The One Ring Roleplaying Game
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| Designer(s) | Francesco Nepitello, Marco Maggi |
|---|---|
| Publisher(s) | Cubicle 7 |
| Publication date | 2011 |
| Genre(s) | Fantasy |
| [cubicle7 1] | |
The One Ring Roleplaying Game (first released in 2011 under the title The One Ring: Adventures over the Edge of the Wild) is a tabletop role-playing game published by Cubicle 7. It is set in J.R.R. Tolkien's Middle-earth, in the time between The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. Since its release, a number of other materials have been published, with more on the way.[1]
History of the game and general description
The game was first published in 2011 under the title The One Ring: Adventures over the Edge of the Wild. This first edition core book (more exactly two booklets in a cardboard case) and the majority of subsequent products supported play in the portion of the region of Rhovanion known as "The Wild", the setting of the later portions of The Hobbit east of the Misty Mountains. That was due to the project (nowadays abandoned) of releasing two other up-coming core books dealing with other regions, countries and kingdoms of Middle-earth, but instead of pursuing the idea of releasing two more core books, a revised edition was released in Summer 2014, which saw the original two-volume slipcase set combined into a single hardback edition. This version was substantially re-edited and re-laid out, with errata and clarifications added. Cubicle 7 also released a Clarifications and Amendments Document[2] at the same time, to support owners of the previous edition. The name was changed from The One Ring: Adventures Over the Edge of the Wild to The One Ring Roleplaying Game.
The supplement Rivendell expands the original territory described in the first edition to the eastern portions of Eriador, the setting of The Fellowship of the Ring, and "covering not only Rivendell itself, but Angmar, Fornost, Mount Gram, Tharbad and everywhere in between."[3] Future supplements have been announced that will also open up Rohan as an area to explore.[4]
The base game and some of the supplements have also been released in French, German, Italian and Spanish.
Game mechanics
Games of The One Ring are split into two phases: the Adventuring phase and the Fellowship phase. In an Adventuring phase, a company of adventurers heads off from their homes and into the Wild, in search of adventure;[5] whereas the Fellowship phase provides heroes with the opportunity to rest and recuperate, to practise their skills or pursue a noble undertaking.[6]
The One Ring Roleplaying Game uses a special set of dice: the twelve-sided Feat die, which is marked with numbers 1-10, as well as two special symbols, Gandalf’s rune and the Eye of Sauron, and a six-sided Success die, which is numbered 1-6, with a Tengwar rune on the 6. A regular d12 and d6 can be substituted. .
When a roll is made, it consists of the Feat die plus a number of Success dice equal to the skill being used. The sum is compared to the Target Number of the action (typically 14).[7]
What sets the game apart from other fantasy/adventure RPGs is the factoring-in of the hardship involved in traveling in the wilderness for any length of time. The rules covering the making of journeys across country in Rhovanion (the Middle Earth setting of the game as represented in the core rulebook) involve an easy-to-administer mechanism for attrition, making such journeys a challenge in and of themselves. Consequences of this typically play out as challenges arising for a given "role" in a party of adventurers, with suggested roles taken by specific player characters at the journey's start being those of scout, guide, lookout and hunter.[8]
Supplements
- Lore-master's Screen and Lake-town Supplement contains a GM screen with reference tables on one side and Jon Hodgson’s depiction of Esgaroth on the other. It also contains the Lake-town supplement, including the Men of the Lake heroic culture.
- Tales from Wilderland contains seven ready-to-play adventures that can either be played on their own, or together to form a campaign.
- The Heart of the Wild is the setting supplement for Wilderland, including the banks of the Anduin, the foothills of the Misty Mountains and Mirkwood. It contains descriptions of the regions, new characters and monsters.
- The Darkening of Mirkwood is a companion volume to The Heart of the Wild, using the material in that supplement to form a 30-year epic campaign.
- Rivendell is the first supplement to be set outside of Wilderland. It covers Eastern Eriador, Rivendell itself and the old kingdoms of Arnor and Angmar. It also includes rules for Rangers of the North and High Elves of Rivendell.
- Ruins of the North is the latest supplement and is a companion volume to Rivendell. It includes six ready-to-play adventures that can either be played on their own, or together to form a campaign.
- Hobbit Tales is a standalone storytelling card game that also includes rules for using the cards in The One Ring Roleplaying Game.
- Horse-lords of Rohan is the supplement describing the kingdom of Rohan, its history, its lands, and the people who live there. It includes rules for player character Riders of Rohan and the hillfolk of Dunland.
- Erebor: the Lonely Mountain greatly expands the details of the Kingdom Under the Mountain, including its history, crafts, surroundings, and people. Rules are included for characters to play Dwarves of the Iron Hills and Dwarves of the Grey Mountains, as well as rules for GMs to create dragons.
- Journeys and Maps is a collection of 4 double sided poster maps, along with a 32 page booklet adding more options to the Journey phase, and an index of places in Middle-earth.
Awards
- 2012 Golden Geek - Best Art and Presentation[9]
- 2012 Gold ENnie Award - Best Free Product [10]
- 2012 Golden ENnie Award - Best Art (Interior) [11]
- 2012 Silver Enie Award - Best Production Values [12]
- 2012 Best of Show for Best Role Play Game[13]
- 2012 Origins Award Nominee - Best Roleplaying Game[14]
- 2013 ENnie Award Nominee - Best Accessory for The Loremaster's Screen and Laketown Book [15]
- 2015 ENnie Award Nominee - Best Accessory for The Darkening of Mirkwood [16]
- 2015 ENnie Award Nominee - Best Accessory for Hobbit Tales [17]
References
- ↑ "Cubicle 7 - The One Ring". Retrieved 22 October 2011.
- ↑ "Release schedule". www.cubicle7.co.uk. Retrieved 25 October 2013.
- ↑ Cubicle 7, The One Ring, "Clarifications and Amendments Document"
- ↑ http://www.cubicle7.co.uk/rivendell-for-the-one-ring-available-now-in-pdf/
- ↑ http://www.cubicle7.co.uk/our-games/the-one-ring/the-one-ring-release-schedule-2014/
- ↑ http://www.cubicle7.co.uk/the-one-ring-the-adventuring-phase-part-2/
- ↑ http://www.cubicle7.co.uk/the-one-ring-the-fellowship-phase/
- ↑ http://www.cubicle7.co.uk/the-one-ring-the-adventuring-phase-part-1/
- ↑ http://www.cubicle7.co.uk/the-one-ring-the-adventuring-phase-part-2/
- ↑ http://boardgamegeek.com/thread/886607/2012-golden-geek-awards-winners
- ↑ http://www.ennie-awards.com/blog/about-us/2012-noms-and-winners/
- ↑ http://www.ennie-awards.com/blog/about-us/2012-noms-and-winners/
- ↑ http://www.ennie-awards.com/blog/about-us/2012-noms-and-winners/
- ↑ http://boardgamegeek.com/wiki/page/Lucca_Games_Best_of_Show
- ↑ http://www.gama.org/originsawards/38thoriginsawards/tabid/3207/default.aspx
- ↑ http://www.enworld.org/forum/content.php?1065-Announcing-The-2013-Gen-Con-EN-World-RPG-Awards-(ENnies)-Nominations#.VDUKuku1lC4
- ↑ http://www.originsawards.net/2015-nominees/
- ↑ http://www.originsawards.net/2015-nominees/