Laureasairon
Topic Author
Posts: 11
Joined: Wed 19 Apr 2023, 20:41

Rest and sightseeing during journeys

Tue 25 Apr 2023, 21:00

Hi! I am interested in how you guys view these two points:
1. Do days in-between journey events each provide the "Prolonged rest"? If so, should we assume that the heroes regain their health between events on all journeys?
2. How do you implement sightseeing, shown for example in the North Downs table (p. 197), into what is, presumably, a journey? More specifically: how do you count time during exploration, do you allow short and long rests, do you treat the table event like a Landmark (possibly hanging around for a couple of days), etc.?

Really interested in knowing how loremasters view this, since I've been gobbling up the rules for the past few days and have some contradictions on my mind.
 
Darklander
Posts: 66
Joined: Fri 17 Feb 2023, 09:34
Location: Germany

Re: Rest and sightseeing during journeys

Tue 25 Apr 2023, 21:15

Hi! I am interested in how you guys view these two points:
1. Do days in-between journey events each provide the "Prolonged rest"? If so, should we assume that the heroes regain their health between events on all journeys?
Really interested in knowing how loremasters view this, since I've been gobbling up the rules for the past few days and have some contradictions on my mind.

Just my 2 quick cents on the first topic: Good point. Never thought about that. The question I would ask myself is: why should every night during a journey NOT count as if the party would do a prolonged rest (at least as long as no ghosts or any other nightmares are disturbing their night's rest)? Time is time and rest is rest, regardless in which situation it takes place.
 
DarrenH
Posts: 49
Joined: Wed 29 Mar 2023, 22:27

Re: Rest and sightseeing during journeys

Wed 26 Apr 2023, 00:11

This is the difference between Endurance loss and Fatigue. You regain lost Endurance during a journey, but you can only lose Fatigue when you are "off the road" and resting in reasonable safety and comfort. That also prevents the characters from traveling non-stop.
 
DarrenH
Posts: 49
Joined: Wed 29 Mar 2023, 22:27

Re: Rest and sightseeing during journeys

Wed 26 Apr 2023, 01:47

How do you implement sightseeing, shown for example in the North Downs table (p. 197), into what is, presumably, a journey?

The table on 197 provides random things you might find while exploring a ruin. Therefore I wouldn't necessarily say that's part of a journey. But maybe you tell them "As you walk along, you notice some crumbling ruins on a hill to the left." Being players, they get excited and say, "Yeah! We go explore them!" Now what? You didn't prepare for this. Well, roll on the table to get things started.

There are several tables like you're talking about. You can use them to flesh out Events that occur as a result of the Journey rules. (See page 114 for describing Journey Events.) In that case, you might want to pick something appropriate rather than a random roll.

As the Lore Master, you can throw them in any time you feel like it too. Suppose nothing interesting has happened for a while. You notice the players are looking at their phones or stacking dice. Probably time to shake things up. This is known as the "Send in the Ninjas!" technique.

More specifically: how do you count time during exploration, do you allow short and long rests, do you treat the table event like a Landmark (possibly hanging around for a couple of days), etc.?

Try not to let the rules push you around too much. Remember they work for you, not the other way around. Most things are obvious and don't require rules to decide. Logic and creativity are enough. When they aren't, you have the rules. (See "When to Roll" on page 16.)
 
rennarda
Posts: 94
Joined: Fri 20 Dec 2019, 15:28

Re: Rest and sightseeing during journeys

Wed 26 Apr 2023, 10:17

I have a related question - do you only apply fatigue at the end of a journey? Reading the rules, I would say yes, but that feels unsatisfying.

In my last game my solo player travelled from Rivendell to Isengard - a journey on foot of about a month. I used the Strider mode rules to deal with travel events (these are great by the way), and one of those that came up as a result of a terrible travel roll was an encounter with a wraith near Ost-in-Edhil. The player had some fortunate rolls and was able to defeat the wraith, but it occurred to me that the fatigue built up in the journey so far played no part in the fight. In reality the PC would already be somewhat fatigued from two weeks of travelling, and that would make endurance loss push them closer to being Weary. But playing RAW it doesn't play a part.

Also, at the end of the journey the PC is able to rest long enough for the fatigue to be recovered (it's not exactly a haven, but it's not a hostile location at this point, and the PC is a welcome guest). So the journey fatigue will just be recovered before the next journey, making it a bit pointless.

I'm considering just applying fatigue directly as it is rolled on future journeys. I will still allow a travel roll to recover some fatigue when reaching the destination, and I'll probably allow the PC to allocate fatigue to a mount (if they have one) instead of to themselves, as they see fit.
 
Laureasairon
Topic Author
Posts: 11
Joined: Wed 19 Apr 2023, 20:41

Re: Rest and sightseeing during journeys

Wed 26 Apr 2023, 12:00

Just my 2 quick cents on the first topic: Good point. Never thought about that. The question I would ask myself is: why should every night during a journey NOT count as if the party would do a prolonged rest (at least as long as no ghosts or any other nightmares are disturbing their night's rest)? Time is time and rest is rest, regardless in which situation it takes place.

