The Fellowship Phase
Sample undertakings
Meet Patron
If a character is in the same location as one of their Patrons, they may schedule a meeting to receive counsel, guidance, or training.
Heal Corruption
A character may reduce their current temporary Shadow points by engaging in work with their hands or minds. This could take the form of crafting a song, writing a poem, forging a weapon, painting a picture, or tilling the soil. The player will roll versus the most appropriate skill in the situation. A success heals 1 + the margin of success of temporary Shadow points. (Permanent Shadow points can never be healed.)
Characters who spend their fellowship phase in a sanctuary may attempt 2 rolls. Those who traveled home during the fellowship phase may make 1 roll.
Raise Status
Characters may choose to use their wealth to raise their status level. This may take the form of establishing a base of operations or improving its environs in the form of farmland, vineyards, a hunting lodge, or other endeavors.
Raise Reputation
Players may choose to invest their treasure in improving their local settlements or the sanctuary they are currently in. This could take the form of opening a school, building fortifications, or outfitting a local militia, among other endeavors.
Open New Sanctuary
If the company has traveled to a new location and established a good relations with the local inhabitants, the players can choose to make the place a new sanctuary with the permission of the locals. In order to make a place a new sanctuary, the current party must spend the fellowship phase together.
Education
If the fellowship phase lasts a full season, a character can spend the time in self-study, 8 hours per day, to improve a chosen skill by one skill point. If a professional teacher can be found, a character can gain two skill points in a season. If the character enters intensive training, up to four skill points can be earned in a season, or 1 skill point in one month.
To learn from a teacher, an appropriate teacher must first be located. Most teachers will require payment, and costs range from cheaper options where schools are available to more expensive options with personal tutoring, to the most expensive options of intensive learning. However, not all teachers must be paid. Some teachers may teach what they know for free to a select group of disciples, and others may teach as a way of showing gratitude or repaying a favor.
The above are just some examples of how a fellowship phase may be spent. Other ideas include pilgrimages for Elves or Dwarves, Rangers spending a season patrolling an area, or a few weeks of basking by the fire and swapping stories and songs.
