The One Ring Solo Pt.7: Scylda

Idril and Sefa return to face Nelly and finish what they started.

To Lady Gilraen,

I write this letter to you with my deepest gratitude for your grace and kindness. For ten long years, I have written to you, and for ten years you have responded to each letter. Your willingness to let me remain in contact has meant more than I can say. I do not know where I would be now had your Rangers not found me. You gave me a reason to endure; a path to follow.

Ten years ago, when Idril and Sefa failed to return, I waited as long as I dared. But something in my heart knew. I made the journey back to the Morglynd Vale alone, a few weeks after we reached Bree. There I found Idril and Sefa, fallen not far from the cave where we first hid. Their bodies were broken and torn, but I knew them by the silver clasps of their cloaks that bore your symbol. I buried them as best I could and took the silver clasps from their cloaks. I have carried them ever since, and I always will.

I also found a letter, half-written in blood, and partially crushed in Idril’s hand. She had tried to write you before her life fully faded. I finished what I could and sent it to you. I felt you needed to know what had become of them. That your champions had done all they could and more. And you answered, not only with words, but with action. Rangers came to see to Idril and Sefa’s rest, and they found me as well. They delivered the first of your letters to me. I was only a young, scared girl, and yet you took notice.

In these last ten years, I have tried to live in a way that honors them. I have made Bree my home, though I’ve never stayed within its walls for long. I have hunted in the woods, climbed the hills, and sought out those who knew the wild to learn all that I could. I trained each day to sharpen the skills I knew I would need to take up their cause. I have become a hunter of no small skill. I know how to move unseen and strike true. But more than that, I have learned to be watchful, to listen, and to act with care. 

It has taken me years, but I believe I am ready to leave the safety of Bree. I bear no great lineage, nor do I claim the strength of Idril or the will of Sefa, but I carry their memory and the symbols they left behind. I am setting out for Rivendell to find you in person, to ask your permission to join your service. I would walk the same road they did and prove that even the smallest flame can rise from ruin.

Until we meet face to face,

Scylda, Survivor of Morglynd

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Notes and Summaries

Sefa and Idril begin their journey back to the Morglynd Valley the following day. Sefa has had the chance to rest well, so she is back to full endurance.

Travel Check 1

Travel Roll: Success + (4 days travel)
Event: Shortcut / Animal Guide (Hunting to shorten the journey by 1 day)
Hunting Roll: Success +
Result: +1 Fatigue
Weather: Terrible Storm (travel checks are ill-favored)

Journey Result: 3 days of travel, Sefa & Idril +0 Fatigue

The group makes exceptional time and arrives at the Morglynd Vale in 3 short days despite the horrific weather that plagued the trip. They find a place outside the vale to camp for the evening so that they can begin their hunt for Nelly in the morning. They pray for better weather

Troll Hunt - Day 1

Weather: Rainy and overcast

Their prayers are not answered, the weather is still gloomy and overcast, but they push into the valley regardless.

So now we’ve got the big question to answer:
TT: Has Nelly fled the valley already? No

With that established, we also want to know if she has been lying in wait to ambush the group. I think this is pretty unlikely given that it has been 8 days since Idril and Sefa fled the valley.
TT: Is Nelly lying in wait to ambush them? Eye of Sauron (well, f***) I think with this roll, Nelly has been able to lie in wait in the perfect position. The weather has allowed her to stay outdoors this entire time, and she is now caked with mud, making her almost impossible to spot. I’m going to make the awareness check to avoid being surprised ill-favored, both Idril and Sefa gain +2 eye awareness, and they need to make a shadow test versus dread or gain 1 shadow point.

Idril Shadow Test (Valor): Gandaldf Rune! Success for Idril and 1d for Sefa
Sefa Shadow Test (Valor): Eye of Sauron! Failure, +1 Shadow Point and +1 Eye Awareness (also, these dice need to chill out)
Idril Aweerness Roll to avoid being surprised: Failure

Nelly, emerging from hiding to ambush our heroes.

Nelly fell on the pair of heroes before they were even aware of her presence. She seized Idril in her massive hands and squeezed. Sefa’s eyes widened in horror as the sharp sound of bones snapping reached her ears, and Idril’s limp body was tossed away like a discarded toy.

