Sellswords and Silmarils - Hundir and Helmir continue....

[Ethelred the Almost Ready]

Possibly not the best attempt to write in a pseudo-Tolkien style, but hopefully you get the idea.
Below is the tale of Hundir and Helmir.  They are the heroes of a series of linked Sellswords and Spellslingers games set in the First Age of Middle Earth.
The idea is to have a small band of men gradually grow in stature (but shrink in numbers) to become figures that (almost) rival Turin and Tuor.  The time between the Dagor Bragollach and Nirnaeth Arnoediad seems fertile ground for heroic acts.
No photos but I will try to get some done for the next game.



Now, it has been told how, from the flames and ruin of the Dagor Bragollach, Barahir returned to Dorthonion and, refusing to forsake his home, led the remnants of his people in a continued struggle against the legions of Morgoth.  And, so it was, that Hundir and Helmir also led a band of desperate fugitives from their hidden refuge above Rivil’s Well and fought valiantly long after the rest of their people had fled or been slain.  Without hope they laboured, but not without help, for still there were folk of the Eldar who were loath to abandon their lands. 

In the months soon after the Dagor Bagollach the brothers’ band came upon an orc camp.  These orcs had a bound captive and the men resolved to rescue the prisoner.  Despite the valour of the men, the orcs were too strong for they had with them a mighty troll.  Hundir and Helmir were sorely wounded and taken captive along with two others who survived.  Now, when all seemed bleak, hope came unexpectedly.  Two of the Eldar who remained in these parts were hunting this orc band.  Silently the sentries were slain and with a sudden fury the elves fell upon the orcs, slaying and scattering their foes.  These elves were Aeonrodh, a Noldo, and Gildarion, a Sinda.  They helped heal the wounds of the Edain and then bid them farewell.
The other rescued prisoner was one of the Naugrim of Belegost, named Khadran.  He had been at the court of Aegnor when war and flames came unlooked for and thus was caught up in battle far from home and friends.  Joining a group of Noldor he attempted to escape east to the sons of Fëanor but was waylaid by orcs.  The Noldor were slain or scattered and Khadran was made captive.  He thanked then men for their efforts and mourned the loss of their companions.  He now begged them to help him leave Dorthonion and return to his home.



Making scenarios can be tricky things.  The first game, a simple escape from one side of the table to the other went without a hitch.  In the next they were meant to rescue a dwarf.  Things went badly with a troll battering three men in succession while all the remaining characters were slowly whittled down but the orcs.  I modified the survival rolls (healing rolls) by -2 and remarkably four of the six characters survived as captives of the orcs.  I then had to rescue the rescuers, hence Aeonrodh and Gildarion.  These were characters who were to enter the story later.  These two seriously buffed elves managed to rip through the orcs and troll in no time.

I have modified the rules a little and take other liberties here and there to keep the narrative going.  That's the great thing about solo gaming.

I enjoy this set of rules, but there are some aspects I find irritating and still need to look at modifying the cards to give a better flow to the game (for me).
I will be looking forward to trying out Rangers of Shadow Deep and may also look at Battle Companies.

[ZeroTwentythree]

Brilliant idea! I like it, and look forward to further adventures and further evaluation of rules..

[Sunjester]

Nice one! I look forward to more tales of Hundir and Helmir (with accompanying pictures).

It reminds me,  must get back to my own Tolkien Sellswords and Spellslingers project, I created my characters but haven't got around to playing a game with them yet.

[Ethelred the Almost Ready]

I need a few ideas to progress the campaign.
In Sellswords the adventurers can gain money.  For the Silmarillion this doesn't seem quite right.  There is never any mention of currency, although it is mentioned that Caranthir became rich through the trade that passed through Thargelion from the dwarves to the lands in the west.  Also, as renegades based in a now devastated and occupied Dorthonion, it is unlikely the adventurers could make any use.  So what can I use instead?  Supplies, perhaps, to feed them and replace/repair broken weaponry?  Possibly they just win renown which will later allow them to be gifted items and weapons by elven lords.

