Ranger of the North S01E01
Last year, I got The One Ring, and also it’s solo supplement Strider Mode. It was about time, and having a solo supplement to go along, supported my choice. I’ll get right into the meat of the session, and then summarize my experience.
For character generation I rolled randomly for my character’s culture, but decided I’ll override any rolled choice I don’t like.
So the hero is Targon, a Ranger of the North.
Using the Character Lifepaths he’s a Watcher of the Border, and he grew up to be Slender
For now I will not spend more time trying to figure out my character background or personality and will continue with the game.
I chose Balin, son of Fundin as his Patron, and rolled up a mission to get the story started
This broken artifact could be a potent weapon against the enemy. What is this item and who wileds the skill to reforge it?
Targon is sitting in a far corner at the Prancing Pony, across, a dwarf raises his ale mug to him, gesturing to come over.
It’s Balin, his old friend. They exchange a few pleasantries, and after Targon has quenched his thirst with an ale mug of his own, Balin gets to the point.
Q: What is the item?
A: Foreboding courage
It could be… a banner or a horn?
Q: Is it a banner?
A: Yes
From his bag, Balin pulls out a big piece of cloth and sets it on the table. It is torn and tattered, edges burned to a crisp, threads pulled apart, and not to mention a big hole in the middle.
Under its washed out colours and dirt some vague shapes are discernible.
“This is the Banner of Fornost. Woven by elves, it filled the hearts of men and elves with warm hope in the face of the shadow. Victorious troops brought it back after th Battle of Fornost, but it’s fate was lost over the centuries. I got it from a trader who had bought if from a treasure hunter. Should it be repaired it could help rekindle hope when darkness is approaching.”
Balin puts it back in the bag.
“I’d start with the elves at Rivendell, see if they still have a master weaver among them who could perhaps fix it. Would you, Targon, undertake this journey? I’m afraid my road is in the opposite direction.” Balin asks.
“That, I shall do.” Targon answers and takes the bag with the tattered banner.
Targon earns 1 Adventure Point for accepting a mission.
He begins the Journey to Rivendell, by following the Great East Road.
Travel: 16/13: Success
An event occurs at 3 hexes eastwards.
Event: 5: Mishap: Obstructed Path.
Awareness: 6/11: Failure + Eye. 3 Fatigue Points.
Eye Awareness rises to 3.
Ill-Fortune: Unexpected Enemies emerge or are sighted.
It’s: (Wolves/Robbers/Orcs/Troll): Robbers: 2 Highway Robbers
Three days pass without anything of importance along the east road. Targon travels on foot, but lightly. As the great east road goes through some woods, a huge tree trunk blocks the way. Targon looks around, he concludes that the spring rains of the previous days have brought. He sees a small path to the side of the road and follows it to avoid the obstacle, when suddenly he’s ambushed by a couple of highway robbers hiding behind a boulder.
Swift, and vengeful, they point their spears to Targon. “Your money or your life.”
“Your life…” Targon responds, and they engage in combat.
Awareness: 7/11: Failure
Targon is ambushed and surprised at the first round of combat
1st Round
Stance: Defensive
Robber 1: Attack: 15/18: Failure
Robber 2: Attack: 7/18: Miss
2nd Round
Stance: Open
Draws his sword and attacks 1st Robber: 23: Hit with Special Success and Piercing Blow
for the extra Success I choose: Heavy Blow: Damage: 4+7=11
Piercing Blow: Robber Armor: 19/16: No Wound
Robber 1: Attack: 23/18: Hit with Special Success and Piercing Blow
for the Special Success adversaries do: Heavy Blow: Damage: 4+4=8. Targon is at 17/25 Endurance.
Piercing Blow: Targon Protection: 15/14: No Wound
Robber 2: Attack: 14/18: Miss
3rd Round
Stance: Open
As a secondary action Targon will attempt to retreat back towards the road
Atacks Robber 1: 17/11: Hit: Damage: 4. Robber is at 1/16 Endurance
Robber 1: Attack: 17/18: Miss
Robber 2: Attack: 13/18: Miss
4th Round
Stance: Open
Q: Has he reached the road?
