Baggin's Birthday: How it Works

[Vexendynamus]

I still see a great deal of misunderstanding and misinformation floating around about this quest. This post will hopefully save players some aggravation, frustration, and long periods of unnecessary waiting.

Procedure
1) Baggin's Birthday starts with an Auto-Bestowal quest directing you to speak with Frodo Baggins in Rivendell. Take the quest.
2) Travel to Rivendell and speak with Frodo Baggins, located inside the Last Homely House, first floor, right side, behind a door near the Vault Keeper. He will ask you to speak with Gaffer Gamgee in Hobbiton.
3) If you have no quick path back to Rivendell, consider taking the Milestone just down the road from the Last Homely House in Rivendell.
4) Travel to Hobbiton and speak with Gaffer Gamgee. He is located across the river, on The Hill, below the Party Tree. He will give you a list of story tellers and ask you to read it. Click on the story list next to the quest. Now speak with Gaffer Gamgee again. He will direct you to speak to Ted Sandyman.
5) Travel back toward the river and speak with Ted Sandyman, next to the Mill. He will give you a quest. Talk to him again to hear his tale and complete the quest. This will bestow a deed to collect 12 tales related to the disappearance of Bilbo Baggins, of which you now have one. You may now speak with active storytellers as described below.
6) Speak to 11 hobbit storytellers and collect their tales concerning the disappearance of Bilbo Baggins. Four storytellers reside inside the Ivy Bush, five reside in Hobbiton near the tavern, and two reside on The Hill, above the Party Tree.

6a) At the top of every hour, server time, exactly 4 of 11 hobbit storytellers, chosen at random, will become active. (Ted Sandyman, the 12th hobbit storyteller, always tells his tale at step (4).) These four hobbit storytellers will remain active for the next hour and display a quest ring for that period. The other 7 hobbit storytellers remain inactive for that hour and do not display quest rings.
6b) Speak twice to any active hobbit storyteller available to you, once to take his or her quest and once to collect his or her tale and complete the quest. A character may only collect each tale once. This means that if you previously collected the tale of an active storyteller, he or she will not show a quest ring or speak with you. As a result, you may see three, two, one, or zero active storytellers in a given hour, depending on your progress collecting tales.
6c) After collecting tales available that hour, you may leave Hobbiton. The server will not select a new set of active storytellers until the top of the next hour.
6d) Return to Hobbiton each hour and collect tales from active storytellers. You need not come every hour. Obviously, the more often you come back and check, the better your chances of quickly collecting all 12 tales.

7) After collecting all 12 hobbit tales concerning the fate of Bilbo Baggins, you will complete the story deed and automatically advance the main quest. Speak with Gaffer Gamgee, located across the river, on The Hill, below the Party Tree. This will complete the main quest and award the final birthday quest, to take the collected tales to Bilbo Baggins in Rivendell.
8) Travel to Rivendell and speak with Bilbo Baggins, located inside the Last Homely House, first floor, beyond a door on the left side. Bilbo will talk about the tales presented, then show a quest ring. Speak with him one last time to complete the final quest in the birthday sequence and earn a bookstand (small furniture) for your efforts.

Hobbits and Locations
Ted Sandyman...................... .Across the river from Hobbiton, in front of the Mill
Sheriff Robin Smallburrow......Inside the Ivy Bush tavern
Dudo Chubbs........................ .Hobbiton, next to the Task Board
Lobellia Sackville-Baggins.......The Hill, above the Party Tree
The Storyteller................... ....Inside the Ivy Bush tavern
Hal Hornblower.................... ..Hobbiton, next to the Stable
Bogo Cubb.......................... ...Hobbiton, next to the Stable
Lotho Sackville-Baggins..........The Hill, above the Party Tree (Also Brockenborings, inside the Plough and Stars tavern)
A hobbit child......................... Inside the Ivy Bush tavern
Hereward Loamsdown.............Inside the Ivy Bush tavern
Holly Hornblower.................... Hobbiton, behind the Ivy Bush tavern
Postman Grubb.......................Ho bbiton, at the Post Office

Strategies
1) If you have multiple characters, run each one through steps (1) through (5) above, then position them in Hobbiton. At the top of each hour, sign onto each character in turn and collect any new stories. Keeping a spreadsheet detailing who collected what stories speeds up this process. After cycling through all your characters in a given hour, go do something else. When a given character collects all 12 tales, advance him or her to step (7).
2) If you have one character, run him or her through steps (1) through (6) above. You have now collected 5 of 12 tales. Note the hour. Grab the milestone in Hobbiton. Go do something else. Return to Hobbiton about 55 minutes into the NEXT hour and collect any new stories. Wait for the hour to pass then collect stories again. Now go do something else for about two hours. Repeat until you have all 12 tales, then advance to step (7) above.

