Chapter One: Seeking a Course

[ffilz]

Khudarn picks up his cards and peruses them. He will talk his hand down and generally talk a friendly talk and soothe any ruffled feathers (forking in Soothing Platitudes - the only other skills I could fork would be Sing and Stentorious Debate but either of those is stretching things).

I'm torn about Throfroin, the game doesn't really play into any of my beliefs or instincts about him, and isn't something he's going to risk one of his treasures on. I could use Soothing Platitudes instead of forking into the gambling roll to let Throfroin play with just his chess set as a wager.[/color]

[1d6] = 3,[1d6] = 4,[1d6] = 4,[1d6] = 5,[1d6] = 6,[1d6] = 6

A nice healthy 5 successes, but Khudarn isn't that invested in winning this game, so looks like Blundrin is the winner...

Hmm, I guess I could have rolled my Will instead of Perception for one more die...

Do I mark a test toward learning Gambling or towards Perception (or not, since I didn't succeed against the Ob 10...)?

[Marullus]

The card game finally concludes, Blundrin now the owner of his own pants, a fine longknife, a sack of coin, and Theofroin's wooden chess set. Chumley slaps his cousin on the back, "Didn't I say I'd get you trained up to win your girl?" He is encouraging of Blundrin but his eyes drift back to the sack of coin. Theofroin, looks shaken, extending a hand with his chin held proudly up. "Well played. A game is a game, and honor is found in both winning and losing."

[Marullus]

Do I mark a test toward learning Gambling or towards Perception (or not, since I didn't succeed against the Ob 10...)?

One test towards Games of Chance skill, four more before Khudrarn opens it.

[ffilz]

The card game finally concludes, Blundrin now the owner of his own pants, a fine longknife, a sack of coin, and Theofroin's wooden chess set. Chumley slaps his cousin on the back, "Didn't I say I'd get you trained up to win your girl?" He is encouraging of Blundrin but his eyes drift back to the sack of coin. Theofroin, looks shaken, extending a hand with his chin held proudly up. "Well played. A game is a game, and honor is found in both winning and losing."

Well played, treat that knife well. Now, host of the most, Dvalen, do tell us what we can expect from this wood.

Character sheet updated

[Craigers07]

Thrim enjoys the banter from the game and continues to drink.

He studies the Dvalen's expressions when he is questioned by Khûdrarn.

[Marullus]

Rusty - we need a post from Blundrin on how his greedy self handles winning.

Also, both Khudrarn and Blundrin should mark a Beginner's Luck test for "Games of Chance" skill.

[ffilz]

Rusty - we need a post from Blundrin on how his greedy self handles winning.

Also, both Khudrarn and Blundrin should mark a Beginner's Luck test for "Games of Chance" skill.

I had already done that (I just fixed up the bolding of the advancement block on my character sheet).

[Rusty Tincanne]

The card game finally concludes, Blundrin now the owner of his own pants, a fine longknife, a sack of coin, and Theofroin's wooden chess set. Chumley slaps his cousin on the back, "Didn't I say I'd get you trained up to win your girl?" He is encouraging of Blundrin but his eyes drift back to the sack of coin. Theofroin, looks shaken, extending a hand with his chin held proudly up. "Well played. A game is a game, and honor is found in both winning and losing."

Blundrin straightens the cards and hands them back to his cousin. Despite his best efforts, he cannot hide the entirety of his joy as he thanks everyone for the brief game. He folds the pants back up and sets the sack of coins on top of it with a nod to Chumley. He then accepts the knife reverently from Khudarn. I will. Very well. It is exquisite. He unsheathes it several times, testing the balance and sharpness of the blade. He then turns his attention to the wooden chess set. Theofroin, I'll take good care of this too. Maybe you can help me improve my game some?

sorry for the delay.

[ffilz]

Blundrin stares intently at the beautiful knife, twisting his beard around his fingers. He sees the game is already out of his league but does a mental inventory of what he might have that could be played against this knife. Not Mug. Out of the question. But... His greed overtakes him and he opens a satchel on Mug's back. With a loud clank, he sets down the lower half of his armor. Cracking his knuckles, he sits down again. It's all I've got that's worth anything. Mail pants. Dwarf made, of course.. ...And if I lose, maybe you'll let me work to earn them back, he adds silently.

The greedy dwarf with the knife skill and an instinct to go with it is IN!

BTW, does the above qualify for an Ob 2 Greed test?

[Marullus]

Hidden earlier in this thread in a spoiler discussion:

Now, we look at advancing his greed.

Any time dice are added from Greed to another ability., it counts as a test for Greed. Compare the dice added to your current Greed exponent. The dice used count as the obstacle of the Greed test for advancement.

That means it is 4D vs Ob4, which is a difficult test on page 41. The text for advancing greed implies it advances on the skill table (p. 42) rather than the stat table (p.43) - any thoughts on that? In that case, you will advance to Greed 5 when you have 2 difficult and 4 routine tests.

[Marullus]

Theofroin's voice quavers slightly, but he keeps his chin deliberately lifted as he blinks away his watery eyes. "Y-y-yes, of course, Master Blundrin. I would be glad to, whenever you wish."

[ffilz]

Hidden earlier in this thread in a spoiler discussion:

Now, we look at advancing his greed.

