The One Ring/Adventures in Middle-earth License Goes to Free League

Swedish company Free League has announced that it has taken over the license for Tolkien-based RPGs The One Ring and Adventures in Middle Earth!

Up until recently, Cubicle 7 was the publisher of Adventures in Middle Earth and The One Ring. AiME is the D&D-5E based version, while The One Ring is its own system. The press release says they will be doing both.

Free League (Fria Ligan) are ENnie Award winners and the publisher of popular d6 games like Tales from the Loop and Alien. Here's the press release:

Free League Signs Deal to Publish RPGs in Tolkien's Middle-Earth

Free League Publishing today announced a partnership with Sophisticated Games to publish tabletop roleplaying games set in Middle-earth and based on the books by J.R.R. Tolkien. Francesco Nepitello, author of the game series alongside Marco Maggi, will continue as its lead designer.

"We are thrilled to be working with Sophisticated Games and Francesco Nepitello to bring to life a new edition of The One Ring and its 5E iteration. We grew up with J.R.R. Tolkien's iconic works and we're huge fans of the original version of the game. We have a very similar approach to game design as Francesco and we're convinced that we can create something truly special together," Free League’s CEO Tomas Härenstam says.

“Free League shares all our values. Values which are vital in interpreting the most extraordinary fantasy world ever created, one that is of enduring interest throughout the world in every language. Working with Free League’s highly talented team we look forward to continuing the work we began a decade ago, with publication of The One Ring," says Sophisticated Games’s MD Robert Hyde.

The agreement will go into effect from June 1, 2020. Products and release dates will be announced at a later time.

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[Tyler Do'Urden]

Never heard of them. Or rather don't recall hearing of them anyway.

How is their marketing and distribution power? Am I going to see TOR2E on bookshelves in the US alongside D&D like I do PF, FFG SW, etc?

Well, I've seen their books at my FLGS; not at B&N.

But given it's Tolkien IP, there's certainly a chance it might show up at B&N...

 

[Sunsword]

Color me interested!

What are those values?

And why are they so vital in interpreting Tolkiens works?

.

Right and its not like C7 didn't get praise for both games. Its not like one of those terrible slap the D20 logo on an existing game and publish it during the early 3E era.

 

[Sunsword]

Blimey! There's even a Tales from the Loop TV show coming soon.

Serious question, isn't the show based on the artwork that inspired the game?

 

[Ulfgeir]

Serious question, isn't the show based on the artwork that inspired the game?

Yes. Indeed it is. They made some artbooks and then the game

 

[Tyler Do'Urden]

What are those values?

And why are they so vital in interpreting Tolkiens works?

A fundamental understanding of what the setting is about.

If you're dropping fireballs, collecting artifacts and piles of gold, and insisting on playing your Drow and Dragonborn PCs... well... you're not doing Middle Earth.

I'd say that the themes to emphasize are intimate stories over world-changing ones. The rewards are more likely to be humble in nature; great treasures and magical power lead to the shadow. A fundamental sense of melancholy and loss. Tough to sustain at an RP table (in the same way that sustaining the "cursed" nature of characters in the World of Darkness settings is tough and that they generally degenerate into horror-themed superhero games). But can be done in the materials themselves, and One Ring/AIME succeeded admirably. The end of the third age is a dark and lonely time. All the great kingdoms are fallen long ago or in steep decline. The world is about to be depopulated by plague, and the shadow is falling everywhere. Victories are small and only set back the inevitable. It's not the nihilistic darkness of a setting like 40K, but the darkness of Tolkien's worldview steeped in his experiences in WWI and his readings of folklore and Catholic neoplatonic theology (which are the twin roots of his own legendarium).

I decided I probably couldn't pull this off well right now, so I decided to run a Midgard campaign instead - Midgard has a lot of the same trappings as ME, but is much more high powered and high magic, and you don't have to say no to your players quite as much. But I still love the AIME materials and may run it at some point - or at least borrow liberally from it!

 

[doctorbadwolf]

A fundamental understanding of what the setting is about.

If you're dropping fireballs, collecting artifacts and piles of gold, and insisting on playing your Drow and Dragonborn PCs... well... you're not doing Middle Earth.

I'd say that the themes to emphasize are intimate stories over world-changing ones. The rewards are more likely to be humble in nature; great treasures and magical power lead to the shadow. A fundamental sense of melancholy and loss. Tough to sustain at an RP table (in the same way that sustaining the "cursed" nature of characters in the World of Darkness settings is tough and that they generally degenerate into horror-themed superhero games). But can be done in the materials themselves, and One Ring/AIME succeeded admirably. The end of the third age is a dark and lonely time. All the great kingdoms are fallen long ago or in steep decline. The world is about to be depopulated by plague, and the shadow is falling everywhere. Victories are small and only set back the inevitable. It's not the nihilistic darkness of a setting like 40K, but the darkness of Tolkien's worldview steeped in his experiences in WWI and his readings of folklore and Catholic neoplatonic theology (which are the twin roots of his own legendarium).

I decided I probably couldn't pull this off well right now, so I decided to run a Midgard campaign instead - Midgard has a lot of the same trappings as ME, but is much more high powered and high magic, and you don't have to say no to your players quite as much. But I still love the AIME materials and may run it at some point - or at least borrow liberally from it!

Okay, not to be a contrarian....but, I have to disagree with some of this.

You absolutely do not have to run TOR/AIME the way you describe in order to stay true to the source material. There are tales of brightness, and hope, and fellowship, and the victories absolutely can be lasting and genuine.

Meloncholy is in the world, for sure, but a fellowship and a campaign can absolutely be happy and lighthearted. Focusing on one aspect of the world to the exclusion of others isn't any more true to Middle Earth than fireballs.

 

[Eric V]

Sorry for not being clearer. If they are on the shelves of my local store in Montreal,Canada, they should not have any problem hitting the shelves of US stores.

Just out of curiosity, what's your local store?

 

[atanakar]

Just out of curiosity, what's your local store?

L'Abyss, there is also LeValet (which used to be the RPG Mecca).

 

[Jaeger]

A fundamental understanding of what the setting is about.
...

So how did C7 drop the ball? Most thought TOR and AiME was really good.

Sophisticated Games’s MD Robert Hyde made a very interesting statement: “Free League shares all our values."

What Values was C7 missing?

And how do they know Free league has those same values ?

Inquiring minds want to know more!

.

 

[Morrus]

So how did C7 drop the ball? Most thought TOR and AiME was really good.

In our podcast interview with Dom (CEO of C7), he made it very clear to us that C7 was the one who chose to end the relationship. They didn't 'drop the ball' or 'lose the license' or anything like that.