darrell
10th January 2003, 11:25 AM
The following information is an excerpt from an article appearing in "From the Mouth of Sauron". I can't make any guarantees regarding the validity, accuracy, or completeness of this information. I am posting it here for informational purposes only.
4. Encounters
A note on encounter accuracy: many encounters are set up so that one result is
the primary result of the option picked, but there's a small chance that a
secondary result could crop up. Thus, a character 'DEMANDING' from Throkmaw
will most likely get his obediance, but it's possible (if unlikely) that he'll
get eaten instead.
I asked Bill at GSI about this. Apparently many encounters have this 'every
once in a while something goes wrong' aspect added to them so that a player
can't run around blithely defeating everything he runs into just because he has
the 'correct' response. Also, Bill admits to tweaking the encounters regularly,
mostly in an attempt to frustrate and confuse those of us who have the gall to
put together an encounter list in the first place.
The point is this: the responses given on the list may not always come up for
your characters; something different could happen. Also, GSI may changes an
encounter, thus invalidating a response. Since many of these changes are made
at random, there's no way to predict precisely what's going on. If you like
order and exactness in your life, putting together an encounter list is a
struggle against mounting chaos.
For most encounters, you can skip the '290' order and go directly to the '285'
order, providing a response. Of course, you have to know what you're facing,
since you won't get an option list like you do with the '290' order.
Here's an interesting note. In an earlier issue of the Mouth I stated that you
could move directly to an encounter and issue order 285 'ReacEnc', giving a
response, without first doing order 290. I said this based upon statements
made by Bill.
A couple of people have reported trying this and failing. I thought perhaps
they weren't giving a response for order '285', or that they were just unlucky
and didn't have the encounter, but I went back and actually found the paper
copy of the Q&A with Bill (I threw all the others out once I transcribed them).
Here it is, blow by blow:
Q: I'm somewhat confused concerning an earlier answer you gave in response to
a question about encounters. You said that a character in the same hex as a
dragon could force an encounter using the '285 React to Encounter' order.
Does that mean that I could have a character skip order '290' and move
straight on to order 285, giving a reaction (e.g., 'Act Meek')?
A: Yes! But you had best know what the encounter is before you react. You may
not want to....
Q: If the answer to the previous question was 'yes', can I do this with other
encounters, assuming I'm willing to bet I know what the encounter is (e.g.,
Daeron, Demon of Aglarond, Slyardach, Amon Llhaw, etc.)?
A: Yes.
Rather unequivocal, I'd say. There were other questions concerning this topic,
but they were basically a rehash to see if I'd get the same answer several
times in a row (I do this in case Bill is having a bad day).
Here's a tidbit that may clear up some of the confusion concerning whether or
not you can force an encounter:
You can issue order 285 and give a reaction, rather than 290 and waste a turn.
However, this doesn't give you any better chance of finding the encounter than
order 290 does. So if you drop in on Amon Llhaw and do order 285, it's still a
roll of the dice whether or not you locate the chair. It still makes more sense
to do 285, just in case you get lucky.
As for encounters that've already been revealed, ANYONE in the hex can react to
them. That is, if someone finds a dragon, the dragon is open to all characters
in the hex. Same goes for Amon Lhlaw/Hen, the Balrog, etc.
Just think of it as a light bulb. If the encounter is 'on', everyone can see it;
if it's 'off', we all have to fumble around in the dark until we find the switch
- unless the light bulb comes on by itself.
In almost all cases, encounters work on a sliding scale of numbers (a random
roll, if you will), with particularly bad things happening on a low roll, and
good things happening on a high roll. Thus, it's possible to 'critically' fail
and get eaten by Throkmaw while DEMANDING his obedience, or for a dwarf to
survive kicking Leucaruth in the shins and calling her a wuss. Please note that
very few encounter options always end up with exactly the same result every
time; there's almost always a chance that something utterly horrible or
unexpectedly good will happen to your character.
In light of this, you should be aware that the listings for encounters give the
most probable result to your response, not the absolute result. This is
especially true of dragons, many of whom are extremely fickle.
The results are now divided into 'combat', 'injured/killed', and 'escape
unharmed'. Combat will most likely result in the death of the character (or
monster), except where otherwise indicated (giant spider attacks).
Injured/Killed sometimes results in death as well, but there seems to be a fair
chance of getting out of the encounter alive (usually with one health point).
Escape unharmed will, except on days when the dragon is particularly grumpy,
usually get the character out without a scratch.
4.01 Army Encounters (Free Peoples)
Description: army encounters beneficial to the Free Peoples
include Eagles, Ents, Hobbits, Lossoth and Woses.
Location: Eagles are found in the Misty Mountains, especially
along the northern range. They can also be
encountered in nearby hexes.
Ents are found only in Fangorn Forest.
Hobbits can be encountered only in Arthedain,
specifically hexes 1109 and 1209 (along with one or
two others).
Lossoth are found only in the Northern Wastes
(hexrows xx01 to xx03).
Woses range virtually any forest, but are most often
seen in the forests of Gondor, Dunland, and
Cardolan, for example, Bein Com Woses: 1014.
4.01.01 Eagles: Eagles will attack and kill a large number of troops
if encountered by an evil or neutral army. Should they be
encountered by the Free Peoples, they'll often join forces. This
gives the lucky army a big bonus to combat, as well as a 'recon'
each turn.Brian Lowery and Steve Latham went to the trouble of
calculating the combat worth of Eagles. It looks like they're
worth about 10,000 points. It may be somewhat variable, as Mumakil
are; Eagles in lone encounters take out a range of points rather
than a single amount.
4.01.02 Ents: Ents are so rarely seen that all information on them
is sketchy at best. It's said that they'll destroy an evil or
neutral army they run into, possibly killing all attached
characters. They may or may not join the Free Peoples, depending
on their mood. Ents are said to provide a huge combat bonus (as
much as a dragon) and to act as a built-in set of siege engines
when attacking a fortified pop center. I recently had the good
fortune to fight ents and huorns in one of my games. Unfortunately,
we were defeated after a protracted battle and so were unable to
estimate the actual combat strength of the ents. The only thing I
was able to ascertain with any certainty is that ents are worth at
least 20,000 points.
Several rumors concerning ents tend to agree. It appears that only
the Free Peoples can recruit ents, and that they're only
encountered by armies crossing the Fangorn Forest. Given that
armies almost never enter this region, this would account for
Entish rarity.
4.01.03 Hobbits: There are two kinds of hobbits - Buck Hill hobbits
and Hobbiton hobbits. The first are found at 1109, the second at
1209.
Buck Hill hobbits will join a Free Peoples army,
providing a combat bonus and a free 'recon' each
turn.
Hobbiton hobbits will join an army and provide a
combat bonus, along with a boost to morale of 5-15
points each turn. The Hobbiton clan of Hobbits has
been discovered to provide no combat bonus whatsoever
to the army it's attached to. Other clans of hobbits
may or may not provide a combat bonus, but this one
most certainly doesn't. They do, however, increase
the morale of the army they're attached to each and
every turn, and this bonus to morale remains even
after the hobbits leave the army.
4.01.04 Woses: neutral or evil armies that have the misfortune of running
into Woses will be attacking, losing several hundred troops. Free
Peoples can recruit them, which will give both a combat bonus and a
free 'recon' each turn. According to Holger Eichmann, Woses have a
combat strength of approximately 9500.
4.01.05 Lossoth (Snowmen of the North): These are the "Snowmen" of the
North, and as such are only encountered in the Northern Wastes
(hexrows xx01 to xx03), the Lossoth are a Free-aligned army
encounter. If they run into Neutral or Dark Servant armies, they'll
attack, killing several hundred troops. It isn't known if they'll
join a Free army, nor what benefit they'll provide if they do.
4.02 Army Encounters (Other)
Description: the list of non-aligned army encounters includes
fell beasts, mumaki, spirits and wights, and
open sea encounters.
Location: Fell beasts are generally found in and around
Mordor.
Mumaki are only encountered in Harad and surrounding
area.
Spirits and Wights can be found anywhere, but are
most often encountered in Arthedain or the South.
4.02.01 Fell beasts: Fell beasts will attack and kill the troops of good
or neutral armies, stealing food in the process. They won't attack
Dark Servants, but will steal food. It's rumored that the Dark
Servants can recruit Fell beasts; how this is done (since the
encounter has no options) is unknown.
4.02.02 Mumaki: If encountered by an army with cavalry, they're
automatically recruited into the army. They give the army a big
combat bonus, although it seems to vary from battle to battle.
Mumakil will sometimes attack an army without provocation.
4.02.03 Wights: They crawl up out of the ground, killing troops and
spoiling food. Wights will ignore evil armies.
4.02.04 Spirits: Usually found near a grave yard or ruins, spirits
won't kill troops but will ruin food supplies.
4.02.05 Open Seas: Navies which don't belong to the Corsairs or aren't
carrying certain artifacts can lose ships to storms or actually
have their movement altered to a different course on the open
seas. All navies can lose ships to sea monsters or pirates
(warships are usually lost before transports, and large numbers of
warships seem to scare off pirates).
