Many Meetings
Frodo woke and found himself lying in bed. At first he thought that he had slept late, after a long unpleasant dream that still hovered on the edge of memory. Or perhaps he had been ill? But the ceiling looked strange; it was flat, and it had dark beams richly carved. He lay a little while longer looking at the patches of sunlight on the wall, and listening to the sound of a waterfall.
”Where am I, and what is the time?” he said aloud to the ceiling.
”In the House of Elrond, and it is ten o’clock in the morning,” said a voice. ”It is the morning of October the twenty-fourth, if you want to know.”
”Gandalf!” cried Frodo, sitting up. There was the old wizard, sitting in a chair by the open window.
”Yes,” he said, ”I am here. And you are lucky to be here, too, after all the absurd things you have done since you left home.”
THE FELLOWSHIP
THE HOBBITS
Frodo
Starts with the One Ring. Immune to corruption. If Frodo controls the Ring at the start of the 7th Chapter, he must immediately pass it on to another (uncorrupted) Hobbit or to Gollum. Failure to do so causes the Servants of the Eye to win. Frodo is the only Hobbit that may re-possess the One Ring without succumbing to darkness. If a Ringbearer other than Frodo is lynched, the Ring passes to Frodo.
4 Hobbits
Hobbits are unusually resilient to corruption. If they get control of the One Ring, they will resist corruption for one single Journey. The Journey after the first, however, they must pass the Ring to another player (specified by PM:ing the Moderator) or become corrupted. They may never possess the Ring again or they will become instantly corrupted, with one exception: if they are passed the Ring in Chapter 7, they will not be corrupted. Instead, they will win the game with the Fellowship.
THE FREE PEOPLE
Aragorn
Aragorn may protect one player other than himself each Journey. Aragorn may not protect the same player two Journeys in a row. Protected players are immune to all conversions, captures and kills by Servants of the Eye and Gollum’s Ring-theft. If Aragorn disrupts Gollum’s Ring-theft, he will also kill Gollum. Aragorn will know which actions he managed to disrupt, if any (kill, conversion, capture, theft). Aragorn will not disrupt an action that would otherwise fail (he will only kill Gollum while actually protecting a Ringbearer). Aragorn cannot protect a captured player.
Gandalf
Gandalf may determine the nature of one player once every Journey. Frodo and the Hobbits will scan as Hobbits. Aragorn and the Free People will scan as Free People unless corrupted. Boromir will scan as Free People until ”officially” corrupted. The Uruk-Hai and the Witch-King will scan as Servants of the Eye. Corrupted Hobbits and corrupted Free People will scan as Servants of the Eye. Gollum will scan as Gollum.
Boromir
Boromir wants to bring the One Ring to his father Denethor, Steward of Gondor. He wins with the Servants of the Eye, not with the Fellowship. He is misguided, but not corrupted, and is considered Free People until converted by the Witch-King or corrupted by possession of the One Ring.
3 Warriors of the Free People
Warriors of the Free People have a sacred task to protect the Ringbearer at any cost. They have no special power by themselves, but as long as at least one of the Free People (including Aragorn, Gandalf and Boromir) is alive the Fellowship has the ability to Hunt some Orc.
THE SERVANTS OF THE EYE
Witch-King
Once each Journey, the Nazghul Witch-King of Angmar may perform both of these actions:
1. Search for the One Ring. By targeting a player, the Witch-King may determine whether that player holds the One Ring or not. This action may not be disrupted by Aragorn.
2. Convert one of the Free People by whispering sweet promises of power into the ear of one player. Corruption this way only works on the Free People but not on Hobbits, Frodo, Gollum or Servants of the Eye. Converted targets lose any powers they may have (Aragorn’s protection, Gandalf’s scan) and become corrupted. Corrupted converts are told which player corrupted them. The Witch-King is told whether the corruption attempt was successful or not. This action may be disrupted by Aragorn. The Witch-King is told if his action was disrupted by Aragorn. Corrupted converts are scanned by Gandalf as ”Servants of the Eye”.
Uruk-Hai
The Uruk-Hai are given command by Saruman to seek out and capture the Hobbits, alive and unspoiled, for they carry an Elvish weapon. Each Journey, the Uruk-Hai may target one player. If target player is a Servant of the Eye, the Uruk will be told by Saruman to stay away from the target. In this case, nothing happens. If target player is uncorrupted Free People, that player is killed. If target player is a Hobbit, Frodo or Gollum, that player is captured. Uruk-Hai targeting may be disrupted by Aragorn. The Uruk-Hai is told if and what kind of action was disrupted by Aragorn (kill, capture).
GOLLUM
Gollum
Gollum wants the Ring for himself, and he is accustomed enough to its wiles that he can withstand the desire to return it to its Lord. Gollum is immune to corruption (as we know it) and will hold the Ring without becoming a Servant of the Eye. If Gollum is not in possession of the Ring, he must search the bags of one player each Journey. If the target is a Ringbearer, Gollum will steal the Ring. Gollum’s theft may be disrupted by Aragorn. If Gollum’s Ring-theft is disrupted by Aragorn, Gollum will be killed. Gollum cannot pass the Ring to another player. Gollum cannot steal the Ring from a captured player. If Gollum targets a captured player, Gollum will be told the action failed because the target is captured regardless of whether the target is a Ringbearer or not.