Example:
7:26pm: Run to Rivendell and get quest.
7:31pm: Arrive in Hobbiton, speak with Gaffer Gamgee, Ted Sandyman, and 4 active hobbit storytellers. (5 of 12 done)
7:40pm to 8:54pm: Do something besides standing around in Hobbiton.
8:55pm: Return to Hobbiton and speak to active storytellers. Collect three more stories. Wait. (8 of 12)
9:01pm: Speak to active storytellers and collect one more story. (9 of 12)
9:05pm to 10:54pm: Do something besides standing around in Hobbiton.
10:55pm: Return to Hobbiton and speak to active storytellers. No new stories. Wait. (9 of 12)
11:01pm: Speak to active storytellers and collect two more stories. (11 of 12)
So on...

FAQ
1) How many hobbit storytellers become active each hour? Exactly 4. If you see three, two, one, or no active storytellers, you already collected a tale from each missing hobbit.
2) Is there any pattern to the storytellers? Based on personal experience with 13 characters and data from other players, the server chooses storytellers at random.
3) Will new storytellers become active at half past the hour? No.
4) If I stand next to the hobbit I need and wait, will it help? Based on personal experience with 13 characters and data from other players, no.
5) Do the quests in this chain award Bounder's Bags? Yes. Every character completing the entire Baggin's Birthday quest chain will earn approximately 15 Bounder's Bags.
6) Can Free to Play and Premium players complete the Baggin's Birthday quest chain and reach Rivendell? Yes. You may ride overland to Rivendell on your personal horse, use slow stable mounts (South Bree to Forsaken Inn to Ost Guruth to Rivendell; requires previous discovery of all stables on route), use a Mithril Coin to Swift Travel from South Bree to Rivendell, have a Captain summon you to Rivendell, or have a hunter take you to Rivendell.
7) Can I have your stuff? No.

I take full responsibility for any errors or omissions in this post. If you find an error or omission, please write up the issue and I will ammend this post as necessary.

Edit (9/22/13; 3:58pm): Added list of hobbits and locations, FAQ question 5, and FAQ question 6.

[Singbard]

Thank you for this!

One comment: I found Lotho Sackville-Baggins in the Plough and Stars inn and tavern in Brockenborings.
[im Pflug und Sterne in Dachsbauten]

[banjolier]

5) Can I have your stuff? No.

awwww.


j/k. great writeup. pretty much spot-on with my experience (10 alts on the same server) -- it took the first 2 hours to get everyone through the intro and staged in Hobbiton, but after hour 3 or 4 they were all synced up and had exactly the same 4 storytellers left to find. i spent the rest of the evening watching an old TV show and logging 1 character in at the hour to check for missing stories; when the missing ones showed up, i could switch characters to pick them up, then go back to my show.

I found Lotho Sackville-Baggins in the Plough and Stars inn and tavern in Brockenborings.

And he had the quest for you at that location as well? Interesting. The Bag End location where Lotho is talking with Lobelia should be closer to the main action, but good catch finding the alternate location.

[Celebrawn]

I managed to finish it on ten alts in a 24 hour period, and got more than enough tokens for a steed out of it. It was driving me nuts watching people standing around a NPC waiting for them to speak at 10 minutes after the hour. I would periodically type a brief explanation of how it works in chat, but afterwards people would still be standing around NPCs emoting anger and impatience at them, go figure.

[Link64]

Thank you for this!

One comment: I found Lotho Sackville-Baggins in the Plough and Stars inn and tavern in Brockenborings.
[im Pflug und Sterne in Dachsbauten]

Yeah he'll be there for the Vol 3 epic quest chain. Rather interesting that he had this quest active on him there but not unprecedented. The drunken revelers in Lothlorien were useable for the Farmer's Festival quest to reprimand drunken hobbit revelers in Hobbiton in the first year (and many used them to circumvent the bugged state of the quest at that time).

