I’m in US Central Time (GMT -6).
East Coast, New Jersey in fact. **D_Odds ** is NY and **Elendil’s Heir ** is Ohio. OneCentStamp is Texas. NAF1138 is listed as LA.
**Glee ** & **Mal ** are UK.
So we are spread out pretty well.
GMT -5, same as What Exit?.
I’m UK based as well.
What Exit?,
my Ghân is the grandson of the Tribal Chief (same name) who met King Theoden and guided the Riders of Rohan in the war.
I think that 63 years is about right for two generations of Wose (I don’t know exactly how long they live, but you said they were short-lived…)
No that works, but Woses have a sameness in look and have not changed much from even the first age. Merry is over 100 and tipsy. He is startled and a little confused and has no reason to know that Woses are short lived. He is well use to Dwarves, Elves and even a few humans aging very slowly.
I am west coast like you. I just usually have to stop posting around 5pm since my fiance doesn’t like me spending the whole night playing games on the computer instead of, say, walking our dog or having dinner with her. The nerve. 
That reminds me, my band is practicing tonight, so I will be gone totally after 5pm pacfic. Just as a heads up, we practice every monday night, so I won’t ever be around then.
I’ve just realised, in a dozen plus years of gaming, this is the first time I have ever started an adventure with
“A guy stumbles into the inn looking for help”
Ah, but I love the classics. I gave you two for one. *
“A guy stumbles into the inn looking for help”
“Orc Hunt!”
I haven’t started a game this simply in decades, I like the idea of randomly thrown together, can I actually pull off a reason for you to continue together.
- At least I didn’t subject you to the Tavern Brawl or the Old guy dies in you arms in the road.
Info for riding order. 11 riders with 2 spare ponies.
Merry has a War Pony, which the dwarves have rebarded. He is wearing his old Rohirric Chain Mail which added to his tales. The Pony moves at 15" (roughly 4.24 mph)
Anthar has a riding horse: 24" or 6.8 mph walking speed.
Brin has a riding horse: 24" or 6.8 mph walking speed.
Mulligan has a riding Pony: 15"
Gwaelur has 2 Ponies: 15"
Thoroncir: Light War Horse: 24"
Theogrim: Rohirric War Horse: 19"
Deor: has a riding horse: 24"
Ornan: Light War Horse: 24"
Ghan on Moose: 18" and seemingly tireless
Gil-Gandel: Elf Horse 30" 8.5 mph
That’s fine - I enjoyed throwing in a reference to my grandfather. 
You have a fiance and play in a band - are you really cut out for roleplaying?
Maybe the band does a lot of Rush covers?
I haven’t had that start either!
I remember starting one adventure with a bar-room brawl - except when one particular bottle was broken, a Being was released…
I share your pain over constantly-worn metal armour.
Eventually my group agreed that you couldn’t sleep in metal armour, but had to have a spare suit of leather.
I appreciate your concern over ‘Ranger’, but it was a major character class in Edition 1 (with the extra hit points / tracking / giant-kind bonus damage).
Unfortunately all the thieves I play with want to be called ‘Scouts’ too!
How about ‘Guide’ or ‘Pathfinder’?
Crap, how do I win back my nerd points?
Well, you see I was a theater geek…which lends itself to roleplaying when you think about it, and I play a heck of a lot of mafia these days which is kinda geeky…and I really like Tolkein and SF/Fantasy in general (more fantasy then SF these days, though I did just have a whole conversation about what a badass Lando was in Empire)…um…I still read comics on a daily basis (mostly webcomics these days, but still comics). I am totally a geek!
Pathfinder works. I am just being conscious of our campaign environment.
Leather isn’t very comfortable to sleep in either, and I wouldn’t want to ride a horse in chainmail. Actually, given my one horse riding experience, I don’t want to ride on a horse regardless of what I am wearing.
[1st edition nerd]Both of those are specific titles for Rangers of a certain level.[/1en] 
Gil-Gandel’s jest to Gimli is largely hyperbole, though Ghân likely doesn’t get it - modestly claiming to be not quite as good as Legolas, by reference to one of Gimli’s favourite moments during the War. But for the sake of number-crunching…
If able to use his superior mobility to keep at optimum (short) range, GG would expect to hit sixteen orcs with his two dozen arrows. Assuming they’re standard MM critters, an average arrow would stop an average orc.
In hand to hand, GG uses two swords, and if either hit (he’s about 25% to miss twice), an average blow would stop an average orc. He’ll be hit about 30% of the time an orc gets a swing in at him, which will happen if he either loses initiative or misses. He can probably stand about six hits; the seventh will put him down. By my rough calculations, he’ll drop about four orcs for every time he himself gets hit… so he’ll just about put down the 24 he needs to make good on his jest by the time he’s down to his last hit point.
Of course, he has to keep the evil guys from ganging up on him all this time - that’s the hard part. But if he manages to knock over an Orc archer and pilfer some arrows, even with Orc ammo it’s party time.
Pathfinder it is then.
And yes, Malacandra, I did get it from PH Edition 1.
I’ve ridden camels twice as often as I’ve ridden horses. :eek:
(OK, camels twice, horses once. Actually the camel was pretty easy, because of the well-placed hump for holding.)
So all journeys take three days less, then?
/bonus geek cred