Sefa was no fool; she could not defeat this monster alone. She could either flee, leaving the body of her friend behind, or stand and fall beside her. It was hardly a choice. She would stay and face this evil at the cost of her life.

She crouched in a defensive formation, trying to hold the Troll at bay, but there was no stopping a creature of this size, so filled with hate. As Nelly tore away her shield and sharp claws shredded her armor, Sefa smiled. They had, at least, saved Diarmoc’s family, and Scylda would live a life free from Nelly’s terror. This, perhaps, was enough.

Sefa closed her eyes…forever

I’ve put the combat rolls by round below, but if you want to skip them, just Click Here.

Combat Rolls

Round 1

The group is caught completely off guard as Nelly leaps from the muck and mire to attack Idril

Nelly Attacks vs Idril: Miss & Success+ (Sieze), 6 damage and seized

Round 2

Sefa Stance: Open
Idril Stance: Forward
Sefa Attack (with hope): Success+ (Heavy Blow), 14 damage
Idril Attack (with hope): Failure
Nelly Attacks vs Idril: Success++ & Success+ (Heavy Blow x3), 39 damage! Idril is unconscious

Things got really bad, really fast. There is no way that Sefa can outrun Nelly in this weather while trying to carry Idril. So the question here is whether Sefa would abandon Idril to die. Given the nature of heroes in this game, I can’t see that happening, but I suppose it’s possible. I’ll roll on the Telling Table oracle, but with the chance at Unthinkable. This means that only a 10 or 11 would result in her fleeing.

I got an 8. Sefa stays. She will certainly die.

Round 2

Sefa Stance: Defensive
Sefa Attack (with hope): Success+ (Heavy Blow), 14 damage
Nelly Attacks (both with Hate): Success++ & Success (Heavy Blow x2), 30 damage! Sefa is unconscious.

GM Thoughts

Clearly, the fight with the Troll did not go the way I expected. I knew it would be hard, but the series of rolls that led into that fight, plus the fact that Nelly kept rolling 6s, made it over before it even got started. It never feels good when characters die but I can always tell it sucked when I feel like I would hate this even for my players in a group game. Every now and then, it seems like your GM dice are on fire and the players just can’t hit anything. Whenever that happens, any game stops feeling fun after a while. Like, no one has a good time if they can’t roll above a 6 the whole night. Even though it felt terrible, I didn’t want to suddenly give our two heroes plot armor and have them survive. It just wouldn’t have felt right.

I think I’m running into 2 overall “challenges” with playing TOR solo. First, combat has been exceptionally challenging. It seems like the core system expects there to be about 1 enemy per character, but with one character, that seems somewhat unrealistic. Why would there be 1 or 2 Orcs off by themselves somewhere? It also doesn’t quite fit the general Lord of the Rings narrative. In every combat, the heroes are outnumbered. And while I understand that those would be “high experience” heroes, it still doesn’t quite fit.

Second, I’m having a hard time with what to “do” if combat is to be avoided, or is super challenging. Maybe this is a problem with me starting an adventure that was written for 4-5 players and trying to do it with 2, but it still feels odd. If I need to avoid fighting everything, and the objective isn’t to loot things, what should the hero be doing? Just traveling?

Despite all that, I wanted to keep playing with this system. While it’s harder than I expected to “adapt” to solo play, I do like the system, and I want to at least give it another shot. Rather than roll up a new character, I thought maybe we could jump forward some 15 years and pick up with Scylda. 

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At least that’s what I thought initially. So I wrote all that about 3 months ago, and then just couldn’t get into it. I just felt the campaign/adventure had sort of failed, and was having a really hard time getting excited about continuing to play this system, or really any solo system. Maybe I just needed a break, as there was a lot happening in my life around that time (and there kinda still is LOL). Either way, I knew I at least wanted to finish up this chapter of the story. I think I’m going to continue with Scylda’s story, but to be honest, I’m not 100% sure. This system has been a lot harder for me to play solo than I want it to be, and I think it’s probably on me. I very much like this system, but I think I want to play it with a group of people at the table, and I don’t know if I’m sold on it as a solo experience.

I do really hope everyone has enjoyed the series so far, and we might pick up next time…doing something. Perhaps with Scylda, or perhaps with something else.