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.