The Brandy Hall Heist | A Free Starter Adventure for The One Ring rpg

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  • @nightowl835
    @nightowl835 8 месяцев назад +3

    Free League should hire you! Thank you for putting out all this professional content. Your love of middle-earth really shines through.

  • @kataihallenchrish
    @kataihallenchrish 8 месяцев назад +2

    Review Time!
    I ran this as a completely fresh DM for my equally noob set of friends, having only ran the first adventure of the starter set previously, and we had a blast! Time turned out to be our greatest enemy as I had to rush the ending, giving them a bit of divine intervention at times to make sure they somehow finished the adventure. We played for about 4 hours and I attribute the lack of time to 2 things. Firstly, it would seem we're quite a slow group, enjoying roleplay and shenanigans perhaps a bit too much🤷and Secondly they ran into the fattest hobbit in existence who turned out to be quite the formidable enemy, with like 11 endurance and successful hits only doing 1 damage (besides heavy blows), but the bulk of that time really went to explaining, understanding, and looking up rules, and even though brawling doesn't require learning about injury rating, protection rolls, and wounds, as you can't deal piercing blows, it still felt like a whole lot to keep track of both for me as the LM and the players, and took quite some time to get the ball rolling, i think it was mostly the stances really adding quite a lot of complexity. As we were strapped for time the players elected to just go full forward stance squad to get the fights over with quickly, and I cant really comment on the balancing of the fight with the children because i only had them fight one horde rather than 3, but I did completely miss that they take 2 damage on a hit rather than 1 and even without that buff it really seemed like no contest, which I suppose might be the idea. ^^
    A recurring point of confusion was the orientation of everything. Going into it I assumed a straightforward explanation of everything in relation to the cardinal directions would suffice, emphasizing the Brandywine river flowing quite closely to the west of the hill, but a simple player map like the one you had made for the loremaster, but without the points of interest, would've been a great help.
    A worry I had at the start was that my players would simply make their way through the barn and be inside the hill without having encountered the many joyous events in the park, and so I admit I nudged them somewhat towards the park for enjoyments sake. But later I realized they would, of course, still have needed to go to the park to gather information about the whereabouts of the club, this is however something that my players didn't really gather from the intro either, they figured all they had to do was make their way inside and probably roll some dice to eventually find the club, so I explained to them that there are ways here to find "clues", and that this is something they'll need to find the club.
    Rorimac Brandybuck, Bucklander, and literally next in line for the title of "Master of Buckland". This fine gentleman found himself within my party and although I had my concerns, turned out to be quite a fun addition to this adventure, adding nuance and context to this setting rather than straight up breaking it. I think playing this mission with this character really puts the Loremaster to the test, I found I had to be way more "big picture" playing around this character rather than straight up giving him advantages on every single roll (as how are any of Posco's younger cousins supposed to deny the next Master of Buckland entry to Brandy Hall?). All in all it was a fun addition to explore Rory's relations to the other hobbits and his home, and it was fun for me to roleplay characters familiar with, or subservient of him.
    Voices! there were a lot of them, I was straight up too hoarse towards the end to properly voice the fat Bolger's gruff bouncer-esque voice (apparently that's just a voice he puts on when he isn't getting the shit kicked out of him🙃), but I loved it and many laughs were had at some of the voices I put on as I had to try and expand my range (Morty from Rick and Morty even made an appearance). Oh and having to roleplay the first character they encounter, before I'd even finished my first drink, as this loud over-the-top exuberant lady celebrating herself is kind of funny, and straight up removed any inhibitions or feelings of shame about voicing any other character 😂
