The One Ring - Headscratchy

[knightinarmour]

I'm still not sold on journeys, and probably am siding with the pre-plan option. The one I had was four rolls per player which produced two hazards, both of which were avoided. Or in other words 18 dice rolls for nothing to happen. Hmmm.

Hang on. Not quite for nothing... if you generated a hazard or two, this means someone (or maybe more than one) maybe failed a fatigue (or Travel skill roll if you prefer) too - therefore each character should have his Fatigue score raised by his Encumbrance of his travelling gear (1 or 2 points) for each failed Fatigue roll. Out of 18 rolls, several failures ('Sauron' icons or not) creates potentialy characters with a lot of fatigue 'damage' when they arrive (reflecting the tough nature of the journey) - if they they got in a fight straight away they are already close to be 'damaged/wounded' this way, making travel a dangerous thing.

[Orpheo]

if you generated a hazard or two, this means someone (or maybe more than one) maybe failed a fatigue (or Travel skill roll if you prefer) too - therefore each character should have his Fatigue score raised by his Encumbrance of his travelling gear (1 or 2 points) for each failed Fatigue roll. Out of 18 rolls, several failures ('Sauron' icons or not) creates potentialy characters with a lot of fatigue 'damage' when they arrive (reflecting the tough nature of the journey)

Headscratchy is the perfect word.

[thenovalord]

if you fail a travel test you 'lose' some endurance
this is bad

you could roll a naughty icon and fall to a hazard
this is bad

It is a very clever mechanic and is highly fitting to the setting

[Evilgaz]

you could roll a naughty icon and fall to a hazard

Which can be avoided with a simple skill roll... Chances of failing the second roll as well are quite low if the players have picked the right skills.

Although my players are quite happy to stick with it, so we will, it'd be better if there was more chance of Hazards happening to make the journey more interesting, rather than simply a series of rolls.

[jonnygray]

From what I remember, more combats generally result in more fatigue, when you find treasure this adds to your encumberance, which then adds to your fatigue, (I think!).

You will generally succeed in most of the combats at the beginning, but from what I remember it's a slow descent into fatigue, usually after a few sessions.

Of course I may be completely wrong, as I don't own a copy

[knightinarmour]

Headscratchy is the perfect word.

No pleasing some people

If you don't 'get' it, then you don't 'get' it...! Not every game is for every person, how boring would that be? I'm not a fan of d20 mechanics for example, but lots do, so that's OK.

I'm pretty Trad in my gaming outlook, but I like the more 'clever' little ploys and slight 'Indie' touches The One Ring has to make it more 'Middle Earthy' as JRRT wrote it, rather as Peter Jackson filmed it. (I like the films too, but the game is more like the books).

It is not perfect however, organisation and editing is a problem... it took me ages to figure out that a Fatigue test, is in fact a travel Skill test. Fatigue is the consequence, not the thing tested.

Sell your copy and move on!

[Orpheo]

Oh. I 'get' it, I just don't get why such a clunky mechanical system. It doesn't take me long to figure out mechanics and it's certainly not a case of my fearing what I don't understand. I understand it; I'm disappointed by it. Of course, if you like it, that's cool.

I have to chuckle at the assertion that this rpg is just how JRRT wrote it as opposed to how PJ filmed it and that the game is more like the books than the films. This assertion is an opinion firmly grounded in, well, opinion ... While I agree that the presentation and flavour of TOR has a Middle Earth feel, for me MERP had a Middle Earth feel too and PJ's movies had a Middle Earth feel three. I absolutely don't have the will for a comic book guy analysis of the game vs the books vs the films or staying true to speculation about Tolkein's vision - I just want a game that I'll enjoy playing. A 'Middle Earth feel' is surely subjective? With said subjectivity in mind, I question whether a system creates the feel of a setting or whether the setting and GM create the feel of a setting. I am pretty sure that, tomorrow, I could run a pretty ambient game set in Middle Earth using D&D, Unisystem or whatever. If I wanted to run a game set in Middle Earth using Risus and have the Nostromo crash-land on Hobbiton unleashing the alien queen then that's my choice and to hell with the books.

I'm not 'hating' the game though, naturally, your mileage may vary. In fact I have been seriously enthusiatic about this game since it was announced, I preordered it directly from C7 and cheered it within my group. I think having been so enthusiastic about the game in contrast with my informed opinion just makes it more disappointing for me. I'm glad no other members of my gaming group parted with £40 for it as I would feel rather bad about my u-turn from GMing it.

The flavour and presentation of the game are good, the mechanics, for me, are not.

Sell your copy and move on!

I shall take your advice.

[knightinarmour]

I have to chuckle at the assertion that this rpg is just how JRRT wrote it as opposed to how PJ filmed it and that the game is more like the books than the films. This assertion is an opinion firmly grounded in, well, opinion ...

Err, yes, eveything is an opinion on here yes ? And that's not quite what I said... nethermind *sigh* I meant TOR seems to be a game focusing on the material found in the books, rather than a game based on the films (i.e. Decipher). MERP was good too, but its magic system was clearly not really anything to do with what is found in the books, as far as I can remember

I absolutely don't have the will for a comic book guy analysis of the game vs the books vs the films or staying true to speculation about Tolkein's vision....

