# D & D on the Straight Dope setup thread. (In Middle Earth FA63) **URL:** \ **Category:** Thread Games\ **Tags:** middle-earth-game\ **Created:** [February 26, 2008, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/d-d-on-the-straight-dope-setup-thread-in-middle-earth-fa63/439276 "2008-02-26T20:17:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 53
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2008, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/d-d-on-the-straight-dope-setup-thread-in-middle-earth-fa63/439276/1041 "2008-07-11T03:45:42Z")
[QUOTE=appleciders] Oh, so that was the trap. Interesting. [/QUOTE] Not really, just a potential side effect. ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2008, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/d-d-on-the-straight-dope-setup-thread-in-middle-earth-fa63/439276/1042 "2008-07-11T17:26:05Z")
[QUOTE=N9IWP] Excuse me for kibbutzing, but though Hodawain may not have heard of “Radagast”, he may have heard of the Istari in general, and maybe R by other names (Aiwendil) Brian [/QUOTE] I think anyone is entitled both to live on an [Israeli collective agricultural community](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kibbutz), and to kibitz in a thread set aside for that very purpose. 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2008, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/d-d-on-the-straight-dope-setup-thread-in-middle-earth-fa63/439276/1043 "2008-07-12T15:29:22Z")
[QUOTE=Malacandra] I think anyone is entitled both to live on an [Israeli collective agricultural community](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kibbutz), and to kibitz in a thread set aside for that very purpose. 🆒 [/QUOTE] **Malacandra** , my man! Welcome back! How’re things for Gil-Gandel as he hangs out near the orc-lair? I didn’t think stomping on bugs would qualify as an “attack” for purposes of losing invisibility. What if you took a bath while invisible? Would the death of the microbes on your skin have the same effect? :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2008, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/d-d-on-the-straight-dope-setup-thread-in-middle-earth-fa63/439276/1044 "2008-07-12T16:12:43Z")
[QUOTE=Elendil’s Heir] **Malacandra** , my man! Welcome back! How’re things for Gil-Gandel as he hangs out near the orc-lair? I didn’t think stomping on bugs would qualify as an “attack” for purposes of losing invisibility. What if you took a bath while invisible? Would the death of the microbes on your skin have the same effect? :dubious: [/QUOTE] Borderline on the beetles, but yes I was prepare to ruin a Hobbit’s day for stomping on a bunch of beetles as the beetles were actually capable of doing damage. ---
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2008, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/d-d-on-the-straight-dope-setup-thread-in-middle-earth-fa63/439276/1045 "2008-07-14T15:55:29Z")
[QUOTE=Elendil’s Heir] **Malacandra** , my man! Welcome back! How’re things for Gil-Gandel as he hangs out near the orc-lair? I didn’t think stomping on bugs would qualify as an “attack” for purposes of losing invisibility. What if you took a bath while invisible? Would the death of the microbes on your skin have the same effect? :dubious: [/QUOTE] It’s good to have Gil-Gandel back. 🆒 I think Invisibility is lost by an intentional attack, whether it succeeds or not. Stomping on bugs should count - bathing not. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2008, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/d-d-on-the-straight-dope-setup-thread-in-middle-earth-fa63/439276/1046 "2008-07-14T17:37:36Z")
If somebody spilled some fluid with the Ebola virus on my skin, you’d better believe I’d “attack” it with hot water, soap, disinfectant, bleach, etc.! ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2008, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/d-d-on-the-straight-dope-setup-thread-in-middle-earth-fa63/439276/1047 "2008-07-14T18:13:33Z")
[QUOTE=glee] It’s good to have Gil-Gandel back. 🆒 [/QUOTE] Hope to be back full-time soon, but I’m still a little short on free time at the moment and will have to study a bit to get properly back in the loop. ---
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2008, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/d-d-on-the-straight-dope-setup-thread-in-middle-earth-fa63/439276/1048 "2008-07-15T00:17:46Z")
[QUOTE=Elendil’s Heir] If somebody spilled some fluid with the Ebola virus on my skin, you’d better believe I’d “attack” it with hot water, soap, disinfectant, bleach, etc.! [/QUOTE] Sure. But we were discussing a routine bath killing everyday microbes. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2008, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/d-d-on-the-straight-dope-setup-thread-in-middle-earth-fa63/439276/1049 "2008-07-15T12:46:19Z")