Any time dice are added from Greed to another ability., it counts as a test for Greed. Compare the dice added to your current Greed exponent. The dice used count as the obstacle of the Greed test for advancement.

That means it is 4D vs Ob4, which is a difficult test on page 41. The text for advancing greed implies it advances on the skill table (p. 42) rather than the stat table (p.43) - any thoughts on that? In that case, you will advance to Greed 5 when you have 2 difficult and 4 routine tests.

Ah, sorry missed that... The way I understand it is that emotional attributes advance slightly differently from skills or other attributes.

Skills at exponent 1-4 advance with Routine AND (Difficult OR Challenging) while Exponent 5+ they advance with Difficult AND Challenging.

Other attributes advance with Difficult AND Challenging.

Emotional attributes advance with two of Routine OR Difficult OR Challenging.

[Marullus]

But the skill and attribute tables are different?

[ffilz]

Khûdrarn: Throfroin, thank you for sharing about the old dwarven mines in the mountains in the forest. While I believe our ultimate goal is Khazad Dum, I say that we seek out the mines as a possible safe place for the host to regroup while our small band seeks out a safe path to Khazad Dum. Young Chumley's point about the unexpected is a good one but rather than following the old road, we will follow the river upstream looking for tributaries that lead us into the mountains. Without going closer to the Long Lake than I wish to, we may not be able to find a ford to cross the river to reach the old road anyway, so once we hit the river, we will follow on it's North bank, seeking a crossing point.

[ffilz]

But the skill and attribute tables are different?

The number of Difficult and Challenging tests are the same for both skills and attributes. By extension, Routine test equal to the current Greed exponent would trigger the Routine test requirement.

It would have been nice with all the re-writing to cover emotional attributes in the advancement section...

[Marullus]

That's clear. Thanks.

[Marullus]

Khûdrarn: Throfroin, thank you for sharing about the old dwarven mines in the mountains in the forest. While I believe our ultimate goal is Khazad Dum, I say that we seek out the mines as a possible safe place for the host to regroup while our small band seeks out a safe path to Khazad Dum. Young Chumley's point about the unexpected is a good one but rather than following the old road, we will follow the river upstream looking for tributaries that lead us into the mountains. Without going closer to the Long Lake than I wish to, we may not be able to find a ford to cross the river to reach the old road anyway, so once we hit the river, we will follow on it's North bank, seeking a crossing point.

Theofroin produces a sketchy map, faded with age on ancient vellum. "Yes," he says confidently, firmly supporting his father's plan, "The settlement at Emyn Duir was small and should be abandoned. There is nothing in the ancient records that indicates hazards there. The name is in fact misleading - they're called the 'dark mountains' only because of the many fir trees."

Roll:

Theofroin: Ancient and Obscure History B4 [1d6] = 1 [1d6] = 2 [1d6] = 2 [1d6] = 3

http://www.henneth-annun.net/places_view.cfm?plid=512
Location: An east-west line of hills in the northeast of Mirkwood, north of the Old Forest Road; the source of the Enchanted River.
Description: The Emyn Duir (Dark Mountains) were a group of high hills in the north-east of the Forest, so called because dense fir-woods grew upon their slopes; but they were not yet of evil name. In later days when the shadow of Sauron spread through Greenwood the Great, and changed its name from Eryn Galen to Taur-nu-Fuin (translated Mirkwood), the Emyn Duir became a haunt of many of his most evil creatures, and were called Emyn-nu-Fuin, the Mountains of Mirkwood.

Map:

400px-Mountains_of_Mirkwood.jpg (65.2 KiB) Viewed 814 times

The Plan:

• I'm going to say that you already crossed the River Running when the caravan set out; you're on the west side and ready to brave the forest.
• You're going to seek the tributary on the map that connects to the River Running and follow it upstream to the Mountains of Mirkwood (Emyn Duir).
• You'll then seek the abandoned dwarven settlement there, which should provide some shelter and opportunity for the dwarves in your caravan until you can scout further ahead to Moria.

Step #1: Make knowledgeable statements about what you expect to find ahead with your wises. I'll give you an Obstacle and you'll roll to find out the truth of your statements.

Step #2: You need to return to the caravan with your plan and have scene to convince the Elders (i.e. your NPC relations) to follow you to safety. I'll open this in a new scene/thread. You can handle 'town' actions, circle up supporters, etc., then it will likely be a Duel of Wits.

Step #3: Set out up the tributary river and see what befalls you!

So... commence Step #1 here now.

[ffilz]

Will reply more but your map image didn't come through...

[Craigers07]

"The ancient records may not show anything dangerous, but has any dwarf been to the mountains up north recently?"

[Marullus]

Theofroin pauses. "Well, not that I'd know of... that sounds like," his voice lowers to a whisper, "adventurerers." He looks around at the others who are more worldly than himself.

You can speculate with your wises. (Fear of Mirkwood-wise is particularly apropos for speculating what kind of horrors you'll face in future adventurers, letting you add color to our game.) Anyone with carter/trader/guilder lifepaths can try to circle up someone who knows more. Or, adventurer lifepaths might even allow you to Circle up a Guide. Circles tests will happen on Chapter 2: Convincing the Carvan.