Sellswords and Silmarils - Another First Age Campaign

[Ethelred the Almost Ready]

A Sellswords adventure, once again in poor Tolkienese.

In the year following the Nírnaeth Arnoediad the foes of Morgoth were scattered and many knew not where to take refuge or where their kin had gone.  In this time many desperate bands sought to return to their homes or find a safe haven.  Thus it was that four Naugrim of Belegost, who had been emissaries to Hithlum, found themselves south of the Andram having been pursued for many days by orcs and wolves. 
These dwarves were Bruni, mighty axe wielder, Bildr, Skirfir and Virfir who preferred not the axe but rather the bow
Assailed by orcs things might have gone ill for them had help unlooked for not appeared.  For through the woods came a tall figure, bent by fatigue and pain, armour rent and bearing many wounds.  But a fell light was in his eyes and in fury descended upon the orcs.  Trapped between grim and hardy dwarves and a Noldo lord, for such was this elf, the orcs were destroyed.  Even the aid of a troll and wargs availed them little.  With the battle over the elf, Aegelor, did then heal the wounds of Bruni and agreed to travel with the dwarves for his destination was also to the east.


As much as I intend to continue my solo game with Hundir and Helmir I have started a campaign with a new recruit who seems to have something of a (misguided) dwarf fetish.  I was keen to try out some more of my Sellswords rule modifications and wanted to play a powerful elf – partly to see whether this would unbalance the game and partly just to try out some ideas.  The problem was coming up with a campaign where dwarves and a Noldo might travel together.  A follower of the sons of Fëanor would place the action too far east and too easy for the dwarves to return home.  It is a bit of a stretch that dwarves would have ended up in Nan-tathren, but this is only a game after all. 
Aegelor was created as a moderately powerful character (essentially using all 60 XP for building a party on the one figure).  The risk was that all my eggs were in one basket and there was no assistance when outnumbered by many foes.  The game didn’t seem too unbalanced.  Aegelor did take some hits and played as a character who was reckless meant there was ample opportunity for him to bite off more than he could chew.   For the first game Aegelor was wounded so started with one less HP and only moved at 3”.  His armour was also damaged and functioned worse than would be normal.
The dwarf party was made in the exact opposite way with Brad enjoying the idea of the “1st level D&D” characters starting their journey and slowly developing.  With XP divided between four characters they were all relatively weak.  Despite this, they managed to kill their share of orcs and Virfir did particularly well, picking off orcs and even killing a warg.

My tinkering with the rules seems to have worked well, there have been no glaring imbalances so far.  Some changes have been for Middle Earth flavour (as I see it), some have been to make things more “realistic” and less like D&D and some have been to balance out the lack of spells.   Despite having a kick-arse elf, campaigning in the wilderness necessitates the development of non-combat skills.

Many will not be overly interested in my rules changes, but those who are can PM me or I can start a separate thread if there is interest.


Orcs on a wooded hill above the dwarves:




Dwarves strung out along rough groung beside a river:



More pictures to come....

[Gallahad]

Man, I love those pictures. That table is gorgeous. The ones with the dwarves by the river is really striking.

Thanks for sharing. I also love me a reckless and powerful elf character too!

[Ethelred the Almost Ready]

Enter the mighty Noldo....




Brad would argue that the Silmarillion is elf propaganda. Here there are heaps of slaughtered orcs, but the reality is that the elf did have some major hiccups and on several occasions, despite having clear advantage, made some combats hard going.  He also took some hits from a troll and an arrow from an orc.




Close up of Brad's orcs and a new piece of terrain.  The treasure box represents a "That could come in useful" card. Like many aspects of Sellswords this is something that will need some attentention to fit into a Tolkien setting.



The dwarves did well, killing plenty of orcs and slaying a warg.

[Ethelred the Almost Ready]

Man, I love those pictures. That table is gorgeous. The ones with the dwarves by the river is really striking.

Thanks for sharing. I also love me a reckless and powerful elf character too!

Thanks,
The beer bottle emerging behind the hill spoils the look so far.  I used to use a proper digital SLR but the camera on the phone is so much quicker and easier.

[Sunjester]

As ever, your table looks really good. I look forward to seeing more adventures of Bruni and Co.

[Dwarf under the Mountain]

Of Dwarves little is told in those tales about the waning of the Elves. But the Naugrim, who named themselves Khazad, dwelt in holdings of their own fashion on the borders of these lands. And in that time dwelt in peace with the Eldar; and finding common cause on many matters, they both found much profit from trade.

It was not the custom of the Khazad of Gabilgathol, which the Elves knew as Belegost, to wander far from their mountain fastness, unless to answer great need. But such was the wisdom of their lord Azaghal that they joined the Union of Maedhros; and provided much aid in the form of stout companies of warriors and forged weapons.

