Encounters IIIRiver, Enchanted Description:the character comes upon a river which inspires both awe and fear.
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. *Swimming in the river doesn't allways kill a character. No-one tries swimming anymore because of lists like these on the internet. However, one player told me he swam in the river and got 10 Command points and 8 Agent points. He thinks that swimming is random (like drinking), you will get more skill bonuses but the stakes are higher! (Death rather than injury)! Radagast Radagast seems to be either a character AND army encounter, or just a character encounter. He appears as an old man in brown robes feeding a flock of birds.
Radagast: there's a rumor that Radagast, much like Tom Bombadil, may be sighted by neutral and evil armies. However, while you get a message for your army commander, no options are presented and there's no effect on your armies and characters (simply an interesting interlude). Radagast has a positive effect on Free People pop centres and a negative effect on Neutral and Dark Servant pop centres. It is said that Radagast and the man in the brown robe (feeding birds) possibly are the same people/encounter. I can now confirm that this isn't true. I have the message that Radagast was seen at Esgaroth (3109), but at the same time one of my characters had an encounter with the brown man at Ceber Fanuin (2715). Any idea who the brown man could be? Encounter for Thergor (DS) at 4015 to FEED the birdsThe old man watched as Thergor held up a bit of food. But no bird swooped down to take it. "They see the hearts of men more truely than the men themselves," the old man said. "If only all Free peoples were as wary of gifts from those like you. Thergor turned angrily but the old man was gone and the birds with him. Update from Allesandro.I noticed in your Middle Earth web page that you haven't any information about this encounter RHOSGOBEL A Woodmen emissary found in 2713 "a cottage, he knew it was Rhosgobel".He found jewels for 16000.Another player found 17000 in another game. In a different game a woodmen character was haunted by dogs who were guarding the cottage. I think Radagast is owner of the cottage. A ny information on this encounter would be appreciated?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 Shelob Description:encounter a large web with an unconscious woman trapped in it. At her waist is a glowing sack. Location: Barad Ungol (3224).
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 challenge 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 rumour 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.
Giant Spiders Description: the character encounters a giant spider intent on making him it's next meal. He was travelling down a shadowy ravine, when he came about a sharp bend and stopped. An involuntary gasp escaped as he took in the horrifying scene before him. Stretched across the ravine, no more than a few strides from where he stood, was a large web. The ground beneath the web was littered with bones of Men, Elves, Orcs and creatures he did not wish to guess at. No sooner had he decided to leave (and quickly) than he felt a terrible presence approaching. Just as he turned to look, around the bend came a great Spider, as large as a horse and clearly intent on having him for dinner.
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, breeding little-ones! Giant Spider: COMMAND the spider = combat for all. This result may work under peculiar circumstances (character has a particular artifact). I'd suggest trying it with someone who has Ungolrist, or the other artifact (which I can't remember) that's good against spiders. Encounter for Riana at 2914 (DS challenge 82) Riana attempted to flee but it was too late. The Spider bore down on her with amazing speed, its mandibles opening wide. Riana bravely bore the attack as the Spider charged, but it was a ghastly assault. Streamers of sticky web flew out at Riana and struggled to hold her immobile while the Spider's cruel mandibles made repeated razor-sharp attacks. It was by sheer luck that Riana was able to escape with his life and wounds. 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. 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.
Slyardach is a demonic vampire cloud that goes around sucking unfortunate characters dry and has a challenge rank somewhere between 50 and 75. Slyardach can affect pop center loyalty. He seems to lower the loyalty of the pop center regardless of allegiance. Slyardach: if you defeat the demon in combat, you'll get gold AND/OR a lost list spell, along with a bonus to skill rank. It's possible to get a spell without gold or vice versa. Slyardach serves the Dragon Lord character Lhachglin. It would be interesting to see what happens when Lhachglin has this encounter? I suggest next time this encounter is triggered, you say Lhachgin and see what happens? Tom Bombadil Tom Bombadil: Tom's location has been confirmed as hex 1409. He doesn't seem to react to characters, so he may be an army encounter (though only under special circumstances). If Tom moves, it hasn't been seen. During the past few hours, a stranger appeared in our camp. Snatches of song had been heard from within the forest, sometimes very closeto our paths our troops have taken. On a few occasions, some of thetroops had seen glimpses of this man who can best be described asbeing bigger than a Hobbit but smaller than a Man. He claimed thathis 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 wellinto 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 forthat army, and below] Tom Bombadil: Dave Rossell and Rochelle Neuman report that after a visit to Rochelle's army, Tom raise the morale a few points but did nothing else useful. Bear in mind that it appears that Tom's influence may be variable. 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.
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. 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. It's possible to be killed by this encounter if the result of the response is 'escape injured'. Vampires have a challenge rank of somewhere between 75-100. My DS character with challange rank of 82 chose FLEE and defeated Celgor recovering 12,000 in gold and jewels and a curses spell. There is also another (Less well documented) Vampire encounter. (This encounter may only be a 2950 encounter. If you had this in 1650 let me know, I'm not certain!)
