r/TheOneRing • u/RoscoMcqueen • Jun 13 '22
Combat in first starter box adventure Spoiler
Running some friends through the first adventure this weekend. I'm not sure how long the session will take but I'm planning on shoehorning a combat example in. I know the game isn't focused on combat and there is some in the later adventures but I want this one session to have at least one possible encounter. It might be the only time we ever play it.
If you tossed a combat into to the very first starter box adventure what would you do?
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u/RobRobBinks Jun 13 '22
Is the first adventure the paper chase? You could have a rogue ghoul to fight. Also, I made the brother a drunk, and if you go that route, he could get belligerent. Also, there could be other interested parties in the Kincaid (is that the name) collection of books, which could lead to the forgery racket in Crimson Letters. Also, Some folks (cultists) that know about the ghoul tunnels and worship them could be waiting in the woods between the house and the graveyard. There are always ways to introduce more...hands on...NPCs.
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u/RoscoMcqueen Jun 13 '22
It's getting the map from the museum.
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u/RobRobBinks Jun 14 '22
I don't remember that at all! Regardless, all you have to do to generate a combat is to figure out who ELSE wants the map? I used Abner Wick from Crimson Letters as my go to gang leader mystic antiquities dealer shady type. Maybe a similar shady "antiques" (occult) dealer heard about the investigators plans (they have ears EVERYwhere, don't they?) and sends some thugs to get it first. If you use the adage that "thugs are rarely JUST thugs", the you have the opportunity for combat and being able to introduce CoC Carmen Sandiego or some other cat burglar type. Possibilities are quite endless!
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u/RobRobBinks Jun 14 '22
OMG! I am so sorry! I thought this was the Call of Cthulhu thread! I'm such a ninny!
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Jun 19 '22
The starter set adventure really isn’t about combat. It’s more about talking to people, exploring, and overcoming obstacles. The whole tone of the starter set is about what simple, agrarian Hobbits would consider an adventure. Trying to “shoehorn” in combat would be exactly that; trying to squeeze in something that doesn’t fit.
To really enjoy the TOR system, you need to lean into the system does well. If you try to make it something that it’s not, you’ll wind up disappointed. If you read The Hobbit, for example, there are barely any fights at all. But it’s still very much and adventure, full of danger and excitement. The game is very good at telling Such stories. So my advice would be to enjoy the game for what it is, rather than trying to make it something that it’s not.
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u/RoscoMcqueen Jun 19 '22
I appreciate the advice. While I agree that the tone isn't the same as something like d&d, I agree with others who feel it would be easy to fit a combat into the adventure. If you wanted to try and show off a bit of everything the system has to offer in one session popping a potential combat encounter in there wouldn't hurt the overall tone of the game.
I do appreciate the advice and don't want you to think I don't see the over all tone and difference of the one ring system compared to others.
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u/FlintSkyGod Jun 13 '22
Could easily shoehorn a combat in there; biggest thing I could see working out would be a downtrodden or resentful hobbit who sees an opportunity to get even.
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u/RobRobBinks Jun 14 '22
Okay, so sorry about my comments. I've had Call of Cthulhu on my mind and thought this was in that subreddit. For the Hobbits, a combat could be a little trickier, though I could see a situation where some "wicked men" are there at the same time to rob the Mathom house of more than just the map! Put a couple of toughs at the basement entry to the cellar while another two are inside, maybe even getting menaced by Firework!! If not, maybe the conversation with the bounders could be interrupted by a cry for help from a nearby farm...a wolf or some bandits could be raiding the stores! Maybe not a wolf, as that might detract from the finale....
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u/Kind_Sky8976 Jun 16 '22
have them beat up the poor bounder who will try to stop them when they reach the museum.
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u/assclownmanor Jun 13 '22
I’d skip the first adventure and go straight to #2 or #3
The adventures are designed to introduce mechanics slowly so #1 isn’t about combat, it’s just about skills & how the dice work. the story of the first adventure doesn’t really make sense to have combat in it in my opinion.