This week, I finished my campaign for The One Ring RPG. I ran it using a mixture of the starter set and a few events I made up along the way. Please note that Free League Publishing sent me free copies of the PDFs to review for my blog. While I am very grateful, this will be my honest review. If you enjoy these reviews, please leave a like, comment, and share this with your friends. Don’t forget to follow the socials!

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What is The One Ring RPG?

The One Ring Roleplaying Game is a ttrpg based in Tolkien’s iconic fantasy universe. Even though GMs can run their own stories within the world, events are meant to exist between those in The Hobbit and The Lord of The Rings. This is a game that is heavily driven by narrative and roleplay. The books are lore-rich and flavorful. While an extensive knowledge of the source material isn’t necessary to enjoy this system, fans of the series will have a deeper appreciation for its level of detail.

Gameplay

While The One Ring has an interesting skill and combat system, the game is roleplay and narrative-driven. Rolls can sway the narrative and lead to some funny moments, but the focus will always be on the story and creating an epic yarn within the universe.

The most unique aspect of The One Ring is the Council. The Fellowship phase is where players talk to a council and ask for permission, jobs, favors, etc. There are also bonuses associated with building a relationship with the fellowship and patrons. This is a neat feature for players and GMs who enjoy roleplaying diplomacy with the added spontaneity of dice rolls.

The system also features a very unique combat system. There is no initiative. Players always go first, unless ambushed, and they can pick typically pick the order they go in. Mechanics like combat stances, gear, and stances allow for strategy, but it isn’t meant to be min-maxed. While I’m sure some people could break this game, combat is designed to tell a story based on how the dice roll.

My favorite aspect of The One Ring is how it handles travel. To start travel, players will come together to map out their route. The GM version of this map may include obstacles the party may encounter but are kept secret till they become relevant. The party chooses then chooses from one of the four roles: Guide, Hunter, Scout, and Lookout. Players then roll their perspective skills, and a story is made based on those rolls. There are tables in the scorebook that help create this narrative, we typically just make up our own.

What I enjoyed most about travel is the fatigue mechanic. Based on the results, the party gains fatigue through the course of the adventure. Fatigue limits the amount of gear they can carry, and can make them go down quicker in combat. The only way to reduce fatigue is in town, and typically after a quest. This mechanic made travel feel more impactful, and players would be cautious of how they mapped their adventure to avoid unnecessary fatigue.

The Starter Set

The Starter set includes everything you need to run your first One Ring campaign. The box includes:

• A 24-page rulebook
• Lorebook for The Shire
• An adventure book with 6 prewritten adventures
• 8 Double-sided pre-generated character sheets
• Two Large maps for The Shire and Eriador
• 30 Item Cards
• 6 Double Sided Journey Role and Combat Stance Cards
• 2 D12 Feat Dice
• 6 D6 Success Dice

While having the physical product with the special dice, maps, and cards is nice, it isn’t necessary. You can get by with the PDF, theater of the mind, and normal dice. You can pick up the PDF version of the starter set on DriveThru RPG.

The adventure in the starter set is a great way to onboard new players to RPGs. The adventure does a lot of hand-holding. Players and GMs are slowly introduced to the different mechanics of the system, GMs get terrific examples of encounters and descriptions, and there is a detailed lorebook to help fill the world. While experienced GMs and players will find the adventure a little slow, it is an invaluable asset for players who have never played an RPG. My biggest piece of advice for GMs running through the adventure is to not be afraid of going off-book. What you and your party make up will always be better.

I ran through some of the adventures, but we quickly went off-book because the pacing was too slow, and our interest shifted elsewhere. The adventures are fine, but they left a bit to be desired. Fans of The Hobbit might enjoy the adventure more. I don’t think the starter set is necessary unless you need a place to start or want the items in the box for your main campaign. I can’t speak for the quality of the items in the box, but I would start with just the core book if you already know how to run an RPG.

Review

We enjoyed The One Ring, and I am happy I got to run it. It was a very different change of pace, but we had a blast making up the store. We stripped away some of the mechanics that didn’t make sense for our table, like the council, and I recommend you do the same.

This system isn’t going to be for everyone. The game is heavily dependent on roleplay and storytelling. I would avoid this game if you’re group isn’t comfortable with either of these aspects. I was surprised at how quickly my group took to the new style because I have players who don’t do either, but we’ve been friends long enough to feed off each other’s jokes. Ultimately, the most fun we had in this game was when we went off script and created the dumbest, most insane story within The Lord of the Rings universe.

I wouldn’t be afraid that this is a Lord of the Rings game. My table went into this game with a vague understanding of the lore and had fun. The books are well-written and have all the lore you’ll need if that’s the kind of game you want to run. I feel like my players enjoyed reading the lore about monsters and races more than they did playing the game. While I am sure fans of the series will appreciate the details, it isn’t going to be a problem if you go into it as a casual. The books also have some beautiful illustrations so at worst, you have a cool-looking fantasy book to sit on your shelf.

I liked that we played the system, but it isn’t something that we would ever rush to play. The system is unique, the gameplay is fun, and I loved the stories we came up with, but I enjoyed other systems better. The game isn’t bad, it’s just personal preference. This game is made for a specific type of gamer who likes to roleplay high fantasy and enjoys The Lord of the Rings lore. If you’re looking for a new fantasy TTRPG to get into, make sure you are comfortable with roleplaying and storytelling. This is the type of game that you can run successfully with only 5 minutes of prep time if you’re good at improving, and your players are comfortable participating. If you and you’re group aren’t there yet, I would look elsewhere.

You can pick up a copy of the core book ($49.99) or starter set ($39) on Amazon through my affiliate links.