ErikSonOfEliah
Topic Author
Posts: 17
Joined: Thu 08 Jul 2021, 19:32

Trying to plan a session involving the shards of Narsil being stolen.

Sun 25 Sep 2022, 20:22

I realize this is stretching the lore just a tad, since Aragorn has the sword in TA 2965, but let's say, for the sake of making a fun adventure, the remaining shards themselves are still being held in Rivendell.

My players have just finished the Star of the Mist, and after a council with Sabian, have agreed to take him and a handful of his men to Rivendell, not realizing that he is one of the Black Númenóreans from Ruins of the Lost Realm. The players are in the midst of their first Fellowship Phase in Bree, and Sabian and his men are staying in the Chetwood to avoid too many prying eyes and questions from Bree-landers.

My thought is, if they take these men to Rivendell without issue and stay more than a day or so, Sabian may try to sneak away with the remaining shards of Narsil in an attempt to ensure the blade that cut the One Ring off the hand of Sauron could never be reforged (as a bonus to finding the valley of Imladris itself).

Where I need a little help is, how would you all play this scenario from there? Would you boil it down to a simple Hunting roll or skill endeavor to try to find Sabian? It seems anti-climactic, but I'm having trouble figuring out how else I might make this engaging for my players beyond this.
 
Andwise
Posts: 45
Joined: Tue 03 Nov 2020, 05:55

Re: Trying to plan a session involving the shards of Narsil being stolen.

Sun 25 Sep 2022, 21:13

Maybe you could just add a simple extra step. Maybe someone else knows Sabian's whereabouts and the group would have to go there and figure that out first before the final part where they go to Sabian's HQ or whatever and try recover the shards.
Or perhaps in hunting after Sabian they realized some of his company went a different way and they are following the wrong group, but after catching up to them/interrogating them or whatever they can learn of Sabian's whereabouts. Each option just adds another step.
Or maybe Sabian is going on his way to take it to someone worse, like one of the Wraiths or something and there is now a limited time that they can get it before it is much harder to get, a race against time.
 
Dunheved
Posts: 494
Joined: Wed 11 Mar 2020, 02:07
Location: UK

Re: Trying to plan a session involving the shards of Narsil being stolen.

Mon 26 Sep 2022, 00:40

I think I would suggest a shift in emphasis if you are not too stuck on it being the shards of Narsil that are being taken.
Or you can give yourself complete free rein with this storyline by changing the actual sacred relic from the battle of the Last Alliance.
Nowhere in LOTR does it say what happened to Aiglos, the spear wielded by Gilgalad in that battle.

It seems very unlikely that the elves would not recover even the broken remnant of that weapon after Sauron slew Gilgalad, to be slain in his own turn. So if Aiglos returned with Gilgalad's Herald- i.e. Elrond - then it would become an heirloom of itself. And also available to be purloined by such as Sabian.



Now Sabian might succeed with stealing the spearhead of Aiglos and there is zero in canon to prevent you doing what you like.
Sabian may well get away with this spearhead, and it is never seen in Rivendell again. This would explain why it is not in Tolkiens work.
 
PhilHendry
Posts: 21
Joined: Fri 29 Oct 2021, 15:13

Re: Trying to plan a session involving the shards of Narsil being stolen.

Mon 26 Sep 2022, 17:59

That’s a good idea - I particularly like the idea of Aeglos being the stolen artefact.
If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world.
 
Aavdov
Posts: 1
Joined: Wed 30 Nov 2022, 16:18

Re: Trying to plan a session involving the shards of Narsil being stolen.

Wed 07 Dec 2022, 18:06

Maybe you could just add a simple extra step. Maybe someone else knows Sabian's whereabouts and the group would have to go there and figure that out first before the final part where they go to Sabian's HQ or whatever and try recover the shards.
Or perhaps in hunting after Sabian they realized some of his company went a different way and they are following the wrong group, but after catching up to them/interrogating them or whatever they can learn of Sabian's whereabouts. Each option just adds another step.
Or maybe Sabian is going on his way to take it to someone worse, like one of the Wraiths or something and there is now a limited time that they can get it before it is much harder to get, a race against time.
Maybe going too Carn Dum where The Steward of the Witchking is waiting for Sabian. I totally made up the Steward of the Witchking, but he could be a wraith that only serves The Witchking of Angmar, and prepares while he waits for his master's return. This would be greivious indeed if it fell into the leader of the Nine's hands.
 
