Today we will tackle the review of The Lord of the Rings – Roleplaying, a new version of the RPG dedicated to the Tolkien universe, compatible with D&D5e; a manual by Francesco Nepitello and Michele Garbuggio published by Free League. The long publishing adventure of role-playing games set in the world created by Professor Tolkien had reached an important point last year, with the publication of the second edition of The One Ring, a game with its own system also published by Free League. Now comes to us a version of the same game adapted to the rules of the world’s most famous role-playing game.
The game is available in English on the Free League website for the price of approximately 58$, accompanied by a digital version.
Review of the Aesthetics and Structure of The Lord of the Rings for 5e
Those familiar with The One Ring 2ed will find the look of this manual extremely familiar. The pages are inspired by what should be the aesthetics of Bilbo Baggins’ Red Book of the Western Borders; they also skillfully manage to make the various categories of information distinguishable at first glance. In black is the main text, in red the quotations from the work, and with gray insets summarizing the central mechanics of the paragraph for quick reference. Exquisite illustrations, almost sketched in grayscale, accompany our eyes through the rulebook.
The manual begins by introducing the main new mechanics, useful in dealing with new character creation. It then goes on to explain the scene types and adventure phases and then comes to a chapter devoted to the role of the Loremaster, i.e., the Dungeon Master. Finally, it concludes by devoting a chapter to insights into the setting. Mechanics, characters, and scene structure will be addressed later in this review of The Lord of the Rings – Roleplaying
Playing in Tolkien’s canon and setting
Approaching a game with a setting such as Middle-earth can cause some apprehension. There is a lot of existing material and it ranges across a broad chronology and an equally broad geographic space. No need to worry: the manual offers a precise setting frame. With The Lord of the Rings – Roleplay you will play in the years between Bilbo’s journey and Frodo’s, a time span of about eight decades. Your Fellowship of Dwarves, Elves, Men, Rangers and Hobbits will explore the mysterious lands of Eriador, the portion of Middle-earth between the Misty Mountains and the Grey Havens.
The game offers numerous insights into these lands and its inhabitants; at the same time it allows great freedom to embroider and invent specific events, characters and places. The Tolkenian canon, at first glance, may give the impression of being a monolithic block of granite and unbreakable material, but this is not the case. The Third Age is a time when little is known about Middle-earth’s past, places, and secrets. Moreover, what is recounted by the internal narrators of Tolkien’s works is not from an objective point of view, but from their own journey; it may therefore contain inaccuracies and oversights. A section of the chapter devoted to the Loremaster deals thoroughly with this very issue.
The Heroes
The heroes you are going to play are Middle-earth dwellers from one of the six cultures available in the handbook: Bardians, Dwarves of Durin’s Folk, Elves of Lindon, Men of Bree, Hobbits of the Shire, or Ranger of the North. Each culture deeply defines the nature of the character, influencing him mechanically and narratively. In addition, each culture provides access to a selection of backgrounds and a list of unique virtues. We can conceive of heroic cultures as the mechanical equivalent of the traditional races in D&D5e.
After choosing a culture, the character creation process continues with the choice of a calling. The game offers six: The Captain, The Champion, The Messenger, The Scholar, The Treasure Hunter, and The Warden. The callings are the mechanical equivalent of classes, so each offers unique traits, skills and abilities and a path to enhancement through progression in levels. All provide two specializations, the subclasses, classically obtainable by the character’s third level. In addition, the calling determines your character’s Shadow Path, that is the evil tendencies that will emerge in their inner self should the Enemy’s Shadow grow too large in their heart.
A group of heroes is called a Fellowship. Each Fellowship can access a reserve of Fellowship Points, which represents the bond between the heroes. Fellowship Points can be spent to gain advantage on a roll, in agreement with the rest of the group. Each Fellowship has its Patron, an important character in Middle-earth to whom the group refers and who directs them on their journeys. Examples of Patrons are Bilbo Baggins, Elrond, Balin or even Tom Bombadil and Goldberry.
Game structure
The journey is an important theme in Tolkien’s work; it will be an equally important theme in your adventures. Travel through Eriador is handled through an essential and effective table, which determines the type of event without specifying in detail what will happen. You may run into a chance encounter, find a shortcut, or find yourself forced to make a difficult choice. The specific circumstances of the event are left for the game group to determine. Within the Fellowship each of the characters will have a specific role; through a die roll it will be determined which adventurer, based on his or her task, will be called upon to intervene in the resolution of the event.
New game mechanics are also introduced to handle Councils, i.e., scenes in which the Company encounters some non-player character in a somewhat formal setting. The mechanics handle both the first impressions the heroes will make and the actual interaction phase.
Game phases consisting of journeys, councils and confrontations with Enemy forces are called Adventuring Phases. Between the Adventuring Phases you will play a Fellowship Phase, a moment in which your heroes rest in a safe haven, gathering strength, information and resources for the next adventure.
Review of the new mechanics in The Lord of the Rings for 5e
As we see in this review, The Lord of the Rings introduces a number of new features and adaptations to the basic D&D5e rulebook, while remaining this essential to playing with this product. The most obvious changes are undoubtedly found both in the structure and categorization of the scenes and in the construction of the character sheet. This strong characterization of the game mechanics certainly works to introduce the themes and especially the tone of the Tolkien work.
A very interesting addition is that of Shadow Points; this is a value that represents the corruption of the character. By confronting the Enemy and his minions the soul of all creatures is put to the test. Dread, sorcery, greed and misdeeds dig into even the purest of heart. Characters have a certain degree of tolerance for the Shadow, but the difficult situations they face will take their toll. Exceeding the threshold of tolerance, the character will fall prey to an attack of madness, gaining a flaw and taking one more step toward the Enemy. Should these attacks become too many, his soul will be lost and he will not be able to continue his quest.
An additional point of note are the Treasures. Middle-earth hides many traces of its great past, and the heroes may come across some artifacts from the glorious old days. The manual provides all the tools to characterize and make unique the treasures the heroes will collect, once again bringing back the feelings of wonder and awe upon which the world of The Lord of the Rings is built.
Conclusions of the review of The Lord of the Rings for 5e
In concluding this review of The Lord of the Rings, it must be said that this product succeeds in doing what it sets out to do: bring the Middle-earth setting to D&D5e. Despite the fact that the world’s most famous role-playing game has a style of storytelling that is not completely aligned with that of Tolkien’s work, the mechanical adaptations and the authors’ great mastery of sources give this game a strong identity of its own.
If you are a regular player of Dungeons and Dragons and have a desire to tread the lands of Eriador this manual is absolutely for you. In case, on the other hand, you are a Tolkien fan, but not too fond of D&D, I recommend that you also evaluate The One Ring 2ed. This is a game by the same authors and publisher, but one that goes to take advantage of a dedicated independent game system built specifically around the narrative style of the Professor’s work.
