The One Ring: Ruins of the Lost Realm - Lord of the Rings Card Game, Multi, M, 14+ years, RPG supplement, Tabletop Card Game, Requires Core Rule Book or Starter Set

Ruins of the Lost Realm This is a great book, with great production values and a lovely feel. It's consistently interesting and enjoyable to peruse. I don't play the tabletop game, but thoroughly enjoy reading the expanded lore contained within.

(Note: this is not a card game: its a sourcebook, and the first one published after the Core Rules Book for The One Ring 2nd Edition role playing game came out in 2022. The Amazon description above suggests that it is a card game.) Of course I should state that this BOOK is an addition from those rules - to make any sense of this book and to use it you will have to get the Core Rules book ( https://www.amazon.co.uk/Free-League-Publishing-Ring-Core/dp/9189143450?ie=UTF8&tag=mh0a9-21&hvadid=&hvpos=&hvexid={aceid}&hvnetw=o&hvrand=&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=b&hvdev=c&ref=pd_sl_7dy1f5hemb_e ) So leaving that aside this book is a collection of ideas to help a Loremaster (in Dungeons & Dragons speak that is the Dungeon Master role) run Adventures set in part of the world created by JRR Tolkien as Middle-earth. PART of the world? - well there are further sourcebooks like this one planned to cover other regions in detail. Ruins of the Lost Realm refers to the lands: people, history and geography, that were the old kingdom of Arnor, and a few smaller surrounding regions (e.g. Lindon, the Shire*, Rivendell). It actually concentrates on the southern parts of the region of Eriador. And it organises this in three different ways: political, geographical and historical. The ambitions of three external power groups (Corsairs, the Dunlending folk and Saruman in Isengard) are sketched out, and given a timeline of activity - I call this the political path (18 pages) Twelve specific locations are examined (dwarf halls, elf havens and dells, remnants of human groups in the wild, and a few darker places) each given two or three pages of flesh on bones - several geographical paths. These 12 locations are illustrations of what the designers refer to as LANDMARKS in the Core Rule book. Some are straight from Tolkien and others are home brewed. (66 pages) Seven descriptions of communities that are established - some very tenuously - because they are what remains after the ending of the North Kingdom. The first of these is the old city of Tharbad - which gets its own town map and short list of interesting "citizens" too - and these places are often loosely based on things mentioned in the appendices of Lord of the Rings. This is what I call a historical path. (22 pages) QUALITY of the book: top notch. Physically great to hold, nice solid feel to the pages; a limited use of colour for a few pages, most art is black & white, red ink is used to highlight some text here and there. Now I am not a complete Convert to the Second Edition of this game: there are definite improvements from the old version here, yet there are some changes that I think are a step too far. HOWEVER that does not stop me from saying that this is a clever & careful addition to the game. It is faithful & respectful to Tolkien without a doubt: and it is solidly anchored in his world. Of course it is something new, but this book offers a great way to expand into and roleplay in the Eriador lands of Tolkien's world. With plenty of flexibility and discretion for a Loremaster to develop their own style within this frame. Since that is the declared intention of the Designers - to give the players control and authority over the game - I have to conclude that they have been successful. This sourcebook describes the setting of this region. There are no scripted stories to follow along, no exact quests or missions outlined for you. It is the atlas for you to plan your own journey with. (There is already a companion book - Tales from the Lone Lands - that will help you with example stories, but that's another review!) * actually the Starter Set for this game covers the Shire in its own way

If you're a fan of the One Ring RPG by Free League, this is a good source expansion as it takes you through the Lonely Lands of Eriador. The art quality is fantastic as always and the book quality is on par with the rest of the One Ring RPG line, and I'm looking forward to diving right in.

Wer in der Welt Tolkiens Abenteuer bestehen will, der findet hier ein wirklich detailreiches und sowohl optisch als auch sprachlich großartig aufbereitetes RPG. Wobei dies ohne Einschränkung auch für den Vorgänger gilt. Die vielen Veränderungen, von denen andere sprechen, konnte ich nicht entdecken. Aber da es den ersten Band nur noch gebraucht und für Phantasiepreise gibt, kann man getrost die Neuauflage in den Warenkorb legen. Wichtig! Ich habe die englische Version gelesen. Zu der deutschen Übersetzung kann ich nichts sagen. Misslich ist, dass man sich das Würfelset gesondert zulegen muss, sofern man sich nicht merken will, dass 1 und 12 bzw. 1 und 6 besondere Zeichen bekommen. Das Würfelsystem wird hin und wieder als besonders innovativ bezeichnet. Das seh ich selbst nicht so. Ist alles schon mal da gewesen. Aber es spricht ja nichts dagegen, dass Patzer- und Glückstreffersystem anderer RPG`s zu übernehmen. Die Vorstellung und Reihenfolge der einzelnen Kapitel lässt den Roten Faden erkennen und gibt Veteranen und Neulingen eine klare Struktur an die Hand. Mir gefällt besonders, dass es nicht zu viele Fertigkeiten gibt. Man konzentriert sich auf das Wesentliche und das ist gut. Nicht gefallen hat mir die Präsentation des ersten Szenarios. Meiner Ansicht nach handelt es sich hier eher um Vorschläge als um eine bereits gut durchdachte Idee. Chaosium packt in seine Regelbücher zu Cthulhu etwa mindestens zwei Szenarien, die immer eine klare Struktur und viele Gestaltungshinweise enthalten. Hinzu kommt hier, dass ich es persönlich für gewagt halte, die Protagonisten des Hobbits und des Herrn der Ringe auftreten zu lassen. Egal ob Radagast, Beorn oder Tom Bombadil. Sie entstammen der Feder eines Mannes, dessen Schaffenskraft und Ausdrucksfähigkeit im Bereich Phantasie in jeder Hinsicht als Beispielhaft gelten darf. Es ist zu befürchten, dass die Autoren eines RPG und erst Recht ein Spielleiter nur schlecht abschneiden kann, wenn er diese Figuren in seinem Szenario selbst zu Wort kommen lässt. Ich bin der Ansicht, dass man ein Mittelerde RPG auch ohne die bekannten Protagonisten der Bücher sehr spannend gestalten kann, gerade weil die Welt so unglaublich reich beschrieben ist.

A good addition to the series. Aside from some good background and a thorough description of Tharbad city, the major players are detailed along with a year-by-year discussion of their evil plans allowing you to include the Player-heros in the gathering storm. The 12 brief encounters range from excellent to just “OK” but I’ll use the lesser efforts with some tweaking. Recommended.

As with every Free League book I've gotten, the quality is top of market, and the content focused and excellent. My only hesitation is that the book leaves me wanting more: perhaps a few more pages? This is great for GM/DMs who want light rules and know the source material (Tolkien). For those starting, do read up the 2024 DMG for running a campaign, and reread your LotR books.

If you are a Loremaster who prefers running their own adventures, and are looking for source material to draw from, then Ruins of the Lost Realm is a MUST HAVE. If you are a Loremaster who prefers running published adventures, and are looking for something that is ready to play "out of the box", then you may want to instead consider the Tales from The Lone Lands or Moria - Through The Doors of Durin expansions. Personally, I enjoy source material more so than published adventures, and I hope that Free League has plans for similar releases in the near future.