PASSAGE OF TIME
The goal of the game is getting through 7 ”days” (Chapters) of travel.
The ”Night” cycle is referred to as the ”Journey”.
The ”Day” cycle is referred to as a ”Chapter”.
The game starts with the first Journey, through Caradhras to the Doors of Durin.
Prologue: Rivendell. (Sign-ups, roles are handed out.)
Journey 1: Caradhras
Chapter 1: The Doors of Durin
Journey 2: Balin’s Tomb
Chapter 2: The Mines of Moria
Journey 3: The Bridge of Khazad-Dum
Chapter 3: Lothlorien
Journey 4: The Great River Anduin
Chapter 4: Rohan
Journey 5: Helm’s Deep
Chapter 5: Fangorn Forest
Journey 6: Isengard
Chapter 6: Minas Tirith
Journey 7: The Black Gate of Mordor
Chapter 7: The Cracks of Doom
Journey sequence of events:
Uncorrupted Ringbearer may pass on the Ring.
Aragorn protects.
Gollum steals.
Witch-King searches.
Witch-King corrupts.
Uruk-Hai hunts.
Gandalf scans.
Chapter sequence of events:
Broadcast:
Which faction (Fellowship, Servants of the Eye, Gollum) controls the One Ring.
Which players are captured by the Uruk-Hai.
Remaining players.
Display ”You may Hunt some Orc” if ”Hunt some Orc” is legal.
CHAPTERS
At the start of each Chapter, it will be broadcast which of the three factions control the One Ring (Fellowship, Servants of the Eye or Gollum). Note that simply capturing the Ring isn’t enough for the Servants of the Eye to win, they need to bring it to their Dark Lord. Gollum needs to possess the Ring at the end of the 7th Journey in order to win.
During a Chapter, the Fellowship must vote to Appoint ”(player name)” as Scout, alternatively ”Hunt some Orc” within ”accuse” tags. A majority vote is needed. Once a majority is reached, voting is closed. Captured players may not be Appointed as Scout, may not vote nor post in the game thread.
Being Appointed as Scout is a dangerous task, and will lead to the death of the player appointed (it’s the same as a standard lynch). The player’s faction is revealed (Free People, Hobbit, Servants of the Eye or Gollum). Uncorrupted Boromir dies as Free People. Corrupted Free People and corrupted Hobbits die as Servants of the Eye.
Voting to ”Hunt some Orc” instead unlocks all captured players. ”Hunt some Orc” is a legal vote only if any uncorrupted Free People remain AND there is at least one captured Hobbit, Frodo or Gollum currently. Uncorrupted Boromir counts as uncorrupted Free People for this purpose. Whether ”Hunt some Orc” is legal or not is displayed at the beginning of each Chapter.
HOBBIT GAMEPLAY
Frodo, Gollum or the Hobbits may become captured by the Uruk-Hai. A captured player is forbidden to post or vote so long as he is captured. A captured player may not be Appointed as Scout (lynched) until freed. If the captured player is a Ringbearer, that player keeps the Ring until he is released. Possession of the One Ring is considered to be with the Servants of the Eye faction in this instance. If the Ringbearer is freed by Hunt some Orc, however, and still uncorrupted the possession of the Ring goes back to whatever faction the Ringbearer has (Fellowship or Gollum). If the Uruk-Hai is killed while players are captured, those players are not freed but the Uruk-Hai is removed as an active player. In this case, goblins and orcs are considered to have run off with the little ones until the Fellowship have successfully Hunted some Orc.
Frodo and Hobbit Ringbearers may pass the Ring on to any other player during a Journey by sending a PM to the Moderator specifying which player the Ring is to be given. The recipient of the Ring will be told the player name of the player who sent the Ring to him. The Ring may only be passed on once per Journey. The Ring may not be passed to a captured or dead player. If a Ringbearer is Appointed as Scout, Frodo finds the Ring. If Frodo is dead or captured, it will be determined randomly who finds the Ring. Captured or dead players may not receive the Ring this way. Any of the Free People who holds the ring will be corrupted immediately and ally with the Servants of the Eye.
VICTORY CONDITIONS
The Fellowship wins if:
At the start of the 7th Chapter: If any other Hobbit than Frodo or Gollum controls the One Ring, the Fellowship destroys it and wins.
After the start of the 7th Chapter: If Frodo has the Ring, he must pass it on to an uncorrupted Hobbit (even if this Hobbit has previously held the Ring) or to Gollum for the Fellowship to win. Any other action results in a win for the Servants of the Eye.
The Servants of the Eye wins if:
At the start of the 7th Chapter: If the Servants of the Eye controls the One Ring, the Servants of the Eye wins.
After the start of the 7th Chapter: If Frodo has the Ring and fails to pass it on to another Hobbit or to Gollum, the Servants of the Eye wins.
Gollum wins if:
At the end of 7th Journey: If Gollum controls the One Ring, he will win by running off with it to his secret lair, keeping it hidden for another few hundred years. If Gollum is passed the Ring after the start of the 7th Chapter, however, the Fellowship will win instead.
