Any game that builds on the worlds of J.R.R. Tolkien has a tough job. Do you fill in a small gap in Tolkien’s prose like The Lord of the Rings: Gollum, which explores a period of time that the great fantasy author describes briefly in an almost throwaway line in the Appendices of the book? Or do you play fast and loose with the existing lore in pursuit of making a cool game, like 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Shadow of Mordor?
Neither is a perfect solution. I’m not a fan of 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:the MCU-ification of Tolkien’s🔯 wor𝄹ks – the 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:upcoming Gollum gameಞ seems to want to fill in a backstory that doesn’t need exploring – and brazenly contradicting the lore is off the table for me too. Films and TV have it easier, as they have far shorter runtimes and omissions or alterations can be excused by the change in media. Games have to give the player agency, too, and players must fe🉐el that their decisions matter and impact the story. How can you give the player that agency while faithfully adhering to what Tolkien wrote? No game has a harder challenge than The One Ring TTRPG.
With something like♋ Shadow of Mordor or Gollum, there’s one story path to follow. Sure, y👍ou can choose which Orc Captain to murder on your way, but it won’t impact the ending you see. In a TTRPG, with a Dungeon Master (TOR calls them a Loremaster) the players forge their own story, and the game – and therefore lore – has to form around their choices.
The One Ring opts for more of a Gollum approach. The base game explores areas like The Shire and Eriad💎or, places that the Hobbits and the Fellowship only pass through in the books. Tolkien describes these places in detail in various appendices and prequels (describing The Silmarillion as a prequel feels reductive, but it’s technically correct), but very little occurs there. ❀We see a lot of Hobbiton, a little of Bree, the Fellowship is attacked by Wargs. By setting its stories in real places that Tolkien described, The One Ring pays homage to the author, respects his canon, and yet allows players freedom to explore and craft their own tales.
The same goes for the characters. You can choose to play as one of the pre-generated characters🎉, minor heroes from the novels like Drogo Baggins, Esmeralda Took, or Balin, or create your own Hobbit to💟 join the adventure. The elder generation of Hobbits are Tolkien creations, but characters he never explored further than a name. This also gives hints to the game’s time period: The One Ring occurs in the years between The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. It’s a time of relative peace, but there’s impending dread. And the fact we explore small dwellings like Hobbiton and Lindon rather than epic locations like Minas Tirith and Mordor gives The One Ring a cosy vibe. This is a story about Hobbits, after all.
If you thought the eponymous Ring would play a big role in this game, you’d be wrong. It’s mentioned once in the rulebooks, and only on Bilbo’s character sheet, not as a core mechanic or important narrative item. This reinforces the𝔍 game’s cosiness – you’re not facing legions of Orcs or taking on Sauron here, you’re helping out other Hobbits and exploring forests. The only references to the War of the Ring are through patrons, powerful characte𓆉rs that the Loremaster introduces to guide the party. Expect the likes of Gandalf, Cirdan, or everyone’s favourite Tolkien enigma Tom Bombadil to pop up and share their wisdom over the course of your journey.
Gameplay is based on a D12 dice-rolling mechanic, which is added to players’ stats in order to see if they pass or fail a check. It’s a quick and simple system that keeps gam🔥es flowing during the Adventuring Phase, which is otherwise pretty standard. The subsequent Fellowship Phase allows you to rest, recuperate, and check your character progress. Combat is split into two sequences too, ranged and close quarters, with the latter introducing a stance mechanic as well.
I’d be remiss not to talk about how the books look. While I only used the digital editions, it still looks stunning. The maps are beautifully detailed and the illustrations, in an almost etched style, are fantastic interpretations of the characters they represent. Whether you’re advancing on Ered Luin, resting in The Prancing P𝔉ony, or creating a Barding character, there are beautiful illustrations to give your imagination a prod in the right direction. Like Tolkien&rsquo🔴;s descriptions, they give you enough to paint a picture while leaving plenty of room for imagination, and the biggest compliment I can give The One Ring is that it feels like it was made pre-Jackson, it takes so little from the ‘00s film trilogy.
Gamboling through the Shire as a little Hobbit is every Tolkien fan’s dream, and The One Ring gives you the perfect opportunity to do just that. With the help of stellar descriptions, fast and fun gameplay, 🍰and a good Loremaster, you can live out all your Hobbity dreams far from the growing powers 𝕴of Mordor. It’s cosy and exciting in equal manner, and a game I will jump back into time and time again in order to live a little longer in Middle-earth. In a world where we’re going to be increasingly saturated with Tolkien stories, I hope more of them are like The One Ring.