![]() That game is as far, or maybe even further, from Middle-earth as it ever was, choosing instead to throw as many fantasy subgenres as it can into the same delicious yet surprising stew. What’s particularly striking is that both publishers also created versions of this system which utilised the same core mechanics as Dungeons & Dragons. There's a wealth of richly detailed locations to explore in The One Ring (Image credit: Future) While that gives players less to work with, those places are detailed with the same love and care shown to Tolkien’s wider world in the rest of the system. So far, the various iterations of The One Ring have focused on the northern lands, where The Hobbit is set. One thing that MERP did get right was the tone and content of its various supplements that delved into different regions of Middle-earth, laying them out in mechanical and narrative detail into places where players could explore and adventure. Between them, these systems help groups to recreate the narrative pleasures of Tolkien’s work as the players undertake arduous travels into the unknown, facing multiple dangers only some of which can be seen off with sword and flame. Journeying is given a section all to itself, with an event-based system that keeps things vivid and exciting without resorting to the tiresome hex-crawls and repetitive random encounters that plage the game’s peers. Fighting in the game is dangerous, but not impossibly so, and there’s a wide palette of skills for players to draw on in seeking non-violent solutions. Showcases how easy it would have been for D&D to have stayed truer to one of its listed inspirations all alongĮven when you zoom out, that attention to detail is still there. As mentioned in our The One Ring Starter Set review, it can "give the sense that you're part of a lost story from Middle-earth creator J.R.R. Succumbing to temptation or wickedness, or even just witnessing terrifying creatures, led to adventurers acquiring problematic shadow points, just as the shadow remains on Frodo many long years after his adventures. Fellowship within that company was also represented both as a role-playing aid and a source of potential mechanical advantages. Parties now had a patron figure, one of the wise folk of Middle-Earth, to bring them together and guide them, just as Gandalf does with Bilbo and the Dwarves in The Hobbit. ![]() On top of that, the system was packed with thoughtful additions that showed the designers had really thought about what made venturing into Tolkien’s world so appealing. Instead, there were various flavours of warriors and rogues, explorers and scholars, and some choices that combined multiple flavours into one package. Readers were greeted with the class and culture options that we all take for granted in a role-playing game, but veterans would have noticed right away that balance-affecting options like high elves were absent, as was any class that smacked of magic. Right from the opening pages, it was clear that this game was packed with fan service, but in that particularly delightful and welcoming way that doesn’t make it obvious that it is fan service. The One Ring captures the essence of Tolkien's world perfectly (Image credit: Future)
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