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The One Ring is a lovingly crafted, beautifully executed RPG set in J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle-Earth. Anyone who is a fan of both Middle-Earth and RPGs should find the game compelling, and it’s a good gateway from one love to the other, especially for Tolkien fans who aren’t already gamers.
The TOR core set comes in two books, the Adventurer’s Book (about 190 pp.) and the Loremaster’s Book (around 145 pp.). The Adventurer’s Book contains all the rules for task resolution and character creation, as well as a small selection of pregenerated characters. Each “Player-Hero” is defined statistically by three attributes—Body, Heart, and Wits—plus ratings in Valour, Wisdom, Endurance, and Hope, as well as levels in a selection of eighteen skills. The skills are cleverly arranged into six skill groups, each containing three skills corresponding to the three attributes. For example, the personality skills group includes Awe (linked to Body), Inspire (linked to Heart), and Persuade (linked to Wits). Some of the skills, such as Riddle, might seem a little “corner-case” at first to role-players with experience in other systems, but they fit the setting very well.
Each Player-Hero comes from a specific culture and follows a specific calling, as befits Middle-Earth. Emphasizing cultures rather than races allows the game to easily model differences between, say, the Men of Dale and the Woodmen of the forest. Cultures provide various blessings and proficiencies at character creation and during character advancement. As Player-Heroes advance, they can improve in Wisdom and Valour, and they gain Rewards or Virtues depending on which of Wisdom and Valour they choose to emphasize.
Since most of my role-playing experience is with “roll plus modifiers” systems, it took me just a little while to adjust to TOR’s action resolution system. Player-Heroes can propose “tasks” and Loremasters can require “tests,” but both are resolved the same way: the player rolls a “feat die” (a special d12) and variable number of success dice, comparing the total to a Target Number. TOR does not use character levels, so there’s just one set of TNs to learn. This bringsus the biggest drawback to buying this TOR in PDF form: the game assumes the use of specially-printed dice. The feat die included with the print version ofthe game is numbered 1–10, with the remaining two faces bearing an symbol representing Sauron’s eye (replacing the 11) and a G (for Gandalf) rune (replacing the 12). A roll of “Sauron” is an automatic failure for Player-Heroes, while a roll of “Gandalf” is an auto-success. The success dice are special d6s, with the numbers 1–3 printed in outline and the 6 face bearing an additional symbol, the Tengwar numeral 1. All of the variations have special meanings in judging an action’s success. Combat (which requires tactical decisions, but notprecise tactical positioning or miniatures/counters) is resolved using the same system; armor and other benefits protect you by affecting the opponents’ target numbers.
The Loremaster’s Book provides everything the Loremaster needs to know about creating and running adventures for TOR, including a small selection of monstrous adversaries (with the predictable and appropriate orcs, wolves, and spiders). The default timeline for the Player-Heroes’ adventures begins five years after the Battle of Five Armies, and the default geography is Wilderland (the northern part of Middle-Earth), giving the Loremaster plenty of time and space to create an imaginative Tale of Years without stepping on the toes of the established timeline of the War of the Ring. The Loremaster’s Book closes with an introductory adventure carefully designed to expose players to all of the key mechanics, introduce the Player-Heroes to some famous personages, and help the players appreciate the ethos of Middle-Earth.
I’ll close this somewhat lengthy review with a comment on that final point about the ethos of Midle-Earth. The One Ring beats in perfect time with the heart of Middle-Earth; it wonderfully instantiates Tolkien’s moral vision for Middle-Earth’s inhabitants. The threat of Shadow and the promise of Hope are ever-present. Upon finishing my first read through the PDFs that I received as review copies, I purchased the printed game—a rare occurrence for me. Buy and play The One Ring. You won’t regret it.
Rating: [5 of 5 Stars!] |
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