Vampire II: Thuringwethil Character is at camp when a sudden chill passes through him and a shadow momentarily obscures the stars overhead. Alert and ready for action, he scanned the surrounding terrain, but could see nothing. Then, from out of the night, he heard a hollow voice. 'Little do I like finding others so near to where my errands take me! Speak, lest I silence you forever.'"
As a DS and FP I have fled this successfully. As a DS I have responded with ALLEGIANCE and gotten an amusing but safe response. (Don't have it handy but the ALLEGIANCE for her is quite different than for dragons. I blustered about being one of the DS greatest servants, and she replies that if I'm so great I've surely heard of her; and that we'll meet again - though we never do.) Werewolves Description: usually appear as red eyes in the
night, or wolves howling in the distance. Your mage began a short hunting trip to gather additional food for the journey. Besides, hunting always had a way of providing a feeling of great joy. As your mage travelled, your mage found few animals worth the hunt and had to travel farther out than intended. Suddenly, night fell and your mage turned to retrace his steps toward the camp. At least there was a full moon to guide your mage's way back. It was strange, though, that there had been such a scarcity of game. Uneasily, your mage became aware that the hunt had changed, and your mage had become the hunted. Quickly, your mage set up an ambush and waited. Within moments, a very large wolf stalked into the area. In the light of the moon, the Wolf seemed to have glowing eyes and a knowing smile. Slowly the Wolf's head turns and looks directly at your mage.
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. I chose FOOD. As a result, the following happened: "Your mage slid some meat out of his bag and tossed it to the slavery Werewolf Caran-Carach, but the beast never took its eyes off of your mage. Slowly he began to emit a high pitched howl that set your mage's teeth on edge. The Werewolf looked up at the mage with a feral grin and slitted eyes from which peeked an unholy light. With a gutteral growl, he leaped, his teeth gleaming white in the moonlit darkness of the night. The Werewolf's strength was prodigious and his ferocity was that of a cornered wild beast. The mage fought with all the courage and spells your mage possessed, but he found it almost impossible to focus for the killing blow. As your mage's limbs grew tired, your mage's guard grew weaker, and suddenly, the Werewolf Caran-Carach was at your mage's throat, snarling in your mage's face and bearing the mage to the ground. As your mage fell, the mage twisted away from the lunging beast and cast one last spell. The magic sizzled and engulfed the body of the Werewolf, and, with an almost relieved look on its face, it crumpled and died. After the battle, a small chest was found. Inside was a scroll which burst into flames. As it burned, your mage found a new spell in your mage's memory! Gems and jewels were also found. They valued at about 17000 gold pieces and were sent to the capital!" My character also got +5 Mage and +5 challenge rank. The character did not lose 1 single health point. I am tossing this encounter out, because in all the encounter tables I've seen, I haven't seen any responses as to what happens from the FOOD result. Most options will result in you being left on 1 health point, assuming you start with 100. Flee might be your best option if the character is important. Otherwise, if you're feeling lucky, try ATTACK (esp if you have a combat artefact). ***** Thanks to Jeffery A. Dobberpuhl for the above. Encounter for Rhlieu at 3108 (DS challange rank 42!)Rhlieu began a short hunting trip to gather additional food for the journey. Besides, hunting always had away of providing a feeling of great joy. As he traveled, he found few animals worth the hunt and had totravel farther out than he had intended. Suddenly, night fell and he turned to retrace his steps toward the camp. At least there was a full moon to guide his way back. It was strange, though, that there had been such a scarcity of game. Uneasily, he became aware that the hunt had changed, and he had become the hunted. Quickly, he set up an ambush and waited. Within moments, a very large Wolf stalked into the area. In the light of the moon, the Wolf seemed to have glowing eyes and a knowing smile. Slowly the Wolf's head turns and looks directly at him. ** He turned and fled and he heard a loud hunting howl fill the air. The sounds of pursuit were soon right behind him and he ran faster. As he began to become winded, he realized that the sounds were no closer and that the Werewolf Caran-Carach was merely playing with him. With a firm resolve, he turned to face the beast. The Werewolf looked up at the warrior with a feral grin and slitted eyes from which peeked an unholy light. With a guttural growl, he leaped, his teeth gleaming white in the moonlit darkness of the night. The Werewolf's strength was prodigious and his ferocity was that of a cornered wild beast. The warrior fought with all the courage and skill he possessed, but he found it almost impossible to land the killing blow. As his limbs grew tired, his guard grew weaker, and, suddenly, the Werewolf Caran-Carach was at his throat, snarling in his face and bearing him to the ground. As he fell, he twisted his body away from the lunging beast and struck as hard as he could. The weapon crashed into the head of the Werewolf, and, with an almost relieved look on its face, it crumpled and died. After the battle, gems and jewels were found in the area. They valued about 5000 gold pieces and were sent to the capital!
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