4.03 Amon Hen and Amon Lhaw
Description: A large stone chair or throne located upon a hilltop.
Location: Hexes 2620 and 2720
Options Free Peoples Neutrals Nations Dark Servants
DESTROY the chair
Sit on the chair wounds healed; wounds healed; wounds healed;
CLEAR your mind or no effect or no effect or no effect
Think of a 'Perceive Secrets'; 'Perceive Secrets';
NATION or no effect or no effect
Think of a 'Perceive Character'
CHARACTER and 'Locate Character --------> ------>
True' or no effect
Think of an ENEMY no effect no effect no effect
character dying
SAY (one word)
FLEE escape escape escape
Notes: the High Seats seem to be erratic in the exercise of their powers.
Sometimes they work several turns in a row for the same character, at other
times they won't work at all. This seems to be a random function.
As far as is known, the Seats aren't 'aligned' and will work for any character
regardless of allegiance. A character can safely ignore the encounter if he so
desires.
4.04 Balrogs (Durin's Bane)
Description: the character encounters a burning building of some sort
(hut, tower, house, etc.)
Location: see below
Options Free Peoples Neutrals Nations Dark Servants
SEARCH combat combat combat
ENTER combat combat combat
WAIT combat* combat* combat*
SAY (one word)
FLEE escape escape escape
Notes: Durin's Bane is one of the two known Balrogs in the game. Durin's
Bane is most often round in the Misty Mountains or northwestern portion
of Mirkwood.
Balrogs can encounter armies. When Free Peoples or Neutral forces are
involved, they'll attack and slay a large number of troops. It isn't known
whether they'll attack Dark Servant armies. GSI has confirmed that it's
possible (although extremely difficult) to actually recruit a balrog into a
Dark Servant army, much like recruiting a dragon. Paul Lundstroem reported
having a Balrog joining his Dog Lord army by moving onto the same hex.
As of this writing, the options given for character encounters with Durin's
Bane are unknown. Balrogs will affect pop centers like dragons, positively
for Dark Servants, negatively for Free Peoples, and randomly for Neutrals,
though such changes are usually minor (a few points at most).
Rumors have this beast with artifacts 165 (Cuiviegurth) and 166 (Calris).
4.05 Daeron
Description: encounter an elf playing depressing songs on a harp, or
working out with a rapier. The elf asks if you've ever
been in love.
Location: anywhere, but seems to be most commonly encountered in
Eriador.
Options Free Peoples Neutrals Nations Dark Servants
ATTACK combat combat combat
Say YES variable variable variable
Say NO variable variable variable
Say "Daeron" combat combat combat
Say "Luthien" escape escape escape
Say "Saeros" escape escape escape
FLEE escape escape escape
Notes: Daeron is an elf who was madly in love with Luthien and later betrayed
her and his kin to Morgoth. In sorrow, he wanders Middle-Earth singing moody
ballads and generally making a nuisance of himself. Daeron isn't associated
with any allegiance and will randomly raise or lower the loyalty of any pop
center he happens to be at during the turn.
Daeron is crazy and unpredictable. Those responses labeled 'variable' either
result in combat or escape, based upon purely random factors. As of this
writing, there doesn't seem to be any way to predict what Daeron will do, nor
get anything beneficial from this encounter. Daeron's challenge rank is
somewhere around 121+. Daeron's ranks are as follows: Command 20-29, Agent 10-19,
Emissary 70-79, Mage 100+. Note that Daeron does NOT carry the magical artifact
'Daeron's Rapier'. However, additional reports continually surface that Daeron
has artifacts 15 (Tinculin) and 132 (Daeron's Rapier).
Attacked by a challenge 197 DS character - and killed (sob..). Netted
2000 gold pieces, and a Teleport Spell (68%).
4.06 Dimrill Dale
Description: Mirrormere, a magical pool of great power. Seems to be
filled with reflected stars.
Locations: 2312.
Notes: It seems this encounter can only be had by dwarves. There are no options.
The dwarven character automatically receives 15,000 - 30,000 gold.
4.07 Enchanted Pool
Description: a magical pool wherein the character sees many scenes from the
past, present, and future.
Locations: seems to be anywhere.
Options Free Peoples Neutrals Nations Dark Servants
WATCH no effect
STEP into it get some variable no effect no effect
amount of gold
DRINK from it
CAST a spell at it no effect
TOUCH it no effect
SAY (one word)
LOOK away no effect no effect no effect
FLEE escape escape escape
This encounter can be safely ignored.
4.08 Elven Feast
Description: stumble upon a wild party thrown by a bunch of Silvan Elves.
One calls out a challenge to the character.
Location: Mirkwood, particularly in the southwest.
Options Free Peoples Neutrals Nations Dark Servants
ATTACK the speaker
REQUEST aid character healed no effect no effect
DECLARE your alleg. no effect no effect
JOIN the party no effect no effect no effect
INTERROGATE speaker
STAND your ground
SAY (one word)
FLEE escape escape escape
Notes: the elves don't seem to be particularly concerned with the allegiance
of the encountering character and won't attack unless attacked. This encounter
can safely be ignored.
4.09 Elven Non-Player Characters
Elven non-player characters include Celeborn, Galadriel, and Daeron. Daeron is
described in his own section of the encounter book.
Celeborn and Galadriel can't, to my knowledge, be encountered by lone
characters. They only interact with characters attached to an army, the
effects varying depending on the allegiance:
- If either of these NPC's runs into a Dark Servant or Neutral force,
they'll destroy a large number of troops with spells. They won't,
however, harm any characters traveling with the armies, even if the
armies are disbanded.
- If encountered by a Free Peoples force, Galadriel will sometimes
increase the mage rank of any attached characters (usually 10-15
points), and will possibly teach a spell or two as well. She may also
increase the morale of the army (usually 10-20 points). Celeborn will
offer to increase the command rank of any attached characters.
Both Celeborn and Galadriel tend to range Lorien, Southern Mirkwood, and
sometimes the Anduin Vales. Both have on occasion crossed the mountains into
Rhudaur and even Angmar. They affect pop center loyalty, increasing it when
the pop center belongs to the Free Peoples and decreasing it when the pop
center is in the hands of the Dark Servants or Neutrals.
Note that Galadriel carries the artifacts 'Galadriel's Mirror' and Varya,
giving her a +90 to her mage rank. Rumors also have Galadriel with artifact 164
(Tintelpe). She's an extremely formidable foe in combat, generally unbeatable by
any opponent (challenge rank estimated to be around 122+ (212+)). Galadriel's
ranks are as follows: Command 20-29, Agent 20-29, Emissary 70-79, Mage 100+.
Celeborn carries no known artifacts, and has a challenge rank somewhere around
79. Celeborn's ranks are as follows: Command 60-69, Agent 10-19, Mage 20-29.
4.10 Giants
Description: Character encounters a Giant who attempts to speak to him in an
unknown language.
Location: anywhere, but usually mountain or rough hexes.
Options Free Peoples Neutrals Nations Dark Servants
ATTACK the giant combat combat combat
THROW rocks character wounded -----> ----->
OFFER the giant food no effect no effect no effect
SAY (one word)
FLEE escape escape escape
Notes: giants can be encountered by armies. When this happens, the giants
begin to play games by throwing around large rocks, which has the end result of
killing hundreds of troops.
The option to 'throw rocks' sometimes results in the giant tossing a few
boulders back at the character, wounding him.
The challenge rank of a giant is somewhere around a range of 100-125. Giants
have been slain, though any benefit derived from winning such a combat is
unknown.
A rumor indicates that on very rare occasions, giants can be recruited into
armies. How this is done is unknown, and since I've only heard it from one
player I believe the rumor to be false.
4.11 Gladden Fields
Description: a wizened old man or woman offers to show the character a scroll
which contains the secret of the golden band. He/she offers to
take the character back to his/her hut to view the scroll.
Location: only in the Gladden Fields (swamp hex in the Anduin).
Options Free Peoples Neutrals Nations Dark Servants
ATTACK the man/woman combat combat combat
OFFER the person food
State your ALLEGIANCE
GO to see the scroll combat combat combat
Say (one word)
FLEE escape escape escape
Notes: this is an ambush, but a rather weak one. Most characters can
vanquish their opponents with little or no damage.
While I've never heard of anything useful coming of this encounter, it's
suspected that the appropriate response may give the character the
opportunity to learn a spell from a lost list.
4.12 The Harper
Description: the character follows enchanting music to a cave or grove, and
there he encounters a mysterious figure playing the harp.
Location: anywhere, but most commonly found in the South (Harad, Umbar,
lands directly east).
Options Free Peoples Neutrals Nations Dark Servants
ATTACK the harper combat combat combat
CAPTURE theharper
State your ALLEGIANCE no effect or combat -----> ----->
INTERROGATE the harper
ALLOW the harper join no effect or combat -----> ----->
SAY (only one word)
FLEE escape escape escape
Notes: this is a wight in disguise. Defeating the wight in combat will
probably get the character gold and a lost list spell, but this encounter is
rare enough that I haven't heard of anyone actually winning a fight. Even if
combat ensues, the character has a good chance of escaping with his life.
