Lord of the Rings roleplaying game The One Ring enters a new age with second edition

A second edition of The One Ring, the Middle-earth RPG set between The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, has been announced.

The One Ring’s second edition is the first new edition for Cubicle 7’s Tolkien-inspired roleplaying game since it launched in 2011, and will include revised artwork and maps alongside a revised ruleset.

The second edition, now titled The One Ring: The Lord of the Rings Roleplaying Game in comparison to its original name of The One Ring RPG: Adventures over the Edge of the Wild, will also advance the setting’s timeline. 

With the first edition of The One Ring having spanned over three decades across eight years of supplements and adventures, its second edition will take place nearly 25 years after the defeat of Smaug at the end of The Hobbit as the forces of Sauron begin to muster their strength ahead of The Fellowship of the Ring and the War of the Ring depicted in the Lord of the Rings trilogy.

Cubicle 7 describes the updated rules as ‘streamlined’, with gameplay changes and additions partially based on feedback from players and development by The One Ring co-designer Francesco Nepitello, who also co-created epic Lord of the Rings board game War of the Ring. The new maps have been illustrated by Jared Blando, a cartographer and artist who has worked on games such as A Game of Thrones: Catan, Dungeons & Dragons and Pathfinder.

The second edition has had 11 ‘cultures’ and six ‘callings’ announced for its player-created characters to choose from, which will be included in the 352-page core rulebook. A separate starter set will include pre-generated characters, an adventure set in the Misty Mountains, dice and other introductory materials.

Cubicle 7 has confirmed that all content released for the first edition of The One Ring will be supported by the second edition “with only minor adjustments”.

Other books announced for The One Ring’s second edition include a Fell Foes bestiary, a guide to Minas Tirith, a campaign called The Errantries of the King set in Gondor penned by Darkening of Mirkwood writer Gareth Ryder-Hanrahan and the Moria: The Long Dark adventure first announced in 2017 for both The One Ring and its spin-off Dungeons & Dragons-compatible roleplaying seeting Adventures in Middle-earth.

The core rulebook and starter set for The One Ring’s second edition will be released between Q4 2019 and Q1 2020, with the rest of the books and supplements to get release dates closer to launch.