Before we go any further for full disclosure we were sent the PDF's for both sets from Free League Publishing in exchange for a fair review.
Publisher: Free League Publishing
SYNOPSIS:
‘Not far ahead were dreary hills, rising higher and higher, dark with trees. On some of them were old castles with an evil look, as if they had been built by wicked people.’
You are enjoying a rare, quiet evening at the inn in Bree when a hunter joins your table to share a tale about a dark threat looming over the North Downs. However, you are not merely simple guests at The Prancing Pony — you are members of a Company. It is your self-appointed duty to inquire about the bone-chilling dangers that might emerge from the houseless hills beyond. Are you ready to take the road to adventure?
This new and beginner-friendly starter set for The One Ring™ tabletop RPG, based on the works of J.R.R. Tolkien, provides all you need to embark on your journeys in Middle-earth. Immerse yourself in a world set between the time of Bilbo’s first adventure and the events of The Lord of the Rings™, exploring the Lone-lands of Eriador and taking on the roles of characters whose stories are yet to be told. This boxed set contains:
Condensed rules for action resolution, combat, councils and journeys.
The complete adventure Over Hill and Under Hill, bringing the heroes deep into the wild lands of northern Eriador to face a dark threat.
A large full-colour map of Eriador, with a combat diagram on the back.
Beautifully illustrated cardboard stand-up figures for Player-heroes and Adversaries.
Five pre-generated and illustrated Player-heroes.
Two D12 Feat Dice and six D6 Success Dice, all engraved with custom symbols.
REVIEW:
Firstly, The Lord of the Rings game is set utilising the D&D 5e system whereas The One Ring uses Free League Publishing's own. Both starter boxes come with all the same pieces including pre-rolled character sheets so that they players can jump right in, with character backgrounds, an image and are ready to play straight out of the box.
You also get a fabulously designed Combat Diagram that allows you to easily keep track of where each player is, where the monsters are and alongside that, keeps it so that if you put it on a Lazy Susan, players can turn the area around to keep it easy to see from their characters point of view what they are fighting. If you're playing it as the One Ring it does also have its own system that allows the player to be in different places/ranges on the map with the centre being close combat and the further away distance weapons like bows etc. The only problem with that for The One Ring is that only one of the characters utilises a bow so feels a little bit flat. (If you're using it in Lord of the rings, I feel that you might be better simplifying it slightly utilising the method that Dungeon Craft has done in their video here.
Each aspect of the box brings the world more to live, with it also including a map of Errador (the Map of the World of Lord of the Rings,) a journey log so you can add details into the map alongside events that occur so no two adventures will be the same, a handout (which is a letter to get the players into the game,) a brief overview of the rules required to play by and the adventure book that will allow you to take your players on a journey (just make sure they sign the contract ala Bilbo in The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey.)
The other key thing that is included that I adore is a whole set of Stand-Up images so that you can place on the combat map to so you can see what you're facing alongside character placement, the only thing that worries me is that they won't produce more for all the various fauna that you may meet in the world. (I really hope that they do, perhaps as a separate pack so that you have the option to create exactly whatever your story requires.) However should this not be the case, you could always pick up miniatures from a certain UK Company that will add extra layers especially if you're using the Lazy Susan method which also allows you to add extra scenery around the mini's.
All round both of these starter sets are a great way to bring you into the world of Lord of the Rings, and if you're as tenacious as the people I usually play with they will be chomping at the bit to return. So be prepared to get the full rules set from Free Publishing so you can return with new independent characters. As such, the only real flaw I found was to do with how the adventures ended, there was nothing wrong with it but to give players the full experience I felt that a level up would have gone a long way to helping people understand the full system. That said, the adventure is a ton of fun, all skills are utilised (more for The One Ring system rather than the DnD one) and the flavour of middle earth is strong enough for a hobbit to want to stick it on toast. Finally before we finish we need to address the price, which currently (at time of writing) is down for £23.84 (for whichever system you get it for) , which for everything you get within the boxes is phenomenal especially when you add the game time to it as well (which may, depending on your players, last anything from one to three sessions.) Great fun.
