Yeah, it’s one thing I need to remember a little more when running for my group is the in action piece (or at least have a note on my LM screen to remind myself to remember when the players “don’t” do something). And great quote!
I do hope that you do not give them situations where if they DO act, they are also just punished. Rather the allure of not acting should be clear... like 'you avoid attention that remains unwanted... but at what cost...'. and if they DO act, then it should be more with a warning of it being either just dangerous to their health, or if there are certain failure criterias, that unwanted attention might just happen. Because as a player, I hate getting two options of 'being altruistic and get shanked by the Gamemaster for it', or 'Be a dick/coward/realist, and get punished anyways in another way'.@@RyanoftheNorth
CORRECTION: Shadow gained by Greed is resisted by Shadow Test (WISDOM), not Shadow Test (VALOUR) as stated in the video at timestamp 6:55. Thanks to @jacobgrimm9475 for picking that out!
Another great video. The movie scenes you used to reinforce the feel of particular rules was fabulous. That must have been a time consuming project but it made for a powerful tutorial.
Great explanation and great use of scenes from the films as examples. I think this video will do a lot to convince new players that this is a fun mechanic to engage with, whatever the outcomes.
Great video as always, very informative. I hate to be "that guy" but I have one small nit-pick. Greed is resisted with Wisdom, not Valour. 6:55 time stamp.
@RyanoftheNorth It certainly will. You make probably the best TTRPG videos I've ever seen, BTW, and I watch a lot. Thanks for the content, and keep up the great work.
I don't like the idea of Shadow Scars being able to be healed so easily as rules as written. Partly because they are called scars and partly because this is a major reason why Frodo leaves Middle-Earth. So I created a house-rule. 'Heal Scars Fellowship Phase Undertaking' is replaced with 'Heal Shadow'. Instead of healing a Shadow Scar you make a narratively appropriate skill test. This could be gardening or forging for Hobbits or Dwarves respectively (Craft). Or Song for an Elf or Travel for a Ranger. On a success you heal a number of Shadow Points equal to your Valour or Wisdom, +1 for each Tengur rolled. Whether you pass or fail the skill test you may also sacrifice Adventure and/or Skill Points to heal an equal number of Shadow Points. This allows you to heal chunks of Shadow Points, but Scars are still as permanent as the Flaws you gain from Bouts of Madness, making the Hardening of Will and the taking of a Shadow Scar a dramatic moment, rather than the only logical choice when you have a build up of Shadow Points.
I guess you could houserule there are ceratin shadowscars that cannot be healed. more normative ones can, but there are some that forever leaves a wound on the soul, so to speak.
I like that mere inaction can cause shadowpoints, since as the saying goes - for evil to win, all the good needs to do is... to do nothing.
Yeah, it’s one thing I need to remember a little more when running for my group is the in action piece (or at least have a note on my LM screen to remind myself to remember when the players “don’t” do something).
And great quote!
I do hope that you do not give them situations where if they DO act, they are also just punished. Rather the allure of not acting should be clear... like 'you avoid attention that remains unwanted... but at what cost...'. and if they DO act, then it should be more with a warning of it being either just dangerous to their health, or if there are certain failure criterias, that unwanted attention might just happen.
Because as a player, I hate getting two options of 'being altruistic and get shanked by the Gamemaster for it', or 'Be a dick/coward/realist, and get punished anyways in another way'.@@RyanoftheNorth
CORRECTION: Shadow gained by Greed is resisted by Shadow Test (WISDOM), not Shadow Test (VALOUR) as stated in the video at timestamp 6:55. Thanks to @jacobgrimm9475 for picking that out!
Another great video. The movie scenes you used to reinforce the feel of particular rules was fabulous. That must have been a time consuming project but it made for a powerful tutorial.
Thank you! Definitely a little time consuming lol. Happy that these are useful!
Great explanation and great use of scenes from the films as examples. I think this video will do a lot to convince new players that this is a fun mechanic to engage with, whatever the outcomes.
Thanks so much for the feedback! So much to draw from the books but visually so good to bring that out from movies!
Great video as always, very informative.
I hate to be "that guy" but I have one small nit-pick. Greed is resisted with Wisdom, not Valour. 6:55 time stamp.
D’oh! Thanks for the catch! Will edit that :S
Thanks once again for your excellent breakdowns.
Thank you, happy that it helps!
Phenomenal video!
Thank you… Hope it will help your game!
@RyanoftheNorth It certainly will. You make probably the best TTRPG videos I've ever seen, BTW, and I watch a lot. Thanks for the content, and keep up the great work.
I don't like the idea of Shadow Scars being able to be healed so easily as rules as written. Partly because they are called scars and partly because this is a major reason why Frodo leaves Middle-Earth. So I created a house-rule.
'Heal Scars Fellowship Phase Undertaking' is replaced with 'Heal Shadow'. Instead of healing a Shadow Scar you make a narratively appropriate skill test. This could be gardening or forging for Hobbits or Dwarves respectively (Craft). Or Song for an Elf or Travel for a Ranger. On a success you heal a number of Shadow Points equal to your Valour or Wisdom, +1 for each Tengur rolled. Whether you pass or fail the skill test you may also sacrifice Adventure and/or Skill Points to heal an equal number of Shadow Points.
This allows you to heal chunks of Shadow Points, but Scars are still as permanent as the Flaws you gain from Bouts of Madness, making the Hardening of Will and the taking of a Shadow Scar a dramatic moment, rather than the only logical choice when you have a build up of Shadow Points.
Interesting… either way, would be a narratively appropriate descriptor of how one would “heal scars” taken by shadow accumulation.
I guess you could houserule there are ceratin shadowscars that cannot be healed. more normative ones can, but there are some that forever leaves a wound on the soul, so to speak.