Sanctuaries in Middle-earth are very important places. Before you have some experience with the game, it can be hard to fully understand why – they sound good, certainly, but what are the mechanical underpinnings that make them significant?
What Sanctuaries Do
• They are one of two stated places (the other being
‘home’) that allow characters to recover all hit
points.
• They are a place where persistent conditions can
be removed.
• They are a location in which the company may
remain together throughout the Fellowship phase.
• They allow Fellowship phase undertakings unique
to that sanctuary.
• They allow the Open Virtue undertaking.
• At the beginning of every Adventuring phase,
the company are either already at or gather at a
Sanctuary.
• Sanctuaries provide a focus for a shared story.
Recovery
At the beginning of each Fellowship phase, all
Player-heroes recover all of their hit points and Hit Dice,
unless they are suffering some specific conditions. While
this is an automatic occurrence, it makes sense within
a campaign that a Sanctuary has a part to play in this,
and this shouldn’t be underplayed. It offers a way to
build the character and importance of Sanctuaries, which
in turn builds the feeling of being part of Middle-earth.
Sanctuaries are implicitly tied to the Fellowship phase and
the healing that occurs.
The rules are not so rigid that this healing cannot occur elsewhere. But a Sanctuary is a convenient and logical place for this to happen, allowing the Fellowship phase to flow without spending too much time worrying about where the company are.
Removing Conditions
While again not strictly limited to Sanctuaries, it makes
a lot of sense for the Recovery undertaking to be centred
around a Sanctuary. Rivendell, Dale or Lake-town can
offer superior levels of care to a hero who has been
affected by a Wight, or struck down by particularly potent
Spider venom. If you wish to slow down the progress of
your Player-heroes, this is something to be considered.
It’s also immensely thematic to Middle-earth to retire to a
house of healing for a season or two.
Shared Location
During a Fellowship phase, members of the company
have the choice whether to retire to a Sanctuary together,
or disband to their own homes or other locations. Sharing
a Sanctuary can provide a cohesive Fellowship phase
narrative, with the company all remaining and growing
together. Having the company go to a Sanctuary together
allows them to share the story through the Fellowship
phase, each partaking in the shared events. If a company
disbands for the Fellowship phase, things can be a little
more disparate. How much each of these options appeals
will very much depend on the given player group.
Undertakings
By opening a new Sanctuary, the company
gains access to new undertakings and thus new unique
abilities. Future supplements will detail new Sanctuaryspecific
undertakings. A Loremaster can also create their
own undertakings as they see fit.
Beginning Point of an Adventuring Phase
This is probably the most easily overlooked, and yet
important, role of a Sanctuary. An Adventuring phase
usually begins as the company gather in a Sanctuary. The
rules are not so rigid that this must always be the case, but
it makes sense for most Adventuring phases to begin at
or near a Sanctuary that the company has open to them.
It’s a common point to meet up, and a place to begin a
journey with ample supplies and accommodation.
At the beginning of the game, if using these default assumptions, the company has only Lake-town as a Sanctuary: Bard is recruiting adventurers, there is a lot to do in that area, and it’s not too difficult a journey to many interesting adventure locations. Before too long the company will want to travel further afield, and they won’t want to cross Mirkwood at the beginning of every Adventuring phase. It is a punishing journey that can leave them ill-prepared for the quest they’ve embarked on. Far better then to unlock a Sanctuary on the far side of Mirkwood and be able to make the assumed journey in the Fellowship phase, beginning at perhaps Beorn’s House or Woodmen Town.
Reducing the need for excessive journeying is easily missed, but absolutely key. Don’t be coy about letting your players know this. It is a vital part of understanding Sanctuaries. In character, it would be most unusual for a group of travellers to meet at a place they’d never gone before and where they had no certain access to the hospitality of the house.
Focus
Running through all of these points on Sanctuaries are ideas
of in-world logic that save the Loremaster from having to
do too much explaining. In this sense, Sanctuaries provide
a shorthand: a clear place for characters to be, with some
clear goals, rewards and in-world logic. While some groups
may truly enjoy describing the minutiae of where they go
in their Fellowship phase, others will reap the rewards of
being able to say, “We all go to Rivendell together to rest
and recuperate; let’s decide what happens there”.
As well as a focus for the Fellowship phase, opening Sanctuaries is a clear need for a party that wishes to travel far and wide. The search for Rivendell or winning Beorn’s favour can be the company’s aim within a campaign, whether it is the main thrust or a side quest.
What Does Opening a Sanctuary Mean?
Companies of Player-heroes have a clear drive to open
Sanctuaries. Whether it’s to unlock undertakings, provide
local bases of healing and rest, or find a Patron, it makes
sense to open a Sanctuary.
Exactly what is happening when a company unlocks a Sanctuary? This varies from Sanctuary to Sanctuary, and indeed from game to game, but here are some ideas—Player-heroes are spending time getting to know the place and become familiar figures there. They might help the residents with their day to day problems, or assist in the expansion of a settlement. They may become familiar characters at Elrond’s evenings of tales and song, or worthy protectors of the animals of Beorn’s House. Your players may wish to describe exactly how they come to be welcomed without fail at a given Sanctuary. You may want to help them with some suggestions.
It is worth noting that the whole company must be present at the same place to open it as a Sanctuary.