    Loved the riddles, I had them solve 3 of the 4 riddles from the pdf, with 6 attempts. The bottle one was the easiest as I'd presumed it would be and started out with that one, the ash one took a couple repeats but was also answered fairly quickly, the coffin one went unsolved, and the corn one I accepted though corn wasn't given as an answer, It turns out pretty much anything you peel and then throw away the core could apply to that riddle, and the answer they ended up giving was a fish, because you throw away the scales, eat the meat, and then throw away the bones. (I really wanted to play it back and forth like Bilbo vs. Gollum but figured that might take too long, also they'd have to google some riddles)
    The smoke-ring contest was also a lot of fun, asking Paladin Took's player what he's attempting and him rolling like a god, blowing those old geezers away, and leaving them convinced this Prodigy of a Took by no doubt is related to Adelard himself.
    We didn't try out the stonetossing contest as not only was I unsure of how to aptly balance it, especially playing against some1 else that I don't have stats for. And I also thought there wasn't any reward for it, as the smoke ring contest specified a reward in the text, but I later found later on in the pdf where it lists the clues it does say a clue can be won from that aswell. We also didn't have need for a revelation episode (they just rolled really well and didn't get much awareness), but I wasn't either unsure if it came to that how such a game against these bounders, who again, I have no stats for, would play out, but I assume the outcome doesn't really matter, but rather that the game takes place at all to function as a distraction.
    They didn't utilize Bilbo at all and so can't really comment on that. (I could've probably reminded them a couple more times but they really didn't seem to need him all that much)
    Loved the tools you provide for the Loremaster to have a thunderstorm happen and such. Posco did make his rounds and Paladin distracted him so well that Posco invited him in to a storage room to sample some of his favourite leaf before leaving him there, and excusing himself eastward. After this I wanted to give the squad an opportunity to reunite more easily as the others had found their way up the cluttered stair, so I had all the NPCs hurry inside as the thunderstorm broke out, functionally making the hall much less suspicious to navigate, and Rory went and retrieved his mate (because "The Barrel" would even accept a third challenger if they had one!) by playing his flute on the stage as they were getting the celebrations properly set up inside. (The final battle with the hordes of children was also made hilariously more dramatic as rain was pissing down with the occasional rumble of thunder)
    Regarding the end of the mission firstly one player was let down because he thought there was an "escape" part that we just didn't have time for, and that he figured could've been the most epic part of the mission, but personally I see some problems with that too. Another player voiced disappointment for any real lack of reward (other than Paladin who won this awesome pipe), especially when it turned out the club was a fake. But the entire starter set is pretty void of reward as far as I'm aware, as the premade characters aren't meant to be played for very long, though one PC isn't premade and will find his pony somewhat upgraded after meeting Tom Bombadil ;). Lastly the epilogue for successfully retrieving the club doesn't tie back in to the starter set, I had to read the losers epilogue to find it.
    All in all we had a fantastic time and it served as great practice both for me as the LM and for the players, as they had a more open setting with many different approaches to the issue at hand. Love your content and any criticism I might have I only voice to hopefully help whatever little I can. I may be new to all this but I found the situation I'm in playing with a completely fresh table to be able to potentially offer quite a unique perspective. Looking forward to trying more of your adventures!