4.13 Lake/Swamp Surrounded by Cattails
Description: the character is at a lake or swamp and hears a child crying in
the distance.
Location: usually encountered in Mirkwood or the Anduin Vales.
Options Free Peoples Neutrals Nations Dark Servants
INVESTIGATE the cry find child; combat find child; combat ------->
State ALLEGIANCE
SAY (one word)
FLEE escape escape escape
Notes: if the character is at a lake and investigates the cry, he'll be
ambushed by a monster. If at a swamp, the character will find a lost child.
Finding the child has no known benefit. An unconfirmed rumor states that
rescuing the child will often result in a reward of 10,000-30,000 gold. I'm
told this is actually two different encounters that have similar openings.
This won't make any difference in terms of the response set, but you might
want to separate them out in your encounter file just to avoid confusion.
By the way, I'm told the monster are mewlips.
A character can safely ignore this encounter if he so chooses.
4.14 The Lonely Mountain
Description: character encounters a cave and stream while climbing the
Lonely Mountain. Human bones can be seen outside the cave.
Locations: 3108.
Options Free Peoples Neutrals Nations Dark Servants
EXPLORE the caves combat combat combat
SWIM the river
CLIMB the mountain combat combat
State your ALLEGIANCE no effect no effect no effect
Say your NAME
Say (only one word)
FLEE escape escape escape
Notes: trolls live in the cave and will attack a character who gives an
inappropriate response. While the trolls are difficult to defeat, a character
will generally escape any combat with them.
There's probably something interesting in the cave, but I've never heard of
anyone having this encounter with a powerful enough character to defeat the
trolls.
4.15 Paths of the Dead
Description: character encounters a cave cut into the mountainside near
a row of old statues.
Location: 2122.
Options Free Peoples Neutrals Nations Dark Servants
ENTER the cave combat combat combat
State ALLEGIANCE
State NAME
SAY (one word)
FLEE escape escape escape
Notes: this encounter can safely be ignored. If combat ensues, the character
will be driven out of the cave by ghosts and spirits. It doesn't seem to
matter how powerful the character is, which indicates that perhaps the
encounter can't be won by sheer force.
Historically, only the true king of the Two Kingdoms could walk the Paths of
the Dead. In the trilogy, this was Aragorn; in our game, the true king would
be Argeleb II, Aragorn's direct ancestor. If this is the case, it may be that
only Argeleb can get a favorable response from the Paths. However, no character
can actually summon the Dead as Aragorn did (GSI has flatly stated that this is
impossible).
A character can safely ignore this encounter if he so chooses.
4.16 Enchanted River
Description: the character comes upon a river which inspires both awe
and fear.
Location: the small river that runs along 2807. This is one river, not two.
It can be found in hexes 2708, 2807, and 2808.
Options Free Peoples Neutrals Nations Dark Servants
DRINK from the river gain random skill gain random skill gain random
add; lose health add; lose health add; lose
and spells and spells health and
spells
SWIM in the river character dies character dies character dies
State ALLEGIANCE
SAY (one word)
FLEE escape escape escape
Notes: the river is a variable encounter. Half the time a character who drinks
from the river will gain a bonus to one of his skill ranks, and possibly a lost
list spell. The other half of the time he'll get wounded and forget any spells
he might have known. There's no way to tell what the river is going to do until
you drink from it. The effect upon a character is variable regardless of
allegiance. You can lose more than health points and spells with this encounter.
One character lost 10 command points when he drank from it.
It's rumored that there's another river like this which also can be found in
Mirkwood (or perhaps the same one running through several hexes).
This encounter can safely be ignored.
4.17 Ruins
Description: character encounters ghosts and spirits.
Location: any location that has a fortification but no pop center
(most especially in Arthedain).
A non-aligned encounter, the character who gets it has a 50-50 chance of either
being attacked or gifted with gems worth up to 25,000 gold. It seems entirely
random any which way you look at it. This encounter isn't very dangerous
unless the character involved has an extremely low challenge rank.
4.18 Shelob
Description: encounter a large web with an unconscious woman trapped in
it. At her waist is a glowing sack.
Location: usually within a couple of hexes of Barad Ungol (3224).
Options Free Peoples Neutrals Nations Dark Servants
BURN the web + woman combat combat combat
FREE the woman combat combat combat
STEAL the sack combat combat combat
SAY (one word)
SAY "Elbereth" escape escape escape
SAY "Ungoliant" escape escape escape
FLEE escape escape escape
Notes: the woman trapped in the web is Shelob, a demon in giant spider form
possessed of remarkable intelligence and formidable sorcerous powers. Shelob
has a challeng rank of around 95, which makes her a tough opponent to beat.
Shelob's ranks are as follows: Command 40-49, Agent 10-19, Mage 70-79. In
addition, any combat generally results in death if the character loses. An
unconfirmed rumor states that BURN the web and woman results in combat, but
that Shelob starts out injured by the fire (giving you a better chance of
cutting her down). I can't confirm it, but it certainly makes sense.
Jeremy Richman reported that he's used the "Elbereth" response twice and had no
change in the scene (but no attack). I've never encountered Shelob, so I don't
know if this is the 'escape' (when encountering Daeron and saying 'Luthien',
there's also no change in the scene, but afterwards you can walk away without
being attacked).
Assuming the character is lucky enough to win a combat against Shelob, he'll
get a large amount of gold and access to a lost list spell. A character can
improve his odds of winning the fight by carrying the sword Ungolrist, which is
enchanted to slay spiders. Another weapon also gives the owner a bonus when
fighting spiders, but which I don't know.
4.19 Giant Spiders
Description: the character encounters a giant spider intent on making him
it's next meal.
Location: anywhere, but most often in Mirkwood and Mordor.
Options Free Peoples Neutrals Nations Dark Servants
ATTACK the spider combat combat combat
Offer FOOD combat combat combat
COMMAND the spider combat combat combat
SAY "Elbereth" combat combat combat
SAY "Ungoliant" combat combat combat
SAY (one word)
FLEE combat combat combat
Notes: giant spiders generally have a challenge rank ranging from 50-60. Even
should combat ensue, most characters will escape with their lives if they lose
the battle.
Defeating a giant spider often results in the character finding a stash of
gold, a lost list, or both.
Spider encounter at 3108. Spider was named 'Enna San Sarab' - note:
it's outside Mirkwood. DS character fled, and was forced to combat the
thing. Won the battle (character had 53 challenge rank). Note also,
that Enna San Sarab is a Major Spider in ICE. The mother to all the
'smaller' spiders roaming Mirkwood, and herself daughter of Shelob. She
sits in Dol Guldur, breading little-ones! She is also frequently seen
in Pop.centers influencing loyalty in a Balrog-like manner (if you've
ever wondered who Enna San Sarab was, it's not a persistent Emissary
from your opponents :-) ).
4.20 Slyardach
Description: the character encounters a cloud of mist which starts chasing
him about the countryside.
Location: generally in the Northern Mirkwood/Anduin Vales region.
Options Free Peoples Neutrals Nations Dark Servants
ATTACK the mist combat combat combat
State ALLEGIANCE combat combat combat
WAIT for the mist combat combat
Attempt to stay HIDDEN
SAY (one word)
FLEE escape escape escape
Notes: Slyardach is a demonic vampire cloud that goes around sucking
unfortunate characters dry and has a challenge rank somewhere between 50
and 75. The encounter used to be rare, so there's little information on
it other than Slyardach isn't a very tough monster to beat in combat. If
Slyardach is defeated, the character will get 10,000 - 30,000 gold and/or a
lost list spell, and a bonus to his highest skill score (like a normal
challenge).
Slyardach can affect pop center loyalty. He seems to lower the loyalty of the
pop center regardless of allegiance.
4.21 Sauron
Description: army encounter.
Location: anywhere
Sauron is a non-player-character that can only be encountered by armies. If he
ends up in the same hex with a force belonging to the Free Peoples or a
Neutral, he destroys the force and all attached characters. If he's
encountered by a Dark Servant army, he'll grant a random skill add to various
characters traveling with the army and might teach mages a lost list spell.
Sauron's ranks are as follows: Command 100+, Agent 80-89, Emissary 100+,
Mage 100+, and has a challenge rank of 143+ although it estimated to be greater
than 300; he's never been defeated in challenge, to my knowledge (although it'd
be interesting to see what would happen if a character carrying the One Ring
personally challenged Sauron, or transferred it to him if Dark Servant).
4.22 Tom Bombadil
Description: unknown
Location: hex 1409
Virtually nothing is known about this encounter except that it exists. No one
knows if Tom is an army encounter, a character encounter, or both. Tom's ranks
are as follows: Command 100+, Agent 100+, Emissary 100+, Mage 100+, and has a
challenge rank of 156+. He does not appear to react to characters, so he may
be an army encounter under special circumstances. The following is the first
and only direct encounter with Tom Bombadil that I've heard of. Note that this
was an army encounter,not a character encounter, and no options were given.
