The Hunt for Gollum: a hero vs minon scenario
Posted: Tue Feb 23, 2010 6:37 pm
The idea of writing a scenario concerning the hunt for Gollum, carried out by Aragorn and some minions first flashed in my mind when a I saw the indipendent movie by chris Bouchard. I was amazed by how beautiful it was, and how deeply it grasped Tolkien's atmosphere. Discovering that it costed less than 4000 euros does not only me make more enthusiast about it; it strikes me as a sort of political fact (but here I digress...).
This is my first attempt at writing a scenario: it received a good feedback in the Italian forum, so I translated (very hastily, so I apologize for unavoidable errors). It needs to be playtested, and I'd be eager to do so! (on GCCG I'm lorenzo)
If someone likes it, and is willing to bring it to Lure, that would be great. I won't be there phisically, (with my deepest regrets), but I would in the spirit.
*****************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************
This is the Year 3001 of the Third Era. The Shadow of Mordor is rising again, and dark events approach. There is however one hidden quest that will eventually influence greatly the outcome of the War of the Ring, and the fate of Middle Earth: the Hunt for Gollum.
The research of the former bearer of the Ring is carried out in secret, by a few chosen heroes and minions, but its importance is huge. Sauron wants to know how the Ring was stolen, and where is it now; whereas Gandalf desperately struggles to avoid that the names “Baggins” and “The Shire” reach the ears of The Dark Lord.
Who will be the first to find Gollum?
THE HUNT FOR GOLLUM:
A Minion vs Hero Middle-Earth Scenario
Starting Sites: Rivendell and Dol Guldur.
Starting General influence: Both players may start with characters whose total mind is up to 16. The play of Saw further and Deeper and Bade to Rule is allowed, but a player cannot reveal his Wizard/Ringwraith.
A Deck is composed by 25 resources and 25 hazards minimum (at least 10 creatures).
A company composed only by a ranger or scout charachter has a hazard limit of one.
A playdeck may not include Call of Home (Each character has accepted this mission directly from the Wizard or sauron himself), nor Muster Disperses (In this scenario factions are not called to arms; their help is just requested to patrol their homesite and region).
A playdeck must include a copy of Gollum or Stinker. Each player may reveal Gollum or Stinker during the organization Phase, and put the card back in his deck (shuffle afterwards). Gollum or Stinker may not be played normally: they can be played only after an attack by My Precious fails but is not defeated.
No other agents may be included in the deck, nor resources influencing them. Hazards targeting agents may instead be played.
Only region movement is allowed.
Preparation:
One of the Players plays My Precious, face up at Goblin Gate. Both player roll for who goes first, and the second to go may tap My Precious for up to two agent moving actions. Sites used to move My Precious are always played face down, even if My Precious is a face-up agent.
My Precious special rules:
My Precious untaps on every untap phase, but cannot be moved normally during movement/hazard phase: each player may move him instead during his End-of- turn phase. When he does so, he also checks the legality of his former movement, and gives the expected sites back to his opponent. The first site played on my Precious must be the last site played with him, or a site in an adjacent region.. My Precious must attack a company who enters his current site.
In this scenario, My Precious effective constitution is considered to be 11. If a player eliminates My Precious during combat, the game immediately ends with a draw : nor Sauron nor the Free Peoples have access to the vital information kept by the former owner of the Ring (and he will not be able to eventually show up at a certain Mount Doom..).
The First Player who successfully moves Gollum or Stinker in a Haven/Darkhaven wins the game during his End-of-turn phase.
Gollum’s Tracks
Each character may make a roll during organization phase:
with 8+ he discovers if My Precious is at a site in the same region.
with 9+ he discovers if My Precious is at a site in an adjacent region.
with 10+ he discovers if in My Precious’s site path there is a site located in his region or an adjacent region.
Modify the result by +2 se if the character is a ranger, by +1 if he is a scout, by +1 if he is a sage (max modificator is +2).
The roll is also modified by +2 if a character controls a Noble Hound, and by +1 for every Wolf ally he controls. A player may reveal and discard a Far Sight or Catch an Elusive Scent from is hand to modify the roll by +1 for all the characters in a company. Movement may be declared after the rolls’ results.
Factions and Unique allies.
A character who successfully plays a faction or an Unique ally may decide not to put the Ally with him, or the faction in the MP pile. Instead, they remain in play at the same site. The site is never discarder or returned to the play deck, and never untaps for that player.
The site is no more available for My Precious’ movement (even for the player who stills has it in his site deck). Factions and Allies played in this way may roll during the organization phase in order to find tracks of Gollum. Their rolls are modified by the number of MPs they would normally award, and their abilities bonus in case of allies.
Trophies:
In this scenario, no hazard creature awards MP if defeated, but minions and heroes too can take them as trophies. For heroes, the bonuses are meant to represent their increasing determination in finding Gollum. (This idea has been discussed about in the italian forum; if anyone feels another option would be preferable, I'd really appreciate his opinion.)
Tapped Sites
When a company leaves a tapped site, it is not discarded; it is put, face-up, in a pile of tapped sites. The Sites untap when that player exhausts his deck, but are not returned to the site deck. Companies may come back at a tapped site, but cannot play anything in it. That player may no longer use that site for My Precious’ movement. This represents the fact that My Precious is unwilling to hide in a site that has obviously just been visited. (It also adds some strategic depth to the scenario: some regios have a very few sites in it; if a minion player uses goblin-gate for the Great Goblin, he has not any site left to move My Precious through Higpass...)
