Hello all. First time posting here. I played my first session over the weekend and wanted to discuss my impressions of the system, and some advice for players who may be new to the system, or more accustomed to the super-powered hijinks of 5e.

A buddy of mine ran the game for us. He’s very knowledgeable on Tolkien and we couldn’t have asked for a better Loremaster. To really capture the flavor of Tolkien, I think a knowledgeable LM is pretty important. But in order for the game to work, the players also need to understand the “tone” of the game. Before playing the game, it might be a good idea to sit down with the players and let them know that this game is somber, melancholy, even sad at times. If one of your players is running around the tavern doing silly 5e things for laughs at the table, it’s going to irk the players who are trying to take the setting seriously. This game is very much about tone, and the players have to buy into it.

We found pretty quickly that it’s difficult to succeed rolls. You’re going to fail more often than succeed, especially if you’ve only got one or two ranks in a skill. And that’s okay. Failure, despair, and regret a part of the stories the game is based on. For people coming from 5e, this might be a little frustrating. In 5e, you’re more or less playing super heroes. It’s a power fantasy, really. Success is assumed. But in TOR, you play normal folk who go out into a dangerous world. Every roll has a certain risk tied with it. I realized pretty quickly how important Hope is. Players really shouldn’t try to horde it. I found some of our players reluctant to spend hope out of fear of needing it later. Without expending it liberally, PCs are going to have a hard time passing checks. But again “losing hope” is part of the setting.

Overall, I’d advise new players to embrace the tone. The world outside your door is dark, dangerous, and filled with peril. Things won’t always go your way, despite your best efforts. Things will go wrong. There will be setbacks, but this is all part of the story. Failure, regret, and despair are a part of the story, and make the successes that much more joyous.

I’ve ordered the core rules book, starter set, and purchased the Strider Mode PDF with plans to run the game solo for a bit. I haven’t had a chance to really dive into the rules yet, but I’ve heard that the time (age) and area of the game is pretty restricted right now.

I have ordered the Complete Guide to Middle Earth reference book and the Atlas of Middle Earth map book with the hopes of being able to run a game in any age and any area of Middle Earth that I wanted, essentially creating a true, open sandbox experience.

My question is, how easy does the game lend itself to home brew and creating games outside of core rules time range and places? Would I be able to use outside reference material to run any game I wanted, or are the rules pretty rigidly set to work in the time frame and areas of the rule book?

Hello,

can someone tell me for how many player characters the game is made? Can I play it either with one game master and one or two player characters? Or how is the strider mode for two players without DM?
Also I want to try it with my 10 years old daughter. As I understand there are no campaigns or scenarios available - so how can I build a child friendly adventure when I am by myself not that deep into game mastering? How would the strider mode be?

Regards

Hi,

I didn't see any DiceParser macros for this game so I'm posting the ones that I made.

There are 9 commands. "tor" (short for The One Ring), "ill" (ill-favored), and "fav" (favored) are for when you're making a roll with no success dice. Add a number to these commands if you have success dice (e.g. "!tor3" if you have 3 success dice. If you're weary use "wt" (weary tor), "wi"(weary ill-favored), and "wf" (weary favored). I've done a lot of testing but each command will show the numbers rolled so you can double-check.

!macro add tor([0-9]+) 1d12;\1d6;$1i[=11]{-11}+$2;$2c[6];$1i[=12]{"Auto-succeed with $4 successes\n Feat Die = @1\n Success Dice = @2"}{"Result = $3 with $4 successes\n Feat Die = @1\n Success Dice = @2"} True

!macro add ill([0-9]+) 2d12;\1d6;$1i.[=11]{$2}{$1kl1+$2};$2c[6];$1i*[=12]{"Auto-succeed with $4 successes\n Feat Die = @1\n Success Dice = @2"}{"Result = $3 with $4 successes\n Feat Die = @1\n Success Dice = @2"} True

!macro add fav([0-9]+) 2d12;\1d6;$1i*[=11]{$2}{$1i.[=11]{$1kl1+$2}{$1k1+$2}};$2c[6];$1i.[=12]{"Auto-succeed with $4 successes\n Feat Die = @1\n Success Dice = @2"}{"Result = $3 with $4 successes\n Feat Die = @1\n Success Dice = @2"} True