To the OP, great write up on this. I can't say how many people I came across that had no idea how the quest functioned and were insisting on all kinds of crazy things. I myself ran nine characters through this and actually managed to have most of my characters finish in three cycles (the others would have done the same if not for timing issues from taking lowbie toons to Rivendell for the first time).

[Roguestar]

I have to ask. Someone said this out loud and thought this sounded like a good idea? Let's have it where people have to log on every hour to find the random 4 of 11 hobbits who want to talk? I have to say I miss how this is supposed to be fun. By the way I do appreciate that the poster here cleared up a lot of issues for me and wish to say thanks for that, it really helped ease my frustration with this quest line.

[LordMichaelPrescott]

I am a Free-to-Play player. Do I have access to Rivendell, and how do I get there if I do?

Thanks for any and all help.

[Link64]

I have to ask. Someone said this out loud and thought this sounded like a good idea? Let's have it where people have to log on every hour to find the random 4 of 11 hobbits who want to talk? I have to say I miss how this is supposed to be fun. By the way I do appreciate that the poster here cleared up a lot of issues for me and wish to say thanks for that, it really helped ease my frustration with this quest line.

The fun is in the stories. This is very clearly a lore-based activity and those that enjoy such things will find time to do it. Best thing is to run instances or skirms if you plan on standing around waiting (checking in between runs). Or you can go off and do whatever you want and just travel back to Hobbiton to check on things.

I am a Free-to-Play player. Do I have access to Rivendell, and how do I get there if I do?

Thanks for any and all help.

You have access to all the landscape, just not all the quests. This quest, being an event and all, I am sure F2P players all have access to. You can get to Rivendell but depending on your level you may have to do some clever evading of enemies along the way. Or you could ask for a hunter to port you or a captain to summon you.

[Moln]

Excellent write up. I just want to point out that the spreadsheet you mentioned isn't necessary. If you cycle through your characters alphabetically (the order they appear on the character select screen) doing the steps through Ted Sandyman, you'll find that all hobbits needed by your first character are also needed by the second. All needed by the second are also needed by the third. And so on. As a consequence if you do the hourly check on hobbits with the latest character who's talked to Ted, you'll know which hobbits are available to all your earlier characters. If you then cycle in reverse order through your characters, you can eliminate the need to check hobbits based on what was available for the previous character. If one character can't use any of the available hobbits, then neither will any earlier character on the list.

Also, if you have characters that have to take the slow stable rides back to Rivendell, be sure to finish your checks first. That almost bit me yesterday.

[BackAgainAndThere]

Speak with him one last time to complete the final quest in the birthday sequence and earn a bookstand (small furniture) for your efforts.

Thanks for the detailed info. And thanks especially for supplying the above quote, because now I have no desire to even do this thing! Saved time. Don't know if doing this also rewards bounder bags or not, but even if it does it still wouldn't entice me to do it...

[Vexendynamus]

One comment: I found Lotho Sackville-Baggins in the Plough and Stars inn and tavern in Brockenborings.

Thank you! I added a list of hobbit storytellers and their locations.

I am a Free-to-Play player. Do I have access to Rivendell, and how do I get there if I do?

Free to Play players have access to the entire Baggin's Birthday quest chain and may reach Rivendell. I just added FAQ question (6) to my original post with more information.

Excellent write up. I just want to point out that the spreadsheet you mentioned isn't necessary. ... Also, if you have characters that have to take the slow stable rides back to Rivendell, be sure to finish your checks first. That almost bit me yesterday.

Thank you. I ran so many characters through the quest chain that I could not visit every one in a single hour. Real life commitments also forced frequent breaks. The spreadsheet helped me avoid confusion. I included step (7) precisely because I did mess up on my 12th character and raced off to Rivendell before speaking with Gaffer Gamgee.

Thanks for the detailed info. And thanks especially for supplying the above quote, because now I have no desire to even do this thing! Saved time. Don't know if doing this also rewards bounder bags or not, but even if it does it still wouldn't entice me to do it...