As there is limited ability to acquire new gear I thought the card "That could come in handy" would have some random possible items from the mundane (bow string, arrows, dagger) to uncommon (healing herbs, a damaged hauberk, lembas) to extraordinary (an elven sword, dwarven armour, some heirloom of an elven house, an elven lamp).  What items can you think of to help round out lists for these criteria?

Coming up might be a simple, short adventure of the rebels returning to their lair, followed by a couple of more challenging scenarios to help Khadran leave Dorthonion.

[Elk101]

The idea of obtaining renown should work. It could be used to 'buy' special items (as you've listed) or perhaps for character development or even to allow re-rolls during the games?

[Sunjester]

I've been thinking along similar lines for my SS&SS set around the Fall of Arnor. Again money doesn't seem especially relevant. I'm toying with the idea of some sort of "experience" (call it Renown or Honour or whatever) that the characters could then "spend" to improve skills, spells etc. Perhaps I'll just use the current money system and re-name it so that characters do not have to loot their victims (which doesn't feel appropriate for the good guys in Middle Earth anyway).

[Ethelred the Almost Ready]

A very hasty post before I go to work. 
It has been a while since I have posted pictures and I have got the resizing wrong

The table set up for the next adventure.  I really need to start making some proper terrain for 28mm (mostly I have 15 and 6mm terrain).

The cards are quick temporary jobs for a more Silmarillion take on things.  An original Bear card is included.

[Ethelred the Almost Ready]

SS&SS is one of those games where you can't really be sure how a game will turn out.  What was meant to be a relatively easy game of the characters returning to their lair (and therefore somewhat mundane and not making it into the legend of Hundir and Helmir) became, initially, a drawn out combat with a tense finish.

The game started with some maneouvring and several combats.  Multiple failed activations and rough terrain resulted in little progress, monster cards drawn and long combats.
Suddenly the game freed up. There was open space and some characters succeeded with multiple activations seeing Helmir (in the distance) dash to the river to find a ford for the band to cross to safety.  Khadran and Hundir fight a wandering troll.



The troll is killed, but more monster cards are drawn with reinforcements arriving for the orcs.



Gelmir and Nelmoth, the last of the surviving minions from the last few games, find the ford because...



Helmir had been cut down by an orc brute. Khadran goes to see whether Helmir lives despite his wounds.



Hundir hold off the orc hordes and yet another wandering troll while Khadran slowly makes his way assisting a severely wounded Helmir to the safety of the fords.





Hundir makes it to the ford, but failed activations could see the enemy surge forward....



But his luck holds and the mass on only semi-painted and unflocked orcs can only look on as our heroes make their escape.




Fluctuating interest in gaming, restricted space (my painting and gaming room has been turned into a study for my daughter's last years of school and I have to use a very small room for now), and work mean I have stalled on painting and terrain projects.

The SS&SS rules can create surprises.  The game started off rather slow and frustrating, but the perseverance paid off with the tense end of whether the wounded Helmir and a valiant Hundir could escape. 

The characters should have enough experience to gain a skill, but really need a few more simple battles under their belts to gain experience and skills to be able to take on something tougher.   

A Tolkien setting is challenging.  In other games a mage is useful for killing groups of minor monsters (using fireball!!).  Without a mage and with only basic healing the battles are slower and riskier.

[Ethelred the Almost Ready]

Some ideas for a Silmarillion setting so far.

Elves
Elves, particularly Noldor, but also some Sindar will be uber characters.  There just isn’t any reasonable way to start these off as “low level” characters.  However, elves are long-lived and experience points perhaps accrue slower (or have to pay double for a new skill).  They will survive injuries better than men.  To offset all the advantages elves have they will be subject to Fate and Grief.  We are told that elves could die from grief and weariness of the world.  Accumulated grief will slowly erode an elf characters ability to survive injuries (heal rolls etc will deteriorate). 
Fate can also accumulate through certain actions (will need to think more on how this might happen).  Once a certain number of points has been reached the character rolls to see what it’s fate is.  Until he/she faces their fate all grief points are temporarily suspended (for a while the character’s survivability is higher).  In each game a die is rolled to see whether the character comes face to face with the creature/event that is it’s fate.    If the character survives, all the grief points come back into effect.