The game thread needs palyers to check in and decide what they are doing. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2008, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/d-d-on-the-straight-dope-setup-thread-in-middle-earth-fa63/439276/1050 "2008-07-24T19:59:43Z")
I handled a traffic docket today in court, and appearing before me was a young man named Elven Finger. 😃 I kid you not. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2008, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/d-d-on-the-straight-dope-setup-thread-in-middle-earth-fa63/439276/1051 "2008-07-24T20:17:57Z")
[QUOTE=Elendil’s Heir] I handled a traffic docket today in court, and appearing before me was a young man named Elven Finger. 😃 I kid you not. [/QUOTE] So which finger would that be, as Elves are famed for their archery, I imagine the Elven Finger would be the same one that the old Welsh Long Bowman used to Pluck Yew. 😉 \*\*We are seriously short on players at the moment: \*\* We have many MIAs including **Malacandra** , \*\*D\_Odds \*\* & **NAF1138**. ---
**Author:** ![NAF1138](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naf1138/32/3245_2.png) [@NAF1138](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NAF1138)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2008, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/d-d-on-the-straight-dope-setup-thread-in-middle-earth-fa63/439276/1052 "2008-07-24T21:07:38Z")
[QUOTE=What Exit?] So which finger would that be, as Elves are famed for their archery, I imagine the Elven Finger would be the same one that the old Welsh Long Bowman used to Pluck Yew. 😉 \*\*We are seriously short on players at the moment: \*\* We have many MIAs including **Malacandra** , \*\*D\_Odds \*\* & **NAF1138**. [/QUOTE] NOT MIA! Not MIA! Just short on time. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2008, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/d-d-on-the-straight-dope-setup-thread-in-middle-earth-fa63/439276/1053 "2008-07-25T20:07:13Z")
Come back, boys, come back! We miss you! **What Exit?** , “Pluck Yew” is, of course, an urban (rural?) legend. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2008, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/d-d-on-the-straight-dope-setup-thread-in-middle-earth-fa63/439276/1054 "2008-07-25T20:12:01Z")
[QUOTE=Elendil’s Heir] Come back, boys, come back! We miss you! **What Exit?** , “Pluck Yew” is, of course, an urban (rural?) legend. [/QUOTE] Ah, there’s the rub, that Pluck Yew is related to the middle finger meaning F-U is an urban legend but they did indeed use their middle finger in pulling back the bow string, (along with several others) and their bows were made of yew which always made this one of the most interesting and intellectual of urban legends. ---
**Author:** ![D\_Odds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/d_odds/32/2882_2.png) [@D\_Odds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Odds)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2008, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/d-d-on-the-straight-dope-setup-thread-in-middle-earth-fa63/439276/1055 "2008-07-28T17:01:47Z")
Hi there. Sorry I’ve been away. Haven’t been on SDMB much…work has been kicking my arse, and last week I was out and “unconnected”. I’m pretty far behind on the game thread (and this thread too, as I haven’t read it since my last visit two or so weeks ago). Is there any sort of synopsis on what has happened? Cheers, Chris ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2008, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/d-d-on-the-straight-dope-setup-thread-in-middle-earth-fa63/439276/1056 "2008-07-28T18:28:33Z")
[QUOTE=D\_Odds] Hi there. Sorry I’ve been away. Haven’t been on SDMB much…work has been kicking my arse, and last week I was out and “unconnected”. I’m pretty far behind on the game thread (and this thread too, as I haven’t read it since my last visit two or so weeks ago). Is there any sort of synopsis on what has happened? Cheers, Chris [/QUOTE] Welcome back. The party has spent the last two weeks largely inactive (about 1 day in game time). The Hobbits went invisibly into the local Orc lair and partially scouted it. The big find was that the Orc Lair actually appears to be very under populated and the Orcs contribute a live sacrifice to the Ancient Vampire every week or two and they are desperately seeking a new victim. A strange, very large adventure from Rhûn and beyond chanced close to the party. He is with them currently and his name is Hodwain. He is a shape shifter like Beorn and distantly related to Beorn. Riglo completed his explorations to the East. The party just killed a dozen orcs with great ease. They are debating whether to wipe out the orcs in the morning or to return to the base camp and possibly escort Hodwain to Minas Tirith. He is bringing important information for the King from several kings and leaders. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2008, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/d-d-on-the-straight-dope-setup-thread-in-middle-earth-fa63/439276/1057 "2008-07-28T18:29:22Z")
