Hi all was just wondering if any of you have experience of playing "the one ring" game system and what you thought of it
I own the first several books for the game and while I have not had a chance to sit down and play or run it yet, I have read through everything and I feel it is well made and much better than the previous Tolkien-based rpgs. Having the time frame for the game set between the end of The Hobbit and beginning of Fellowship gives you a lot of room for major stories and adventures without altering how the trilogy plays out. They are also slowly expanding out from their original concept of the game staying in the regions of Middle Earth covered in The Hobbit, with the next sourcebook coming out covering Rohan.
TL;DR: Best game for the book-feel of Middle earth and I can recommend it enough, but its far from a high fantasy D&D/Pathfinder game. If the latter is what your players expect, they will be left unsatisfied.
Longer version: Its an excellent game. It's mechanically diverse enough without being too game-y, and is exactly what a low-magic game should be; magic and fantasy are there, you can't ignore them but it is subtle and thematic.
As other have said, it's the game that respects the feel and tone of Tolkien's work best so far, and by far. But I do say Tolkien's, but not necessarily Peter Jackson's take on Middle Earth.
That's where some players may be disappointed; if you are expecting to play a back-flipping, shield-boarding ninja-elf like Legolas, this isn't the game for you.
If on the contrary you can enjoy a long-winded literary style where armor being a liability just as much as an asset, long voyages being draining, exhausting and an important part of the campaign and resources being scarce and precious (no pun intended), then you will enjoy this game very much.
Also, the art is exquisite, coherent and quite fitting for the tone of the game.
It's worth mentioning that at the moment, the game covers regions that were not much involved in the war of the ring; so no Shire, no Mordor, no Rohan, no Gondor yet. The game covers areas more familiar with The Hobbit and is set in the aftermath of Bilbo's journey; The Anduin Vale, the Mirkwood forest, Dale and Esgaroth on the Long-Lake, the Lonely Mountain, and recently northern Eriador as well. While this sounds odd at first, it is ultimately very liberating to know that the actions of your heroes won't screw-up the upcoming events of Frodo's voyage to the Cracks of Doom.
[edit] or where you expecting more personal thoughts?
'findel
Well this is very much what I've already heard from other people.
Have any of you got any problems or complaints about the game or system
The rule book is badly organised
Hitting with a bow seems too difficult
That aside I adore the system and it is set at the right time. The errata has made things a lot better. We have played it a lot, and finished a number of the campaigns
I imagine starting from scratch without ever it being run for you would be quite daunting.
Try and adore
I'd prefer it not to be quite so tied to the particular times and places they've chosen to publish. Something a little easier to adapt to other parts of Middle-Earth or other points in the timeline.
The specific races/cultures have strong mechanical differences, meaning you need different character generation rules to move out of the default setting.Admittedly, they've added more settings since I picked it up, but the general point still holds.
This book may interest you, when it is finally released:
The Adventurer’s Companion – The first supplement aimed squarely at players. Including a whole wealth of advice, ideas and background for making your own hero and company, as well as new Heroic Cultures including Bree-folk, Riders of Rohan, Dwarves of the Blue Mountain, the Elves of Lorien and People of Gondor, a new Calling in the form of the Captain, and expanded rules for generational play.
Yeah Cubicle 7 do good work. I've been loving their take on Charles Stross' Laundry Files as an RPG setting.