|
[Actual Play] Middle-earth D6
About a month ago I decided to write D6 rules for Middle-earth, and to run a campaign with them. For the longest time I ran countless Star Wars games, but always shied away from Tolkien's universe, thinking it far too complicated. But at last I studied up on Middle-earth and designed a game that would be fun, approachable, and authentic, with a chance for the characters to play an important part in the War of the Ring.
With the system (mostly) complete, I asked for characters. I have two regular players (who should not be reading this!--I can hear you lurking, WorldPeaceandPuppies), and inspiration struck almost immediately. Brian wanted to play a Rider of Rohan and Kirsten, a scout from Gondor. With great relief that I could let certain details of the magic system wait, I helped them build their PCs. The results were Horaldan, called the Grey Watcher of Snowbourn, a Horse Lord, and Thuriniel, a young woman originally trained to be a spy for Gondor, but whose wood-craft earned her a transfer to Faramir's scouting corps.
Summary
The heroes try to raise the Rohirrim of Snowbourn to destroy a Dunlending fortress. Along the way they face the Snowbourn thane's wicked advisor and an attack by Huangûd the Wolf King. Reaching Snowbourn, they confront an ill-omened wind, a poisoned river, and a thane who drowns his despair in drink and food while his people go hungry. A war of words with the wicked advisor frees the thane from his sorrow, and that night the heroes stop him from being assassinated. With the thane the heroes ride north to see the Dunlending fortress, and find a dreadful place of forges and smithies that foul the river: the Dunlendings can equip an army. They ride back to Snowbourn to mass the Rohirrim and wipe the fortress out, but then evil music is heard on the air and cold steals away the riders' courage. The river freezes over and wolves come, but the heroes rally the Rohirrim and drive them off. Snowbourn is safe, but some great evil wishes it ill, and battle awaits with the Dunlendings.
Detailed Summary
Both of our heroes find themselves in Aldburg, Éomer's town near Edoras, on a cold April evening in the year 3018 of the Third Age (the same time as Fellowship begins, more or less). Horaldan has come with several Snowbourn riders to answer the call of Éomer: Dunlendings have invaded Rohan and built a fort along the Entwash, fouling the water and raiding the land, and they must be driven off. Thuriniel, the scout, has spent a fortnight pursuing a squad of Orcs west along the base of the White Mountains; having slain them, she needs to report in. She remembers that the Horse Lords are old allies of Gondor: she can rest there and find a way to send a message.
So both heroes are in Aldburg as Éomer and his men feast, plan, and make merry. Thuriniel causes a bit of a stir--she's not a warrior, and she's not a wench, and she's definitely not a horse, so the Rohirrim are a bit confused, but she learns what she can from the Horse Lords: mostly grim news, but also that another Gondorian scout is there. Meanwhile, Horaldan speaks with Éomer, where he realizes that he is the only man from Snowbourn willing to fight: the rest are loyal to Gamol, the self-proclaimed "Seer of Snowbourn," who has counseled Snowbourn's Thane Earmbrand and his men not to fight without King Théoden's blessing (which will not come).
Thuriniel meets with the other Gondorian scout and speaks with him; not trusting the Rohirrim, he asks to speak privately with her. She agrees and they head to the stables. Gamol follows them; Horaldan, in turn, follows Gamol, but the Seer eludes him, and he finds himself listening to the scouts. The scout tries to enlist Thuriniel's aid in working against Rohan, which he calls weak and doomed to fall to Dunland. Thuriniel remains noncommittal, and the treacherous scout, frustrated, turns to leave.
Angry, Horaldan steps out to "have words" with the Gondorian scout. The moment Horaldan threatens to mention his words to Éomer, the scout draws a sword. A fight erupts which becomes a chase when Thuriniel joins in with the Grey Watcher: the treacherous scout leaps onto a horse, but Horaldan is the better rider and smashes him from his horse, where he falls to break his ribs on a trough.
Éomer takes the treacherous Gondorian in for questioning and trial, then pleads with Horaldan to return to Snowbourn and raise more men, that the Dunlendings might be driven out. To Thuriniel, he mentions that messengers are available in Snowbourn, then pulls Horaldan aside and tells him to keep an eye on the other scout, lest she betray Rohan like the other did.