You are very welcome. MMOs offer a little of everything, so players may cherry pick the elements they like and ignore the rest. The quests do award Bounders Bags as now explained in FAQ question (5).

[Nickysmom]

Thank you so much for doing this guide. I have been following it today and now have only Miss Hornblower left to speak to.

[Cybelline]

Exactly 17 Bounders Bags are available through the quest chain. On alts 3-8 I saved up all the bags from start to completely finished and counted.

Excellent write up. I only wish that half the people who play would read the forums. Would save so much repetition in /advice.

[Mappleneck]

I'm not sure someone has already posted this, but here it goes. I know the quest is random, every hour from none to 4 of the Hobbits in the list may decide to tell a story, etc. However, this is what's been happening in Arkenstone for the last 10 hours today (september 22nd): Postman Grubb is never willing to talk. A LOT of users are still hoping he'll speak, some coming only by the hour and some just camping there. The thing is, it just occurred to me that since the whole thing is random, it may happen that he NEVER speaks. Just like a coin toss: 50% chance of either side doesn't mean that if I flip it for 2 days it will ever turn heads...

So what gives? I agree that events like treasure hunt should be completly random, but since the fun in this one is the lore in the stories, why is it random? People at Arkenstone are extremelly annoyed, at least those that weren't lucky enough to talk to the postman on Saturday.

[Rainothon]

Confirming Lotho's alternative location. He has a quest ring-marker on the large map of the Shire in Brockenborings, and one on The Hill.

Ah, only Dudo left to listen to. 4/11 (36% ish) chance every hour. Still, it could be either in 50 minutes or... never!

That is the nature of random and statistics. There is actually a very, very, verrrry small chance that Dudo won't ever activate before the end of this event, leaving all players on a server out in the cold.

[Rainothon]

I shouldn't have posted the above. I've tried 8 rounds and Dudo is still not telling his story. The odds at that happening? 2,5%. Or: it would happen to 1 out of 40 people. Quite unlikely but still far from impossible.

[iuytewtruwer]

some kinmates whined about going rivendell with lowbies, so...

If you have a lvl 20+ char, the best way to go to rivendell is speaking with gandalf at the prancing pony: the erebor quest will bring you there in a few seconds (of course, you need erebor cluster). After that you can cancel the quest to use this "glitch" again in future.

[Polymachos]

I am not quite sure about that, but could it be that Lobelia and her nephew Lotho are taking turns in telling their stories, ie there is always a ring up at bags end, leaving only three down in Hobbiton?


Greetings, Polymachos

[hucklebarry]

As an FYI, getting to Rivendale on a level 20-ish toon is easy even manually. The mobs are purple, but you can avoid them. I think I only aggroed 1 mob on my last trip and I just ran him off. Its maybe a 5 minute run from Ost Guruth. Once you get to rivendale, talk to the stable master which opens up a travel route from OG to Rivendale allowing you to return at will.

Also, while I'm not a fan of forcing bounders participants to the other events as the sole means to bounders currency, you get 15 bounders bags (iirc) from this event per toon. I averaged 200 coins per toon. Taking 8 toons was very low management once you understand the mechanics the OP has explained. I spent 6+ hours over the weekend grinding mobs and netted 2 bags as a result of finishing the first tier of 8 different slayer deeds (well over 1,000 mobs). In 3 hours of the bounders event I got 1600 coins (and every toon gained a level, which is a whole other level of crazy and requires its own thread). Not a fan of this type of forcing the hand, but I played along and got my coins form the event.

[Hatter_of_Bree]

This quest chain is by far best laugh i got for a while. Did it on main, and am now doing on alts and screenshotting each tale, so that i can reread them and laugh again.

PS. When you deliver stories to Bilbo, dont run away once you got your reward, he too has a tale to tell!!!

[Neumi]

I wished some of the more active people on the advice channel had read this guide.

[Neumi]

You get 18 bags for each char

1 for the invitation to Rivendell
2 for speaking with Samwise
12 for listening to the 12 tales (1 for every quest)
1 for the deed: listen to 12 tales
1 for the main quest (listen to 12 tales)
1 for talking to Bilbo

[Zikaris99]

Very helpful guide! I wish all the standers-around in Hobbiton would read this