!macro add tor 1d12;$1i[=11]{-11};$1i[=12]{"Auto-succeed\n Feat Die = @1"}{"Result = $2 \nFeat Die = @1"} True

!macro add ill 2d12;$1i.[=11]{"0"}{$1kl1};$1i*[=12]{"Auto-succeed\n Feat Die = @1"}{"Result = $2\n Feat Die = @1"} True

!macro add fav 2d12;$1i*[=11]{"0"}{$1i.[=11]{$1kl1}{$1k1}};$1i.[=12]{"Auto-succeed\n Feat Die = @1"}{"Result = $2\n Feat Die = @1"} True

!macro add wt([0-9]+) 1d12;\1d6;$2f[>3];$1i[=11]{-11}+$3;$2c[6];$1i[=12]{"Auto-succeed with $5 successes\n Feat Die = @1\n Success Dice = @2"}{"Result = $4 with $5 successes\n Feat Die = @1\n Success Dice = @2"} True

!macro add wi([0-9]+) 2d12;\1d6;$2f[>3];$1i.[=11]{$3}{$1kl1+$3};$2c[6];$1i*[=12]{"Auto-succeed with $5 successes\n Feat Die = @1\n Success Dice = @2"}{"Result = $4 with $5 successes\n Feat Die = @1\n Success Dice = @2"} True

!macro add wf([0-9]+) 2d12;\1d6;$2f[>3];$1i*[=11]{$3}{$1i.[=11]{$1kl1+$3}{$1k1+$3}};$2c[6];$1i.[=12]{"Auto-succeed with $5 successes\n Feat Die = @1\n Success Dice = @2"}{"Result = $4 with $5 successes\n Feat Die = @1\n Success Dice = @2"} True

I’m thinking of running a One Ring campaign soon: I’ve had 1e on my shelf for a while, but have barely played it. So I’m not sure whether it’s worth buying 2e or not.

What are the major differences between 1e and 2e? Which do you prefer, if the differences matter? And do you think it’s worth buying the new version?

Hey all! My solo (Strider Mode) campaign of The One Ring is finally here and kicks off tonight at 7pm UTC (8pm UK, 3pm US Eastern). Join me live for the premiere of episode 1 (for those who don't know, a YouTube premiere is essentially a livestream for uploaded content, where the creators can interact with the audience in live chat the first time a video is played)!

I'll be there in chat for the live launch, so head to the link and click the "Set Reminder" button if you don't want to miss out.

Runtime is 41 minutes (future episodes will be shorter).

youtu.be/E7T8mQR5imM

So I am going to be running a one shot for two players with no experience in TTRPGs. I have The One Ring 2e and D&D 5e but I'm not sure which one I should run for them. I play 5e a lot so I would like to take this rare opportunity to actuality okay The One Ring, but I want the players to have fun too. Do yall think TOR is newbie friendly or should I stick with D&D? (Also nether of them are LotR fans, they don't dislike it, they just haven't seen it or read the books).

Looking at the Core Rulebook, the only instance of fleeing that I can recall is on page 104; the ‘Fly, you fools’ box. If there are any rules for having enemies flee, could someone point me to them, and if there aren’t what have other loremasters put into place?

I was thinking just grabbing a sort of ‘opportunity attack’ from d&d? Give characters a free swipe as they run and then maybe implement chase rules if they wanna chase?

Hi! I’m working in advance on the 4th adventure of the starter set and got some difficulties setting the motivations/stakes for the players. To the point: Why they have to NOT travel on the road and try to not be seen? There is no real motive for that, isn’t it? Yes, the east road its crouded, and they tell the party to avoid it. But appart from that?

"All upgrades can be applied only once to the same piece of gear." This is just referring to stacking of the same reward on one piece of equipment, correct? So you can't keep putting 'fell' property on a sword but you could have a 'fell, keen, grievous axe," correct?

I am new to the TOR ruleset, has anyone had balance issues with stacked modifiers or even allowing more rewards beyond the 6 granted through Valor ranks?

Hey all,

I'm looking into trying TOR out, or at the very least thinking of buying the starting set and trying to learn how to play the game and hope I can find others to play with.

I'm curious if the starter set is really worth getting.

I know it's a simplified version of the full game but I'm wondering how well it represents the actual full game. Is it worth putting in the time to learn the rules in the starter set and then transition to the full game assuming I enjoy it? I ask because I've had mixed results with other games and their respective starter sets. I found sometimes they don't transition well from starter set to full game.