But despite their valour against the dread wyrm Glaurung, the treachery of Men undid all that had been forged. Our tale turns now to Bruni, son of Frar, of the Broadbeams of Gabilgathol. He and stout companions were abroad on the trail to Hithlum, being emissaries in service of their lord. But in danger of being cut off by the vanguard of the forces of Morgoth, they have marched elsewhere for many days, and now lie south of the mighty Andram, weary and low in supply.

~~~~~

BEING A TRUE AND LOYAL ACCOUNT OF EVENTS

Our long march continues. I thank Aule for our preservation thus far, and pray that this account may yet endure and give word of events these past weeks to our home.

With the river on our flank, we marched steadily on. Ever we hear the Orc filth draw closer at night on their spindly legs, only to be outpaced come dawn by the long hours of steady marching we can sustain. But their parties have gathered from many directions, and moved to attack from the North.

Dealing with a few unwary skirmishers, we caught sight of a lone Noldo warrior upon the western ridge. Skilled in battle, he seemed to have a paltry few Orcs well in-hand, and we resolved to continue our steady march, intending for the Noldor to join up with us in his good time. Their legged speed is well known, of course.

However he proved foolhardy in excess of courage, and spurning our presence became threatened by a greater number of foes. We naturally reversed our march to provide succor, as was the wisdom of our fallen Lord. Attempting to follow the Elf's rapid movement across the flank, scattering a number of Orc patrols, we caught sight of a Warg charging towards us along the riverbank. Delaying only to salvage valuable supplies from the fallen Orcs and a hidden cache, we deployed in line, diverting honest Skirfir who favoured the spear to assist the Noldor in his heedless pursuit. Whom by now we could see was injured, and clearly not in right mind.

The Warg was felled by well-placed arrows and dwarven steel. My recollection of events thereafter is clouded, as I was knocked down during the battle, during which I and my companions fought most valiantly. I am hale again, thanks to my comrades, with some assistance from Aegelor of the Noldor, whom proved competent in matters of herblore.

Eschewing further engagement, I was assisted by my fellows, and we marched steadily on, in company with the Noldor. Upon outpacing the by-now wary pursuit, we made camp and saw to our much-used equipment, providing hasty repairs to the mail of the Noldo, which had seen much use against the Orcs.

In your service

Bruni, son of Frar.

[LouieN]

The story and table set are great.  Thank you

[Ethelred the Almost Ready]

Still from the first game:

The elf was indeed rash but it would be true to say that the dwarves dithered a little as to whether they really needed to help him.  This is where Sellswords is very good as a narrative game.  I played the elf as rash and we tried not to communicate our individual plans so that while the dwarves went one way the elf went the other.  Oddly, the dwarf who was declared less friendly to elves often seemed to fail his activations when moving to help Aegelor so even the luck of the dice was consistent with the story




The troll was a rather difficult opponent, even for a relatively buffed elf.  The dwarves piled in and it was an axe blow that finally slew the troll. Unfortunately Bruniwas knocked down (but was healed on the battlefield and able to limp off).



The game ended with us battered and escaping up-river despite the odd arrow fired at us from the opposite bank.

As we had time we got in one further quick game - a foraging expedition in the wilds.  This is another great thing about Sellswords - we managed to get in two games over a four hour period.

[Dwarf under the Mountain]

Pssh. Nothing wrong with some plain caution!

Our custom rules had dwarves given some bonuses including armor, but with the important detriment of only moving 3 inches per activation rather than 4. This, combined with some relatively fragile dwarves made planning movement a very considered affair, trying to keep in close proximity where possible to take advantage of their numbers. The sheer number of possible enemy activations moving 4 dwarves around could cause led to some interesting scenarios. They made good use of group activations wherever possible.

Meanwhile, the relatively buff Noldo ran around with seeming ease. The differences between the two parties led to interesting contrasts and differences. And yes, Bildr (the somewhat greedy compulsive looter) certainly didn't seem keen to get stuck in on Aegelor's behalf!

I especially enjoyed the "discussion" about whether dead wolves were fair game for rations in the second scenario (it would seem that Elves are picky eaters even in a crisis).

[Ethelred the Almost Ready]

Absolutely, moving four is far harder than moving one.  The difference being mainly that the elf also had the Hero trait, activating on 7+ rather than 8+.  This makes quite a difference (although the silly bugger still muffed things and failed in simple combats).  As part of the tinkering we do allow group moves - the lead character can activate with two other characters within 3" as a group move (as long as they are not in combat) on a 9+ (improved if the leader has a Leadership trait).  This still leads to the problem of what do you do with the fourth dwarf. 
As Dwarf Under the Mountain has mentioned, there are some bonuses for dwarves (as there are also for elves) to give a feeling for the racial differences.  But there are draw backs too - slower movement for dwarves, Greed and Honour which can have consequences in the campaign environment.  Elves are buffed but have Fate and Grief to contend with and may also fall under the Oath of Feanor with other potentially disastrous consequences.   

[Ethelred the Almost Ready]

Game two was a simple forage for food to survive.
Unfortunately for some wolves (normal worlves, not wargs or werewolves) the dwarves were not fussy.....




Some likely lads find a ford




Dwarves caught between the hammer and the anvil or have they cleverly occupied a central position, splitting the enemy...




Now this is a wolf....




Aure entuluva!
The sun came out just as the last and most dangerous foe was killed, quite poetic...

[Andrew_McGuire]

The beer bottle emerging behind the hill spoils the look so far.

And there I was thinking it was Mount Doom...

[Commander Carnage]

Excellent, I love reading your reports.