I was grateful for the herbology simplification.
Because there’s a big difference between playing face-to-face in a regular group (where you have hours to prepare and study, then can sort things out in conversation) and the Internet, where you are usually making one or two points in a post after reading what 5 or 6 people have written recently.
As players have said, it’s a question of style.
Playing in my regular face-to-face group, we usually have just 6 player characters and no NPC’s (apart from an occasional guide).
I agre with Elendil - here there are many companions, changing with almost each encounter. So I feel it’s hard to set up party marching orders and battle lines.
I think this is not likely to happen - due (as mentioned above) to us not being seated together and because of the additional NPC’s.
Also in roleplaying terms, it’s hard for a trainee Druid to make suggestions to members of the Fellowship. :eek:
I hasten to add that I am enjoying the adventure and there are no complaints.
I think many of us in the PC group are young and inexperienced, except pointy-ears. His insecurities are part of how I defined Brin in the beginning, expecting over time to shed them.
Speaking as a player and Middle Earth fan, with the Wizard so young and weak, I think the Elf is the natural leader of this group. The only other real vet among the Player characters are Gwaelur who I set up as being a little bit more experienced or Thoroncir who has at least had small commands.
It does make sense for the rest to not step up, at least yet. I believe the Hobbit is not even an adult yet, just past the tween years.
Deor is also little more than a teen and a sheltered teen at that.
I’ve been thinking about party agreements, such as marching orders.
First let me repeat that this thread is all great fun and that What Exit? is clearly trying to balance the game and sort out any minor difficulties.
So the following are just suggestions.
At present, the party is composed of a bunch of strangers in a pub (who responded to a cry for help), plus some distinguished locals. We have objectives, but the local dignitaries have the resources and the experience to lead us.
I am happy to continue with this, since the atmosphere is true Middle Earth (elves, dwarves, halflings, the Fellowship, Gondor, Rohan, Minas Tirith, orcs etc etc).
With all the NPC’s, we can also face large numbers of opponents (including powerful ones).
However we will be just part of a large distinguished group and will need to fit in with them.
The main alternative would be for us to be designated as a special unit (Gimli’s Gung-ho group? Merry’s Marauders?) and given tasks to do on our own (perhaps with just a local guide or a character to cover healing etc).
The opposition would be weaker, but we would be more focused - and it would be easier to do marching orders etc.
Just to clarify the game play, I don’t plan to leave you with one of these living legends, but I wanted to throw you together with a bang and give you an easy setup to know some movers and shakers. It also allows easy flexibility to occasionally toss you into larger actions.
I am trying to find the NPC that is as strong as you, but can have some extra knowledge than you would have. I was also thinking of having another goofier character along, but perhaps Moose can fill that need for at least a while. It sounds like overall, less NPCs will be prefered.
My next trick is to provide a reason for you to stay together as a group. I have several ideas. I’ll see how this plays out.
I think that fewer NPCs is preferable, but I’d like to keep NPCs mixing in and out. It’s fun to see names that we recognize, just so that they don’t dominate things.
Just to throw this out there- another mage actually might be a good NPC for a mission or two. I’m so limited in spellcasting right now that a second mage might offer new options without greatly unbalancing the party. You could play the character up as a schoolmate (or instructor) of mine.
And just to get a sense, how much of a level have each of us gained after these two fights? I have no reference point. I’m guessing that each of us will probably gain one level, more or less, after this whole “Gash” shakedown cruise?
I’d say “less” unless there’s a really big story award - we’ve dealt with forty-odd orcs, that’s only five apiece even if we didn’t have any help, and we’ve started out at third level. Of course there could be something really big behind this that’s worth a level (tho’ I’m going to be lagging all of you).
Well, for starters, I am enjoying the game a lot and I think it is playing out quite well.
I would prefer it with fewer NPC’s but I can see the reasons why there are a few along and its as good a way as any to get as acting as a group.
As for levels, we may get one after defeating Gash and his cronies, but don’t expect anything before then. Here’s hoping we find a massive treasure hoard for the 1gp=1xp boost if it still applies
Oh, and in-character and out I’m enjoying the company of these legendary characters, but I look forward to cutting the ties and just getting down to our core party handling what it can.
I’ve got a holiday coming up next week - as of tomorrow, in fact. I shall be taking my laptop as I believe there is wireless access there, but if it turns out that I am incommunicado, Gil-Gandel will drop into the background as missile support, and other people will have to be pro-active about scouting and sneaking and so on.
It is fun to have famous names, but they usually come with ‘baggage’, like power / influence / followers / magic - and naturally command the party.
Don’t worry - you’re doing fine.
Magic Users are notoriously limited in spells (and require endless protection) until 5th level onwards. Then they pick up some impressive spells (Fireball, Fly, Slow etc) and soon become powerhouses.
