The Last TorchEast-gate, Moria. T.A. 2989

Hallas, daughter of Baranthir. Of the Dúnedain, descended from the House of Valandil.At the quiet, yet strong urging of Elrond, she travels with Balin not only as a scout and by oath — but to watch, record, and confirm the truth of the deep shadow. Her small, reluctant band of dwarves:

It is seven miles from the East Gate to the Dimril Door, and another three miles to the ruins of Barazinbar. The One Ring's journey rules determine how far along the journey you are before an encounter occurs. The better your test results, the further along the journey events and hazards take place. Hallas and her company’s first encounter occurs three miles from the East Gate. While navigating the uneven footing on the stairs, Austri steps through some overgrown brush and falls into a small chamber in the cliffside. It turns out to be an old and forgotten workshop. They mark it on the map to return later, and the company continues their ascent up the stairs.

There is an overhang from which water cascades down the cliff face, supported by twenty dwarf-carved pillars that hold up the weight of the mountain. This is where the Dimril Door is hidden. The ascent and the area around it have been quiet, with no sign of other travelers—or orcs. With Fràr's assistance, Hallas begins to form an idea of where the door is located, but it remains out of sight for her, and they lack the key—obtaining that will be another mission.

They discover a carving on one of the pillars—runes that appear scorched or smeared, serving as a warning etched in haste. There are signs of a group that attempted to flee from a camp made here, including scratched trail marks and a child’s toy left near a rock. Hallas cannot determine the direction the group traveled. They leave the area and make their way up to the ruins at the top of the Dimril Stair.

Once a mighty dwarf fortress at the Redhorn Gate, the Citadel of Barazinbar now lies in ruins. This afternoon, the company approaches the decayed stronghold with caution. They hope to meet Morlena the trader, but they also expect to encounter Orcs, as they have discovered signs of Orcs passing through the area. Something seems to be disturbing the crows high above, though it remains unseen.

The group comes across a ruined Dwarven lookout, an ideal spot for setting up camp. However, they notice signs of a recent campfire, raising their concerns. As they investigate further, they find a young, wounded man from the Mountain Folk of Tarloch hiding nearby. He carries Morlena's trade symbol and brings a warning.

“She didn't turn back and pressed on toward the pass. Something is following her, and it frightened away the Orc patrol.”

This post covers two short sessions, each lasting about an hour. The first was about character and band generation. I brainstormed an “adventure” that involved starting with the journey rules, followed by council and combat in any order. The second session focused on that adventure, the Journey rules, and climbing the Dimrill Stairs. I drew ‘oracle’ cards from my WIP Adventure Tarot Deck (patent pending) to decide what awaited the company at the Dimrill Door. Excited about those results, I completed the last three miles to the ruined citadel just so I could draw from the deck again to see if we’d encounter Morlena, but we missed her.

I've had a few solo sessions in Moria, mostly notes jotted down on scrap paper and doodles on the back of envelopes. It started as a way to work out how to run the mechanics, feel, and scope of Moria for open tables, both real and digital. I would get comfortable with the mechanics and develop rumors and some game history to use in real sessions. I figured I could write this up like any other AP post, perhaps even create some videos or podcasts.

Hallas is created from the Strider rules of The One Ring, along with Moira's additions. That amounts to an extra 5 points for skills and some buffs for hope. In Moira, your solo character shares a calling with the band of dwarven adventurers that make up the 'company.' If you don't know, these all have mechanical weight to them, as well as feelz! Hallas started as a male dwarf, but I lost that scrap of paper and remade him as a male ranger. Snow White and the Seven Dwarves popped up somewhere in my internet feeds, and I was tickled by the idea of a female ranger and some grim, reluctant dwarves as the band assigned the ranger by Balin. And here we are!

You start with six dwarves in your band, but I only defined and took four for this first mission. Their size grants them a bonus for maneuvers but costs them in battle. So there are two more members in the 'band’, but I didn't include them for this first mission. I wanted the maneuver bonus and no penalties for stealth.

Most solo TTRPGs fall flat for me, but I've already said this. The One Ring and the Moria expansion have some great tools. I've been using my adventure deck, inspired by the Twilight 2000 encounter deck and the good old-fashioned Tarot deck. It's nice when the card draws sync up with the Moira text. For example, that unseen 'crow disturbance' sounds like that vampire creature that lairs in the cliff face near Barinzabar!!

Next issue, we'll look at the solo combat mechanics introduced in Moria for battles using your band of dwarves. I like the tactical boardgamey feel of the standard combat mechanics; we’ll see how these new rules match up.

Until next time,

Farewell! Maybe thou shalt find Valimar.