Game Of Thrones vs Middle Earth: Tyrion Arrives In Moria

Tyrion Lannister has been transported out of Westeros by some unknown power. He has been teleported not just through time and space, but also out of dimension, out of fictional canon... into the Moria Reclamation Project!  He doesnt come alone, he has companions from other surprising and unlikely places.  What fantastic adventures are bound to happen with the coming of these latest arrivals.

Narrator: You're traveling through another dimension, a dimension not only of sight and sound but of mind. A journey into a wondrous land whose boundaries are that of imagination. That's the signpost up ahead - your next stop, the Twilight Zone! 

Onwards to pics, fluff, and a skirmish!  I wont be using Warhammer 1st edition here.  Will you be able to guess which rules Im using, just from the descriptions?

Tyrion and Podrick

Tyrion - Lived in some squabbly gossipy land far to the west.  In this land, he was pretty much the only Dwarf around.  He is also called the Imp, Halfman, and his favorite - the Demon Monkey.  For reasons unknown, he has been magically teleported to Moria.  He has also acquired the services of some really savage looking barbarians.  He once told someone that a mind needs books as a sword needs a whetstone.  You know nothing, Jon Snow!

Podrick - A simple and loyal boy who squires for Tyrion.  Apparently, he is a big hit with the ladies.

Lord Varys and Maester Qyburn

Lord Varys - Also called the Spider, and Master of Whisperers.  He is a eunuch that has information about everything and has spies everywhere.  His motives and plans have never been fully known to anyone.  However, he does seem to be genuinely supportive of Tyrion and believes the Halfman could make for a great ruler.  He also seems to be the only one who knows just where they have been teleported to.

Maester Qyburn - A scholar and healer who was seduced by forbidden sciences and became obsessed with finding the secrets of life and death.  He can heal most wounds deemed fatal.  So powerful is his craft, that he can bring the dead back to life.  In the violent underworld of Moria, he will have plenty of subjects to further his experiments.

Crom and Beowulf

Crom the Barbarian - An old king from Hyperborea before the time when the oceans drank Atlantis.  Some worshipped him as a god who waged war against the Giants.  He also knows the "Riddle of Steel".  He has agreed to follow Tyrion because he believes that the Dwarf's destiny is to become a meal for the Giants.  When the Giants show up, Crom intends to slay them after they have had their feast.

Beowulf - Word has it he killed monsters and their mothers in the icy north, became a king, and killed a giant dragon.  It is said, he continued hunting monsters and dragons in neighboring lands until none were left... now he is in Moria.  He follows Tyrion because he thinks rubbing Dwarfs on the top of their head brings good luck and a bonus buff "to hit" against dragons.

Thundarr, Shagga, and Temujin

Thundarr the Barbarian - Another barbarian that feels the need to advertise that fact.  Used to wield a fire sword that uncannily resembled a lightsaber but lost it in a game of sabacc, hung out with a princess/sorceress, and had a pet wookie called Ookla.  He follows Tyrion because the Dwarf reminds him of a baby Ewok.

Shagga - Son of Dolf.  He enjoys chopping off manhoods and feeding them to crows and/or goats.  He is also the only barbarian here who comes from Westeros.  Because of this, Tyrion actually trusts him more than the others, but thats not saying much.  He follows Tyrion because the Halfman makes him laugh, not more than chopping off manhoods, but almost as much.

Temujin - An eternal champion from the mystical East, has gone by many names through the centuries Atylla of the Huns, Chingiz Xan, Timur-i-Leng.  He is a great conqueror who knows the answer to the question "What is good in life?"  He follows Tyrion because the dwarf reminds him of a tasty Spring Eggroll.

Here are the Doors of Durin, the Western entrance of Moria.  The Doors appear to be open!
The lands outside of Moria, are called Hollin, and they are flooded with swampy water.

I dont have a proper mountainside Doors of Durin, so I made do with my Dwarven Forge.
Not too shabby, I think. But I would love to make something more majestic, same with the Eastern Gate.