The party winds down, despite the arrival of a dwarf merchant named Fóin, and the next morning Horaldan and Thuriniel leave for Snowbourn, behind Gamol, who's racing back with his own men for purposes almost certainly not honorable. They ride across the Mark, but cannot catch up with Gamol. Instead the old Seer leads them into a narrow vale. They hear the howling of wolves, and the screams of men and horses. Despite the danger, Horaldan cannot abandon his fellow Rohirrim: they approach.
From the scrubby woodlands around them appear great wolves, fierce and cunning, that snarl from atop rocks and fallen trees. The heroes draw their weapons, but just then appears the largest wolf they have ever seen, dull black with a silver muzzle, wearing a crown of holly leaves. It speaks, calling itself Huangûd, King of Wolves. The heroes introduce themselves as travelers who mean no trouble and who are no one's enemy, but the great wolf retorts: he serves He who is the Enemy of all Men. Though the Rohir knows nothing of the Dark Lord, Thuriniel understands and raises her sword in challenge. Then they hear Gamol's shouts and the wood starts to burn: his men have lit torches to hold the wolves off, and the fire spreads quickly. The King of Wolves orders three of his champions--Bitan, Clommgrim, and Nith--to slay Thuriniel and Horaldan, then he and most of the pack turn and leap through the flames to deal with Gamol's men.
It's a fast, bloody battle, and warrior and horse are both battered and scratched, but they drive the wolves off and race away from the flames. After a night's frantic travel they outpace Huangûd's warriors and reach Amon Roch, a ruin, where they establish camp. However, Thuriniel finds Rohirrim tracks and follows them in a circuitous route. When she returns she finds herself at the base of the ruined fortress where Gamol is speaking with Horaldan. Gamol speaks smoothly and expertly: the Dunlendings will never surrender; they will keep attacking, keep invading until Rohan is weak, and one day Rohan will be too weak to defeat its other enemies: the dark things from the woods, the Woses and wolves...perhaps Gondor, when it grows ambitious again. For a moment Horaldan is tempted by the Seer's honeyed words, then he curses him and demands that he leave.
Below, Thuriniel spots two of Gamol's men that must have survived the wolves and the fire: Dogorwine keeps watch with a great axe while Thordred aims at Horaldan with his bow. Thuriniel rushes Thordred and his arrow goes wide, skittering off the rocks near Horaldan's head. Horaldan grabs his spear, but Gamol leaps away shouting for peace. Thuriniel hops away from the murderous Rohirrim, her sword ready, but they heed their master's words and do not strike. Gamol again tries to negotiate, telling Horaldan that he cannot trust the Gondorian. Horaldan, unwilling to risk a straight-up fight demands, that Gamol leave, and he and his men disappear down the hillside. Dogorwine returns that night only to find the Grey Watcher's eyes upon him, and the three flee.
At last the heroes reach Snowbourn. Once it was a prosperous town, but now the river is fouled and there are no fish, and the people go hungry even as Thane Earmbrand gorges and guzzles his despair away. Thuriniel shudders as cold washes over her, but Horaldan does not hesitate: he dismounts, climbs to the city bell, and rings it, demanding that the Rohirrim assemble. But Gamol (who has once again outpaced them, following ways hidden to those without the right lore) appears and mocks him, questioning his loyalty to King Théoden, accusing Éomer of usurpation, and claiming that the Grey Watcher is in the service of Gondor. The thane appears, an immensely fat man riding a draft horse, and tells Horaldan to come down. The Rohirrim will not muster, though Horaldan and Thuriniel will amuse him with tales of their journey.
A great feast is set before the heroes, who look at one-another, and as one set down their knives: they will not eat. Gamol calls them false friends, but now the thane is impressed and willing to listen. Horaldan's bold words and Thuriniel's eloquence work to lift Thane Earmbrand's sorrow. Gamol's words fall on deaf ears, and he is cast from the hall, where he goes to speak with the guards. The thane's expression grows troubled, then he makes a drunken pass at Thuriniel, though he is not too drunk. Thuriniel at first nearly punches him, then realizes what he is implying: she agrees to stay with the thane that night (much to the raucous laughter of the guards), and Horaldan agrees to watch the door that "none might trouble the thane as he amuses himself."
What the thane feared materializes that night: an assassin attempts to creep through the window of the thane's bedroom. But Thuriniel (in a chair across from the thane's bed) spots him and raises a cry. Horaldan runs into the room and even as the man retreats, smashes through the window and races after the would-be murderer, whom he recognizes as one of the thane's guards. A terrible cold grips him, but he ignores it and rushes on. Thuriniel flings open the door: several more guards walk toward the commotion, laughing cruelly, but they stop when they see the Gondorian woman, not in the thane's bed, but armed with a steel sword and ready for anything. Behind her the thane rises and hefts his great hammer. They fall back.
