The One Ring 2e Solo: Hobbit Tales Part 3
Let’s move on to the second adventure, Expert Treasure Hunters. Primula, Rorimac, and Paladin successfully stole the Old Took’s map from the Mathom-house in Michel Delving, and now Bilbo has a new assignment for the Conspirators of the Red Book.
His passion for history reignited by recent events, Bilbo studies the Old Took’s map and discovers a clue concerning the whereabouts of the lost club of the Bullroarer. At once, he organizes a trip into the Northfarthing, where the clue seems to point.
We’re recovering the legendary Bullroarer’s club in Northfarthing.
Note: Bandobras “Bullroarer” Took led the hobbits against goblinoid invaders a long time ago. He stood over four feet tall and could ride a full-grown horse. With a single swing of his club, he knocked the goblin warlord’s head right off his shoulders. It landed in a rabbit hole, and the game of golf was invented!
Part One: On the Road Again
Popping out of his study like a cuckoo from a clock, Bilbo rushes into the parlour where you are all relaxing after a fine second breakfast, map still clutched in his hand. (...) “It says here on the map that the club of the Bullroarer may be somewhere around the village of Oatbarton, in a place called Kingsworthy! Exciting, isn’t it? (...) Wait right here, I’ll run and get you the right gear to suit a proper adventure!”
Bilbo gives us some equipment to choose. Besides basic traveling gear like cloaks and general supplies, each of the hobbits get a dagger and can choose a weapon.
Primula: bow
Rorimac: short sword and a bow.
Paladin: axe.
And we’re off!
Oatbarton investigation
We take the road to Bywater to the south, and reach the East Road.
The walk to Oatbarton takes 3 days. The adventure text suggests using the Hobbit Walks rules. It says to roll on the Shire Journey Events table (twice if the journey is particularly long — 50 miles or more). I don’t know the exact distance, but each day lasts one hex on the full map, and each hex has roughly 20 miles, but hobbits in the Shire walk at a leisurely pace, and…
I just decided to roll twice.
d12: 5 = A Quiet Walk
d12: 9 = Short Cut
I’ll take those. As we have a pleasant, chill walk through the Shire, with Howard Shore’s music in the background, the party finds an off the beaten path and makes it to Oatbarton early.
As you can see in the table, the results accumulate Fatigue. We’re in the Spring of S.R 1360, so 3 Fatigue for each hobbit.
That can be reduced with a successful Travel roll for each event. None of the hobbits have a Rank in it, so the only chance to reduce it by 1 is by rolling a Gandalf rune. And what do you know, Rory rolls it once, so only 2 Fatigue for him, and 3 for the others.
Note: Fatigue adds to the Load stat. Whenever Endurance (HP) is reduced to a lower value than our accumulated Load + Fatigue, characters become Weary, ignoring results of 1-3 in the d6.
We approach extensive oat fields by midday, the stone houses emerging from a sea of bright green long stalks.
Villagers are happy to share a meal and ask intruding questions, hobbit-style. We can gather information about the club with 3 skill checks using Awe, Courtesy, Enhearten, Persuade, or Riddle.
Let’s see how the party acts. I’m rolling on Action + Focus:
Probe + Balance
The conspirators carefully inquire about the Bullroarer’s club without giving too much away.
Primula is going with Courtesy (Rank 2, Favoured, TN 12). She has a Travelling Gear called Fancy Garments, which gives her a 1d bonus in certain social situations. I’m ruling she can use it.
d12 + 3d6: 8 + 2, 2, 1 = success
She gets the first clue!
Upon a first success, the Player-heroes learn that the ‘Kingsworthy’ is an abandoned structure, about a day’s travel into the North Moors.
For Paladin’s decision, I’ll use Triple-O. His Obvious is Riddle, since he’s lighthearted and seeking fun. The Option is Persuade. The Odd would be Awe, trying to impress with tall tales and one-upping.
d6: 5 = Obvious
Paladin’s Riddle (Rank 3, TN 14): 1 + 1, 1, 4 = Failure!
Ouch! Worst roll so far. Paladin tries to be clever with wordplay, but not one finds it amusing. He can’t try again.
Rorimac’s Riddle (Rank 3, TN 13): 6 + 3, 6, 1 = Great success!
Nice, that’s 3 successes total! We get all the hints.
A second success allows the Player-heroes to learn that some of the rowdier local children play a game called “Bullroarer’s Club” that seems to involve them roughing up one another with a stick from the field they claim to be the artifact.
A third and final success means they hear some rumours about a ghost haunting the abandoned Kingsworthy.
Hmmm, weird rumors.
