Some time ago, Cubicle discontinued their successful The One Ring and Adventures in Middle-earth roleplaying games and the license transferred over to Free League. I feel that Cubicle 7 handled this license really well, but I was also quite curious to see what Free league would do with it because they are just incredibly consistent in producing fantastic books.
Sure enough, their new stuff for The One Ring is gorgeous. It’s beautiful and well-presented and, from what I hear, it works mechanically as well. Cannae ask for much more, can you?
For those looking to start out with the game, there’s a wee Bundle of Holding on the go. Priced at $7.95, the first tier of this bundle contains three items:
- The One Ring 2E Core Rules: The beautifully illustrated full-color rulebook that brings the world of Middle-earth to life.
- Loremaster’s Screen & Rivendell Compendium: Keep your game organized with this handy screen and detailed compendium.
- Strider Mode: Explore northern Eriador with solitaire rules for a single-player experience.
- Character Lifepaths & Peoples of Wilderland (not pictured above): Create unique heroes and delve into the diverse cultures of Middle-earth.
As usual, there’s a second tier to this bundle. It is priced on a threshold that, at the time of writing, is sitting at $18.68. This sum gets you everything from the first tier, plus a further two items:
- Ruins of the Lost Realm: A location guide packed with lore and adventure possibilities.
- Tales from the Lone-lands: An anthology of adventures set in the mysterious and dangerous Lone-lands.
The core rulebook is the main item in this bundle, clearly. It contains all the rules you will need to start exploring Tolkien’s world. It’s also by Free League, so you know it will be gorgeous!
As with previous bundles, the inclusion of a digital copy of a GM’s screen isn’t much of a value-add for me. There’s a slight bonus in the form of the Rivendell Compendium that comes with it, but that’s a pretty slim tome.
There’s also Strider Mode, a short supplement that supports solo play. Again, I don’t see this as a big value-add. Simply put, I see roleplaying games as social experiences and the idea of playing by myself does not appeal. If you are someone for whom that’s an attractive prospect then I suppose this is a useful inclusion.
In the upper tier, there’s additional content that will be useful for GMs, giving them more fleshed out locations and some premade adventures.
Overall, this feels like a good bundle. If you’re running the game as GM, I’d suggest getting the whole thing. If you’re just going to be playing in someone else’s campaign, then you don’t really need that second tier, and the first would suffice.
You can click here to visit the bundle page over at Bundle of Holding.
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