This year I made a commitment to trying RPGs not named Dungeons and Dragons and now, having gotten some Pathfinder 2e, Dragonbane, and OSE under my belt, I’m prepping for the next game: Free League Publishing’s The One Ring 2E. 

I’ve been a Tolkien fan since the late 70s when I got to play Tom the troll in a junior high school stage production of The Hobbit. My science teacher, Mr Medeiros, encouraged me to dive into the Lord of the Rings, knowing I was already big into fantasy stuff. While I don’t consider myself a Tolkien scholar – the various tomes about his process of writing just does nothing for me – I’ve certainly read much of his dramatic works and have a good grasp on the world and that Middle Earth feel. And so I’m dying to try out this RPG.

Just reading through the rulebook, I can see this is very different from D&D, Pathfinder, and their ilk. Combat is very different, concepts like Shadow, and Fellowship, and Journeys are all treated differently than I am used to. It’s the concept of the Council, though, that I’m working through now.

These are my notes to myself to help me “get it”.

First, a Council isn’t declared for every social interaction. Players and NPCs can just have discussions in a pub without formal rules and structure. Councils are used for some momentous meeting where the players need something of value – information, access, assistance, etc., and not gaining that “something” would be detrimental. A few examples from the books or movies that I think I would consider a Council:

• The hobbits, fleeing from Black Riders, seek refuge with Farmer Maggot.
• The Three Companions, confronted by Éomer and his éored, request permission to continue across Rohan in search of Merry and Pippin.
• Aragorn begs Haldir to let them pass into Lothlorien and escape the orcs of Moria.

In each case, the heroes need something and gaining that something is not guaranteed. The request may present danger to the requestee, or be rather inopportune, or some other cost will be incurred.

Before starting the Council, the players have to make clear to the Loremaster (LM) what they are hoping to gain AND how much they’re willing to “pay” to get it. This is necessary so the NPC(s) Resistance Score can be established. The LM needs to determine if the request is aligned with the NPCs’ motives and if they’re in a position to grant the request easily.

“Hey Gaffer, want to go kick Sauron’s butt with us? We’ll give you a cookie!”

“Are you out of yer cotton-stuffed head? With my knees I can barely make it to the Green Dragon! And your cookies are terrible!”

The Gaffer would be very resistant to this request.

The Resistance Score is the number of successful skill checks the PCs must make to succeed. One thing I don’t see in the rules is the ability for the players to modify what they’re willing to do to earn the request. In some negotiations, you’d continue to raise your offer to the extent of your means. There is a fail state, however, that allows you to succeed with woe. I would probably use that to address this gap.

For instance, Bilbo tries to convince Gollum to show him the way out of the goblin caves. While Bilbo does “win” the riddle contest, he had some losses (suspicion over his possession of the ring as well as a “not riddle” question) and so he gets a success with woe. He does get shown the way out but at great risk to life and limb that he subsequently has to overcome.

I’ve watched a few videos that try to cover the Council rules, but I think some of them used an earlier printing and rules have since been changed. There was some mention of certain features being able to modify the Resistance Score, but in my printing there is no such thing. YMMV.

Anyway, with the Resistance Score established, it’s time to start the Council.

A Council starts with an Introduction, which establishes the mood of the Council. The players designate their best spokesperson to introduce the party. There is no one way to make a great first impression, but this is the goal here – earn enough time to make your case. Two of the ways mentioned, Awe and Courtesy, seem pretty easy to understand and employ. The rules mention Riddle as an alternative. Hmm. 

I’m thinking of something like Gandalf’s introduction of Bilbo and the Dwarves to Beorn. He certainly isn’t trying to use Awe and, though somewhat Courteous, he’s really playing a game, toying with Beorn’s curiosity. That sounds like Riddle to me. Gandalf and Pippin’s audience with Denethor could be similar, in that they were trying to be very cautious with their words. Maybe Riddle gets used much less frequently than the other two, but I think I have a basic handle on it.

As mentioned, the Introduction sets the tenor for the Council – the receptiveness to listen to the heroes – and has nothing really to do with the request itself.

The outcome is that the result of the Introduction indicates how many skill rolls you’ll be permitted to make in trying to achieve your goal. In the latest printing of the rules, this is either 3 rolls if the Introduction failed or 4 + any 6s (Tengwar rune) on the Success dice. Unless the players make some good rolls – or use Hope and Inspiration – this number may not be much!

Something not covered in my edition, but I have seen discussed online, is bonuses to the Introduction roll. Things like being introduced by a patron:

“Lord Elrond, I am a friend of Gandalf the Gray, who bids me say that ‘a single candle may start a fire sure to destroy a city’. My companions and I come to you as candles seeking a boon.”

Certainly not as majestic as something the Professor would write, but leveraging a patron should count for something. That seems more circumstantial rather than related to an affinity for a task, so I would likely add a bonus Success die to the roll.

The Resistance Score establishes how many successful skill checks you’ll need to make during the Interaction phase. The lower the risk/cost of the request, the easier it is to overcome their resistance. Unless the request is reasonable, however, there’s a very good chance that the players will have fewer skill checks than the number of successes they need.

That got me confused for a bit, but then I had to look more closely at the tools available to the players. First, if you have enough levels in relevant skills, you’ll have multiple opportunities to roll some sixes, which gives more successes per check. You can also use Hope, or use Distinctive Features to gain inspiration and then burn Hope for additional dice. There are also bonuses a LM can grant for exceptional circumstances.

Sure, a significant request from an NPC with limited resources can be granted, but it should be hard.

All of these skill checks are part of the Interaction phase. Each of the heroes may participate in this phase, using role play and some skill selection to try and get a success.

• Hamfast may sing a cultural song to connect with the audience to influence their mood.
• Garthond may describe the great deeds of the heroes, inspiring awe, and why they are deserving of aid.
• Aredhel, seeing that the audience is suffering from being too long under the Shadow may share some miruvor with them to enhearten them.

I see this section as the most challenging as well as the most fun. I think some skill checks may serve to improve or penalize subsequent checks. If a Persuade check fails so that the listeners start to think they’re being manipulated, should that result in them becoming Reluctant and removing a d6 from the next roll? Does that lead into a death spiral? Or the opposite on a success? This is probably one of those knobs the LM will need to learn to use wisely.

At some point, either the party achieves the number of successes necessary to meet or beat the Resistance Score or they run out of time, based on the Introduction results. Assuming the Introduction succeeded, even a failed Interaction, as long as there was at least one success, can be a Success with Woe, if you so desire. If the Introduction check failed and the Interaction also failed or the Introduction succeeded by ALL the Interaction checks failed, you’ve reached a disaster state.

And that’s how I understand a Council to operate and how I expect to run it at the table. Of course, no plan survives first contact with the enemy, as they say. I’m sure once I try to run a Council I will learn some things, but this is a start.

Have any experiences running Councils to share? Drop me a comment.