During the past few hours, a stranger appeared in our camp. Snatches
of song had been heard from within the forest, sometimes very close
to our paths our troops have taken. On a few occasions, some of the
troops had seen glimpses of this man who can best be described as
being bigger than a Hobbit but smaller than a Man. He claimed that
his name was Tom Bombadil and he seemed to be a very merry fellow.
We invited him to sup with us, and he regaled us with stories well
into the night. In the morning he was gone, but our food supplies
seemed to have been replenished.
[net effect: +3000 food to the army, about three turns worth for
that army, and below]
[On the character turn result for the same turn for Finlous was the
following message]
She had a special encounter. See Encounter Messages.
Scouting was performed by Radagast the Brown. A scout of the area
was attempted. Foreign armies identified: None. See report below.
[The area scouted by Radagast was on the east side of the map and
contained no armies. He believes it was a random hex, as he had no
reason to be interested in the area. He said that Tom Bombadil had
no other effect on the character or the army.]
4.23 Vampires
Description: usually encountered as men or women of great beauty, or
mysterious voices coming from the night.
Location: anywhere, but Mordor is most common.
Options Free Peoples Neutrals Nations Dark Servants
ATTACK the person combat combat combat
State your ALLEGIANCE escape escape escape
JOIN the person escape escape escape
HIDE from the person
REQUEST information injured/killed injured/killed
Say "CELGOR" escape unharmed escape unharmed escape unharmed
Say "THURINGWETHIL" injured/killed
SAY (one word)
FLEE escape escape escape
Notes: in most cases, escape from a vampire will leave the character with one
health point. Should the vampire be defeated in combat, the character will
often receive a variable amount of gold and possibly a lost list spell.Celgor
is the most common vampire met in the game. He appears as a beautiful man
who smiles disarmingly, showing up at your campfire in the dead of night. The
reaction Say "CELGOR" will allow a character to escape unharmed if that
character is a Dark Servant. Upon review of a very old encounter list, I also
had Free Peoples and Neutrals who Say "CELGOR" escaping unharmed. I don't
know why I changed this to 'injured/killed'. For now, I'd suggest a change to
your encounter lists for Dark Servants, and a cautionary note for FP/NT that
doing the same thing may also allow them to escape. I'm told by a reliable
source that the i.d. for Celgor is VAMPI, not CELGO (which stands for VAMPIre
Celgor). So, if you want to transfer artifacts to him, locate him via spell,
etc., use VAMPI as his i.d. I'm also told that Celgor may be the only vampire
in the game. Whether this is true or not I don't know; I've never personally
run into a vampire to tell you otherwise, although a number of people claim
to have encountered a female vampire (Celgor in drag?). If anyone has the
answer, I'd appreciate hearing it.
4.24 Werewolves
Description: usually appear as red eyes in the night, or wolves howling in
the distance.
Location: anywhere, but most especially in Western Mordor and Southern
Mirkwood.
Options Free Peoples Neutrals Nations Dark Servants
ATTACK the wolf combat combat combat
State your ALLEGIANCE combat combat escape
STAND your ground combat combat combat
Offer FOOD
Attempt to stay HIDDEN
SAY "CARAN-CARACH" combat combat combat
SAY (one word)
FLEE escape escape escape
Notes: there are two types of werewolf encounters. One is with a 'generic'
werewolf, the other with a monster named Caran-carach. The generic werewolf
has a challenge rank around 60-70, while Caran-carach has a challenge rank of
around 90.
If the werewolf is defeated in combat, the character stands to gain gold and a
lost list spell.
4.25 Wizards
Description: the army encounters an old man who looks like a wizard.
Location: Saruman and Gandalf can be found anywhere, but Radagast
generally stays in the Mirkwood area (though he'll range as
far west as Rhudaur).
Encounters with wizards are always army encounters; they'll ignore individual
characters. If an evil or neutral army is unfortunate enough to run into one
of these folks, they'll cause the loss of several hundred troops (up to one
thousand). If a good army moves into their location, they'll provide benefits
to attached characters as follows:
4.25.01 Gandalf: teach the character emissary skill (even if he didn't
have it before), possibly improve mage ranks as well. Is
rumored to teach a lost list spell on occasion. Gandalf's
ranks are as follows: Command 30-39, Agent 30-39, Emissary
60-69, Mage 80-89. Base challenge rank for Gandalf
standing at about 115 (165). Gandalf carries Narya, which
boosts his challenge rank by 50 points.
4.25.02 Saruman: will improve command rank, possibly mage rank or emissary
rank. Might teach mages a lost list spell. Saruman has
been known to grant mage skill to a character who didn't
have it prior to the encounter. Saruman's ranks are as
follows: Command 30-39, Agent 10-19, Emissary 70-79,
Mage 100+. Base challenge rank for Saruman is thought to be
around 123+. Saruman carries artifact 162, Glosovagil,
which gives him a +30 to his challenge rank.
4.25.03 Radagast: will improve mage rank, may teach lost list spell. Radagast
is a character encounter. He appears as an old man in
brown robes feeding a flock of birds. Options are:
ATTACK the man
CAPTURE the man and take him hostage
INTERROGATE the man for info
FEED the birds
REQUEST the man's name
ALLOW the man to join you
SAY _____ (only one word)
FLEE escape
FEED the birds = get locations/owners of 1-2 random
artifacts for Free Peoples, escape unharmed for Dark
Servants.
Note that only Radagast has a 'lair'. The name of the
place is Rhosgobel and it's located at 2713. Base challenge
rank for Radagast is assumed to be in excess of 90.
4.26 Ancient Barrow
Description: find an ancient barrow inscribed with runes.
Location: anywhere.
Options Free Peoples Neutrals Nations Dark Servants
BASH open the door
OPEN the door
CHALLENGE guardian combat combat combat
DIG through mound
REMOVE the runes win win win
FLEE escape escape escape
Notes: this is a stock encounter. The challenge rank of the wight guarding
the barrow is estimated to be around 75, though most characters who lose a
fight will successfully escape. Benefits to defeating the wight are gold and
a lost list spell. Evidence suggests that the choice REMOVE the ruins will
defeat the guardian and give the character gold and access to a lost list
spell.
The list suggest you can beat the Wight by REMOVE'ing the runes on the
Barrow. However, I can tell you that it doesn't work allways (my 54
Emis can - well, could have - witnessed that! So a challenge rank of 27
isn't enough. The encounter stated, that: "Try as he might (though the
Emis was a She!), the enchantments on the door seemed beyond her (hey,
the programs noticed!) skill to break." This could suggest that a
stronger character could have done it, or maybe just a character with
Mage skill...
Recent results have an emissary with a challenge rank of only 34
succeeding.
4.27 Demon of Aglarond
Description: discover a smoking being eating a cave troll deep inside a
mountain.
Location: anywhere in the White Mountains or surrounding hexes.
Options Free Peoples Neutrals Nations Dark Servants
ATTACK the being combat combat combat
State your ALLEGIANCE combat combat
ASK why being angry combat combat
Stand STILL for 1 hr escape escape escape
FLEE
Notes: This demon is quite active in the White Mountain area, and can make life
quite difficult for nations which insist on putting down camps in these mountains.
Slaying this Demon will win approximately 30,000 gold and a lost list spell.
Apparently there's been a bit of confusion regarding this beast. The demon
appears in the encounter to look much like a balrog, and both creatures often
track around Aglarond (as my Dunnish armies found out to their dismay). Because
of this, a number of players have run in to the Demon in the same place, and
assumed it was the nasty that slew 1,000 of their troops just a few turns ago.
Turns out this isn't the case. The Demon is just a demon, with a challenge
rank of between 50-75. It isn't a Balrog. There are still two balrogs (Durin's
bane and one other), but they're no relation to the Demon.
4.28 Olbamarl (Long Rider Major Town)
This is a RUMOR ONLY! It's said that in a random adjacent hex to Olbamarl, an
army commander can get an encounter with an old man who'll show the army a way
to march into and out of Olbamarl. I've never encountered this, nor has anyone
known; it could be a load dished out by some obnoxious player.
4.29 Ghostly Army Encounter
What follows is the ghostly army encounter I've been trying to hunt
down:
(My character) lay in his camp in the depths of the night, with a dark,
cloud-filled sky overhead. He tried to rest. The chill night winds seemed to
taunt him by blowing hardest when he nearly captured sleep. Suddenly awakened
by another freezing blast, he heard the sound of tramping feet rise over the
moan of the wind. He leapt up, looking for the source of the sound. Moments
passed before he finally saw them, a ghostly contingent of fighting men,
marching behind an eagle banner. War cries erupted behind him and he spun around
to see another spectral war party charging forward. At the head of the charging
party, a man bore a clenched-fist banner on the tip of the spear. Answering
cries came from the first group of warriors and battle seemed imminent.
Options Free Peoples Neutrals Nations Dark Servants
ATTACK all
COMMAND both sides
to stop
Attack the men escape with
bearing EAGLE banner injuries
Attack the men escape with
bearing FIST banner injuries
Declare your
ALLEGIANCE
OFFER to mediate escape with
a truce injuries
Say (only one word)
FLEE escape escape escape
Most common locations: Southern Mirkwood area including the plains, southern
Dunland near the White Mountains, Gap of Rohan.
