Journey

Journey
A company of heroes will often end up travelling across inhospitable or unfamiliar areas on their errands and quests. When this happens, the company is said to be on a Journey.

A Journey can be seen as a stretch of narrative time dividing two episodes. During this time, the Loremaster requires a number of skill tests from all companions, to represent hardships of the journey, and to determine how it affects the performance of the adventurers when the next episode starts. Finally, a Journey sequence may trigger an unexpected episode if the adventurers fail some travelling tests catastrophically and trigger a Hazard episode (see below).

The hardships and difficulties encountered by the heroes when traversing the Wild are represented in the game by Fatigue tests. The number of tests is based on the length of the journey, on the area and terrain traversed, and on the season in which the journey is taking place (journeys in the cold months of the year require more rolls than the warm ones).

PLANNING AHEAD
When the Loremaster has determined the final length of the journey in days and the number of tests required to complete it, all players may check to see if their characters know something about the lands they are going to traverse: All characters may attempt a Lore roll. The best roll, and all failed rolls, are taken into consideration.

Best Successful Lore Rol
Depending on whether the best roll was a success, a great success or an extraordinary success, the players proceed to choose among the options presented below. Players may choose one option on a success, two on a great success, and all three on an extraordinary success (note that the same option cannot be chosen more than once).

Successful Lore Roll Options

 * 1) Reduce the length of the journey by one day (to a minimum of one).


 * 1) Allow one character to automatically pass one Fatigue test.


 * 1) Reduce the TN of all Travel rolls made by one character by one level, (eg. from moderate to easy).

The company plans to walk for 11 days to get to the Yellow Mountains, and the journey requires two Fatigue tests with TN 14. Gerard the hunter achieves a great success on his Lore roll, and the players decide to reduce the journey’s length to 10 days, and to lower the TNs of Arnold the bothering complaining city dweller

Failed Lore Rolls
For every failed Lore roll, the length of the journey is extended by one day, as the routes suggested by the failing adventurers is ill-informed, leading to bad ‘shortcuts’ and dead ends. Attribute Bonus If a character attempting the Lore test is already familiar with the route taken by the company (if, for example, he comes from a nearby area) the rolling player may be granted a free Attribute bonus.

TRAVELLING COMPANIONS
Balin, who was always their look-out man, said: “There’s a light over there!”

An experienced company differs from a random group of adventurers in the capability of its members to collaborate effectively. When they are travelling, the companions usually divide up some of the duties according to ability. Players assign their characters a role for the journey, roughly summarising what their characters will be doing for the length of the trip.

The duty chosen for a character comes into play when a failed Travel roll triggers a Hazard sequence. For example, if the track disappears into a bog, the company’s scout will be the first to stumble across it.

With the exception of the company’s guide, more than one player-hero may be assigned the same role (i.e. there may be more than one character acting as lookouts, or more heroes going hunting regularly), but normally no character may assume more than one role at the same time (posing as the group’s huntsman AND scout, for example). In time, players will probably assign the various roles on a permanent basis as they discover which character works best in each role.

Guide
One companion should have the responsibility of guiding the group during the journey. The guide of the company is responsible for decisions such as when the group should stop for a rest, or how to manage their reserves of food. • The main asset of a good guide is a superior Travel skill.

Scouts
A character acting as a scout can be called upon to find a suitable location for setting up camp, or when a situation forces the company to abandon the road it was following to find a new one. Leaving a well-trodden path is difficult and dangerous, involving climbing up steep hills, wading wide streams or scaling doubtful paths along cliff-sides. • A good scout is characterised by a decent Explore skill.

Huntsmen
When travelling with haste, a company can soon run out of provisions, especially when completing a journey that is going to take several weeks. • A companion skilled at Hunting is always ready to track prey into the woods before making camp.

Look-out Men
A journey brings a company through wildly different territories, most of them dangerous. The look-out man is a vital duty that often puts a hero in the position of saving the lives of all members of a group, or of dooming them all through inattention. • The look-out man’s skill is Awareness, usually tested at the Loremaster’s request.

JOURNEY RESOLUTION
When the preliminary rolls and choices have been made, it is time to resolve the Fatigue tests.

Travelling companions face all sorts of difficulties, and must account for the additional weight and inconvenience of things like sleeping cots or blankets, food rations and such like. Fatigue tests are required to check whether the gear carried by each hero has proven too burdensome, or if they ended up encountering unexpected complications. All tests are resolved at the same time for all characters

When a player-hero fails a Fatigue test, he increases his Fatigue score by a number equal to the Encumbrance value of his Travelling gear. If at least one player fails the test and the Feat die ends up showing the Sauron icon, a Hazard sequence has been triggered.

Travelling Gear
the Encumbrance rating of a character’s travelling gear depends on the season during which the journey is taking place, and is equal to 2 points during the cold months of a year, and to 1 point during spring and summer. At the end of the journey, should a character find his Endurance rating to be equal to or lower than his Fatigue score (possibly raised by failed Fatigue tests), he will start the following episode being Weary.

Horses, ponies and Boats
When travelling overland, companions may ease their toil by bringing horses, ponies, or may journey on boats when along a river, lake or sea. A companion embarked on a vessel or mounted with a horse or pony halves the total Fatigue increase due to failed Travel rolls (round fractions up).

HAZARDS
Many misfortunes may attend a group of adventurers out in the Wild. Food transported by the company members might have been lost or spoiled, a water supply might prove to be insufficient, or a track might disappear into a bog that didn’t appear on any map.

When a player fails a Fatigue test and the Feat die ends up showing the Sauron icon, the result triggers a Hazard. Hazards range from simple problems such as crossing a swollen stream, to difficult and potentially deadly challenges such as escaping from a ravenous pack of Wargs.

Hazards and Duties
Most Hazard descriptions require the presence of at least one character posing as the group’s Guide, Lookout Man, Scout or Huntsman.

That hero is presented with a challenge, usually in the form of a test. If no hero is currently assigned to the required duty, another hero may spend a point of Hope to step up and temporarily cover the assignment. If no one volunteers, then the hazardous event takes place without anyone trying to prevent it.

Failing to overcome a Hazard always has negative consequences, such as delays, or the loss of additional points of Endurance or Hope.