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The One Ring - Cubicle 7
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<blockquote data-quote="MerricB" data-source="post: 5659232" data-attributes="member: 3586"><p>One of the interesting things about the game is the amount of space it gives to travelling in the wilderness - which is surely one of the biggest parts of the Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings. It doesn't go down to minute details which take hours to play (thankfully), but it does require Fatigue checks depending on the length of the journey, plus checks for navigation and other things to see how long the journey lasts.</p><p></p><p>Certain badly failed checks require an Hazardous Encounter before the players get to their destination safely. (e.g. crossing a swollen stream, escaping from a ravenous bunch of Wargs...)</p><p></p><p>The Fatigue checks show how tired you are when you get to your destination - which, as it's generally an adventure site, can put you at a disadvantage.</p><p></p><p>Roles in travelling: The Guide (1 of), Huntsmen, Look-out men, Scouts. Each member chooses one of the roles, and that affects how things fall out in the journey.</p><p></p><p>Combat... oh, boy.</p><p></p><p><strong>ONSET</strong></p><p><strong>Initiative:</strong> This actually depends on whether you're the attacker or the defender. The defender has the initiative - most of the time the players will be defending, the game notes.</p><p></p><p><strong>Opening Volleys:</strong> Assuming there's a short distance between the combatants, missile fire may now occur. Normally only one volley per character is allowed (and shields are great for defense), but greater distance between the two forces might allow more per DM judgement.</p><p></p><p><strong>Combat Advantages:</strong> All players make a Battle roll to see how much advantage they gain from the terrain: this can give 1-3 bonus Success dice during the combat to use.</p><p></p><p>There are also rules for Ambushes I'm not dealing with here.</p><p></p><p><strong>CLOSE QUARTERS</strong></p><p>Now melee starts...</p><p></p><p><strong>Stances:</strong> Each player chooses a stance - Forward, Open and Defensive (for melee) or Rearward (for ranged). You can only choose Rearward if at least two characters are in melee. The stance determines when you act (Forward before Rearward), and how hard you are to hit (easier to hit Forward), and how hard it is to hit (again, easier to hit when Forward).</p><p></p><p><strong>Engagement:</strong> The GM chooses one character for each monster to attack - only those in melee stances are available. Monsters above the number of characters can gang up or stand back and shoot missiles. (There is a maximum number of monsters that can engage each individual hero). If there are more characters than monsters, the players get to assign attacker/defender relationships.</p><p></p><p><strong>COMBAT ROUND SEQUENCE</strong></p><p>Everyone with the initiative acts first, then the non-initiative group.</p><p></p><p><strong>Attacks</strong> use skill checks. </p><p>* Melee - Target Number (TN) is Parry of defender + Stance of hero.</p><p>* Ranged - TN is Parry of defender + shield + 12.</p><p></p><p><strong>Damage</strong> is generally in Endurance points - you lose points equal to the rating of the weapon on a normal success, on a great success its the weapon + Damage rating of the attacker.</p><p></p><p>A character can choose to be <em>Knocked Back</em> - taking half damage, but can't attack on his next turn.</p><p></p><p>You can <em>Remove your Helm</em> (lowering protection) to regain 3 fatigue.</p><p></p><p><strong>Piercing Blows</strong> occur when the d12 rolls pretty high (depending on the weapon). The defender must make a Protection Test or be wounded.</p><p></p><p><strong>Called Shots</strong> may be made by heroes: they must be declared in advance and only succeed if one more sixes are rolled on the d6s (they also need to beat the TN). Bad rolls might cause fumbles. A called shot is a normal attack plus a special effect depending on your weapon. So, Axes & Mattocks smash shields, Bows & Spears provide Piercing Blows regardless of the Feat die, Swords disarm.</p><p></p><p><strong>OTHER COMBAT ACTIONS</strong></p><p>- Intimidate Foe (monsters lose Hate points)</p><p>- Rally Comrades (heroes regain endurance)</p><p>- Protect Companion (spend Hope to take attack instead of comrade)</p><p>- Prepare Shot (give up attack to do Called Shot next turn)</p><p>- Escape Combat</p><p></p><p>It's not an insane amount of detail, but it's quite a bit more than just "I swing my sword." The way it actually works looks very interesting indeed - I like the idea that you can open yourself up to hit more, but that another character can protect you. There are a lot of elements that make me think that, despite the attention to mechanical detail, the combats created will be evocative of the Middle Earth experience. </p><p></p><p>What I don't know yet is how it works in play. As noted, the maths is unusual: Hope Points really swing things around, but they're a limited supply. </p><p></p><p>Note that you can spend Fellowship Points to get back Hope Points (1:1). The group starts each session with a Fellowship Point pool equal to the number of players in the group.