4. Encounters
A note on encounter accuracy: many encounters are set up so that one result is
the primary result of the option picked, but there's a small chance that a
secondary result could crop up. Thus, a character 'DEMANDING' from Throkmaw
will most likely get his obediance, but it's possible (if unlikely) that he'll
get eaten instead.
I asked Bill at GSI about this. Apparently many encounters have this 'every
once in a while something goes wrong' aspect added to them so that a player
can't run around blithely defeating everything he runs into just because he has
the 'correct' response. Also, Bill admits to tweaking the encounters regularly,
mostly in an attempt to frustrate and confuse those of us who have the gall to
put together an encounter list in the first place.
The point is this: the responses given on the list may not always come up for
your characters; something different could happen. Also, GSI may changes an
encounter, thus invalidating a response. Since many of these changes are made
at random, there's no way to predict precisely what's going on. If you like
order and exactness in your life, putting together an encounter list is a
struggle against mounting chaos.
For most encounters, you can skip the '290' order and go directly to the '285'
order, providing a response. Of course, you have to know what you're facing,
since you won't get an option list like you do with the '290' order.
Here's an interesting note. In an earlier issue of the Mouth I stated that you
could move directly to an encounter and issue order 285 'ReacEnc', giving a
response, without first doing order 290. I said this based upon statements
made by Bill.
A couple of people have reported trying this and failing. I thought perhaps
they weren't giving a response for order '285', or that they were just unlucky
and didn't have the encounter, but I went back and actually found the paper
copy of the Q&A with Bill (I threw all the others out once I transcribed them).
Here it is, blow by blow:
Q: I'm somewhat confused concerning an earlier answer you gave in response to
a question about encounters. You said that a character in the same hex as a
dragon could force an encounter using the '285 React to Encounter' order.
Does that mean that I could have a character skip order '290' and move
straight on to order 285, giving a reaction (e.g., 'Act Meek')?
A: Yes! But you had best know what the encounter is before you react. You may
not want to....
Q: If the answer to the previous question was 'yes', can I do this with other
encounters, assuming I'm willing to bet I know what the encounter is (e.g.,
Daeron, Demon of Aglarond, Slyardach, Amon Llhaw, etc.)?
A: Yes.
Rather unequivocal, I'd say. There were other questions concerning this topic,
but they were basically a rehash to see if I'd get the same answer several
times in a row (I do this in case Bill is having a bad day).
Here's a tidbit that may clear up some of the confusion concerning whether or
not you can force an encounter:
You can issue order 285 and give a reaction, rather than 290 and waste a turn.
However, this doesn't give you any better chance of finding the encounter than
order 290 does. So if you drop in on Amon Llhaw and do order 285, it's still a
roll of the dice whether or not you locate the chair. It still makes more sense
to do 285, just in case you get lucky.
As for encounters that've already been revealed, ANYONE in the hex can react to
them. That is, if someone finds a dragon, the dragon is open to all characters
in the hex. Same goes for Amon Lhlaw/Hen, the Balrog, etc.
Just think of it as a light bulb. If the encounter is 'on', everyone can see it;
if it's 'off', we all have to fumble around in the dark until we find the switch
- unless the light bulb comes on by itself.
In almost all cases, encounters work on a sliding scale of numbers (a random
roll, if you will), with particularly bad things happening on a low roll, and
good things happening on a high roll. Thus, it's possible to 'critically' fail
and get eaten by Throkmaw while DEMANDING his obedience, or for a dwarf to
survive kicking Leucaruth in the shins and calling her a wuss. Please note that
very few encounter options always end up with exactly the same result every
time; there's almost always a chance that something utterly horrible or
unexpectedly good will happen to your character.
In light of this, you should be aware that the listings for encounters give the
most probable result to your response, not the absolute result. This is
especially true of dragons, many of whom are extremely fickle.
The results are now divided into 'combat', 'injured/killed', and 'escape
unharmed'. Combat will most likely result in the death of the character (or
monster), except where otherwise indicated (giant spider attacks).
Injured/Killed sometimes results in death as well, but there seems to be a fair
chance of getting out of the encounter alive (usually with one health point).
Escape unharmed will, except on days when the dragon is particularly grumpy,
usually get the character out without a scratch.
4.01 Army Encounters (Free Peoples)
Description: army encounters beneficial to the Free Peoples
include Eagles, Ents, Hobbits, Lossoth and Woses.
Location: Eagles are found in the Misty Mountains, especially
along the northern range. They can also be
encountered in nearby hexes.
Ents are found only in Fangorn Forest.
Hobbits can be encountered only in Arthedain,
specifically hexes 1109 and 1209 (along with one or
two others).
Lossoth are found only in the Northern Wastes
(hexrows xx01 to xx03).
Woses range virtually any forest, but are most often
seen in the forests of Gondor, Dunland, and
Cardolan, for example, Bein Com Woses: 1014.
4.01.01 Eagles: Eagles will attack and kill a large number of troops
if encountered by an evil or neutral army. Should they be
encountered by the Free Peoples, they'll often join forces. This
gives the lucky army a big bonus to combat, as well as a 'recon'
each turn.Brian Lowery and Steve Latham went to the trouble of
calculating the combat worth of Eagles. It looks like they're
worth about 10,000 points. It may be somewhat variable, as Mumakil
are; Eagles in lone encounters take out a range of points rather
than a single amount.
4.01.02 Ents: Ents are so rarely seen that all information on them
is sketchy at best. It's said that they'll destroy an evil or
neutral army they run into, possibly killing all attached
characters. They may or may not join the Free Peoples, depending
on their mood. Ents are said to provide a huge combat bonus (as
much as a dragon) and to act as a built-in set of siege engines
when attacking a fortified pop center. I recently had the good
fortune to fight ents and huorns in one of my games. Unfortunately,
we were defeated after a protracted battle and so were unable to
estimate the actual combat strength of the ents. The only thing I
was able to ascertain with any certainty is that ents are worth at
least 20,000 points.
Several rumors concerning ents tend to agree. It appears that only
the Free Peoples can recruit ents, and that they're only
encountered by armies crossing the Fangorn Forest. Given that
armies almost never enter this region, this would account for
Entish rarity.
4.01.03 Hobbits: There are two kinds of hobbits - Buck Hill hobbits
and Hobbiton hobbits. The first are found at 1109, the second at
1209.
Buck Hill hobbits will join a Free Peoples army,
providing a combat bonus and a free 'recon' each
turn.
Hobbiton hobbits will join an army and provide a
combat bonus, along with a boost to morale of 5-15
points each turn. The Hobbiton clan of Hobbits has
been discovered to provide no combat bonus whatsoever
to the army it's attached to. Other clans of hobbits
may or may not provide a combat bonus, but this one
most certainly doesn't. They do, however, increase
the morale of the army they're attached to each and
every turn, and this bonus to morale remains even
after the hobbits leave the army.
4.01.04 Woses: neutral or evil armies that have the misfortune of running
into Woses will be attacking, losing several hundred troops. Free
Peoples can recruit them, which will give both a combat bonus and a
free 'recon' each turn. According to Holger Eichmann, Woses have a
combat strength of approximately 9500.
4.01.05 Lossoth (Snowmen of the North): These are the "Snowmen" of the
North, and as such are only encountered in the Northern Wastes
(hexrows xx01 to xx03), the Lossoth are a Free-aligned army
encounter. If they run into Neutral or Dark Servant armies, they'll
attack, killing several hundred troops. It isn't known if they'll
join a Free army, nor what benefit they'll provide if they do.
4.02 Army Encounters (Other)
Description: the list of non-aligned army encounters includes
fell beasts, mumaki, spirits and wights, and
open sea encounters.
Location: Fell beasts are generally found in and around
Mordor.
Mumaki are only encountered in Harad and surrounding
area.
Spirits and Wights can be found anywhere, but are
most often encountered in Arthedain or the South.
4.02.01 Fell beasts: Fell beasts will attack and kill the troops of good
or neutral armies, stealing food in the process. They won't attack
Dark Servants, but will steal food. It's rumored that the Dark
Servants can recruit Fell beasts; how this is done (since the
encounter has no options) is unknown.
4.02.02 Mumaki: If encountered by an army with cavalry, they're
automatically recruited into the army. They give the army a big
combat bonus, although it seems to vary from battle to battle.
Mumakil will sometimes attack an army without provocation.
4.02.03 Wights: They crawl up out of the ground, killing troops and
spoiling food. Wights will ignore evil armies.
4.02.04 Spirits: Usually found near a grave yard or ruins, spirits
won't kill troops but will ruin food supplies.
4.02.05 Open Seas: Navies which don't belong to the Corsairs or aren't
carrying certain artifacts can lose ships to storms or actually
have their movement altered to a different course on the open
seas. All navies can lose ships to sea monsters or pirates
(warships are usually lost before transports, and large numbers of
warships seem to scare off pirates).
4.03 Amon Hen and Amon Lhaw
Description: A large stone chair or throne located upon a hilltop.