Outside, another assassin nearly catches Horaldan by surprise--nearly. He leaps past the man who lunges at him from an alley and spears the first assassin through the back of the neck, pinning him to the wall by his bloodied teeth. The other assassin (a Dunlending, evident from the tattoos across his eyes) raises his own dagger, but then Horaldan raises the cry: "DUNLENDING!" Windows are flung open, weapons are grabbed, and in seconds the Dunlending is torn to pieces by an angry mob.
But things grow more interesting: the assassins have Gondorian daggers. Perhaps it was an attempt to frame her? Regardless, Gamol has disappeared out of the city and Thane Earmbrand is freed of despair: he dons his mail and the Grey Watcher calls for the king's warhorse. The stablemaster leads Horaldan to the end of the stables, to a dusty door. Horaldan flings it open and out races an old gray warhorses, its strength not lost in the long years it has gone neglected: it bolts from the stables to the courtyard, where the Rohirrim have carried the body of the Dunlending. Thane Earmbrand strides from his hall in his mail and leaps upon his massive horse. They will ride with Éomer, he says.
The people of Snowbourn cheer the return of their thane. He orders the men to make ready, but first he wishes to see this Dunlending fortress. With his son Lar, Horaldan, and Thuriniel he rides north along the Entwash. Thuriniel takes the lead and spots the treacherous scout who has somehow escaped Éomer's custody: he is spying upon them. A sling-bullet breaks his foot and sends him tumbling into the freezing, filthy Entwash. So much for the traitor. They continue on, and the first thing they see is black smoke on the horizon. As they get closer, they see the fortress itself: Dun Feolu, the Dunland hold on Rohan, with great blood-red walls, the only sound the hammering of metal upon metal as the Wild Men forge arms and armor in great smithies. Black wheels turn, bellows pump, and slag and ash ooze into the Entwash, fouling its once-clean waters.
Satisfied, the heroes return to Snowbourn. But as they prepare to settle in for the night, the air carries in foul, hideous music. Men scream and panic as unnatural fear takes them, and horses rear and bolt. A wave of dreadful cold blows in from the northeast, and the river Entwash freezes solid. Through the mist can be seen yellow eyes: wolves, crossing the frozen river. The thane shouts an alarm, but terror grips his men, all save Horaldan: he rides forward and meets the wolves, skewering the first to cross the river on his great spear, and shouts for the Rohirrim to fight with him. Thuriniel shakes off her fear, as do others: the Gondorian draws her sword and kills a wolf, and other Rohirrim appear atop buildings and rain arrows down upon the wolves. Though several die, Thuriniel and Horaldan scatter the wolves, which flee back across the river and disappear. Whatever powers would see Snowbourn fall will not succeed that night.
Conclusion
So, that's the first session. I've already run a second in which Don Feolu is overthrown and the heroes are then tasked with traveling to Mirkwood to see what evil dwells there. Even now, the heroes have only started to figure out what works against them: enemies besiege Rohan from the East and West, though those enemies can barely cooperate. Evil things crawl from the forests, and though the Dunlendings have been scattered, Gamol's words will ring true: they can only be driven back, not destroyed utterly.
So far I have to say I'm very, very happy: the D6 system works very well, and offers all sorts of surprises. (The death of Kirgolodh, the treacherous Gondorian, was a particular surprise--one well-placed shot and into the river he went.) The players are very happy with their characters, who are capable of impressive feats (slaying, hewing, sneaking, that sort of thing) but who still need to fear large numbers of enemies.
I'm also happy: magical events have been subtle, eerie, and authentic to the mythical tradition of northern Europe while not being whole cloth duplicates of what we see in The Lord of the Rings, and the plot is developing well, with a good mix of mystery, exploration, and battle. The players like the NPCs, both heroes and villains (they really, really want to take on Huangûd the Wolf King). Finally, I think the themes are authentic: the fouling of the living world, the folly of despair, and the "smallness" of what Common Men know of the world and the fear that engenders. I think I've got a rocking campaign. Woot!
Last edited by Moochava; 01-14-2005 at 12:55 PM..
|
Linear Mode
