Here’s a new project – I’m fascinated by prep, in all its forms – one-shot, long-form, session notes, handwritten scribbles. My own and others. A quick check online leads me to believe lots of you are, too. So, I’m going to showcase this on the blog. I can’t promise every session I’ll share my prep notes, but I’ll try and do it where I can – and I’ll offer a variable amount of commentary. 

These are also going to be 50% patreon exclusive – half of them will never be released to the public – so spread the word, and let me know if you’d like to share your own prep and talk to me about it. This one, however, links to an active Kickstarter – so, unlike most of my posts, it’s going public on both platforms at once – a reminder that usually Patrons get access 7 days earlier.

This is a little different. This is the 2nd (or 3rd, if you count our little Session Zero-to-One as Session 1 – I like to get a bit of play in at the end of a S0 to wet the whistle) session of an ongoing One Ring game that I had to set up because I was having so much fun playing TOR in another campaign. They’re going to be working for Saruman eventually, but some of the players are new to the system and so they are bumbling around Bree for now.

It’s also different because I want to showcase one of the absolutely best prep methods there is – Sly Flourish’s Return of the Lazy Dungeon Master Eight Steps. I’ve talked about this before, and I’ve used it frequently.

And Mike has a new “edition” on Kickstarter now for it! The Rise of the Lazy Game Master is on KS now, with a lengthy preview that deserves your attention. I interviewed Mike about it with co-host Gaz on What Would the Smart Party Do, and it’s clear this book will be an even greater resource for game masters with limited time on their hands. I haven’t quite figured out how to make this method work for one-shots, but it’s absolute dynamite for ongoing games.

The party have just finished a mini-quest where they rescued a retired adventurers’ wife from goblins in the Chetwood, and he reported they wanted him because he knows the location of a Palantir shard in Fornost, the lost fortress of the Rangers. Borrowing another idea from Mike, I offered them three quests to move forwards – ask the elves for more info, pursue the palantir shard immediately, or avenge the murder of another NPC’s father they’d met in the adventure by hunting down a troll. They opted to head to Fornost… handily, a location covered in Ruins of the Lost Realm.

So, without further ado, please find these unadulterated prep notes for this session 2 or 3 of The One Ring. If you’re curious about what all of this means, check the links to Mike’s stuff above, and back the kickstarter! I’m sure you won’t regret it!

3 players

1.5 hours

Ran online with Zoom (A/V) and Roll20 for character sheets, dice rolling, and sharing pictures of elves

S2 – To Fornost, and Death

Characters

Hrothar, Beorning Champion (Awe, Insight) (Hrothar’s player couldn’t make this session)

Nidwen, Mirkwood Elf Captain (Stealth)

Edda, Dwarf Scholar (Travel, Scan)

Percy, Bree-man Messenger (Courtesy)

Wishes from last session – Combat, IC talking, showcase system (me)

Journey, Fight, Explore

Strong Start

We begin in winter – with just a short frost everywhere.

Downtime action – and talking to Tom – then journey. It is Winter now, and the frost sits heavy as they venture up.  Tom Stow tells them – it is not in Fornost exactly, but nearby, in the Fields of Slaughter.

Potential Scenes

Journey to the Fields of Slaughter

Rescue Namriel

Search the ruins of Fornost (Endeavor)

Fight Fell Wraiths / undead

Secrets and Clues

1. The orcs of the Misty Mountains are searching Fornost for the Palantir shard
2. Namriel does not know where it is, but she is familiar with Fornost
3. Wraiths and undead haunt the fields of slaughter around Fornost
4. A thousand years ago, Earnur of Gondor defeated and drove off the Witch-King of Angmar here
5. Nalien of Lindon still haunts the battlefield, searching for her lover Drameth the Houseless
6. Nalien cannot quite remember where Drameth was, but wishes for help to find her
7. A host of orcs are searching Fornost for the shard.
8. The shard is keeping Drameth in this world instead of moving her on
9. The shard is linked to Mordor, and the unblinking eye sees through it
10. There are other treasures held in the ruins of Fornost

Fantastic Locations

The Fields of Slaughter – an ancient battlefield, hordes of orcs

Drameth’s rest – a lone tower on the edge of Fornost

Important NPCs

Tom Stow, retired wanderer and farmer.Has been kidnapped by the orcs and taken from his wife and children. He used to travel with a ranger, Dormar, and stayed in Fornost – he knows of a relic there that the dwarfs were after. Rangy, slow, lost in the past

Drekkar, orc search leader – tall and powerful, with a thick metal-bound club. Shouts at enemies as he fights, and has a prodigious appetite.

Nalien of Linden, an old, scarred, grey-haired, confused elf

Relevant Monsters

The orc host – if they fight – is three Orc Soldiers and 2 Goblin Archers

Drameth is a solo adversary – but is accompanied by a Fell Wraith

Other Rules

The Journey from Bree to Fornost is 6 hexes, 3 Wild and 3 Dark (ill-favoured)

Breaking Nalien out is a Laborious skill endeavor, with a time limit of 6

Rewards

The Shard also holds a Marvellous Hoard (6 feat dice, 3 success dice per hero) – a wondrous item, a circlet of Earnur – +2d to Persuade (1 Shadow greed), and 30 treasure

The Shard causes the viewer to gain 2 Shadow, and all to gain 1 Shadow