Message:We entered the Black Gate and fought Dark Spawn, flying 5HD+1 goblins.
In the final battle we were subject to the following penalties:
Bravery (Tulkas): Each To-Hit delivering damage rebounds for one on the attacking character. Appease w/ Haste Spell.
Dancer (Nessa): Reduce all party damage from To-Hit by one. Appease w/ Levitate.
Hunter (Oromë): Fight adds an initial Trick or Trap. Appease w/ Invisibility.
Nature (Vána): Random character loses a random Stat (not below 3). Appease w/ Speak Animals (CL).
We canceled Tulkas injuries with Haste. Since the Hunter penalty was an ambush and our saves were failed, we decided to use Invisibility.
Each round of melee, our heroes were losing Hirelings as Sauron possessed their souls.
On the events before the climax fight, I made some nasty cards that did slay two characters (later resurrected). But the cards also allowed some of the more-clever (lucky) players to gain huge XPs. All good; players like to win.
The final map was a maze where I split the party; I was hopeful it would work, but it did not. I still had two players inactive: one because he died and another because he was unwilling to press into the unknown from a safe place. IronPax ended-up being the hero who saved the downed party member. The rest added more injury and XPs to each of their characters.
As a first attempt, I can say the maze mix-up (teleport voids) as a design will get better. It needed a bigger deck and more flair encounters. Dare I say wandering Monsters? The HP loss to all was huge. The healing dispensed, many were still very injured.
Next week the gang of elves attacks Mt Doom trying to reach the hottest point and destroy Sauron’s Horcrux (Magic Jar). The whole will be run as a close-up picture combined with a D20 fight, similar to Shelob's Lair, just more danger.
Coming in two weeks, Black Box Traveller.
Yours,
IronRed
12-Oct-2025