My First Time Running The One Ring
And why trying different systems are good for me
I have a pastor friend of mine who is a big Lord of the Rings fan and I was finally able to run a game of The One Ring for him and some of his student and it was a blast.
I was nervous, this was my first time running The One Ring and I would have been fine if it was the 5e version, something I’m used to, but The One Ring uses a d6 + a d12 system.
I hunkered down and read through all the starter set rules and watched a ton of videos. Shout out to Ryan of the North’s playlist and Will At World’s End on how to do combat whose videos were super helpful.
Also, I found a ton of resources in The One Ring discord, most were free, some were paid but well worth it.
I walked into the room were playing to see that the room had been adequately themed with the LotR soundtrack playing in the background.
Only one of the four people I was running for had any rpg experience and no one had experience with the The One Ring rpg, which was fine because they wouldn’t know if I made any mistakes, of which I made a few. More on that later.
I gave them all a choice of the pre-gens that were included in the box and explained the mechanics as briefly as possible and then we were off.
The First Adventure: A Fetch Quest
The adventures are laid out in a way for players to learn the system. The first adventure focuses on learning your character, how to roll for skills, etc. The second adventure adds combat. Players learn the game progressively until they’re characters are ready to move on to greater adventures beyond the shire.
Old Bilbo calls the “cousins” of the Shire together to retrieve an old map in Michel Delving from museum/library.
The PC had to cross the river, which took quite a bit of time but the team building and idea swapping as to how they were to get across really solidified the group.
Next, the PC’s has to take rest, midway, in a old barn where, in exchange for a nights lodging they had to get a giant owl out of the bar. This required a fair amount of role play but the PC were up to the task.
Lastly, they arrived at the Michel Delving and had to sneak into the library to try and find the book. They split the party, which makes for fun times, and while two PC’s had to try to find the book which had the map while avoiding a pesky guard Schnauzer the other two PC had to keep the Bardings (patrolling hobbits) distracted.
Of course the one’s doing the distracting were two middle school boys who’s idea was was to set a tree on fire (why does it always have be fire with these guys!) which, fortunate for them, they failed their rolls to complete the task.
They completed their tasks, headed back to Bilbo’s place where they were rewarded with various weapons. This is to prepare them for the next adventure where they will fight a Stone Troll.
What did I learn?
I learned that running new systems is good for my brain. It was a pain, at first, but I think it gave my brain a good stretching.
One of the rules, there were probably others, is that I allowed several people to offer Hope Points (an extra dice, like an assist) when only one person is allowed to and they must have at least one point in that skill to be able to help. I’ll consider this a one time house rule.
I will have to pay attention to this in the future as your Hope Points cannot equal or be less than their Shadow Score (point you accumulate do to despair or shady choices you’ve had to make”
From page 71 of The One Ring Core Rules
MISERABLE
In the course of the game, Player-heroes face threats capable of shaking their determination and will to fight. As a consequence, they accumulate Shadow points.
Heroes become Miserable when their Shadow score matches or overcomes their current Hope.
When this happens, check the Miserable box on the character sheet. A Player-hero remains Miserable until their Hope rat- ing surpasses their Shadow score again, either because they regain Hope, or because they find a way to get rid of Shadow
There is a lot of crossover and “this affects that” kind of mechanics such as your load score (how much you can carry) and Fatigue Points.
Travelling causes the Player-heroes to accumulate Fatigue points, representing a form of exhaustion caused by protracted loss of sleep and the general discomfort of spending days in the open. Fatigue enters play exclusively in conjunction with the rules for journeys (see page 108).
When gained, Fatigue points temporarily raise a travelling Player-hero’s total Load, effectively making it easier to become Weary.
We are not at a point where I have to worry about this, yet, but I will have to make myself a cheat sheet for all the fiddly bits I can’t remember.
All in all I enjoyed running the game even though it is a different system but, as with anything, practice makes more perfect.
As of this missive, we are scheduled to play again as all players were enthusiastic to get back to the table.
Have you run/played The One Ring?
Would you be interested in another The One Ring report?
Let me know.
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