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.

Fria Ligan | News

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[shawnellsworth]

Hoping to see some of that amazing Tales from the Loop level artwork.

 

[JeffB]

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?

 

[atanakar]

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?

Yes. They make high quality RPG books.

• Tales from the Loop (winner of five ENnie Awards 2017, including Best Game),
• Sandbox retro fantasy Forbidden Lands (winner of four ENnie Awards 2019),
• Postapocalyptic Mutant: Year Zero (Silver ENnie for Best Rules 2015),
• Space opera Coriolis - The Third Horizon (Judge's Spotlight Award 2017),
• Dark fantasy Symbaroum,
• The official ALIEN rpg. (2020)

 

[Morrus]

It is but they called all of the rules they created Product ID. Here's the text from the PI disclaimer: "
Product Identity: The following items are hereby identified as Product Identity, as defined in the Open Game License version 1.0a, Section 1(e), and are not Open Content:
All trademarks, registered trade-marks, proper names (characters, place names, etc.), new rules, classes, items, virtues, backgrounds, places, characters, artwork,
sidebars, and trade dress. Open Game Content: The Open content in this book includes material taken from the Systems Reference Document. No other portion of this
work may be reproduced in any form without permission."

Looks like a bit of a misunderstanding of the OGL. Anything which uses the OGC to derive mechanics from the SRD can't, by definition, not be OGC. You can't declare your new classes to not be OGC if you're using the OGL to derive classes from the SRD (though you can withhold the fluff text). So the SRD-derived mechanics (classes and the like) are OGC; they can't not be. Their travel rules, on the other hand, are all their own, so they don't have to be OGC.

 

[JeffB]

Yes. They make high quality RPG books.

• Tales from the Loop (winner of five ENnie Awards 2017, including Best Game),
• Sandbox retro fantasy Forbidden Lands (winner of four ENnie Awards 2019),
• Postapocalyptic Mutant: Year Zero (Silver ENnie for Best Rules 2015),
• Space opera Coriolis - The Third Horizon (Judge's Spotlight Award 2017),
• Dark fantasy Symbaroum, and the official ALIEN RPG. (2020)

Thanks but this does not answer my question.

All kinds of products have won critical acclaim that I've never seen on a shelf.

 

[Morrus]

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

Blimey! They've been all over the place for a few years now. Tales from the Loop? Aliens? None of that ringing any bells? There's even a Tales from the Loop TV show coming soon.

 

[Alzrius]

I suspect this won't be a popular opinion, but here's hoping we get stats for Gandalf in the new 5E releases!

 

[atanakar]

Thanks but this does not answer my question.
All kinds of products have won critical acclaim that I've never seen on a shelf.

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.

 

[Reynard]

Thanks but this does not answer my question.

All kinds of products have won critical acclaim that I've never seen on a shelf.

Do people buy RPGs from shelves these days?

 

[JeffB]

Blimey! They've been all over the place for a few years now. Tales from the Loop? Aliens? None of that ringing any bells? There's even a Tales from the Loop TV show coming soon.

Sorry?

Of course I know the Alien franchise, but I don't recall ever seeing any of the RPG titles on shelves. I thought Tales from the Loop was a TV show.