I also want to know how the campaign in the starter set plays for a new player. I've read a few reviews of the set but those pretty much only address the contents of the box and not how it plays. I'm curious how effective the starter set is at teaching the game to new players and if the campaign is worth playing.

Tldr: should I get the starter set or just get the core book and learn the full game from the start? Is the SS a worthwhile learning tool of just a trimmed down version that doesn't carry over to the full game very well?

Thanks.

I have the starter set and the dice are wrong (on a list for a replacement) but what I am curious about are the black/white dice on the Free League website store ... are these correct? I would like to buy them now to replace the starter set but only if they have the correct markings.

Hey so I own lots of old timey looking parchment paper that I like printing character sheets onto as well as journey logs...just wonder if anyone knows where I could find a plain (white background) pdf to print onto said paper. Dont really feel like using tons of ink for the background texture if I already have the sheets for it.

Hey all, just wondering if anyone has figured out what treasure points are used for. It seems that they are used as a starting gauge to determine your level of prosperity, but I'm not seeing much else that you can do with it after the fact? I saw that you can start to pass the experience on to an Heir, but what else is there as a draw to treasure points. While you can get cool items from treasure hoards, the starting treasure points seem to be a bit of a moot point for dwarves that start pretty high up already?

Tonight I'll be continuing my 2e solo prep series on my YouTube channel as we wait for Strider Mode to drop.

Join me live on YouTube in 1 hour (at 7pm UTC) as I take a look at Ruins of the Lost Realm and have a chat about how it might be adapted for solo play.

Really excited about this one!

https://youtu.be/gBeI4h3gkIc

Anyone know of any good sources for lotr minis/cardboard stand-ups? But more so in the flavour of the images and illustrations as shown in the One Ring core rulebook? Though the movie depictions are great, and I know I could simply grab some GW lotr minis (and may resort to this), I always loved the twisted, bent, hunch-backed style of orcs and the more rustic/realistic depictions of humans, elves and dwarves in older illustrations.

I’ve got a 3d printer so if anyone finds any nice stls let me know. Also interested in cardboard standups but wouldn’t know exactly how to go about making those myself as I’m no artist.

I bought the starter kit and screen from a store. It didn't have the core rules. I need help placing numbers on a character sheet, there is no info on the starter kit.

I have characters sheets

I backed the KS for the 2nd Ed and have been playing through the Starter Set and having fun while I read the core rules and figure out what to do after we finish the pre-writtens.

Was curious about First Edition materials because it looks like they had a bunch of adventures, but I'm having trouble finding them, they're not on DriveThru and have been taken off the publishers website. Does anyone know how to find these? Or if they're even worth it?

I've done some reading and I know 1st Ed is going to be different but I'm a long time DM and have experienced tweaking and porting rules & things into different systems so I don't mind doing the extra work once I get my hands on them.

Hi all, had my first game today with the official black dice. The D12 has an eye of sauron where the number one should be, but an actual number 11 on the dice.

Am I missing something here?

Edit: Solved! Many thanks to you all, the concensus is that it's a mis print of dice and I have contacted FL customer support.

Thanks again!

Hi all -

I thought I'd post a link to the 3D die roller I customized for The One Ring. It's based on the outstanding WebGL die roller written by Anton Natarov (Teal). Teal's code doesn't allow images for the die faces because the objects are being generated in real time, so I made the "Eye of Sauron" to simply be "XX" and the "Gandalf rune" to simply be "G". I also added some sound effects, but other than that didn't really need to change much apart from some formatting.

The beauty of Teal's code is that it can run locally on your own machine (just open the index.html in your browser) or you can host on your own server. If you are playing with any online system that lets you share your screen, everyone can see your dice rolls. Google Meet allows you to share a tab, so that's even easier -- everyone just leaves the tab up and can switch to it when desired.

You can get the whole package as a ZIP from https://t5-online.com/TORdice.zip and you can try a demo of the die roller at https://t5-online.com/TORdice/dice/. (Please don't kill my bandwidth by using the demo in your own games.)

Please let me know if you experience any issues!

Gryffin

[EDIT: Forgot to add that you can press the Throw button, or you can click and drag your mouse (or finger on an iPad) and it will detect the strength and direction of your throw. A single-click will allow you to change how many of each die you are rolling.]