Tyrion and his advisors deploy on the Southwestern edges. They are led by Shagga, Thundarr, and Beowulf.

Podrick is tossing pebbles in the water...
Beowulf:  (grabs Podricks arm before he can throw another)  Do not disturb the water!  It has a foul look to it.
Tyrion:  Beowulf is right, everyone stay on the path.

Out east, Temujin and Crom scout the area to improve their visibility.
They are also having a religious discussion.

Temujin:  My god is stronger. He is the everlasting sky! Your god lives underneath him.
Crom:  ...  (squints his eyes at Chingiz but has no rebuttal)

A smoke monster appears near the entrance to Moria! It is an abomination from another dimension, brought into the physical world by evil blood magic.  Varys, thinks it fits the profile of something that killed a certain Baratheon.  Cold case file is re-opened!

Because it is hard to see, it gets a bonus to surprise and initiative.

Our barbarian heroes are caught by surprise and lose the intiative roll as well!  The smoke monster heads East to deal with the smaller opposition first.  In the surprise turn, it hits Temujin and wounds him causing Paralysis for 2d4 turns... 3 turns!  Temujin watches helplessly as the creature charges Crom.  Crom begins attacking back with weapons in both hands.

Ray Stantz: Gozer the Gozerian? Good evening. As a duly-designated representative of the City, County and State of New York, I order you to cease any and all supernatural activity and return forthwith to your place of origin, or to the next convenient parallel dimension. 

Peter Venkman: That 'oughta do it. Thanks very much, Ray.

The other barbarians rush to the aid of the paralyzed Temujin and Crom.

Meanwhile, something sinister and slimy rises out of the water.
Tyrion:  Ummmm... Varys, I need you to start running towards me... NOW!

But too late, the Swamp Worm attacks Varys, who fails his saving throw and is paralyzed for 5 turns!  Podrick, that brave squire rushes in to save him. 
Tyrion pulls out his bow and fires off an arrow.

Ash: You still don't understand what you're dealing with, do you? Perfect organism. Its structural perfection is matched only by its hostility.
Lambert: You admire it.
Ash: I admire its purity. A survivor... unclouded by conscience, remorse, or delusions of morality. 

Beowulf hears the sound of conflict behind him and turns around.  Seeing Tyrion in danger, he rushes back towards the Dwarf. 
Beowulf:  No one eats my Dwarf, except Giants!

The Swamp Worm bites the paralyzed Varys.  He falls to negative hitpoints and drops to the ground, clutching his wounded belly.  Podrick has trouble penetrating the carapace of the slimy creature, but the Worm has no trouble hitting him!  Podrick is seriously wounded and paralyzed.

The worm turns its attention back to the plumpness of Varys.  As the Worm hovers over Varys about to eat him whole, Tyrion pulls out his sword and charges in... and manages to wound the creature!  Maester Qyburn manages to Cure Light Wounds on Podrick and frees him of paralysis.

Meanwhile, Crom has been hit with a paralyzing shot.  Temujin now recovers and enters the fray.  Shagga and Thundarr take turns chopping at the Shadow thing with their axes.

Podrick is hit and falls below zero hitpoints, knocking him out.  
Tyrion:  Maester Qyburn, we can take this thing if we attack it together!  (looks around and finds himself alone)  Qyburn...?
The Worm rears up and prepares to strike the hapless lone Dwarf...

At that moment, Beowulf charges in shoulder first, knocking the Worm away from Tyrion.

Maester Qyburn keeps running.... straight into another Swamp Worm!

Dude, you are agro-ing all the monsters, you prick!
Stop Leroy Jenkins-ing the Swamp Worms!

Crom has recovered, he and Temujin charge the Shadow Monster.  Thundarr is down to a measly 2 hitpoints.

Beowulf slays the Worm. Tyrion takes a few more stabs to its head, just to make sure.

The Shadow Monster falls, and the barbarians hack it into so many shadowy little bits.

Everyone rushes towards the center to kill the other Worm, except Maester Qyburn of course who runs in the opposite direction.

With their combined might they slay the last Worm.