DanW
Posts: 10
Joined: Wed 30 Nov 2022, 15:31

Re: Trying to plan a session involving the shards of Narsil being stolen.

Mon 16 Jan 2023, 09:57

I’m very late to the party here, but you could make it a chase sequence based on the Call of Cthulhu chase rules (well explained here: https://youtu.be/jy1LL05E5gI). Each step along the chase would be a hex.

To make it work, you would need the players to know for certain where Sabian is going (and the route he’s taking), and also have a way for them to know how close behind him they are (evidence from cold campfires might be stretching it, so perhaps the players need Elrond to lend them some magic means of tracking/detection). After all, the three hunters knew how far they were behind the Uruk-hai when they made their great run across Rohan.
 
gyrovague
Posts: 591
Joined: Tue 28 Apr 2020, 16:52

Re: Trying to plan a session involving the shards of Narsil being stolen.

Wed 18 Jan 2023, 21:20

Yeah seems like a thread necro, but my 10 cents:

Don't plan out the story in advance, as if you are writing a movie script. Instead, define the parameters of the fiction...the factions, participants, motives, personalities, etc...and then outline different important events that might occur, with the conditions that might either cause/prevent those events. But don't restrict yourself to just those events, either.

Then let your players loose in this world and see what happens.

So in this case, don't get too stuck on the shards being stolen. That's just one (cool) thing that might happen, depending on how the PCs interact with the world. They might do something surprising, and your antagonist might see an opportunity that's better than stealing the shards. One of the other events you outline might occur, which for unexpected reasons would make it harder to steal the shards. (Rivendell on lockdown?).
 
Otaku-sempai
Posts: 598
Joined: Wed 15 Apr 2020, 15:35
Location: Western New York

Re: Trying to plan a session involving the shards of Narsil being stolen.

Wed 18 Jan 2023, 22:33

My thought is, if they take these men to Rivendell without issue and stay more than a day or so, Sabian may try to sneak away with the remaining shards of Narsil in an attempt to ensure the blade that cut the One Ring off the hand of Sauron could never be reforged (as a bonus to finding the valley of Imladris itself).

Where I need a little help is, how would you all play this scenario from there? Would you boil it down to a simple Hunting roll or skill endeavor to try to find Sabian? It seems anti-climactic, but I'm having trouble figuring out how else I might make this engaging for my players beyond this.
.
Well, if you are basing your game on the Peter Jackson films and not directly on Tolkien's legendarium then the shards of Narsil would be in Rivendell until about the year 3002. However, some other artifact might work better. I recall someone mentioning Gil-galad's spear Aeglos. That seems more likely to be kept at Mithlond or Lindon but it could be in Rivendell.
#FideltyToTolkien
 
Dunheved
Posts: 494
Joined: Wed 11 Mar 2020, 02:07
Location: UK

Re: Trying to plan a session involving the shards of Narsil being stolen.

Thu 19 Jan 2023, 09:14

I haven't checked, but when I suggested Gilgalad's spear (Aeglos or Aiglos?) would naturally be recovered and brought back to the North, I felt sure Elrond had claimed to be his herald, which is why I thought it particularly likely to be returned to a place of rest and sanctuary in Rivendell, rather than other locations. Several ideas occur to me as reasons for this:

For sure, I don't see the spear as an object of worship, that sort of nonsense would be anathema to High Elves. But as a sign of respect for the feats of Gilgalad, it might be preserved somewhere.

And it does seem symbolic & fitting that the surviving weapons of BOTH the principal leaders of the Last Alliance would have their weapons preserved TOGETHER at the same location.

At the same time, the weaponsmiths at Imladris might be particularly eager to have access to what is probably a shining example of the craft. Hence Elrond would be the prime candidate to take charge of the weapons of the one for whom he was Herald.

Afaik Gilgalad had no direct heir - being the last High king of the Noldor - so I don't know of any other valid claim to the possession of the spear.

(Just my two pennys worth.)
 
Otaku-sempai
Posts: 598
Joined: Wed 15 Apr 2020, 15:35
Location: Western New York

Re: Trying to plan a session involving the shards of Narsil being stolen.

Thu 19 Jan 2023, 23:41

Tolkien provides both spellings: Aeglos and Aiglos. I like your reasoning for finding the spear at Rivendell.
#FideltyToTolkien

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 1 guest