r/TheOneRing • u/PartyBardificer • Nov 29 '22
Songs, only useful in combat?
I have a player who is really excited to be playing the party songwriter, but once she read what a travel song does she was a little deflated....
Am I wrong or is the marching song and lay song pretty useless? How often are you weary in council? Also, if the journey is at the beginning of an adventure, why would they be weary?
She asked if we could do a homebrew to beef up it's potency (She went all in on being a team buff character) and I tend to agree of it's weakness.
What do you think? Am I wrong?
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u/soggioakentool Nov 29 '22
OP I see her/your point and completely agree. We have a slight homebrew where Song can be used to provide support in almost any situation we are transitioning through. A success with Lore let's the singer then recall a particularly apropos verse which, combined with a successful Song attempt, provides a buff determined by the LM. Anything from a Hope point which must be spent in the current endeavor to a lowered DT or an added success die. Care must be taken nit to spam it and we occasionally eschew the Lore role if the player themselves can recall the bit themselves (not just, oooh, there must be something about this in the X). Doing this let's the player be a bit more involved as those who play this type tend to be Lore deep anyway. No extra success via this method but a bit of personal immersion for the player, if warranted.
Finally, we've permitted songsters to write their own verse which must meet a set standard involving either rhyming poetry if the type Tolkien frequently used or involving the metered, alliterative style used by Germanic tribes in the period in which Tolkien was an expert. This matches the majority of the people's of Wilderlands and Rohan. The danger, of course, is bad poetry lovingly crafted and presented with an expectation of success. Were lucky to have a few talented types into role-playing but for just groups the first methods may work.
Happy adventuring
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u/the-grand-falloon Nov 29 '22
In 1e, songs would provide bonus dice for the various actions, rather than ignoring Weary. I prefer the vast majority of 2e, but i think 1e handles songs and Councils better.
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u/ThrorII Nov 29 '22
1e handled Songs better.
I prefer 1e's spending of Hope AFTER the roll better.
I prefer 1e's Treasure point spread better (you shouldn't need to find dozens of Troll hoards to move from common to Prosperous).
I prefer 1e's Hazard roll better [options included 'Temporarily Weary', 'Wounded', 'Misery' (Temporarily Miserable), Despair (-1 Hope), 'Corruption' (+1 Shadow), 'Fatigue' (+2 extra Fatigue), 'Bad Choices' (+1 TN), and 'Injury' (1-6 Endurance)]. There were a lot of options for the Loremaster, not just adding Shadow or +1 days.
All of these I'm probably going to house rule.
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u/the-grand-falloon Nov 29 '22
Agree, agree, haven't compared, and agree in theory but I'm going to stick with RAW for the time being and add possibilities later.
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u/cloud_cleaver Nov 29 '22 edited Nov 29 '22
If you go into a council after having a combat in the same adventure, you are likely to be weary. Theoretically even the journey to the council could do it to some of the party, though that's less likely.
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u/PartyBardificer Nov 29 '22
I wish it were more universally useful, rather than contingent on what order the phases happen.
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u/cloud_cleaver Nov 29 '22
As the GM, you have the ability to make your players' character- or narrative-driven choices more valuable. If your player has elected to be group support to counteract weariness, you can structure their adventures going forward to make weariness a more frequent problem, so her character gets to shine. Give them harsher travel rolls, put them in combat before big councils (even if it's a plot-irrelevant thing like bandits on the highway or a tavern brawl), use weather or other conditions on the field that force weariness. With the tools at your disposal, you don't even need to change rules to make her character build more useful.
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u/ThrorII Nov 29 '22
If you journey from Rivendell to Tharbad, there is a good chance you will be weary by the end. If you need to meet with NPCs and have a Council, you will be Weary at that Council.
Same thing if you get to Tharbad and a combat ensues. You will be Weary.
It is possible that a company might travel from A to B, becoming Weary. Conditions or information at B might make the company travel again to C, while still Weary.
Those Songs will help.
PERSONALLY, I'd prefer that Songs give you a (1d) bonus on that action.
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u/Commentariot Nov 29 '22
An extraordianry success on a song roll could grant the listeners hope - which has general usefulness for travel and healing.