Temujin caves in its skull.
Tyrion:  Loot the bodies!  We will figure out xp and divvy up the gold later.

Tyrion:  Everyone into the cave!  Quick before anymore wandering monsters appear!
Maester Qyburn, out of heals, tosses healing potions to Varys and Thundarr.
Shagga and Temujin watch the back, while the rest of the party moves in.

Tyrion helps carry the portly Varys.  He may be fat and useless in a fight, but Varys is the smartest person in the group.  At some point, he may become more powerful than anyone else in the party.

Podrick with a guitar on his back walks beside Crom.
Shouldnt I be a bard? I want to reroll my class!
Thats only in the advanced version!
At the front, Beowulf and Thundarr lead the party into the unknown darkness of Moria...

Beowulf:  Someone light a torch!  
Varys:  (Varys casts Light) We are in a 10' corridor heading east.  The walls and floor are littered with bones.  There is a faint sound of water dripping down from stalagmites off the ceiling.  There seems to be a long dark dungeon ahead of us...  what do you want to do now?

---

So another nice little skirmish, to test the mettle of these newcomers to Moria.
Did you guess what rules I was using?
You will notice I used the term party, hitpoints, saving throws... 
Of course you did!  Im using basic D&D, red cover, Moldvay edition!  Look at that Erol Otus artwork!  Everytime I look at it, I hear metal guitars harmonizing.

Getting that old school D&D vibe there?  Its what I intend for these guys.  If Easthold is about gaming Oldhammer in Moria, the Savage Lands is for gaming wierd fantasy pulp, Tyrion and friends are about that traditional dungeon crawling experience.

The barbarians are fighters, Tyrion is a dwarf, and Maester Qyburn is a level 2 cleric, and I gave him a couple of healing potions to help out.  Varys is a magic user, and only has 2 spells.  I decided to use random spell generation, and Varys got Light and Read Languages!  Which is extremely fluffy, but makes him useless for now.  Oh, I should add to the fluff, that even though the doors were open, Varys used "Read Languages" to read the inscriptions on them.  So he knows the name of the place is Moria.

The Swamp Worms were baby Carrion Crawlers, modified to be less deadly, and the Shadow Monster I used rules for a Thoul (a ghoulish Troll with paralyzing touch). Again, I lessened its hitdice.  I didnt want a total player kill for my first adventure encounter.
Even with all the downgrading of the monsters, the party is in very bad shape. 


So I decided that Podrick, Varys, and Qyburn should be subject to Morale rules.  Checks happen when they witness friendly deaths/knockouts, and if the party is reduced to half strength with a modifier.  The barbarians are too bloodthirsty to ever run involuntarily.  I decided that dropping to negative hitpoints, doesnt mean death, but unconsciousness. -10 hitpoints is real death.  This way monsters can keep attacking or eating a fallen PC until it dies.  Which means, a PC better have some friends nearby to help them out!

So there you go.  Using D&D to play a Game of Thrones character in a Middle Earth location, where Warhammer characters are to be found.  Crazy, I know... Im testing the limits of sanity here.

Will I continue using D&D, I dont know...  maybe.  Thought it would be a fun little change of scenery... and it was.
But the next few posts go back to Easthold and the upcoming siege and for that type of game we need some Oldhammer!

Cheers,
Mar

Bonus feature: Soundtrack To This Post!
This is going to be a new feature I will start adding.

I made a Youtube playlist of music to listen to while playing the game.
Some proper 80s 'Eavy Metal... Those album covers look like D&D modules!
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLUipMnVM0esh_vVNfOJQkc9X2f325J2W4
Exciter - Long Live The Loud
Omen - Battle Cry
Savatage - Hall Of The Mountain King



When I played the previous Ziggurat of Doom game, I listened to:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLUipMnVM0esiDbkC8yNUL3cukRHV4xdRg
Hawkwind - Warrior On The Edge Of Time
King Crimson - In The Court Of The Crimson King
Rainbow (w Dio) - On Stage Live
Yes - Tales From The Topographic Oceans