a silver pin with an enameled front depicted an intricate interweaving of seven white stars upon a cobalt blue background. The pin itself, takes the shape of a shield with a paired eagle facing outward along each each side edge."

"he pin is surely that worn by members of the Tirrim Aran or Company of the Royal Guard. The cobalt background would indicate a member of the Ohtari Tirrim, the lowest rank among the guard. Which would mean it would still belong to one who had proven themselves immensely brave and stout in battle. How it came to be in the alley is likely forever lost to history and the chaos of those last few days and hours of Fornost.
Some tales say that such tokens often contained a blessing of the kings of old or and that the stone and metals used in their crafting were from Numenor itself."

We were blessed with the blooming of a flower in the location where we attempted to help:

"Tucked between two rolling mounds and near long eroded stone, a patch of wild lilies raise their wide delicate blooms to catch the morning light. White with bold red and yellow interiors, the flowers are the first and only you've seen within this sorrowful place."

-Then we moved onto the summit of Fornost to continue our investigation...

After some investigation, we found a warren of tunnels beneath the summit.

-Fought a wight and found a silver necklace:

"This is no elven work. That is immediately clear to you as you take a closer look at the bit of ancient jewelry that adorned the cursed creatures skeletal neck. At first you believe it to be Dunedain, simply by the weaving of the silver chain and the craftsmanship. But it is the double eagle symbol that gives you pause. Not a common sight among the Dunedain of Gondor or Arnor. You recall a few precious scrolls and an ancient tome you saw during your stay at Rivendell. They described an even more ancient land. That of your ancestors who sailed forth from the lost island of Numenor. Among Numenorean culture, the double eagle was often used in many works of art and culture because it symbolized the Witnesses of Manwe. The two watchful Eagles whose eerie rested near the Hallowed Mountain at the center of the island and who stood as vigilant guardians until the Downfall.
You realize this is possibly a much older find than you originally suspected and might have been a treasured heirloom among the kin of whoever first brought it forth from the lost island. What you do not know is how either the Downfall of Numenor or the Witch Kings curse may have affect whatever power might lurk within such and ancient treasure of a doomed land and people."

Exploring, we found the lair of a fearsome spider beast, and after a fierce battle, the spider is killed.

Treasure:
"Thorgrim begins to sift through the dirt and rubble every few minutes plucking a gemstone and dropping it into a small pouch. He finds quite the selection of topaz, citrine, aquamarine, and garnets. Every once in a while his efforts are rewarded even further as he discovers a small sapphire, ruby, or in one instance a round cut diamond that sparkles brilliantly in the lantern light."

Dwarven helm: "Clearing the thick cocoon from one of the dwarves reveals an ornate helm of silver, steel, and turquoise inlay. Spirals and interwoven knotwork eagles decorate the finely crafted bit of ancient armor."

Decapitated princess head -- Nirena Turmen:

Princess Nirena Turmen. Daughter of King Argeleb and sister to Arvedui, last king of Arthedain. She was reputed to be a powerful seeress, though some said her power was derived from magical items procured during her adventures to the far south.

-- with a golden bowl:

" The bowl itself is clearly of ancient design and craftsmanship. Decorated with woven knots and depicting kings and seers gazing into the heavens and the bright star of Earendil. Numenorean writing is engraved around the upper rim of the bowl."

False eye of the Seers of Fornost Erain:
"When he uncovers the eyes, he steps back gasping surprise as an orb of white and blue stares back at him with unblinking judgement. But after a moment he realizes the eye to be, not an unliving horror, but a thing of masterfully crafted glass and paint. The false eye drops out of its now loose socket to clatter within the dust filled bowl."

Necklace:
"A choker still clinging to the woman's upper neck. Made of mithril, the interweaving, knotwork design is certainy Arnorian. Hanging from the mithril chain is a seven pointed mithril star with a cut diamond center stone. Ingold immediately recognizes the symbol as that of the ancient Conclave of Seers that once advised the northern kings."

-Found a lair of many orcs preparing for war, working forges beneath the summit. Escaped with our lives and the help of the ranger Talandil, who estimates the orc forces to number in the hundreds. He stayed behind to ensure our escape.

- We headed towards Bree, but were ambushed overnight by an apparition of the headless body of the princess who wanted her eye back. Thinking it a poor idea to return her eye to her shadow form while it was still corrupted, we offered to cleanse if of shadow and return it to her later.

-Then returned to Bree, probably picked up Mara in Archet, then headed back to Rivendell to report.

Ingold thanks for the rundown of all that this group accomplished. A nice run for certain. And certainly everyone is welcome to bump up a level. I think that puts the group at level 8.

But I think we've come to the end of the run. I my opinion the AiME system really kind of starts to break down at higher levels with some classes or abilities very overpowered other very underpowered, few interesting PC choices for combat or growth, and the whole Journey system is simply irrelevant unless the GM bumps up DC's or makes challenges actually challenging for a party rolling +8 vs +2. Certainly there isn't much support for GM's compared to regular 5E or the more narrative focused TOR system when it comes to a party moving beyond 4th or 5th level. I don't think there's a creature beyond CR6 in the Loremaster's guide and the Lord of the Nazgul is only CR13 and fairly weak overall. I actually think the party could take him down in half a dozen rounds or less with some good rolling.

So having said that, it has been great running the game for you all but I think we are at a nice stopping point for me as GM. Thanks to everyone for playing, the great RP, putting up with my on-the-fly GMing style and generally sticking with it all the way.

If someone else wants to take the reins and give GMing the higher levels a go please feel free. Otherwise I'm sure I'll see you all elsewhere on the boards.

I for one have really enjoyed this game. It has been quite the epic adventure and it was amazing to feel like we were actually in middle earth and were playing a part in the struggle against the shadow. Many thanks, DM Tareth, for an epic campaign!

I agree with all the things.

Always and ever have I pointed out this problem with "Low Magic" games: They take the magic out, and suddenly every class gets boring. Without spells to keep pace with, everything is peppered with barely-useful things that aren't in any way as useful as spells. Suddenly every level becomes just another excuse to add +1 to the die rolls.

Compare that to 5E that gives the classes what are in essence magical powers and ways to use what they do in game-altering ways. Be it the Superiority dice of the Weapon Master or the various sneaking themes of rogues. Even the paladin has a myriad of different Oaths.
Indeed, it seemed like this system very very badly needed something like Superiority dice for -EVERY- class. Fine, no one gets spells, but it's cool to have, like, the Healing Scholar manage their healing dice to cure either massive quantities of hit points OR various conditions. So why can't other classes also have some kind of refresh-at-rest powers to keep track of? Just because you get rid of spells doesn't mean you get rid of power.

But, yeah, AIME does do that, and it's a shame. From what I hear the whole thing needs to be taken back to formula, which is too bad.

It's been both real AND good everyone! (I think I'm even still in games with everyone here.... =)

It's truly been fantastic! I mostly game over Discord these days, if anyone wants to add me (Long John Furby#8308).

I'll miss this. It was a lot of fun. Thanks for the game!