Kingsworthy
The hobbits move on toward Kingsworthy, a full day walking across the North Moors. Let’s roll on the North Moors Encounters table:
d12: 6
I used Strider Mode’s spark tables for ideas (Strider Mode is the official solo supplement for The One Ring 2e).
Restore + Impenetrable + Nature
So Primula finds a small ring made of overlapping brambles. The thorns around it don’t hurt the skin, and regenerate when picked or cut. A nice little oddity found during the trek.
When they arrive at Kingsworthy, Primula succeeds at a Lore check and identifies the old house as a hunting lodge. It’s deserted now, but there are signs of recent use.
Rorimac passes an awesome Scan check with a Gandalf rune and spots fresh tracks from hobbits moving from the lodge.
They go inside. Above the cold fireplace is a large wooden plaque, bearing the signs of having been used to display a long object, as tall as a Hobbit. Could it have been the club? Primula fails a Craft check, so she can’t quite tell by studying the scene.
The only option for the conspirators is to follow the tracks outside.
Tracking a thief into the night
We need 3 successful Hunting rolls.
Note: This is the part I realized we need to use some more GM tools. If we fail the rolls here, the adventure comes to a halt, unless there’s some intervention. The solution (or one of them) is to advance the story anyway, but include a setback or consequence to failing.
It’s hard to do that without using the core book though, as that’s the way these starting adventures are supposed to be played.
I think it’s mostly a problem of trying to solo a published adventure as is, something I’m still learning.
Hunting checks:
Rorimac (Rank 2, TN 14): 5 + 5 = Fail
Paladin (1, Favoured, TN 15): 4 + 6, 5 = Great success!
Rorimac loses the trail for a while, but Paladin notices a faint footprint in the grass. With renewed confidence, they get back onto the right path.
Rorimac (Rank 2, TN 14): 8 + 4, 4 = Success
The party comes across an old, tired, and worried hobbit. He introduces himself as Mort Mudfoot, a farmer of Oatbarton.
He is after his daughter Myrtle, who disappeared yesterday after having heard everyone in town talking about the club of the Bullroarer — a very competitive player of Goblin Nocking, a game involving balls, holes and the use of clubs, Myrtle left town with the intention of securing for herself the ‘most famousest’ club in Hobbit history.
Beside himself with concern for his only child, Mort is determined to find her no matter what it takes. He fears even returning home to tell his wife Marigold that she is missing because of how panicked she will become.
The conspirators will obviously help the Mudfoots! (Mudfeet?)
Part Two: Shadows and Rumours
How will the hobbits approach the search?
The Obvious is to look for things out of the ordinary in our surroundings. That’s actually the worst option for us as it requires a Scan check, and only Rorimac has 1 Rank in it.
The Option is to explore the place and look for more clues and tracks. This will require a Hunting check.
The Odd will be to stop looking for the night and find a place to rest.
d6: 4, Obvious.
Rorimac’s Scan check (1 + 1 Hope, TN 13): 7 + 6, 4 = Great success!
Ohhh, let’s go, Rory!
SCAN. A success reveals that there is another set of tracks following those of Myrtle. With one or more icons, the tracks are identified as large, booted footprints that do not belong to any Hobbit.
Pressing into the small hours of the night wears down the hobbits, accruing 3 Fatigue. No one succeeds in the Travel check to reduce it.
How does Mort react to that new information?
Triple-O Disposition table: Timid
Looking at the new set of footprints, Mort is embarrassed to ask for more help because he’d be putting nice strangers into unknown danger for his family, and he should do this on his own.
Fear not, old Mort, hobbits look after each other. Except when they’re hungry and bickering about proper manners. Or property boundaries. Or gardening techniques. Or tools that were borrowed and never returned. Or correct recipes for pies. Or when someone is putting on airs. Or too much noise in a party.
The point is, we’re helping.
Group Approach (Action + Focus): Coordinate + Power
The companions discuss their next move, devising a plan to follow the tracks without being noticed. They prepare a strategy to get close and catch Myrtle’s pursuer off guard.
Note: I didn’t read the entire adventure ahead, so only later I came across this little nugget:
Part Three: Dawn Be Stone
They spend hours searching for Myrtle, covering several miles, until the sky goes from black to the deep blue before dawn. As they approach some ruins of low crumbling walls and ancient stones, a rumbling growl shakes the hobbits to their core.
You then hear a high, panicked voice call out from nearby: “Shoo you old Troll! Go away! Go!” Breaking through a thicket of brambles, you see none other than Myrtle Mudfoot, who has scrambled up a ruined wall and is swinging a heavy wooden club at a massive creature looking like the grotesque imitation of a large Man — it’s a Stone-Troll! Between the two of them, leaning wearily against a wall, is a cloaked stranger, hood thrown back to reveal the rugged face of a Man with grey eyes, clutching a large, bleeding gash across his shoulder that has all but incapacitated him as he desperately tries to keep the monster from reaching the child.