Good thinking, makes sense.

Try not to let the rules push you around too much. Remember they work for you, not the other way around. Most things are obvious and don't require rules to decide. Logic and creativity are enough. When they aren't, you have the rules. (See "When to Roll" on page 16.)

Again with sound advice, along with good info on the points :)


Thank you both!
 
Laureasairon
Topic Author
Posts: 11
Joined: Wed 19 Apr 2023, 20:41

Re: Rest and sightseeing during journeys

Wed 26 Apr 2023, 12:10

I have a related question - do you only apply fatigue at the end of a journey? Reading the rules, I would say yes, but that feels unsatisfying.

In my last game my solo player travelled from Rivendell to Isengard - a journey on foot of about a month. I used the Strider mode rules to deal with travel events (these are great by the way), and one of those that came up as a result of a terrible travel roll was an encounter with a wraith near Ost-in-Edhil. The player had some fortunate rolls and was able to defeat the wraith, but it occurred to me that the fatigue built up in the journey so far played no part in the fight. In reality the PC would already be somewhat fatigued from two weeks of travelling, and that would make endurance loss push them closer to being Weary. But playing RAW it doesn't play a part.

Also, at the end of the journey the PC is able to rest long enough for the fatigue to be recovered (it's not exactly a haven, but it's not a hostile location at this point, and the PC is a welcome guest). So the journey fatigue will just be recovered before the next journey, making it a bit pointless.

I'm considering just applying fatigue directly as it is rolled on future journeys. I will still allow a travel roll to recover some fatigue when reaching the destination, and I'll probably allow the PC to allocate fatigue to a mount (if they have one) instead of to themselves, as they see fit.

If I understood Fatigue correctly - each increase of Fatigue is an immediate decrease of Endurance. After resting, your Endurance is limited by the Fatigue you have. This effectively means that you become Weary sooner, since you can't take as many points of damage before dropping beneath the "Load" value.
To summarize: longer Journeys = more Events = more Fatigue = more danger.
 
User avatar
HunterGreen
Posts: 186
Joined: Fri 12 Jun 2020, 14:59

Re: Rest and sightseeing during journeys

Wed 26 Apr 2023, 13:19

In practice, gaining fatigue during or at the end of a journey makes little difference in my experience. Generally speaking, if you have arrived at something where you're going to fight or have a council or something, the journey is over -- if you have farther to go, that'll be a separate journey leg. Thus, you'd gain the fatigue before those things happened. During the journey, you're not likely to get enough fatigue to have it affect the rolls for events -- if you are on a journey that long it ought to be multiple legs anyway, as the book suggests.

Recovering all your endurance overnight during a journey is another common question but again it has no real impact. You aren't losing any during a journey anyway, so if you are down endurance it's from something that happened before this journey leg, and it's no big deal that you will start with it all back at the end of that journey.

Gaining Fatigue and losing Endurance have a similar enough effect -- getting you closer to Weariness -- that it's hard not to imagine them as similar things, but they have their effects on a very different scale. Fatigue is something you usually carry for a whole adventuring phase, or at least most of it; Endurance loss is something that you carry only through the extended scene of, say, fighting your way through a ruin.
TOR/AiME Discord: https://discord.me/theonering
Narvi, the TOR bot for Discord: https://bitbucket.org/HawthornThistleberry/narvi/
 
rennarda
Posts: 94
Joined: Fri 20 Dec 2019, 15:28

Re: Rest and sightseeing during journeys

Wed 26 Apr 2023, 15:57

I agree, but in my case the journey was interrupted by a combat (that came about as the consequence of a travel roll). In a combat endurance could be lost and fatigue should play a part in becoming weary. But as I understand the RAW you don't apply fatigue until the end of the journey, which seems....inconsequential.
 
DarrenH
Posts: 49
Joined: Wed 29 Mar 2023, 22:27

Re: Rest and sightseeing during journeys

Wed 26 Apr 2023, 17:12

If I understood Fatigue correctly - each increase of Fatigue is an immediate decrease of Endurance. After resting, your Endurance is limited by the Fatigue you have. This effectively means that you become Weary sooner, since you can't take as many points of damage before dropping beneath the "Load" value.
To summarize: longer Journeys = more Events = more Fatigue = more danger.
In the RAW (rules as written) you only record Fatigue during a journey and then apply it when the journey is over. It doesn't directly affect Endurance at all. Think of it as an invisible weight you have to carry around in addition to your armor and weapons. If you engage in combat while carrying this "weight" of Fatigue, you still have your full Endurance as "hit points". But it does push you closer to becoming Weary, which reduces your effectiveness.

In other words, if you finish a long Journey, then go straight into battle without resting, you might have problems.

There have been many discussions about this. One side thinks Fatigue should be applied as you go. This is probably more realistic but also makes Journeys more harsh and unforgiving. Especially true if you have a run of bad luck on your die rolls. Pick your flavor I guess...

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 1 guest