    • @willattheworldsend
      @willattheworldsend  8 месяцев назад +1

      Thank you so much for this feedback! That is very helpful to have an outsider’s view of the adventure.
      A player map is a good idea. I will add that to the download soon.
      Having Bilbo mention that there must be ways to find out where Posco hid the club is another good idea since you are right, it’s not immediately clear to players that they have to find clues.
      An escape certainly could have been a lot of fun. It just didn’t quite work for this adventure since the ‘final battle’ is pretty removed from everything else. But it’s still a good idea.
      As far as the club being a fake, that was meant to sort of be a consolation prize if the group didn’t manage to get it. Then they can still have a chance to go for the real thing. Whereas, if they did manage to get the club in this adventure it is meant to be the real deal.
      Thanks so much again for your feedback!

    • @kataihallenchrish
      @kataihallenchrish 8 месяцев назад +1

      Glad I could help!
      Ah I see yeah that's a cool way of doing it, I just really wanna run the north moors adventure though 😄The way I had Bilbo explain it was that he'd had his suspicions that it might be a fake but he'd rather they check that out first before sending them off into potentially more dangerous territory, not to mention Bilbo is really just training these guys for the final mission for farmer maggot, so no adventure is really wasted in the end ^^
      That might actually be a good addition to the adventure aswell, having Farmer Maggot attend the party and maybe be stood chatting with Bilbo, and watching Bilbo's conspirators in action, he does live only across the river after all 🤔@@willattheworldsend

  • @brodiem1994
    @brodiem1994 8 месяцев назад +2

    Hey man love your work. Myself and a group of friends take turns running games that are between 1-8 sessions and ranges between a tonne of different games. At the moment one of the guys is running a Fear & Hunger Campaign using Forbiddenlands. I'm up next and have been stuck on what to run seeing the game is going so well and I don't want to disapoint, This should make the perfect palate cleanser. BEYOND THANKFUL

    • @willattheworldsend
      @willattheworldsend  8 месяцев назад +1

      That sounds great! Please let me know how it goes!

  • @bangpow00
    @bangpow00 8 месяцев назад +3

    Awesome! Just got it and looking forward to having fun with it. I'm a fan of your work.

  • @Teun_v
    @Teun_v 8 месяцев назад +3

    Awesome! Gonna try out the system with some friends soon. Looks like a good starting adventure!

  • @MikeSalopek
    @MikeSalopek 3 месяца назад +1

    I am about to run this in a couple of weeks with my group and was reviewing the adventure in the starter box, and thought how lackluster, no consequence it all felt. This is PERFECT!!!! Love it. I was already going to modify but your groundwork is SO GOOD I am using to springboard the remaining 4 adventures after 1 and 2. Thanks for your effort and hard work and love of the source material!

    • @willattheworldsend
      @willattheworldsend  3 месяца назад +1

      Amazing! I hope you have fun. If you read through some other comments on this video there's some good suggestions for ways to improve the adventure as well.

    • @MikeSalopek
      @MikeSalopek 3 месяца назад +1

      @@willattheworldsend One of the players turned me on to your channel I'm new to the system, So I might soak in some actual playthroughs that you have on your channel to help me compress the rules correctly a little faster than reading the book as well alone looking forward to it though

  • @whiteycroon
    @whiteycroon 8 месяцев назад +3

    Thanks!

  • @kataihallenchrish
    @kataihallenchrish 8 месяцев назад +4

    Also, would love some more shire adventures as the Shire compendium provided such intriguing hooks that i dont think are really expanded on further in the universe, like the bogmonster that children seem to forget when they get of a certain age, or the ghost of the girl who was forbidden to be with her true love so she walked out into the marsh where she sometimes can be heard singing a lament to her love and luring unsuspecting hobbits to a watery grave, or the hobbits of Greenholm with their "elven wives"! (which allows a hobbit PC a new distinctive feature), I really like the more grim aspects of Tolkien's world and so would love a darker adventure in the shire, probably more suited to the actual game than the starter set.
    Anyways, love your content!

    • @willattheworldsend
      @willattheworldsend  8 месяцев назад +2

      Have you checked out Ryan of the North's adventures? He has done a bunch of Shire ones and I think one specifically on the ghost girl. Not sure about the others.

    • @kataihallenchrish
      @kataihallenchrish 8 месяцев назад

      I have not but i shall! thanks ^^@@willattheworldsend

    • @kataihallenchrish
      @kataihallenchrish 8 месяцев назад

      I have not, but i shall! thanks ^^@@willattheworldsend

  • @solaries3
    @solaries3 5 месяцев назад +1

    I ran this for my party and we had a great time! Would recommend running this over the first adventure in the starter kit.

  • @frasercossar407
    @frasercossar407 8 месяцев назад +2

    Looking forward to more adventures!

  • @MrHoffie1
    @MrHoffie1 8 месяцев назад +2

    I am excited to try to run this for my players

  • @SkywalkerOne1977
    @SkywalkerOne1977 5 месяцев назад +1

    This is amazing! Thank you for this! I plan to run it and will let you know how it went.

    • @willattheworldsend
      @willattheworldsend  5 месяцев назад

      Please do! I'd love to hear about your playthrough.