Location: Hexes 2620 and 2720
Options Free Peoples Neutrals Nations Dark Servants
DESTROY the chair
Sit on the chair wounds healed; wounds healed; wounds healed;
CLEAR your mind or no effect or no effect or no effect
Think of a 'Perceive Secrets'; 'Perceive Secrets';
NATION or no effect or no effect
Think of a 'Perceive Character'
CHARACTER and 'Locate Character --------> ------>
True' or no effect
Think of an ENEMY no effect no effect no effect
character dying
SAY (one word)
FLEE escape escape escape
Notes: the High Seats seem to be erratic in the exercise of their powers.
Sometimes they work several turns in a row for the same character, at other
times they won't work at all. This seems to be a random function.
As far as is known, the Seats aren't 'aligned' and will work for any character
regardless of allegiance. A character can safely ignore the encounter if he so
desires.
4.04 Balrogs (Durin's Bane)
Description: the character encounters a burning building of some sort
(hut, tower, house, etc.)
Location: see below
Options Free Peoples Neutrals Nations Dark Servants
SEARCH combat combat combat
ENTER combat combat combat
WAIT combat* combat* combat*
SAY (one word)
FLEE escape escape escape
Notes: Durin's Bane is one of the two known Balrogs in the game. Durin's
Bane is most often round in the Misty Mountains or northwestern portion
of Mirkwood.
Balrogs can encounter armies. When Free Peoples or Neutral forces are
involved, they'll attack and slay a large number of troops. It isn't known
whether they'll attack Dark Servant armies. GSI has confirmed that it's
possible (although extremely difficult) to actually recruit a balrog into a
Dark Servant army, much like recruiting a dragon. Paul Lundstroem reported
having a Balrog joining his Dog Lord army by moving onto the same hex.
As of this writing, the options given for character encounters with Durin's
Bane are unknown. Balrogs will affect pop centers like dragons, positively
for Dark Servants, negatively for Free Peoples, and randomly for Neutrals,
though such changes are usually minor (a few points at most).
Rumors have this beast with artifacts 165 (Cuiviegurth) and 166 (Calris).
4.05 Daeron
Description: encounter an elf playing depressing songs on a harp, or
working out with a rapier. The elf asks if you've ever
been in love.
Location: anywhere, but seems to be most commonly encountered in
Eriador.
Options Free Peoples Neutrals Nations Dark Servants
ATTACK combat combat combat
Say YES variable variable variable
Say NO variable variable variable
Say "Daeron" combat combat combat
Say "Luthien" escape escape escape
Say "Saeros" escape escape escape
FLEE escape escape escape
Notes: Daeron is an elf who was madly in love with Luthien and later betrayed
her and his kin to Morgoth. In sorrow, he wanders Middle-Earth singing moody
ballads and generally making a nuisance of himself. Daeron isn't associated
with any allegiance and will randomly raise or lower the loyalty of any pop
center he happens to be at during the turn.
Daeron is crazy and unpredictable. Those responses labeled 'variable' either
result in combat or escape, based upon purely random factors. As of this
writing, there doesn't seem to be any way to predict what Daeron will do, nor
get anything beneficial from this encounter. Daeron's challenge rank is
somewhere around 121+. Daeron's ranks are as follows: Command 20-29, Agent 10-19,
Emissary 70-79, Mage 100+. Note that Daeron does NOT carry the magical artifact
'Daeron's Rapier'. However, additional reports continually surface that Daeron
has artifacts 15 (Tinculin) and 132 (Daeron's Rapier).
Attacked by a challenge 197 DS character - and killed (sob..). Netted
2000 gold pieces, and a Teleport Spell (68%).
4.06 Dimrill Dale
Description: Mirrormere, a magical pool of great power. Seems to be
filled with reflected stars.
Locations: 2312.
Notes: It seems this encounter can only be had by dwarves. There are no options.
The dwarven character automatically receives 15,000 - 30,000 gold.
4.07 Enchanted Pool
Description: a magical pool wherein the character sees many scenes from the
past, present, and future.
Locations: seems to be anywhere.
Options Free Peoples Neutrals Nations Dark Servants
WATCH no effect
STEP into it get some variable no effect no effect
amount of gold
DRINK from it
CAST a spell at it no effect
TOUCH it no effect
SAY (one word)
LOOK away no effect no effect no effect
FLEE escape escape escape
This encounter can be safely ignored.
4.08 Elven Feast
Description: stumble upon a wild party thrown by a bunch of Silvan Elves.
One calls out a challenge to the character.
Location: Mirkwood, particularly in the southwest.
Options Free Peoples Neutrals Nations Dark Servants
ATTACK the speaker
REQUEST aid character healed no effect no effect
DECLARE your alleg. no effect no effect
JOIN the party no effect no effect no effect
INTERROGATE speaker
STAND your ground
SAY (one word)
FLEE escape escape escape
Notes: the elves don't seem to be particularly concerned with the allegiance
of the encountering character and won't attack unless attacked. This encounter
can safely be ignored.
4.09 Elven Non-Player Characters
Elven non-player characters include Celeborn, Galadriel, and Daeron. Daeron is
described in his own section of the encounter book.
Celeborn and Galadriel can't, to my knowledge, be encountered by lone
characters. They only interact with characters attached to an army, the
effects varying depending on the allegiance:
- If either of these NPC's runs into a Dark Servant or Neutral force,
they'll destroy a large number of troops with spells. They won't,
however, harm any characters traveling with the armies, even if the
armies are disbanded.
- If encountered by a Free Peoples force, Galadriel will sometimes
increase the mage rank of any attached characters (usually 10-15
points), and will possibly teach a spell or two as well. She may also
increase the morale of the army (usually 10-20 points). Celeborn will
offer to increase the command rank of any attached characters.
Both Celeborn and Galadriel tend to range Lorien, Southern Mirkwood, and
sometimes the Anduin Vales. Both have on occasion crossed the mountains into
Rhudaur and even Angmar. They affect pop center loyalty, increasing it when
the pop center belongs to the Free Peoples and decreasing it when the pop
center is in the hands of the Dark Servants or Neutrals.
Note that Galadriel carries the artifacts 'Galadriel's Mirror' and Varya,
giving her a +90 to her mage rank. Rumors also have Galadriel with artifact 164
(Tintelpe). She's an extremely formidable foe in combat, generally unbeatable by
any opponent (challenge rank estimated to be around 122+ (212+)). Galadriel's
ranks are as follows: Command 20-29, Agent 20-29, Emissary 70-79, Mage 100+.
Celeborn carries no known artifacts, and has a challenge rank somewhere around
79. Celeborn's ranks are as follows: Command 60-69, Agent 10-19, Mage 20-29.
4.10 Giants
Description: Character encounters a Giant who attempts to speak to him in an
unknown language.
Location: anywhere, but usually mountain or rough hexes.
Options Free Peoples Neutrals Nations Dark Servants
ATTACK the giant combat combat combat
THROW rocks character wounded -----> ----->
OFFER the giant food no effect no effect no effect
SAY (one word)
FLEE escape escape escape
Notes: giants can be encountered by armies. When this happens, the giants
begin to play games by throwing around large rocks, which has the end result of
killing hundreds of troops.
The option to 'throw rocks' sometimes results in the giant tossing a few
boulders back at the character, wounding him.
The challenge rank of a giant is somewhere around a range of 100-125. Giants
have been slain, though any benefit derived from winning such a combat is
unknown.
A rumor indicates that on very rare occasions, giants can be recruited into
armies. How this is done is unknown, and since I've only heard it from one
player I believe the rumor to be false.
4.11 Gladden Fields
Description: a wizened old man or woman offers to show the character a scroll
which contains the secret of the golden band. He/she offers to
take the character back to his/her hut to view the scroll.
Location: only in the Gladden Fields (swamp hex in the Anduin).
Options Free Peoples Neutrals Nations Dark Servants
ATTACK the man/woman combat combat combat
OFFER the person food
State your ALLEGIANCE
GO to see the scroll combat combat combat
Say (one word)
FLEE escape escape escape
Notes: this is an ambush, but a rather weak one. Most characters can
vanquish their opponents with little or no damage.
While I've never heard of anything useful coming of this encounter, it's
suspected that the appropriate response may give the character the
opportunity to learn a spell from a lost list.
4.12 The Harper
Description: the character follows enchanting music to a cave or grove, and
there he encounters a mysterious figure playing the harp.
Location: anywhere, but most commonly found in the South (Harad, Umbar,
lands directly east).
Options Free Peoples Neutrals Nations Dark Servants
ATTACK the harper combat combat combat
CAPTURE theharper
State your ALLEGIANCE no effect or combat -----> ----->
INTERROGATE the harper
ALLOW the harper join no effect or combat -----> ----->
SAY (only one word)
FLEE escape escape escape
Notes: this is a wight in disguise. Defeating the wight in combat will
probably get the character gold and a lost list spell, but this encounter is
rare enough that I haven't heard of anyone actually winning a fight. Even if
combat ensues, the character has a good chance of escaping with his life.