[QUOTE=D\_Odds] Hi there. Sorry I’ve been away. Haven’t been on SDMB much…work has been kicking my arse, and last week I was out and “unconnected”. I’m pretty far behind on the game thread (and this thread too, as I haven’t read it since my last visit two or so weeks ago). Is there any sort of synopsis on what has happened? Cheers, Chris [/QUOTE] Simulpost with **What Exit?** :smack: We’re still encamped in Ered Lithui. The Hobbits, invisible and backed up by Gil-Gandel, scouted an underground orc-lair a few hours’ walk away, learning that the orcs are keeping poor, unfortunate talking animals on-site for food but have also been hunting for live prey for the local vampire, Grilianch. Hodwain, a big Beorning, has temporarily joined our party on his way to Minas Tirith from the Rhun area. He seems to be cool, but some of our party are still leery of him. Riglo returned from his scouting mission and agrees with Ghan that we probably ought to return to the White City for more info on vampires before we tackle one ourselves. Well before dawn, an orc party stumbled on our encampment but we wiped it out without too much difficulty. The current plan is for us to withdraw to Minas Tirith in the morning, perhaps after one more scouting expedition by the Hobbits. Renee is still drop-dead gorgeous. Thoroncir is still yearning for Renee. Gwaelur is still short ‘n’ crusty. Ghan is still short ‘n’ eco-friendly. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2008, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/d-d-on-the-straight-dope-setup-thread-in-middle-earth-fa63/439276/1058 "2008-08-14T15:48:50Z")
Heh. A runner-up for the Bulwer-Lytton bad-writing contest, just announced (from [CNN.com](http://CNN.com)): “‘Toads of glory, slugs of joy,’ sang Groin the dwarf as he trotted jovially down the path before a great dragon ate him because the author knew that this story was a train wreck after he typed the first few words.” – Alex Hall, Greeley, Colorado ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2008, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/d-d-on-the-straight-dope-setup-thread-in-middle-earth-fa63/439276/1059 "2008-08-15T15:32:20Z")
It looks like Brin and Gil-Gandel are NPC’s for now. When the party returns to Minas Tirith, we will drop them off until \*\*Malacandra \*\* and \*\*D\_Odds \*\* return. For now I will run them as NPCs. Hodwain will be gone shortly. He still plans to leave by noon for Minas Tirith. Everyone else appears to be active. I think Miron partially fills both Gil-Gandel & Brin’s roles. He is our tracker and elven archer. When the party makes it back to Minas Tirith, we can decide if there is need for an additional NPC or PC. Another option is for someone to play two at that point. Riglo of course will not be with the party shortly. I think Renee will remain at least as long as you are on missions for Minas Tirith. I am actually eager to finish this one up, it took a few turns I was not expecting and is taking far longer than I thought. Any comments on the game, questions about the direction of it or complaints that I can try to address? ---
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2008, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/d-d-on-the-straight-dope-setup-thread-in-middle-earth-fa63/439276/1060 "2008-08-15T16:13:51Z")
[QUOTE=What Exit?] I am actually eager to finish this one up, it took a few turns I was not expecting and is taking far longer than I thought. Any comments on the game, questions about the direction of it or complaints that I can try to address? [/QUOTE] It’s clear from this and other SDMB roleplaying games that real life does interfere. ☹ If it’s the DM who is busy, you just have to wait. If it’s a player, then the DM is probably best to keep things moving. Also anything with a map is going to slow things down. Instead of just talking or fighting, the player has to analyse the best routes and work out where everyone else is. I think my campaign foundered because I made it too complicated. There is a huge difference between sitting round a table together for hours, focusing on nothing else - and spending 10 minutes composing and typing a response to a thread which has grown since you last looked. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/d-d-on-the-straight-dope-setup-thread-in-middle-earth-fa63/439276.md?page=52) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/d-d-on-the-straight-dope-setup-thread-in-middle-earth-fa63/439276.md?page=54)