Lord of the Rings tabletop RPG The One Ring is getting a new life

The One Ring tabletop roleplaying game has a second edition coming courtesty of Free League Publishing, who have teamed up with the original designers after the game was dropped by the first publisher in late 2019. The first edition of The One Ring, published in 2011, was critically acclaimed and commercially successful for game mechanics that emulate the adventure-and-travel pacing of J.R.R. Tolkien's books. They are mechanics, I must add, that are particularly well-suited to remote and online play.

An image of art from The One Ring 2nd Edition tabletop roleplaying game.

(Image credit: Free League)

The game is currently funding on Kickstarter, with an end date of Thursday, March 4th. Free League is a prolific RPG publisher with numerous well-received games, and are known for the high quality of their books and materials. This looks to be no different.

Francesco Nepitello and co-designer Marco Maggi are the designers of The One Ring's first edition, and have returned for this edition. Their refinements to the core mechanics include changes to update character creation, while the rules for Journeys and Councils have been completely reworked. Despite this, the game mechanics are compatible with books from the first edition.

As of this writing, the game has raised over $860,000 and will be funded. You can find out more on the Free League website and view The One Ring, Second Edition on Kickstarter.

An image of art from The One Ring 2nd Edition tabletop roleplaying game.

(Image credit: Free League)

An image of the cover of the book for The One Ring 2nd Edition tabletop roleplaying game.

(Image credit: Free League)

Jon Bolding is a games writer and critic with an extensive background in strategy games. When he's not on his PC, he can be found playing every tabletop game under the sun.