4.13 Lake/Swamp Surrounded by Cattails
Description: the character is at a lake or swamp and hears a child crying in
the distance.
Location: usually encountered in Mirkwood or the Anduin Vales.
Options Free Peoples Neutrals Nations Dark Servants
INVESTIGATE the cry find child; combat find child; combat ------->
State ALLEGIANCE
SAY (one word)
FLEE escape escape escape
Notes: if the character is at a lake and investigates the cry, he'll be
ambushed by a monster. If at a swamp, the character will find a lost child.
Finding the child has no known benefit. An unconfirmed rumor states that
rescuing the child will often result in a reward of 10,000-30,000 gold. I'm
told this is actually two different encounters that have similar openings.
This won't make any difference in terms of the response set, but you might
want to separate them out in your encounter file just to avoid confusion.
By the way, I'm told the monster are mewlips.
A character can safely ignore this encounter if he so chooses.
4.14 The Lonely Mountain
Description: character encounters a cave and stream while climbing the
Lonely Mountain. Human bones can be seen outside the cave.
Locations: 3108.
Options Free Peoples Neutrals Nations Dark Servants
EXPLORE the caves combat combat combat
SWIM the river
CLIMB the mountain combat combat
State your ALLEGIANCE no effect no effect no effect
Say your NAME
Say (only one word)
FLEE escape escape escape
Notes: trolls live in the cave and will attack a character who gives an
inappropriate response. While the trolls are difficult to defeat, a character
will generally escape any combat with them.
There's probably something interesting in the cave, but I've never heard of
anyone having this encounter with a powerful enough character to defeat the
trolls.
4.15 Paths of the Dead
Description: character encounters a cave cut into the mountainside near
a row of old statues.
Location: 2122.
Options Free Peoples Neutrals Nations Dark Servants
ENTER the cave combat combat combat
State ALLEGIANCE
State NAME
SAY (one word)
FLEE escape escape escape
Notes: this encounter can safely be ignored. If combat ensues, the character
will be driven out of the cave by ghosts and spirits. It doesn't seem to
matter how powerful the character is, which indicates that perhaps the
encounter can't be won by sheer force.
Historically, only the true king of the Two Kingdoms could walk the Paths of
the Dead. In the trilogy, this was Aragorn; in our game, the true king would
be Argeleb II, Aragorn's direct ancestor. If this is the case, it may be that
only Argeleb can get a favorable response from the Paths. However, no character
can actually summon the Dead as Aragorn did (GSI has flatly stated that this is
impossible).
A character can safely ignore this encounter if he so chooses.
4.16 Enchanted River
Description: the character comes upon a river which inspires both awe
and fear.
Location: the small river that runs along 2807. This is one river, not two.
It can be found in hexes 2708, 2807, and 2808.
Options Free Peoples Neutrals Nations Dark Servants
DRINK from the river gain random skill gain random skill gain random
add; lose health add; lose health add; lose
and spells and spells health and
spells
SWIM in the river character dies character dies character dies
State ALLEGIANCE
SAY (one word)
FLEE escape escape escape
Notes: the river is a variable encounter. Half the time a character who drinks
from the river will gain a bonus to one of his skill ranks, and possibly a lost
list spell. The other half of the time he'll get wounded and forget any spells
he might have known. There's no way to tell what the river is going to do until
you drink from it. The effect upon a character is variable regardless of
allegiance. You can lose more than health points and spells with this encounter.
One character lost 10 command points when he drank from it.
It's rumored that there's another river like this which also can be found in
Mirkwood (or perhaps the same one running through several hexes).
This encounter can safely be ignored.
4.17 Ruins
Description: character encounters ghosts and spirits.
Location: any location that has a fortification but no pop center
(most especially in Arthedain).
A non-aligned encounter, the character who gets it has a 50-50 chance of either
being attacked or gifted with gems worth up to 25,000 gold. It seems entirely
random any which way you look at it. This encounter isn't very dangerous
unless the character involved has an extremely low challenge rank.
4.18 Shelob
Description: encounter a large web with an unconscious woman trapped in
it. At her waist is a glowing sack.
Location: usually within a couple of hexes of Barad Ungol (3224).
Options Free Peoples Neutrals Nations Dark Servants
BURN the web + woman combat combat combat
FREE the woman combat combat combat
STEAL the sack combat combat combat
SAY (one word)
SAY "Elbereth" escape escape escape
SAY "Ungoliant" escape escape escape
FLEE escape escape escape
Notes: the woman trapped in the web is Shelob, a demon in giant spider form
possessed of remarkable intelligence and formidable sorcerous powers. Shelob
has a challeng rank of around 95, which makes her a tough opponent to beat.
Shelob's ranks are as follows: Command 40-49, Agent 10-19, Mage 70-79. In
addition, any combat generally results in death if the character loses. An
unconfirmed rumor states that BURN the web and woman results in combat, but
that Shelob starts out injured by the fire (giving you a better chance of
cutting her down). I can't confirm it, but it certainly makes sense.
Jeremy Richman reported that he's used the "Elbereth" response twice and had no
change in the scene (but no attack). I've never encountered Shelob, so I don't
know if this is the 'escape' (when encountering Daeron and saying 'Luthien',
there's also no change in the scene, but afterwards you can walk away without
being attacked).
Assuming the character is lucky enough to win a combat against Shelob, he'll
get a large amount of gold and access to a lost list spell. A character can
improve his odds of winning the fight by carrying the sword Ungolrist, which is
enchanted to slay spiders. Another weapon also gives the owner a bonus when
fighting spiders, but which I don't know.
4.19 Giant Spiders
Description: the character encounters a giant spider intent on making him
it's next meal.
Location: anywhere, but most often in Mirkwood and Mordor.
Options Free Peoples Neutrals Nations Dark Servants
ATTACK the spider combat combat combat
Offer FOOD combat combat combat
COMMAND the spider combat combat combat
SAY "Elbereth" combat combat combat
SAY "Ungoliant" combat combat combat
SAY (one word)
FLEE combat combat combat
Notes: giant spiders generally have a challenge rank ranging from 50-60. Even
should combat ensue, most characters will escape with their lives if they lose
the battle.
Defeating a giant spider often results in the character finding a stash of
gold, a lost list, or both.
Spider encounter at 3108. Spider was named 'Enna San Sarab' - note:
it's outside Mirkwood. DS character fled, and was forced to combat the
thing. Won the battle (character had 53 challenge rank). Note also,
that Enna San Sarab is a Major Spider in ICE. The mother to all the
'smaller' spiders roaming Mirkwood, and herself daughter of Shelob. She
sits in Dol Guldur, breading little-ones! She is also frequently seen
in Pop.centers influencing loyalty in a Balrog-like manner (if you've
ever wondered who Enna San Sarab was, it's not a persistent Emissary
from your opponents :-) ).
4.20 Slyardach
Description: the character encounters a cloud of mist which starts chasing
him about the countryside.
Location: generally in the Northern Mirkwood/Anduin Vales region.
Options Free Peoples Neutrals Nations Dark Servants
ATTACK the mist combat combat combat
State ALLEGIANCE combat combat combat
WAIT for the mist combat combat
Attempt to stay HIDDEN
SAY (one word)
FLEE escape escape escape
Notes: Slyardach is a demonic vampire cloud that goes around sucking
unfortunate characters dry and has a challenge rank somewhere between 50
and 75. The encounter used to be rare, so there's little information on
it other than Slyardach isn't a very tough monster to beat in combat. If
Slyardach is defeated, the character will get 10,000 - 30,000 gold and/or a
lost list spell, and a bonus to his highest skill score (like a normal
challenge).
Slyardach can affect pop center loyalty. He seems to lower the loyalty of the
pop center regardless of allegiance.
4.21 Sauron
Description: army encounter.
Location: anywhere
Sauron is a non-player-character that can only be encountered by armies. If he
ends up in the same hex with a force belonging to the Free Peoples or a
Neutral, he destroys the force and all attached characters. If he's
encountered by a Dark Servant army, he'll grant a random skill add to various
characters traveling with the army and might teach mages a lost list spell.
Sauron's ranks are as follows: Command 100+, Agent 80-89, Emissary 100+,
Mage 100+, and has a challenge rank of 143+ although it estimated to be greater
than 300; he's never been defeated in challenge, to my knowledge (although it'd
be interesting to see what would happen if a character carrying the One Ring
personally challenged Sauron, or transferred it to him if Dark Servant).
4.22 Tom Bombadil
Description: unknown
Location: hex 1409
Virtually nothing is known about this encounter except that it exists. No one
knows if Tom is an army encounter, a character encounter, or both. Tom's ranks
are as follows: Command 100+, Agent 100+, Emissary 100+, Mage 100+, and has a
challenge rank of 156+. He does not appear to react to characters, so he may
be an army encounter under special circumstances. The following is the first
and only direct encounter with Tom Bombadil that I've heard of. Note that this
was an army encounter,not a character encounter, and no options were given.
During the past few hours, a stranger appeared in our camp. Snatches
of song had been heard from within the forest, sometimes very close
to our paths our troops have taken. On a few occasions, some of the
troops had seen glimpses of this man who can best be described as
being bigger than a Hobbit but smaller than a Man. He claimed that
his name was Tom Bombadil and he seemed to be a very merry fellow.