Company vs. Company Combat
No company can start CvCC before Gollum or Stinker are played: both minion and hero players heavily rely on stealth, and Gollum would be alerted by any fight in the surroundings. When Gollum or Stinker is in play, a company may start CvCC against his company. If the character bearing Gollum or Stinker is discarded or eliminated, discard Gollum or Stinker, and put My Precious in play at the same site. The player who started CvCC may move him normally during his End-of-turn phase.
********************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************
This is my first attempt at writing a scenario: it received a good feedback in the Italian forum, so I translated (very hastily, so I apologize for unavoidable errors). It needs to be playtested, and I'd be eager to do so! (on GCCG I'm lorenzo)
If someone likes it, and is willing to bring it to Lure, that would be great. I won't be there phisically, (with my deepest regrets), but I would in the spirit.
*****************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************
This is the Year 3001 of the Third Era. The Shadow of Mordor is rising again, and dark events approach. There is however one hidden quest that will eventually influence greatly the outcome of the War of the Ring, and the fate of Middle Earth: the Hunt for Gollum.
The research of the former bearer of the Ring is carried out in secret, by a few chosen heroes and minions, but its importance is huge. Sauron wants to know how the Ring was stolen, and where is it now; whereas Gandalf desperately struggles to avoid that the names “Baggins” and “The Shire” reach the ears of The Dark Lord.
Who will be the first to find Gollum?
THE HUNT FOR GOLLUM:
A Minion vs Hero Middle-Earth Scenario
Starting Sites: Rivendell and Dol Guldur.
Starting General influence: Both players may start with characters whose total mind is up to 16. The play of Saw further and Deeper and Bade to Rule is allowed, but a player cannot reveal his Wizard/Ringwraith.
A Deck is composed by 25 resources and 25 hazards minimum (at least 10 creatures).
A company composed only by a ranger or scout charachter has a hazard limit of one.
A playdeck may not include Call of Home (Each character has accepted this mission directly from the Wizard or sauron himself), nor Muster Disperses (In this scenario factions are not called to arms; their help is just requested to patrol their homesite and region).
A playdeck must include a copy of Gollum or Stinker. Each player may reveal Gollum or Stinker during the organization Phase, and put the card back in his deck (shuffle afterwards). Gollum or Stinker may not be played normally: they can be played only after an attack by My Precious fails but is not defeated.
No other agents may be included in the deck, nor resources influencing them. Hazards targeting agents may instead be played.
Only region movement is allowed.
Preparation:
One of the Players plays My Precious, face up at Goblin Gate. Both player roll for who goes first, and the second to go may tap My Precious for up to two agent moving actions. Sites used to move My Precious are always played face down, even if My Precious is a face-up agent.
My Precious special rules:
My Precious untaps on every untap phase, but cannot be moved normally during movement/hazard phase: each player may move him instead during his End-of- turn phase. When he does so, he also checks the legality of his former movement, and gives the expected sites back to his opponent. The first site played on my Precious must be the last site played with him, or a site in an adjacent region.. My Precious must attack a company who enters his current site.
In this scenario, My Precious effective constitution is considered to be 11. If a player eliminates My Precious during combat, the game immediately ends with a draw : nor Sauron nor the Free Peoples have access to the vital information kept by the former owner of the Ring (and he will not be able to eventually show up at a certain Mount Doom..).
The First Player who successfully moves Gollum or Stinker in a Haven/Darkhaven wins the game during his End-of-turn phase.
Gollum’s Tracks
Each character may make a roll during organization phase:
with 8+ he discovers if My Precious is at a site in the same region.
with 9+ he discovers if My Precious is at a site in an adjacent region.
with 10+ he discovers if in My Precious’s site path there is a site located in his region or an adjacent region.
Modify the result by +2 se if the character is a ranger, by +1 if he is a scout, by +1 if he is a sage (max modificator is +2).
The roll is also modified by +2 if a character controls a Noble Hound, and by +1 for every Wolf ally he controls. A player may reveal and discard a Far Sight or Catch an Elusive Scent from is hand to modify the roll by +1 for all the characters in a company. Movement may be declared after the rolls’ results.
Factions and Unique allies.
A character who successfully plays a faction or an Unique ally may decide not to put the Ally with him, or the faction in the MP pile. Instead, they remain in play at the same site. The site is never discarder or returned to the play deck, and never untaps for that player.
The site is no more available for My Precious’ movement (even for the player who stills has it in his site deck). Factions and Allies played in this way may roll during the organization phase in order to find tracks of Gollum. Their rolls are modified by the number of MPs they would normally award, and their abilities bonus in case of allies.
Trophies:
In this scenario, no hazard creature awards MP if defeated, but minions and heroes too can take them as trophies. For heroes, the bonuses are meant to represent their increasing determination in finding Gollum. (This idea has been discussed about in the italian forum; if anyone feels another option would be preferable, I'd really appreciate his opinion.)
Tapped Sites
When a company leaves a tapped site, it is not discarded; it is put, face-up, in a pile of tapped sites. The Sites untap when that player exhausts his deck, but are not returned to the site deck. Companies may come back at a tapped site, but cannot play anything in it. That player may no longer use that site for My Precious’ movement. This represents the fact that My Precious is unwilling to hide in a site that has obviously just been visited. (It also adds some strategic depth to the scenario: some regios have a very few sites in it; if a minion player uses goblin-gate for the Great Goblin, he has not any site left to move My Precious through Higpass...)
Company vs. Company Combat
No company can start CvCC before Gollum or Stinker are played: both minion and hero players heavily rely on stealth, and Gollum would be alerted by any fight in the surroundings. When Gollum or Stinker is in play, a company may start CvCC against his company. If the character bearing Gollum or Stinker is discarded or eliminated, discard Gollum or Stinker, and put My Precious in play at the same site. The player who started CvCC may move him normally during his End-of-turn phase.
********************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************