Free League's 'Lord of the Rings' Games Explore The Elves

Free League's Middle Earth-set roleplaying game line comes in two flavours--The One Ring (a bespoke ruleset), and The Lord of the Rings Roleplaying (the D&D 5E version). This means that when they release a new book for the line, they often release two versions, and their plans for the elven expansion for the games is no exception.

Realms of the Three Rings is for The One Ring, while Keepers of the Elven-rings is for 5E. You can pre-order either (or both, if you're so inclined) from Free League's web store, getting immediate access to the PDF.

In the twilight of the Third Age, three realms of the West-elves still endure in Middle-earth. By the power of the Three Rings, they exist as a testament to a time that was. But not only the Elves remember. As Sauron gathers his strength to bring war to Middle-earth once again, he plans a devious vengeance against those who humbled him long ago.

Both books feature the same chapters:

• Where the West-Elves Still Linger: Details on Lórien, Rivendell, and Lindon and those who dwell there, including the Elf-lords who are their guardians.
• A Dark Adventure Awaits: Learn the details of Sauron’s schemes against the Immortal Folk, including new events, enemies, and characters for players to encounter.
• Landmarks: Visit 12 sites of interest, including locations mentioned in The Lord of the Rings™, as well as others created specifically for the game.
• The Rules of Lordship: A robust Appendix contains guidelines for creating and playing as High Elves of Rivendell and Elves of Lórien, as well as Elf-lords, powerful characters especially suited for solo play.

 

[GMMichael]

It's a testament to the quality of the One Ring rules that Free League can afford to publish two varieties of one book. Otherwise I can see players shrugging and giving up on the One Ring, "we might as well use the WotC rules. Everyone else is."

Or, you have those who pass the test, and diminish. The rest give in to the power of the One Ring, out to rule them all and bind them in darkness.

 

[stormwriter]

Weird that they used different titles for the books instead of differentiating them some other way.

But it's rather funny that the "easier to grasp" title went to the 5e version XD

They did the same with the other books. "Ruins of the Lost Realms" is called "Ruins of Eriador" on the 5e version, "Moria: Through the Doors of Durin" is called "Moria: Shadow of Khazad-Dum" on the 5e version, and "Tales from the Lone-Lands" is called "Tales from Eriador".

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I love that solo roleplaying considerations are being baked into more and more games now.

 

[stormwriter]

I'm wondering if they (as the LotR brand as a whole) are trying to capitalize on the movie maybe? The new anime movie releases this week, then Free League announced the new book, then we got Ares Games announcing a limited 20 year edition of the War of the Ring boardgame this week, and we got a new Bundle of Holding for The One Ring RPG today as well.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I'm wondering if they (as the LotR brand as a whole) are trying to capitalize on the movie maybe? The new anime movie releases this week, then Free League announced the new book, then we got Ares Games announcing a limited 20 year edition of the War of the Ring boardgame this week, and we got a new Bundle of Holding for The One Ring RPG today as well.

Wow, $8 for that stuff is a really great deal.

 

[WisdomOfWombats]

I'm wondering if they (as the LotR brand as a whole) are trying to capitalize on the movie maybe? The new anime movie releases this week, then Free League announced the new book, then we got Ares Games announcing a limited 20 year edition of the War of the Ring boardgame this week, and we got a new Bundle of Holding for The One Ring RPG today as well.

At least the Bundle of Holding seems to be a favorite sales tactic from Free League. Often parallel to a new Kickstarter for a game line or a pre-order, they run a Bundle of Holding providing the base rules. Was the same with Vaesen some weeks ago. Very sensible business decision, and quite a nice service, if you haven't been following a game line. Overall, I like Free League very much. Their yearly output across all of their game lines is massive.

 

[orangefruitbat]

It's a testament to the quality of the One Ring rules that Free League can afford to publish two varieties of one book. Otherwise I can see players shrugging and giving up on the One Ring, "we might as well use the WotC rules. Everyone else is."

Or, you have those who pass the test, and diminish. The rest give in to the power of the One Ring, out to rule them all and bind them in darkness.

Back when Cubicle7 was publishing the One Ring, the 5E version (Adventures in Middle Earth) always came out afterwards (except for the Rohan book which was never published for 5E since Cubicle7 lost the license). Apparently for them, the AIME 5E version strongly outsold the One Ring version. Looking only at the Kickstarter numbers on the Moria book, for Free League, the One Ring 2E version outsold its 5E version (Lord of the Rings 5E). Of course, the One Ring 2E is more broadly compatible with 1E material than LOR 5E is with AIME. So Free League may have lost some 5E players with their new edition.

 

[Weiley31]

So far, I have noticed that for player options, this book incorporates the previously published options for high elves from the Rivendell supplement and wood elves from the Peoples of Wilderland supplement, with minor updates. Which is okay.

I was wondering if they were going to do that. Thank you for the heads up!

 

[Weiley31]

Also, I wonder if Keeper of The Elven Rings is using its Elf-Lord calling as a means of "prototyping" potential future callings that can go all the way up to level 20 in future book releases.

 

[Micah Sweet]

Back when Cubicle7 was publishing the One Ring, the 5E version (Adventures in Middle Earth) always came out afterwards (except for the Rohan book which was never published for 5E since Cubicle7 lost the license). Apparently for them, the AIME 5E version strongly outsold the One Ring version. Looking only at the Kickstarter numbers on the Moria book, for Free League, the One Ring 2E version outsold its 5E version (Lord of the Rings 5E). Of course, the One Ring 2E is more broadly compatible with 1E material than LOR 5E is with AIME. So Free League may have lost some 5E players with their new edition.

A big reason why I never picked up LOR 5e despite being a user of the 5e ruleset. I already have several AiME books.