A: No
Targon Attacks Robber 1: 22/11: Hit with two Special Successes. Robber 1 is at 0 Endurance and out of the fight.
Robber 2: Attack: 18/18: Hit with Special Success: Heavy Blow: Damage: 8. Targon is at 9/25 Endurance, and is Weary.
5th Round
Stance: Defensive
Targon attacks Robber 2: 11/11: Hit with Special Success: Fend Off (to increase Parry). Damage 4.
Robber 2: Attack: 20/20: Hit with Piercing Blow: Damage 4
Piercing Blow: Targon Protection: 8/14: Wounded: 7: Severe Injury
6th Round
Stance: Defensive
Main action: Jump/climb on the tree trunk
Targon Athletics: 12/11: Success
Robber 2: Attaccks: 13/18: Miss
7th Round
Stance: Defensive
Targon attacks Robber 2: 12/11: Hit with Piercing Blow: Damage 4. Robber is down to 8/16 Endurance.
Piercing Blow: Robber Armor: 15/16: Wounded: Eliminated.
Targon barely dodges out of the way as the robbers thrust their spears towards him.
He draws his blade which flashes in the sunlight, and turns the tide, by scoring a heavy blow at one of the robbers, his blade stopped by the robber’s armor before causing any harm.
Furious by the strike, the robber counters, and his spear finds Targon’s chest, Targon only saved by his leather corslet.
The other robber fails to score a hit, as Targon maneuvers out of the way.
Targon starts to tactically retreat back to the road, and attacks back, hacking at the robbers, who fail to hit him back. He follows up with another hit, and one of his enemies collapses under his blade, but he has opened himsef to the second adversary who strikes a heavy blow at Targon. He starts feeling the exhausting of the fight kicking in.
Targon hacks back and scores a hit to the remaining enemy, while trying to fend him off, but his foe is cunning, and the spear jabs at Targon under his ribs, piercing through the armor. He feels the pain, and steels himself, defending against his foe and climbs on the tree trunk on the road to get on the high ground.
The robber tries to jab at Targon on top of the tree trunk, but he fails, with the advantage of the higher ground, Targon slashes at his foe, hittin him at the skull, and dropping him to the ground, senseless.
Q: Are the robbers still alive?
A: Yes, barely
He jumps down from the tree trunk, and takes his foes spears and bows, and breaks them in two.
“You better stop your thieving ways. Next time a ranger comes across your deeds, we might not be as forgiving.” He leaves them to tend to their wounds, but not before trying to track their footprints and find a possible stash.
Targon: Hunting: 17/11: Special Success: Go quietly.
He finds their stash. Lesser hoard: Treasure value: 3. Magical Treasure: No treasure.
Before attempting to return to his journey, he will make a First Aid attempt for his wound.
I’ll spend 1 hope.
Healing: 29/13: 2 Special Successes. Injury reduced by 3. It will take 4 days to heal.
So, since it's my first time playing TOR, I made a few errors. They kinda balanced themselves out, so here they go: 1. I did not attempt to use the Robbers special ability using Resolve, to defend themselves more appropriately. This has to be declared prior to the attack, so I failed to do it as I was so eager to roll. They could have survived a few attacks.2. I did not apply the Dour Handed virtue of Targon which would have eliminated the robbers quicker as Targon landed a few Heavy Blows. 3. On my initial Travel roll, my (Favoured) Feat travel dice rolled both 1s, I mistakenly applied them as “Eye of Sauron”, which should have been an 11 on my non-customized dice.`
Not a few paces further, under a rock next to a tree, he finds a small pouch with coins and jewelry. Probably stolen from folk along the road. Targon takes these, and then he spends some time to clean and dress his wound, applying some medical herbs to the area, before heading back on the road. Two fewer robbers to trouble them.
Travel Roll: 21/13: 2 Special Successes, he travels 5 Hexes along the road before the next event.
his injury has healed, and his endurance is back to 25.
Event: Terrible Misfortune: Violent Weather. Eye of Sauron Awareness +1 to 4. Fatigue +3
Targon: Explore: 22/15: 2 Special Successes.
Five days later, he has went past weathertop and even further, when black clouds fill the horizon, and rain starts pouring down. Within minutes, a flash flood starts carrying along, trees and boulders. Targon is quick on his thinking. He looks around and finds a hill overlooking the rest of the area, and makes way towards it. He may be out in the open, and visible for miles, but he’s safe from the torrent running in the road below.
Travel Roll: 8/13: Failure. He travels only a mere 2 hexes, and it’s day 10 of his journey from Bree to Rivendell before the next event.
Event: Ill Choices: Disorienting Environs
Targon: Explore: 6/13: Failure + Eye
Targon gains a Shadow Point (Dread), and 2 more Fatigue Points. Shadow Test: 15/10: No Shadow Point gained.
Eye of Sauron Awareness +1 to 5.
Ill Fortune: Unexpected enemies emerge or are sighted.
Lore Table roll: Gloomy Depths
Q: Is it Undead? (Likely)
A: Yes
Q: Is it marshdwelers? (Certain)
A: Yes
An eerie morning a couple days later, a fog is covering the road. It feels unnatural and blocks out the sunlight much unlike the morning mist. Targon can’t see more than a few feet ahead.
He feels a penetrating chill to the core, and grabs the hilt of his sword. The ranger attempts to wait the fog out, so that he can continue when it’s no longer clouded, but it grows thicker by the minute and Targon grows uneasy. He’s almost overcome with dread, but he still holds hope despite the circumstances.
The sounds of the nature are now all muffled, and a thickening silence echoes all around.
He decides to try and get out of this fog, but soon he loses all orientation, and feels like he doesn’t know where he’s going. He can’t find the road markings anywhere, but now is walking on plain dirt. Anxious, he attempts to get back to where he was previously, when relieved, he finds some stone tiles in the ground. Trusting he’s found his way, he lets his guard down, alas he’s mistaken. At the last moment he sees some crumbled walls, just before he takes a misstep and falls in a hole in the ground below him.
He lands in a dark room a couple meters below, and, getting up in the darkness, hears uneasy sounds like growls or whispers. Dread overcomes the tall warden. Did he just see eyes glinting in the dark? Quickly, he draws his sword and his a torch, trying to light it up.
Targon: Awareness: (-1 d, due to the darkness): 11/11: Success
Q: How far away are the undead?
A: Very Close
Targon can only make one attempt to light the torch before the close in on him.
Targon: Craft: (spends hope, inspired): 13/11: Success
Q: How many are the undead?
A: 3
I’m not quite sure how to approach a dungeon delve in TOR. I found the Dungeon Crawling in Middle Earth homebrew resource, which is very nice looking (has some easy to catch typos though), and I’ll try to use it for some inspiration rolls, using all that make sense. Since we already have an encounter I will not roll an Encounter Die.
Room Contents: Rubble from ceiling collapse
Tone Setting: Chilly fog, rests across the ground
Room Lighting: Wall mounted torches (unlit)
Room Feature: Rotting old furniture
Wall Details: Floor to ceiling dwarven runes in the wall
Ambience: Faint running water
The shambling humanoids with pale flesh, surround Targon, as in the last second he pulls out a tar-soaked torch, lights an oil soaked cloth with sparks he made with whetstone and quickly wraps it around the torch. Torch in the left hand, sword in the right, he waves the fire to keep them at bay, and it seems to work.
1st Round
As they’re things of Terror, Targon must make a Shadow Test (Dread): 6/13: Failure. He gains 3 Shadow Points.
All the undead lose 1 point of hate as Targon holds a torch.
Stance: Open
Targon: Attacks a marsh-dweller: 17/11: Piercing Blow. Damage 4.
Piercing Blow: Marshdweller Armor: 10/16: Failure. Marshdweller spends one Hate point as per Deathless to not be slain.
Marshdweller 1: Attacks: Claws: 14/18: Miss
Marshdweller 2: Attacks: Claws: 17/18: Miss
Marshdweller 3: Attacks: Claws: 15/18: Miss
2nd Round
All the undead lose 1 more point of hate. Marshdweller 1 is now Weary.
Stance: Open
Targon: Attacks a marsh-dweller: 27/11: Piercing Blow and two Special Successes. Heavy Blow, Fend Off. Damage 12.
Piercing Blow: Marshdweller Armor: 6/16: Failure. Marshdweller 1 is slain.
Marshdweller 2: Attacks: Claws: 8/20: Miss
Marshdweller 3: Attacks: Bite: 12/20: Miss
3rd Round
All the undead lose 1 more point of hate. They’re now Weary.
Targon: Attacks a marsh-dweller: 18/11: Piercing Blow. Damage 4.
Piercing Blow: Marshdweller Armor: 5/16: Failure. Marshdweller 1 is slain.
Marshdweller 3: Attacks: Bite: 21/20: Piercing Blow and a Special Success. Damage: 6. Targon is down to 19 Endurance
Targon: Protection: 3/14: Wounded: Severe Injury (4 Days)
4th Round
Stance: Open
Targon: Attacks a marsh-dweller: 16/11: Special Success. Heavy Blow. Damage 12. The Marshdweller is slain.
He swings his torch and keeps the creatures away, and with a swift thrust, his sword pierces one of them all the way through. He pulls his blade out, waiting for his foe to drop inanimate, but instead, driven by a deathless force, the creature tries to claw at Targon.
The torchlight seems to sap their resolve, afraid of the fire, Targon swings his sword once more, and he hits the creature with a sharp slash at the neck, decapitating it, and dropping it for good.
Maneuvering through the rotting furniture in the room, Targon finds an opportunity and hacks at the second undead’s head, splitting it in half.
As he does so, the third one finds Targon’s back a ripe target, and get a good bite, piercing through the boiled leather armour. Targon screams in pain, and turns around with a heavy strike, cuts the creature in half.
Targon: First Aid: Healing: 14/13: Success. Injury will take 3 days to heal.
Targon earns one adventure point.
I’d say there is a Lesser Treasure Hoard with: 3 Treasure points.
Targon stops for a moment, and removes his armour to dress his wound so that it stops bleeding. Then he looks around the room, and finds some valuables. Perhaps these have been hoarded by these foul beings, or they belonged to the initial inhabitants of this structure.
Q: is the opening from the ceiling reachable?
A: No
So I may need to explore the dungeon further.
Q: Are there many exits?
A: Extreme no. There’s only one exit, and it’s not open it’s locked/blocked/barred somehow.
I’ll make a Lore table roll to see what I have to do to open it.
Surround, Stricken, Message.
Moria’s riddle key comes to mind! There’s a riddle that I need to solve.
It will be a Short Time (4 rounds) attempt of a Simple Complexity using Scan, Lore and Riddle skills to find the solution.
1st Round
Targon: Scan: 16/15: Success. He looks around the room, and finds the dwarven writing on the walls.
2nd Round
Targon: Lore: 18/15: Success, Fortune. Among the runes, he finds some Adunaic words.
Fortune: You find a moment of comfort or safety: I’ll give two more rounds of time to solve this.
3rd Round
Targon: Riddle (I’ll spend a point of hope): 10/15: Failure, Eye of Sauron. Misfortune: Your actions catch the Eye of the enemy: +3 Eye Awareness.
4th Round
Targon: Riddle (I’ll spend another point of hope): 22/15: Special Success: Go quietly.
The ranger looks up to the ceiling, see if he can reach the opening, but it’s too far away to jump or climb. He casts the torchlight across the room, and sees a single exit, blocked by a door with no handle. He tries to push it, but to no avail. It’s completely stuck. As his torch lights the stone frame of the door, he notices carvings.
This reminds him of a story he’s heard about how dwarf stone masons could lock doors using passwords. And the door would only open when they were spoken. Since there is no other exit out of this room, he realizes this is the inner side of the door, so there’s a good chance that the very word that is used to open the door is sculpted there. He realizes that as long as the door is closed, he may be safe for the moment, and takes a deep breath to think.
His knowledge of dwarf speech is limited to say the least, but the writing is in Adunaic.
He looks at the door, and with a steady firm voice he says “Open”
But a screeching boom is heard, emanating across the room, before the thunderous sound dissipates into nothingness. He can’t shake a dreadful foreboding feeling.
He thinks again, and tries a different meaning for the same word he saw. Perhaps over he years, it has changed. He says “Ajar” and the door, slowly pushes itself open. Not wasting any time, Targon slides out.
Q: Is this room the main exit?
A: No
Encounter Die: Trap
Awareness: 16/11: Special Success: Gain Insight
Trap Location: Flagstones on the floor
Clues: The materials are foreign to the dungeon
With the insight, he can see the trigger which is: thin, elven rope, tripped
Carefully he avoids it.
Overcome tricky obstacle: +1 Skill Point
Q: Are there many exits?
A: Extreme Yes. Twist: Empty Might
It’s a throne room.
There are two exits to the sides, and one to the centre, with a large gate.
Targon will attempt to open the main gate.
Q: Is it locked?
A: NoI should remember to always ask Telling questions in a positive phrasing.
As Targon gets out, he notices a very thin trip wire right in front of him. The torch light casting a faint line shadow on the floor. Some flagstones are from a different stone, granite instead of marble. Concerned that this could be a trap, he carefully, lifts his legs high enough and makes a wide step without triggering it.
He enters a bigger room than the previous one, with a large throne in the centre. Two passages head to opposite directions to the side, while a large gate at the other end seems to be the main entrance to the room.
Wounded as he is, he decides not to waste any time, and opens the gate, hoping to get out of this structure.
Encounter Die: Omen: Hoard Veiled Fire
Q: Is the exit nearby? (Likely)
A: Yes
A long hallway leads to another gate at the far end. Targon’s sense is fixated on the smell of oil. He looks to the sides of the hallway, and sees two shallow canals, filled with a black substance. Probably some means to light the hall? A defensive measure against invaders?
He can’t tell for sure what role did this oil play.
Q: Is the door open?
A: Yes
Targon pushes the old wooden door open and gets out of this dreadful place. The fog seems to have cleared.
Q: Is the road nearby?
A: No
Targon: Explore: 11/15: Failure
Q: Is this a standard risk level?
A: Yes
I’ll trade the Simple Failure for Success with Woe.
Lore table: Replenish
Targon lost his supplies when he dropped from the hole in the ceiling, and he didn’t realize until just now. He’ll have to spend at least a day Hunting to replenish food, losing 1 day of time.
He scans the area around him for any landmarks, and realizes he’s nowhere near the road. As he puts out his torch, and spends a moment to recollect himself, he sees that all his food must have fallen from his sack. Either in the drop, or during the fray. He’ll have to spend valuable time to find something to eat before continuing.
Targon: Hunting: 11/11: Success
Targon gathers the necessary supplies and continues after a day.
Targon: Travel: 14/13: Success
Event: Ill Choices: Mismanaged Provisions. Fatigue +2
Targon: Hunting: 16/11: Success
Three more days down the east road, Targon has went past the Last Bridge and is entering the Trollshaws, when he comes dangerously close to running out of rations. Since his last complication, the supplies he currently has, don’t last long, and he didn’t pay any notice to it. He takes his bow and heads off quickly to find some game. Without wasting any time, using his skills as a ranger, he returns with a few rabbits for dinner.
Targon: Travel: 17/13: Success with Fortune: You Locate or learn of a useful item.
Event: Mishap: Obstructed Path. Fatigue +2
Targon: Awareness: 13/11: Special Success: Gain Insight: Potential danger
Another obstructed path on the main road. Since we’re in the Trollshaws, I decide that it will be a troll somehow blocking the way.
A big, man sized boulder, catches the attention of Targon. Despite being in the same colours as the land, there is no plausible explanation as to how it could have moved there, as there is no hill or cliffside from where it could have fallen on that side of the road. Cautiously, he examines the surroundings, and he notices remains under the boulder. An arm, and legs are visible on the sides from underneath it. He looks across the other side of the road, and on the hillside, he makes out the vague outline of a cave mouth.
“Trolls” he considers, and crouches.
Q: What is the useful item?
A: Gentle haven. The traveller carries notes with directions of how to get to Rivendell. Perhaps he is a messenger.
Q: What time is it?
A: Early noon. Most likely the troll is sleeping
I can’t risk it, and will attempt to reach the remains stealthily.
Targon: Stealth: 13/15: Failure
Q: Is the troll asleep? (Certain)
A: Extreme No with a twist. The troll is waiting for another traveller to come across and throw another boulder to crush him. Eye of Sauron +1.
Targon attempts to reach the crushed remains, taking precautions to move silently despite the daytime that turns trolls to stone according to legend. However, he takes a misstep and breaks a branch, with a loud cracking noise. He turns around as he hears a loud growl. To his ill fortune, the troll was awake!
I decide to do a GM-ruling here, and have this troll throw boulders for a change. It can’t come out as it’s full daylight, so it will attempt to crush it’s victims by throwing boulders at them. Boulder 2 (6/12 Break Shield). Also it will only be able to make a single attack with boulders and not two in each round, despite having a Might of 2.
Opening Volley Phase
Targon: Bow: 12/11: Special Success: Heavy Blow: Damage 11. Troll has 49 Endurance Remaining.
Troll: Boulder 10/18: Miss
1st Round
Stance: Skirmish
Main action: take the message case
Troll: Boulder: 21/18: Special Success, Piercing Blow: Heavy Blow: Damage 14. Targon is Weary. The troll will Spend 1 Hate for Horrible Strength and make Targon’s Protection roll Ill Favoured.
Targon: Protection: 18/12: No Wound
2nd Round
Stance: Skirmish
Main action: escape. I will spend 1 Fellowship point and 1 Hope point to make the roll Favoured, and have an extra 1d.
Escape: 18/11: Special Success: Gain Insight: who was the traveller
I will award Targon 1 Adventure Point for Surviving the combat.
Q: Who was the traveller
A: Ominous Defence. Okay that doesn’t seem to work, I’ll go to UNE: Curious Serf. That’s a man of bree, a scout or explorer.
Targon draws his bow and shoots an arrow to the troll that has appeared at the edge of the cave. The arrow lodging itself in the thick troll hide. It growls and picks up a big boulder, and slings it with all its might towards Targon, who jumps out of the way. Targon is in the open and doesn’t like how he’s exposed to the troll’s rock-throwing skills. He doesn’t know if he can face such a foe alone, so he wants at least to get the letter case. He tries to keep his distance, and jumps to his target, picking up the case, when a second boulder hits him square in the chest. Targon reels back, weary, but thankfully not injured. He feels like he can’t take this foe. As long as the troll is restricted by the daylight, if he manages to get out of it’s line of sight, he should be able to escape with his life. He calculates the right moment, and makes a quick dash in a zig-zag pattern, running as fast as he can. The troll screams in rage as his prey escaped.
Targon takes a look at the case. Inside is a map to rivendell, and a sealed letter, by “Alcolm of Bree”.
Ruleset Summary & Solo Experience
As a first foray into TOR, I absolutely love it. It has very interesting mechanics, and the more I think about them, the more I like it.
TOR in particular has a Target Number which is derived from the core Attributes (Strength, Heart, Wits), so what your character is natural makes a task easier or more difficult.
Skills allow you to roll a number of d6s equal to your d6 level, so the more skilled you are at something, you’re more likely to succeed.
I love how these two work together for the same end result, but are separate from each other. Also only by having a higher skill can you get a higher chance of getting a special success, as the attribute only effects the TN.
Furthermore you always roll a Feat Die (a d12 essentially), numbered from 1-10 and having a face with the Eye of Sauron and a face with Gandalf’s Rune, which give a Misfortune or Fortune respectively. So different situations can increase or decrease the number of Skill dice, and they can also make the Feat Die be rolled at advantage or disadvantage, and the great thing about it is, that they will impact different things in the game!
Heading to the next part which is combat. I loved it. A skill roll modified by opponents Parry is made. Each character has an Endurance rating which one could think of as Hit Points, as they can take you out of combat. Each hit you receive will reduce your Endurance. Damage to Endurance is fixed, modified by any special successes rolled, and you only drop unconscious at zero. Only Wounds have the opportunity of killing a character, and that’s where armor has it’s place, as it can prevent this. There are many special successes that can be utilized by the heroes or their adversaries, and the heroes also have four (five in solo) stance to choose when fighting. There is no significant Death Spiral, with the major penalty is the risk of becoming weary if your Endurance drops below your Fatigue and Load rating. I won’t go into any more details, I just found that combat may look complex, but actually is very streamlined, with as few rolls as possible, but at the same time providing a great varied experience.
TOR has several bookkeeping stats, which all play a major role in the game. You need to keep track of your Fellowship, Endurance, Load, Fatigue, Hope and Shadow. Sounds like a lot, but they all provide a different result. Your character may start going down the shadow path, or lose hope, or become tired and need to rest, etc. These all provide an experience as close as one can get to the Tolkien books. The authors also chose terms whose name rings familiar to the LOTR trope.
The next part I adored was the Journey system, which is greatly expanded by the Solo Supplement (more on that later). Another smart way to run hex based journeys. An event will always happen, the question is when, and what event. So depending on how good you’re at travelling, you may make the journey with fewer events or as many as 1 per hex, making you earn each hex with hard adventuring. I love how this system could also work with a hex crawl generator (like the hex power flowers), and with any success based RPG ruleset. It’s something I’ll keep on my toolset for the future, as it works great for solo, and is much better than asking the Oracle or rolling on random encounter tables.
As I don’t want to make a review of TOR, I’m going now to give my impressions on the solo supplement. The experience of Shawn Tomkin in this is evident. Utilizing the Strider Mode doesn’t feel like you take an Oracle and put it on top of the game. Instead it connects to TOR so seamlessly, it feels like TOR was meant to be solo played. It has a Fortune and an Ill-Fortune table which you can use when you roll something good or bad on the Feat die (during regular ruleset rolls), so you can always get an Intervention of sorts while playing. It has a Telling Table (a Yes/No with Extremes, Oracle), and a Lore Table which has 72 each of Action, Focus, Aspect words. These words fit a lot in the theme without being explicit (for example it has Fell, Gloomy, Fellowship, which all bring out the Tolkien vibe), and then it also has a Revelation table for when the Eye of Sauron is fixed on you (another great mechanic!). Finally it has 7 Journey Event tables (6 entries each) which really create opportunities to adventure, essentially expanding on top of the existing Journey system and making it solo. I think it shines here.
So, it doesn’t work with Scenes or Actors. This may be an issue in the long run, if you want a more arching adventure and meaningful encounters. On the other hand, this brings a more gamey vibe out, where things happen on your way to your quest (the initial mission, but they need not be relevant). This follows up a lot the Hobbit vibe, where the party faced a multitude of dangers that were mostly random, before arriving at their quest at the lonely mountain.
I haven’t finished my first Journey yet, and have only accumulated several disjointed journey events, making my trip look like a book or journal. Having a defined enemy (Sauron), clarifies things a lot in solo. Because as I foresee now, the missions will be relevant mostly to the enemy, and depending on the location and the Eye Awareness, you may get extra enemy events. On the other hand there are ample situations for random events.
Overall the experience so far reminds me a lot of Five Leagues from the Borderlands, alas in RPG. I love it, and it can play very fast. Actually it plays a lot faster than most of the other solo adventures I’ve run in the past, and a great advantage is that I rarely had to pause for a long time and think how to interpret a situation. The rolls and results were straightforward, and the process streamlined, I really felt like playing the game, than having to write my story. I can’t tell how it will progress. It’s very deadly, but gives you the opportunity to get out of a bad situation if you need to. This was a good start, and I’m looking forward to how the adventure will proceed.
Solo, Pen, Paper and Dice 
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