Renown
This will be a two-edged sword.  As characters gain renown several things will happen.
They will have improved standing with men and later elves.  This will see them better able to get assistance and obtain weapons or other items.
Increased renown will eventually bring the character to the notice of local enemy leaders and later Sauron or even Morgoth.  This will result in a progressively more hostile gaming environment – either through more dangerous wandering monsters or more difficult scenario events.
If a character some how becomes linked to the Silmarils he/she will eventually come to the attention of the sons of Fëanor.

Traits
As I want quite a strong campaign element and the characters needing to survive as outlaws I think they will need to start with more traits than in the original game.  They will need to be able to forage and hunt to survive between games.
Possibly I will have a racial maximum for traits.  This could be modified by aspects of the characters upbringing.

Injury and Death
In the game there is the ability to heal a character who is taken out of action.  Magic is more limited in this setting and there will certainly be no resurrection spells.  To offset this and to have a more epic narrative I might have characters who fail a heal roll (i.e. are dead) to instead be out of action.  As a campaign activity the character can then roll on a table.  Results may be to miss a game or two, to have a permanent injury or be… dead!

[Elk101]

That sounds good and more importantly, practical in gaming terms.

[Sunjester]

A nice looking game and some good ideas.

[Ethelred the Almost Ready]

Partly in reply to Sunjester on his thread http://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=112493.0, I have put my simple morale rules below:

Neither LotR nor the Hobbit suggest characters can wipe out ten times their number in orcs (as happens in SS&SS).  I have generally reduced the number of orcs (although I have increased their difficulty). 
I have a limited morale system for monsters - if a creature with more than 1 hit is reduced to 1 they roll against their difficulty level - anything over their number results in falling back a move (with the opportunity of a free hack) or flee on a 20.  Lesser creatures will check morale once their group is below 50%.  Bodies stay on the board so that I can keep a track of casualties.
This allows characters to relieve some pressure and possibly take out a big creature at the end with less risk if it fails it's morale.

[Sunjester]

Partly in reply to Sunjester on his thread http://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=112493.0, I have put my simple morale rules below:

Neither LotR nor the Hobbit suggest characters can wipe out ten times their number in orcs (as happens in SS&SS).  I have generally reduced the number of orcs (although I have increased their difficulty). 
I have a limited morale system for monsters - if a creature with more than 1 hit is reduced to 1 they roll against their difficulty level - anything over their number results in falling back a move (with the opportunity of a free hack) or flee on a 20.  Lesser creatures will check morale once their group is below 50%.  Bodies stay on the board so that I can keep a track of casualties.
This allows characters to relieve some pressure and possibly take out a big creature at the end with less risk if it fails it's morale.

I like the idea of some sort of morale, in creating my own scenarios I have sometimes made the orcs flee if they become outnumbered or the leader is killed.

On the other hand I have no problem with characters killing 10 times their number, or more, of orcs or similar low level monsters. It depends whether you view the characters as representing just average fighting men or above average hero types. In LOTR the heroes often take out large numbers of opponents. In Moria the Fellowship kill 13 orcs for no loss in a brief skirmish, at Helms Deep both Gimli and Legolas kill over 40 orcs each and at Amon Hen Boromir kills "more than twenty" before being shot down by archers. I view my PCs represent Gimlis or Boromirs rather than run of the mill fighters.

[MeridarchGekkota]

Posting to watch!

What miniatures are your trolls?

[Ethelred the Almost Ready]

The trolls are Reaper ogres.  It seems a lot of people have had the same idea as the Reaper ogres painted as trolls seem to be popping up on a lot of other fora.