LotR The Hall of Fire Magazine 48.pdf

Issue Fo

Forty

rty-Eight

Eight

January 2008

ÑYou Cannot PassÒ by

Donato Giancola

Issue

FFo

rty

January

ÑYou Cannot PassÒ

by Donato Giancola

I N THIS ISSUE

T HE R OAD G OES E VER O N ...

• A Return To Power

F AN F LAVOUR

• Even the Odds (Mass Combat Maneuver)

• Angmarim Forces

• Forces of the North Kingdom

• Forces of Rohan

I T ’ S A LL O PTIONAL

G REETINGS , S ALUTATIONS ...

H ELLO A LL !

• Siegecraft Skill

I NTERVIEW

• David “Issachar” D.

A DVENTURING I N ...

Happy New Year to one and all! I hope your holiday breaks

were full of good times and plenty of gaming. Well to start off

with, there is a bit of interesting news in the whole Lord of the

Rings front with the announcement of The Hobbit movie plus

one more. Even though they won't bring back our beloved

game to print, they should (hopefully) provide some interesting

insights into Tolkien's world and fodder for us at the tabletop. I

shall refrain from speculation on a new gaming system as I don't

think it's appropriate for this publication.

• Michel Delving

A LLIES AND A DVERSARIES

• Will Whitfoot

A RT C REDITS

C ALLING ALL GAMERS

As for this issue's content, I believe you will be happy with what

we have to offer in the continuation of my magnum opus, A

Return to Power, with Chapter 3 getting the fellowship in

deeper with dealings up North. There is also some new

information about armies of the Reunited Kingdom in the

Fourth Age and Angmar, and more!

CONTACT THE HALL OF FIRE AT:

CODAWEBZINE@HOTMAIL.COM

CREW

MATTHEW KEARNS (GANDALOFBORG), EDITOR, WRITER

ultimac@hotmail.com

DOUG JOOS, WRITER

PETER MERRYMAN, ARTIST

DAVID D. (ISSACHAR), WRITER, LAYOUT

issachar44@yahoo.com

H APPY G AMING ,

Matthew Kearns, Editor

aka GandalfOfBorg

This is an unofficial fan webzine created for players of Decipher's The Lord of the Rings Roleplaying Game and the world of Middle-earth created by

J.R.R. Tolkien. There is no affiliation between the creators of this webzine and Decipher, Tolkien Enterprises, or any other related corporation. All

material is either direct from Tolkien sources, Decipher, opinion, or has been created for the said purpose of roleplaying in the world of Middle-earth.

All pictures and graphics were obtained from Decipher and New Line Cinema or from sources on the Internet. No claim of ownership is

made through their use here. These images are used with no permission. THIS DOCUMENT IS NOT FOR RETAIL SALE AND

INDIVIDUALS MAY PHOTOCOPY AND PRINT FOR THEIR PERSONAL USE.

Issue Forty-eight

T HE H ALL OF F IRE

January 2008

A R ETURN TO P OWER

A languishing elf in a distant Fourth Age has lost his way, not only in morality but also in his

way to Valino. Thus he seeks a means to force open the road to the Undying Lands that once

existed in the First Age – the “straight path” – so that the dwindling power of the Eldar can

once again flourish in Middle-earth. To do so he requires powerful artifacts of bygone eras to

complete this task. Unfortunately for him and the rest of the world, a secret cult, devoted

to Morgoth, thought long gone has discovered the elf's plan and intend to twist it toward

their goal of freeing the Dark Lord from his bonds from beyond the reaches of the world.

INTRODUCTION

"A Return to Power" is a campaign for The

Lord of the Rings Roleplaying Game by

Decipher, taking place in the Fourth Age

during any year suitable to equate to the

passing of 15 kings of the Reunited Kingdom.

"A Return to Power" is suitable for a

company of 4-5 characters ranging from 5 to

7 Advancements and at least 5 Renown.

The campaign begins in Minas Tirith with a

special request made by the king and moves

across western Middle-earth. The missing

palantiri are to be recovered, starting with

those lost in the North, but another power

behind the scenes seeks them as well for

purposes unknown to but one other. More is

going on than anyone knows with events

conspiring to bring about the end of the

world!

Narrators will require the use of The Lord of

the Rings: Core Rule Book, Fell Beasts and

Wondrous Magic, Paths of the Wise, and a

few issues of The Hall of Fire (each will be

specified) for running this adventure.

Players who plan to take part in this

adventure should not read any further.

A DVENTURE S YNOPSIS

This is the Fourth Age – Eldarion is history,

Elessar legend, and now Elendil II sits upon

the throne in Minas Tirith as 16th King of

the Reunited Kingdom. Peace has generally

come to the lands of northwestern Middle-

earth with Gondor having quelled most of

the barbaric realms that surround the region.

The fellowship is in the northern reaches of

Middle-Earth following the discovery that

any palantiri to be discovered in the ancient

shipwreck were taken by agents of Angmar

or worse. They must decide on a course of

action: give up, go into Angmar in secret,

seek assistance from the steward of the

North Kingdom, or some other choice of

their own. Regardless of their choice, the

characters will end up going to Angmar one

way or another.