Oh, no! Fighting is definitely not the choice for our group, so let’s try to trick the troll until sunrise!
Primula’s Riddle check (3, Favoured, TN 13): 7 + 3, 4, 1 = Success!
Rorimac’s Riddle check (3, TN 13): 6 + 2, 2, 5 = Success!
Paladin’s Riddle check (3, TN 14):
Nooo! 13, one short!
The troll becomes enraged and attacks Paladin with a Favoured check. It rolls against Paladin’s Parry value of 17.
d12 + 2d6: 10 + 6, 1 = Hit!
This is terrible. Rolling a 10 or Eye of Sauron (for enemies, Gandalf rune for players) on the Feat die produces a Piercing Blow. A 6 on the success die deals additional damage equal to the Troll’s Attribute Value (8). There are other options for that in the core book, but let’s stick with extra damage.
A Piercing Blow is a vicious attack that causes a Wound on a failed Protection check, made with a Feat die + d6s equal to our armor’s Protection value. Paladin has no armor, so only a Gandalf rune can spare him.
VERY LUCKILY, that’s what he rolled. A Wound would cause him to check the condition on his sheet (and roll on the Wound Severity table if using the core book). A second Wound when the box is already checked reduces Endurance to zero, drops the character unconscious, and they are now Dying (again, not applicable here).
Total damage received is 14! (6 base + 8). Paladin is down to 7 Endurance. His Load + Fatigue is 8, so he’s Weary now.
The Weary Paladin and Primula miss their attacks. Rorimac, desperate and willing to protect his sister and friend, hit a Piercing Blow back at the troll!
The troll fails the Protection roll.
Per this adventure, a Wound causes it to run away from our small heroes. Hurrah!
Mort rejoices as he embraces his daughter. The hooded man reveals himself as Halbarad, a Ranger.
He smiles through the pain of the wound he suffered at the claws of the Troll. “It is not often that I find myself needing protection. Less often that it should come in the form of you little, wondrous folk. It would seem I still have much to learn.”
Halbarad states that he’s been after Myrtle for fear that she might find danger in the northern Shire and because he was supposed to guard the club.
“What Myrtle took from Kingsworthy is indeed a rare relic, a token of an ancient past, best forgotten. It was hidden in plain sight, and has remained safe for a long time, until today. But now I think I have found someone worthy of its safekeeping. I think that if you have it, it may be in better hands than mine.” He chuckles softly and his hard eyes brighten a bit.
We guide the Mudfoots home. Mort explains to his wife, Marigold, the whole thing, and after chastising him, the now relieved woman prepares a feast for the adventurers.
After a fine meal and a long sleep, the conspirators return to Bag End.
To their surprise, as they come up the lane of Bagshot Row, they see a Dwarf in a red hood peeking into the window of Bag End. He turns at their approach and casts off the hood, revealing a keen smile and a long white beard.
“Bilbo, you old rascal! You told me to drop by for tea any time and here I am!” The Dwarf pauses with a grin and collects himself before offering a polite smile. “Forgive my exuberance. Balin, son of Fundin, at your service.” With a bow, he casts a knowing smile at Bilbo, “What kind of trouble have you gotten yourself into this time, my little burglar?”
And that concludes Expert Treasure Hunters! Bilbo will keep the Bullroarer’s club for a while to study it, but will eventually donate it to the Mathom-house for everyone to admire.
Notes
Another lovely adventure, with a nasty troll in it.
Combat is terrifying! That single hit almost sent Paladin packing. There’s no death in these adventures, as characters are simply knocked out. Even so, things can go wrong in a single turn, with one attack. Scary stuff.
I love that another big figure from the lore, Balin, showed up. It’s a great touch to ground these adventures in the living world of Middle-Earth as most people know.
This adventure starts using a few rules from the core book, absent from the accompanying basic rulebook. This can be a little disorienting to people unfamiliar with the system.
The more I use Triple-O, the more I enjoy it. It’s fast, doesn’t break the flow, makes us dive into the characters traits and party dynamics, and it’s a clever way to resolve character vs player/gm knowledge. Highly recommended!
I think I’ll stop the playthrough here, as I don’t wanna spoil the other adventures for you. Check them out for yourself, I’m sure you’ll have a blast!
I really appreciate everyone who bothers reading these. It means a lot, thanks!
And until next time.
The One Ring is available on the Free League site and wherever RPGs are sold.
Triple-O is available on Itch.