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The One Ring: Tales From The Lone-Lands is the latest book from Free League Publishing to take adventurers through iconic locations from The Lord of the Rings‘ Middle-earth. Featuring six new adventures, Tales From The Lone-Lands has some great world-building and runs the gamut from the Shire, to Gundabad, Thorbad, and beyond. The tone of these adventures can range from mysteries to horror to epic fantasy battle sequences, offering a little something for everyone.
The One Ring RPG has always succeeded at truly feeling like Middle-earth. Whether adventurers want to roleplay hobbits for shenanigans in the Shire or face off against Orcs as Rangers and Elves, everything feels true to Tolkien’s world. Tales From The Lone-Lands is no different, but it also pushes the TTRPG into new directions and many of the adventures here feel on a grander scale than ones found in the Starter Set or even the previous expansion, Ruins of the Lost Realm.
Every Adventure In The One Ring: Tales From The Lone-Lands
The main selling point of Tales From The Lone-Lands are the six new adventures inside, which comprise most of the book. The six adventure are:
|
Adventure Name |
Description |
|
A Troll Hole, If Ever There Was One |
From the Prancing Pony to Troll-Vale, adventurers have to confront a murderous troll before time runs out. |
|
Messing About In Boats |
A ship from Lond Daer to the Western Isles has players confronting spirits from an Age past. |
|
Kings Of Little Kingdoms |
In Bree, a wizard claiming to be Gandalf appears, but he may be more than he seems. |
|
Not To Strike Without Need |
Players escort a captured criminal to Tharbad, but choices will afffect how the adventure plays out. |
|
Wonder Of The Northern World |
A war between Dwarves and Orcs jumpstarts a dark adventure about vengeance. |
|
The Quest Of Amon Guruthos |
In a frost-covered land, players can come face-to-face with evil in this haunting adventure with horror elements. |
Each adventure is a different length, and depending on how each is played, shorter tales like “Kings of Little Kingdoms” may be finished in a single playthrough. Longer tales like “Wonder of the Northern World” and “The Quest of Amon Guruthos” will almost surely take up multiple sessions, though. Each comes with its own unique challenges and choices, as well, meaning that no two adventures feel alike – something that works in the book’s favor. Of course, these can also be part of a much longer and continuing campaign, too.
Heroic Lineages In Tales From The Lone-Lands
The adventures included in Tales From The Lone-Lands also include options for “heroic lineages” for a player, deemed the Heir. Examples from the book for these ancestors include Tarandis, a knight from Arnor, and Dvalin, a Dwarf living in exile. The Loremaster is warned against centering an adventure on the Heir, but sometimes, this background knowledge is more important than in others. For example, in “Messing Around In Boats,” the Heir can potentially get a weapon of great power that once belonged to their ancestor.
Final Thoughts
The heroic lineages can certainly add layers to the adventure, but as character options go, they’re mainly there for roleplaying purposes and at times might feel tacked on rather than organic. The real prize is the adventures themselves, which allows players to live out some great stories in Middle-earth – and even explore elements that Tolkien’s works rarely touched on. The One Ring has offered some great storytelling in its run, and Tales From The Lone-Lands thankfully continues that tradition. This is fantasy roleplaying at its finest.
A copy of The One Ring: Tales From The Lone-Lands was sent to Screen Rant for the purpose of this review.
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