Hall of Fire * The Unofficial Lord of the Rings Roleplaying Game Webzine

Issue 48 * January 2008

Q UEST 1 : S TONES OF THE N ORTH

C HAPTER 3 : ALL R OADS L EAD TO A NGMAR

A DVENTURE H OOKS

A CT 1 : G IVE U P

If the fellowship didn't participate in the previous chapters, the

Narrator should run Chapter 2, Act 4: “Found & Lost” before

continuing on and/or using the following suggested hooks to

bring the characters into the story. The Narrator shold also feel

free to create her own hooks; otherwise, just continuing where

the previous chapter left off.

Obvious in and of itself but what the characters don't know is

they're still on their way. What they do next is up to the

fellowship but the Narrator could try a few things to get them

back on track with going to Angmar. A few ideas include:

• Guilt them into it by encountering an envoy seeking them out

and their progress (proceed to Chapter 3: Act 3: “On Their

Own”)

• The characters are a band of Lossoth on patrol, investigating an

incursion by the Angmarim

• The characters are a group of Rangers or accomplices tracking

the band out of Angmar

• The characters are waylaid by a party of Angmarim soldiers

while traveling; the group is coming out of the west instead of

the East (use Chapter 2, Optional Act: Random Encounters to

open with). With them is a palantir recovered from the

wreckage site.

• Discover some other event that prompts them willingly to go to

Angmar (proceed to the appropriate Act in this chapter)

• If things didn't go well for the fellowship with the Angmarim

troop, have them be captured and taken to Angmar (proceed

to Chapter 4, Act 1: “Captured!”)

A CT 2 : A NGMAR BY W AY OF F ORNOST

The steward of the North Kingdom will listen to counsel

(Indifferent) but will not give assistance unless he can be

persuaded (extended test TN 60 Persuade or Debate, 6 stages of

TN 10). The number of successes must overcome the number of

failures and Failures must be matched by Complete Successes or

better while Complete Failures must be matched by Superior

Successes or better. If successful, he will send out a force of men

(see Table 1 - Persuasion Results for size of force) to distract

Angmar so that the fellowship may slip in to acquire the stones

and get; refer to Chapter 3, Act 3: “On Their Own” for a possible

plan of attack.

If failures outnumber the successes or any Disastrous failure is

rolled, no assistance will be given; go to Chapter 3, Act 3: “On

Their Own”. If the fellowship is overwhelmed by a random

encounter on the way, they are captured and so proceed to

Chapter 4, Act 1: “Captured!”

Now would be an excellent chance to dust off those mass combat

rules in the Helm's Deep Sourcebook. Where the Reunited

Kingdom forces and the Angmarim engage in the mass combat is

at the convergence of paths 3 and 5, in the foothills around the

great mounts north of the Ettenmoors see map with battle web at

the end of the chapter).

Hall of Fire * The Unofficial Lord of the Rings Roleplaying Game Webzine

Issue 48 * January 2008

TABLE 1. Persuasion Results

Success

Results

For stats on ally and enemy units, create your own (see The Hall

of Fire, Issue #25) or use the ones found in The Hall of Fire, Issue

#48; Fornost forces use the same modifiers and abilities for

Gondorians. The enemy force should have at least 1.5x the

number of units as the Fornost force. It is unlikely that the

fellowship itself will fight directly in a mass combat situation if

they are to use the battle as a diversion, but if the players want to,

allow them to command units on the field while describing what

the fellowship might see, if anything, as it sneaks into the enemy

territory.

Marginal

Small group of men (1 mass combat unit;

medium archers); the steward is not so

convinced that this the proper course of action

and would like to consult with the king before

committing any more men to a venture like this

Medium-sized group of men (2-4 mass combat

units; 1 medium archer, rest light or medium

infantry); you've managed to convince the

steward that action is needed but doesn't

believe he can commit too many men to a

foolhardy venture into enemy territory, even if

it just as a diversion to get the fellowship

inside

Complete

Superior

Large group of men (4-6 mass combat units; 1/

3 units medium archers, 1/3 light infantry, 1/3

medium infantry); the steward thinks as you do

about the necessity of action and will readily

commit men to support the fellowship's plan

Extraordinary

Army (6-10 mass combat units; ¼ medium

archers, ½ light infantry, ¼ medium infantry);

your silver tongue has kindled the fires of

action in the heart and mind of the steward and

see this as an opportunity to both accomplish

the mission of the fellowship and deal a mighty

blow to the enemy in the process

A CT 3 : O N T HEIR O WN

This decision could either be acted on after the discovery of the

missing palantir or following one of the other possible decisions.

If it follows Chapter 3, Act 2: “Angmar by Way of Fornost” and a

force of men is sent out from Fornost, reduce the TN of first two

legs of the journey by 1 for each level of Success of the Persuasion

test to show that the diversion is working.

The going is slow for they must remain stealthy, even if they

happen to clothe themselves in the garb of the enemy. This could

go quickly in actual game time but the fellowship must make

periodic Stealth tests as they travel through the hostile land (see

the Infiltrating Patrolled Areas sidebar). They get a +2 bonus

each for wearing native garb and having a map. An affinity bonus

may be gained from a relevant Lore skill about Angmar or

Survival if the character has the specialty for the particular

terrain being traveled through.

Plik z chomika:

Inne pliki z tego folderu:

Inne foldery tego chomika: