A Hobbity Holiday

One of the great things about The One Ring: Roleplaying in the World of Lord of the Rings, the second edition of the acclaimed The One Ring: Adventures Over the Edge of the Wild published by Free League Publishing is The One Ring Starter Set. Why do you ask? Well, because it lets us roleplay members of the Hobbit community whom we not normally encounter. Drogo Baggins, Esmeralda Took, Lobelia Bracegirdle, Paladin Took II, Primula Brandybuck, and Rorimac Brandybuck, in many cases the parents or relations of three of the Hobbits who would form part of the Fellowship of the Ring decades later. Under the direction of the scandalous Bilbo Baggins, the quintet went off and had adventures of their own in the Shire, whilst at the same time The One Ring Starter Set presented the Shire for the roleplaying game itself. Sadly, the five adventures had to come to a close and with it the chance to play those characters again. Fortunately, there are available a number of sequel adventures, including Landmark Adventures, that can be run as part of, or after, the events of The One Ring Starter Set, or simply added to an ongoing campaign for The One Ring: Roleplaying in the World of Lord of the Rings if it is being run in or around The Shire. The Ghost of Needlehole proved to be a sharp little ghost story, whilst the Mines of Brockenbores sent the Player-heroes to the far north of the Shire to inspect a mine, Sackville-Baggins Estates took them to the far south to explore a growing threat that comes to fruition at the end of The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, and in fourth Landmark Adventure, the Hobbits travelled to the most easterly of point in the Shire and beyond to The Withywindle and the House of Tom Bombadil! The next and fifth Landmark Adventure has the Hobbits sent hither and thither in a roundabout fashion, all before returning for a happy holiday.

A Hobbit Carol differs from the previous four Landmark Adventures and does not rely upon the half dozen pre-generated Hobbits from The One Ring Starter Set. This is because it takes place several decades after the events depicted in the campaign in The One Ring Starter Set, in 1389 S.R., by which time Balin has left the Shire to lead an expedition into Moria, Lobelia Bracegirdle has been married to Otho Sackville-Baggins for two or so decades, and Drogo Baggins and Primula Brandybuck, also married, have unfortunately both drowned, leaving young Frodo Baggins an orphan. Also, by this time, the One Ring, secretly in possession of Bilbo Baggins, has begun to weigh upon him and exacerbated by the death of his nephew and his wife, he has consequently grown cold, cranky, and bitter, matching the cold and bitter weather of that winter. Such is his change in character that Gandalf the Grey has warned Bilbo that he is certain to follow the path followed by Gollum if he does not heed the warnings of three spirits, representing his past, present, and future, that will come upon him. In what is effectively Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol in J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle-earth, they do and of course, Bilbo Baggins takes their words to heart and decides to change his ways by holding a big party. However, to do that, he will need help, which is where the Player-heroes enter the story.

With rumours rife about the crankiness of Bilbo’s character, the Player-heroes are hired by Hamfast Gamgee—nice to see him get a little time in the spotlight—to undertake three tasks. In turn, these are to go north to Bindbole Woods and there find a tree from which a large Yule-Log be made can be that be a great centre piece for the two-day Yule celebration Bilbo plans to hold; to head even further north to Hardbottle and barter or hunt for some fresh game for the feast; and lastly, to go to Buckland and escort the young tween Frodo Baggins to Bag End where Bilbo will make an important declaration about both his and Frodo’s future. This of course, is that he will make Frodo his sole heir. Naturally, Otho Sackville-Baggins is unhappy about this and will do all that he can to prevent this from happening. Otho Sackville-Baggins and his hooligan Hobbits are not only threats faced by the Player-heroes. The primary ones are time and the weather as the Hobbits do not have a great of time in which to accomplish the set tasks and the weather is very, very cold, and there is a chance of Hobbits suffering from it so, there are threats driven in from the wilds because of the weather, and there the Bounders, those Hobbits charged with patrolling and keeping the borders of the Shire safe, who can be very nosy when wanting to know why a band of Hobbits—and potentially queer folk like Elves, Dwarves, and Men—are wandering the Shire, especially given the bitterly cold weather.

A Hobbit Carol comes to a close with a jolly party held in honour of young Frodo Baggins and is a decent adventure that is best used as a one-shot given that it is not set during the timeframe for either The One Ring Starter Set or The One Ring: Roleplaying in the World of Lord of the Rings. One option, possibly, is to run it as a flashback, perhaps for older Player-heroes or as a story being told to younger Player-heroes. The scenario does include its own Journey Table for the travels of the Player-heroes back and forth across the Shire, but as a one-shot, it does not include a set of pre-generated Player-heroes or even suggestions as to what Player-heroes might be suitable. That said, A Hobbit Carol would readily suit a party of Hobbits as the adventure itself involves mild peril—there is some combat, but not a great deal—and hard labour in chilly conditions rather than confrontations with the dread Shadow.

Physically, A Hobbit Carol is cleanly and tidily laid out. The artwork, taken from the Artbook Compilation for The One Ring: Roleplaying in the World of Lord of the Rings is excellent. However, the layout is a little untidy in places and the adventure does need an edit.

A Hobbit Carol is a good little adventure, which like the earlier Landmark, Sackville-Baggins Estates, nicely develops the backstory to events of The Lord of the Rings, which works better as a one-shot rather than as an addition to a campaign.