  • @kataihallenchrish
    @kataihallenchrish 8 месяцев назад +3

    This is fate! i ran my first ever ttrpg session for complete newbs about a month ago and hilariously it took them 4 hours to get the first adventure done 😂 I was literally about to run the second adventure now 23.3 but i'm gonna read through this one first and see if it's something i could pull off instead! (though venturing out into the north moors at nighttime against all hobbits common sense and encountering a troll you have to outsmart does sound mighty attractive to me ngl.) But let's see if you have something better! otherwise, would it be possible to alter this adventure somehow so it'd be playable in addition to all the other starter adventures? stealing something else i suppose since you get the club from the moors already.

    • @willattheworldsend
      @willattheworldsend  8 месяцев назад

      It's pretty important to this adventure that it's the club. But I've included an option at the end that could fold nicely into the "Expert Treasure Hunters" adventure from the Starter Set.

    • @kataihallenchrish
      @kataihallenchrish 8 месяцев назад

      Gotcha, I have some concerns about the pacing of the starter set as a whole and such but im gonna read through the adventure before i voice any of them, brb! @@willattheworldsend

    • @kataihallenchrish
      @kataihallenchrish 8 месяцев назад +1

      Oh i see, it doesnt replace the second adventure, thats good, tho idk how good it'll feel for the players when it turns out the club they went through hours to obtain is a fake, I did however absolutely love the adventure you've written, and i absolutely must run it if only to experience my players battling literal hordes of hobbit-children 😂some other concerns i have:
      -it might feel a bit weird to have 2 heist adventures after one another, (though now that i think about it, it could be taken as the first one being the baby heist in preparation for this one🤔)
      -going to Buckland originally (personally atleast, when reading through the adventures or watching a playthrough) felt like such a big deal when you get there at the last adventure after escaping the wolf by running to the bucklebury ferry, going there already at the second adventure it might take some of that away? could turn out to be a plus however as players get to experience the contrast between buckland on a festive celebratory day and the more sinister vibe as they go there again and learn more about the old forest and darker times 🤔
      -it might be a bit complex, which i do love, but as a player going back to the more simplistic adventures of the starter set might feel like a bit of a let down
      But yeah like i said i do love it and it really feels like one of those hitman missions or the typical RPG masquerade mission, where there's a whole bunch going on and the players just have to find one way to complete their task. Also i am just a total newb to this ttrpg stuff, besides watching playthroughs, so my 2 cents might not be worth much at all. I do think i will run it for my players however, and if i do i'll be sure to let you know how it went!

  • @dzem5566
    @dzem5566 8 месяцев назад +2

    Still, it’s not like Bilbo to ask someone to steal something.

    • @MrHoffie1
      @MrHoffie1 8 месяцев назад +2

      I am going to run this like he is going to play a prank by stealing it then giving it back.

    • @kataihallenchrish
      @kataihallenchrish 8 месяцев назад +1

      tbf literally the first adventure in the starter set is Bilbo asking them to steal something 😂 He tasks the players with stealing the Old Tooks map from the mathom house, and justifies it by saying that it belongs to his family and he has offered generous donations to the owners of the mathom house but without success, the map is important for finding the Club mentioned in this video but all the adventures should also be understood in the context of the last adventure where it becomes evident he's been testing these hobbits to be sure they're up for the final task of great importance and danger, so the ends kinda justifies the means.

    • @dzem5566
      @dzem5566 8 месяцев назад

      I know. That's why I wrote this comment 😅. It looked strange in the starter set. It looks strange here too.@@kataihallenchrish

    • @kataihallenchrish
      @kataihallenchrish 8 месяцев назад +1

      ah fair enough ^^ yeah it is a bit odd i suppose but this is post-erebor Bilbo we're talking about, who i can see could have picked up a lesson or two from Gandalf about the greater good 😄But regardless in this adventure i'd hardly classify it as burglary as whats-his-face challenged Bilbo to this and so it's more of a game than anything @@dzem5566

  • @tobyreads
    @tobyreads 8 месяцев назад +1

    Ai thumbnail. Boo

    • @wuothanar3544
      @wuothanar3544 26 дней назад

      AI art being used is rather dissapointing.