? erh ? comic boy what? Sorry don't get it... Sounds like you are getting a bit deep and serious for me, haven't read them myself for 30 years!

If I wanted to run a game set in Middle Earth using Risus and have the Nostromo crash-land on Hobbiton unleashing the alien queen then that's my choice and to hell with the books.

Whatever rocks your world dude! Sounds like a good convention game - I would play it!

[Evilgaz]

So we had another bash last night and managed to get some Wounds going on in the game.

A big fight with lots of opponents worked well and there was quite a lot of stance swapping and Hope expenditure as the group fought desperately to get the Hobbit to safety in Rearward and then towards the end he had to run to the forefront of the action to draw fire from his sorely-pressed Fellowship.

Interaction are still a bit ropey. They seem half finished. Definitely needs the GM to come up with a league table of what winning means for various levels of success. As we’ve got both a Dwarf and an Elf in the Fellowship, it means any interactions with either Dwarves or Elves suffer from prejudice, which is depressing the players.

In an attempt to have Journeys make some kind of difference, the group decided on an epic journey through the most dangerous part of Mirkwood they could find, and I used the optional “increased” difficulty to table to get things even more scary. Contrary to previous efforts which had been eventless, this time round everyone was well and truly banjoed by the journey, with some particularly impressive failures leading to several Wounds being handed out and everyone weary.

I’m going to have to get plot involving medium sized journeys set up it looks like. It’s a shame with the current map though that most of it is covered with Mirkwood. Rather keen to get some more areas to look at.

As far as the players are concerned, the main negative feedback was that in character creation you’re quite restricted in options – an elf has to use a bow or spear as their main weapon, rather than a sword for example. I don’t mind it too much as it keeps characters in line with the source material largely, but then I’m not playing the game, so maybe my opinion would change on the other side of the imaginary screen.

The other thing was Traits which are totally hippy – some being easily useful (Cunning) or obvious (Keen Eyed) and others being somewhat random (Cooking, Smoking). The gang would have liked to see some direct mechanical benefit for them (like there is for Shadow traits) and they do seem a bit higgledy-piggledy. My concern is more how you use them to get Advancement points – the first one is easy to gain and then the next two are supposed to be dramatic or dangerous. Presumably the Hobbit must use his cooking to produce some blowfish sushi or start smoking in a match factory?

Still enjoying the game though. Less so the endless rifling through books and use of post-it notes to work out what’s going on. We’ve started compiling a collection of notes to use as a crib sheet.

Excited about stalking Novalord at Con-Quest to see how its done by a strapping fellow in a fetching vest top.

Mordor Gaz

EDIT: Oh yeah, one of the good bits was at the end of the session someone was working out what to improve and was determined that Song would be much more useful increasing his ability with a sword*. That doesn't happen in many games. Good example of the system supporting a certain style of play!

* They are actually increased by Advancement and Experience points respectively so it was a moot argument, but it made me smile nevertheless.

[knightinarmour]

Sounds like you had a better experience and you enjoyed it - I think it takes time to get into it.

Just a comment on this:

the main negative feedback was that in character creation you’re quite restricted in options ...an elf has to use a bow or spear as their main weapon, rather than a sword for example. I don’t mind it too much as it keeps characters in line with the source material largely, but then I’m not playing the game,

You are right some of the character gen can feel restrictive, as you can't just make that ME character you wanted, but elves can have 'sword' as a weapon skill group, just not 'favoured' which is what I think you meant when you say its a restriction and always at rank 1 rather than 2 for bows and spears...

As GM you could always authorise an exception!

[thenovalord]

Excited about stalking Novalord at Con-Quest to see how its done by a strapping fellow in a fetching vest top.

Mordor Gaz

.

This mean i have to read the rules and play it properly

[Evilgaz]

As GM you could always authorise an exception!

I did! I could also rewrite large sections to better suit my tastes, but I'm reporting on the game as I find it

[knightinarmour]

Check out new information about the first supplements for TOR including a link to a free adventure:

http://www.cubicle7.co.uk/our-games/the-one-ring/the-one-ring-supplements/

[thenovalord]

the freebie has a social encounter in it which may help put bones on the rules for you a bit young G

[Orpheo]

Sounds like you had a better experience and you enjoyed it - I think it takes time to get into it.

Just a comment on this:

the main negative feedback was that in character creation you’re quite restricted in options ...an elf has to use a bow or spear as their main weapon, rather than a sword for example. I don’t mind it too much as it keeps characters in line with the source material largely, but then I’m not playing the game,

You are right some of the character gen can feel restrictive, as you can't just make that ME character you wanted, but elves can have 'sword' as a weapon skill group, just not 'favoured' which is what I think you meant when you say its a restriction and always at rank 1 rather than 2 for bows and spears...

As GM you could always authorise an exception!

The character generation system is something I like about it. Ironically, due to its simplicity. There are few enough choices to make character generation quick yet still allow diversity. I also like how you can easily create your own backgrounds.