</p><p></p><p>Another very interesting point: Each character has one "Fellowship Focus", which is another character they feel particularly close to. </p><p></p><p>At the end of each session, if the Fellowship Focus wasn't wounded during play, the character gains one Hope point. If they were wounded, they gain 1 Shadow point, or 3 if Killed. The character also immediately regains Hope Points spent to successfully protect or favour his Fellowship Focus.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="MerricB, post: 5659232, member: 3586"] One of the interesting things about the game is the amount of space it gives to travelling in the wilderness - which is surely one of the biggest parts of the Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings. It doesn't go down to minute details which take hours to play (thankfully), but it does require Fatigue checks depending on the length of the journey, plus checks for navigation and other things to see how long the journey lasts. Certain badly failed checks require an Hazardous Encounter before the players get to their destination safely. (e.g. crossing a swollen stream, escaping from a ravenous bunch of Wargs...) The Fatigue checks show how tired you are when you get to your destination - which, as it's generally an adventure site, can put you at a disadvantage. Roles in travelling: The Guide (1 of), Huntsmen, Look-out men, Scouts. Each member chooses one of the roles, and that affects how things fall out in the journey. Combat... oh, boy. [b]ONSET[/b] [b]Initiative:[/b] This actually depends on whether you're the attacker or the defender. The defender has the initiative - most of the time the players will be defending, the game notes. [b]Opening Volleys:[/b] Assuming there's a short distance between the combatants, missile fire may now occur. Normally only one volley per character is allowed (and shields are great for defense), but greater distance between the two forces might allow more per DM judgement. [b]Combat Advantages:[/b] All players make a Battle roll to see how much advantage they gain from the terrain: this can give 1-3 bonus Success dice during the combat to use. There are also rules for Ambushes I'm not dealing with here. [b]CLOSE QUARTERS[/b] Now melee starts... [b]Stances:[/b] Each player chooses a stance - Forward, Open and Defensive (for melee) or Rearward (for ranged). You can only choose Rearward if at least two characters are in melee. The stance determines when you act (Forward before Rearward), and how hard you are to hit (easier to hit Forward), and how hard it is to hit (again, easier to hit when Forward). [b]Engagement:[/b] The GM chooses one character for each monster to attack - only those in melee stances are available. Monsters above the number of characters can gang up or stand back and shoot missiles. (There is a maximum number of monsters that can engage each individual hero). If there are more characters than monsters, the players get to assign attacker/defender relationships. [b]COMBAT ROUND SEQUENCE[/b] Everyone with the initiative acts first, then the non-initiative group. [b]Attacks[/b] use skill checks. * Melee - Target Number (TN) is Parry of defender + Stance of hero. * Ranged - TN is Parry of defender + shield + 12. [b]Damage[/b] is generally in Endurance points - you lose points equal to the rating of the weapon on a normal success, on a great success its the weapon + Damage rating of the attacker. A character can choose to be [i]Knocked Back[/i] - taking half damage, but can't attack on his next turn. You can [i]Remove your Helm[/i] (lowering protection) to regain 3 fatigue. [b]Piercing Blows[/b] occur when the d12 rolls pretty high (depending on the weapon). The defender must make a Protection Test or be wounded. [b]Called Shots[/b] may be made by heroes: they must be declared in advance and only succeed if one more sixes are rolled on the d6s (they also need to beat the TN). Bad rolls might cause fumbles. A called shot is a normal attack plus a special effect depending on your weapon. So, Axes & Mattocks smash shields, Bows & Spears provide Piercing Blows regardless of the Feat die, Swords disarm. [b]OTHER COMBAT ACTIONS[/b] - Intimidate Foe (monsters lose Hate points) - Rally Comrades (heroes regain endurance) - Protect Companion (spend Hope to take attack instead of comrade) - Prepare Shot (give up attack to do Called Shot next turn) - Escape Combat It's not an insane amount of detail, but it's quite a bit more than just "I swing my sword." The way it actually works looks very interesting indeed - I like the idea that you can open yourself up to hit more, but that another character can protect you. There are a lot of elements that make me think that, despite the attention to mechanical detail, the combats created will be evocative of the Middle Earth experience. What I don't know yet is how it works in play. As noted, the maths is unusual: Hope Points really swing things around, but they're a limited supply. Note that you can spend Fellowship Points to get back Hope Points (1:1). The group starts each session with a Fellowship Point pool equal to the number of players in the group. Another very interesting point: Each character has one "Fellowship Focus", which is another character they feel particularly close to. At the end of each session, if the Fellowship Focus wasn't wounded during play, the character gains one Hope point. If they were wounded, they gain 1 Shadow point, or 3 if Killed. The character also immediately regains Hope Points spent to successfully protect or favour his Fellowship Focus. [/QUOTE]
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