We invited him to sup with us, and he regaled us with stories well
into the night. In the morning he was gone, but our food supplies
seemed to have been replenished.
[net effect: +3000 food to the army, about three turns worth for
that army, and below]
[On the character turn result for the same turn for Finlous was the
following message]
She had a special encounter. See Encounter Messages.
Scouting was performed by Radagast the Brown. A scout of the area
was attempted. Foreign armies identified: None. See report below.
[The area scouted by Radagast was on the east side of the map and
contained no armies. He believes it was a random hex, as he had no
reason to be interested in the area. He said that Tom Bombadil had
no other effect on the character or the army.]
4.23 Vampires
Description: usually encountered as men or women of great beauty, or
mysterious voices coming from the night.
Location: anywhere, but Mordor is most common.
Options Free Peoples Neutrals Nations Dark Servants
ATTACK the person combat combat combat
State your ALLEGIANCE escape escape escape
JOIN the person escape escape escape
HIDE from the person
REQUEST information injured/killed injured/killed
Say "CELGOR" escape unharmed escape unharmed escape unharmed
Say "THURINGWETHIL" injured/killed
SAY (one word)
FLEE escape escape escape
Notes: in most cases, escape from a vampire will leave the character with one
health point. Should the vampire be defeated in combat, the character will
often receive a variable amount of gold and possibly a lost list spell.Celgor
is the most common vampire met in the game. He appears as a beautiful man
who smiles disarmingly, showing up at your campfire in the dead of night. The
reaction Say "CELGOR" will allow a character to escape unharmed if that
character is a Dark Servant. Upon review of a very old encounter list, I also
had Free Peoples and Neutrals who Say "CELGOR" escaping unharmed. I don't
know why I changed this to 'injured/killed'. For now, I'd suggest a change to
your encounter lists for Dark Servants, and a cautionary note for FP/NT that
doing the same thing may also allow them to escape. I'm told by a reliable
source that the i.d. for Celgor is VAMPI, not CELGO (which stands for VAMPIre
Celgor). So, if you want to transfer artifacts to him, locate him via spell,
etc., use VAMPI as his i.d. I'm also told that Celgor may be the only vampire
in the game. Whether this is true or not I don't know; I've never personally
run into a vampire to tell you otherwise, although a number of people claim
to have encountered a female vampire (Celgor in drag?). If anyone has the
answer, I'd appreciate hearing it.
4.24 Werewolves
Description: usually appear as red eyes in the night, or wolves howling in
the distance.
Location: anywhere, but most especially in Western Mordor and Southern
Mirkwood.
Options Free Peoples Neutrals Nations Dark Servants
ATTACK the wolf combat combat combat
State your ALLEGIANCE combat combat escape
STAND your ground combat combat combat
Offer FOOD
Attempt to stay HIDDEN
SAY "CARAN-CARACH" combat combat combat
SAY (one word)
FLEE escape escape escape
Notes: there are two types of werewolf encounters. One is with a 'generic'
werewolf, the other with a monster named Caran-carach. The generic werewolf
has a challenge rank around 60-70, while Caran-carach has a challenge rank of
around 90.
If the werewolf is defeated in combat, the character stands to gain gold and a
lost list spell.
4.25 Wizards
Description: the army encounters an old man who looks like a wizard.
Location: Saruman and Gandalf can be found anywhere, but Radagast
generally stays in the Mirkwood area (though he'll range as
far west as Rhudaur).
Encounters with wizards are always army encounters; they'll ignore individual
characters. If an evil or neutral army is unfortunate enough to run into one
of these folks, they'll cause the loss of several hundred troops (up to one
thousand). If a good army moves into their location, they'll provide benefits
to attached characters as follows:
4.25.01 Gandalf: teach the character emissary skill (even if he didn't
have it before), possibly improve mage ranks as well. Is
rumored to teach a lost list spell on occasion. Gandalf's
ranks are as follows: Command 30-39, Agent 30-39, Emissary
60-69, Mage 80-89. Base challenge rank for Gandalf
standing at about 115 (165). Gandalf carries Narya, which
boosts his challenge rank by 50 points.
4.25.02 Saruman: will improve command rank, possibly mage rank or emissary
rank. Might teach mages a lost list spell. Saruman has
been known to grant mage skill to a character who didn't
have it prior to the encounter. Saruman's ranks are as
follows: Command 30-39, Agent 10-19, Emissary 70-79,
Mage 100+. Base challenge rank for Saruman is thought to be
around 123+. Saruman carries artifact 162, Glosovagil,
which gives him a +30 to his challenge rank.
4.25.03 Radagast: will improve mage rank, may teach lost list spell. Radagast
is a character encounter. He appears as an old man in
brown robes feeding a flock of birds. Options are:
ATTACK the man
CAPTURE the man and take him hostage
INTERROGATE the man for info
FEED the birds
REQUEST the man's name
ALLOW the man to join you
SAY _____ (only one word)
FLEE escape
FEED the birds = get locations/owners of 1-2 random
artifacts for Free Peoples, escape unharmed for Dark
Servants.
Note that only Radagast has a 'lair'. The name of the
place is Rhosgobel and it's located at 2713. Base challenge
rank for Radagast is assumed to be in excess of 90.
4.26 Ancient Barrow
Description: find an ancient barrow inscribed with runes.
Location: anywhere.
Options Free Peoples Neutrals Nations Dark Servants
BASH open the door
OPEN the door
CHALLENGE guardian combat combat combat
DIG through mound
REMOVE the runes win win win
FLEE escape escape escape
Notes: this is a stock encounter. The challenge rank of the wight guarding
the barrow is estimated to be around 75, though most characters who lose a
fight will successfully escape. Benefits to defeating the wight are gold and
a lost list spell. Evidence suggests that the choice REMOVE the ruins will
defeat the guardian and give the character gold and access to a lost list
spell.
The list suggest you can beat the Wight by REMOVE'ing the runes on the
Barrow. However, I can tell you that it doesn't work allways (my 54
Emis can - well, could have - witnessed that! So a challenge rank of 27
isn't enough. The encounter stated, that: "Try as he might (though the
Emis was a She!), the enchantments on the door seemed beyond her (hey,
the programs noticed!) skill to break." This could suggest that a
stronger character could have done it, or maybe just a character with
Mage skill...
Recent results have an emissary with a challenge rank of only 34
succeeding.
4.27 Demon of Aglarond
Description: discover a smoking being eating a cave troll deep inside a
mountain.
Location: anywhere in the White Mountains or surrounding hexes.
Options Free Peoples Neutrals Nations Dark Servants
ATTACK the being combat combat combat
State your ALLEGIANCE combat combat
ASK why being angry combat combat
Stand STILL for 1 hr escape escape escape
FLEE
Notes: This demon is quite active in the White Mountain area, and can make life
quite difficult for nations which insist on putting down camps in these mountains.
Slaying this Demon will win approximately 30,000 gold and a lost list spell.
Apparently there's been a bit of confusion regarding this beast. The demon
appears in the encounter to look much like a balrog, and both creatures often
track around Aglarond (as my Dunnish armies found out to their dismay). Because
of this, a number of players have run in to the Demon in the same place, and
assumed it was the nasty that slew 1,000 of their troops just a few turns ago.
Turns out this isn't the case. The Demon is just a demon, with a challenge
rank of between 50-75. It isn't a Balrog. There are still two balrogs (Durin's
bane and one other), but they're no relation to the Demon.
4.28 Olbamarl (Long Rider Major Town)
This is a RUMOR ONLY! It's said that in a random adjacent hex to Olbamarl, an
army commander can get an encounter with an old man who'll show the army a way
to march into and out of Olbamarl. I've never encountered this, nor has anyone
known; it could be a load dished out by some obnoxious player.
4.29 Ghostly Army Encounter
What follows is the ghostly army encounter I've been trying to hunt
down:
(My character) lay in his camp in the depths of the night, with a dark,
cloud-filled sky overhead. He tried to rest. The chill night winds seemed to
taunt him by blowing hardest when he nearly captured sleep. Suddenly awakened
by another freezing blast, he heard the sound of tramping feet rise over the
moan of the wind. He leapt up, looking for the source of the sound. Moments
passed before he finally saw them, a ghostly contingent of fighting men,
marching behind an eagle banner. War cries erupted behind him and he spun around
to see another spectral war party charging forward. At the head of the charging
party, a man bore a clenched-fist banner on the tip of the spear. Answering
cries came from the first group of warriors and battle seemed imminent.
Options Free Peoples Neutrals Nations Dark Servants
ATTACK all
COMMAND both sides
to stop
Attack the men escape with
bearing EAGLE banner injuries
Attack the men escape with
bearing FIST banner injuries
Declare your
ALLEGIANCE
OFFER to mediate escape with
a truce injuries
Say (only one word)
FLEE escape escape escape
Most common locations: Southern Mirkwood area including the plains, southern
Dunland near the White Mountains, Gap of Rohan.