Having another MU at this level basically means there is yet another chap to guard, without much compensation. Your Sleep / Magic missile / Invisibility combo is as good as it gets for a low level MU.
[Channelling my pupil players ON]
Sir! Sir! Appleciders was the first to ask about going up a level!
You told us to concentrate on the game and enjoy it - not make incestous* demands about experience! :eek: :rolleyes: :smack:
[/Channelling my pupil players OFF]
*he means ‘incessant’, of course. Bless 'em all.
(As others have said, we are just picking up a few experience points from helping to deal with a few orcs. No change is going to happen until we have done much more, but Gash might well be that challenge…)
Absolutely. Your storyline has brought a bunch of strangers together and made them into a fighting machine (so to speak!).
Any extra NPC will be a useful guide. We’re not trained locals with clear missions…
Moose the moose has already ‘got his feet under the table as the goofy one*’ and is establishing a clear personality:
he speaks Westron :eek:
he hates orcs
he can move silently in woods
he can somehow detect attackers sneaking up
he loves to charge
*meaning he is the man (moose?!) established in the position…
I think we’re just like the Fellowship. A band of mighty characters (including a demi-God and the future King), brought together by chance to save the World.
You know its funny and maybe only out of respect to Tolkien, as **Malacandra ** knows I am not religious and not always as polite as I can be in the few religious debates I get into, but I think of Olórin as either a Maia or as an Angelic figure. He is no demi-god, he has few powers similar to D&D demi-gods. He is an Angel sent to mortal lands on a mission from the top tier of Angels.
Besides, never overlook the fact that Legolas was the son of the most powerful remaining King of the dark elves (who apparently had much magic at his command). Legolas himself was already a Prince of his people and an incredible archer that would put the best human archer to shame. Of course, he was immortal, suffered no fear of the dead, and had little need to sleep and seemingly unending endurance. Heck, he could even run on top of snow. This was a far more powerful being than most people give credit.
Boromir was the heir apparent to the most powerful remaining kingdom of the west. He was a strong warrior that died from many arrow wounds. His strength and prowess was great.
Then that Frodo Baggins had that +5 Mithril Chain Mail of no encumbrance and the Elf Dagger or Orc & Spider slaying. Not to mention a good store of luck, though not nearly as much as Bilbo himself had.
Still maybe the party can grow in stature to more closely resemble the Fellowship in power.
I don’t have my books handy, but wasn’t Legolas the first to flee from the Balrog? You’re just another Elf-lover, What Exit?, like my brother and Tolkien. Always anything anyone else can do, the Elves can do better. Personally, reading the books, I got the impression that while Legolas was accomplished, he was no more so than the others. He just had innate abilities that gave him an edge (Elven eyes and those big, pointy ears). I will admit that I’m no authority on ME, just a fan.
Well, they could. The only thing they couldn’t do was escape predestination - otherwise they were not only immune to death by ageing but more resistant than Men to most forms of premature death too. If Legolas was more fearful than the rest of the Fellowship of the Balrog, perhaps it was because Elves were better informed about them, knowing that this creature was “of all elf-banes the most deadly, save He who sits in the dark tower”. Sometimes ignorance can be a shield.
The power of Legolas’s eyes is a matter of record, but the shape of his ears is not, IIRC. And as for the Elves as a people, I’m afraid you just have to accept that they were civilised and artistic in the days when Men were still trying to figure out which end of the stick to poke other Men with.
What Exit, in some early manuscripts Tolkien wrote of the Valar as “Gods”, but even then most definitely on a lower rank than Eru, the One. Either way, I’d agree to class Gandalf in his true form as an angel, although in Middle-Earth he was effectively a cross old man for all purposes except the dying-of-old-age part. But Maiar could be pretty damn tough as angels are generally reckoned - one of them drove the Sun, after all.
Not to mention that Fingolfin took on the strongest of the Vala while he still had much of his power and Fingolfin wounded him seven times with his Sword Ringil before Melkor finally stomped him. Even as he was dying, Fingolfin managed an eighth strike to Morgoth’s foot, leaving Morgoth with an eternal limp.
Fingolfin was probably the greatest warrior of any of the Children of Ilúvatar as his older half-brother was the greatest smith.
Yes, the mythology of Middle Earth does set the Maia as an order of Angels or liken to pagan gods and spirits.
Another Elf-lover! Always with your superior ways over the rest of us. If you ask me (and even if you don’t, I’m going to give you my opinion anyway), we need to build bigger boats to ship your so much better than anyone else selves out of ME even faster.
That said, I still think that What Exit? is either building up Legolas too much, downplaying Gimli too much, or some combination of the two. My impression early on was that you’d rather want Boromir when things get down and dirty than either of them.
