Crow’s Corner

Table-Tested Reviews of The One Ring’s Starter Sets

So far two boxed Starter Sets have been released for the second edition of The One Ring. One is simply titled “Starter Set”, while the other is sold as “Over Hill and Under Hill Starter Set”. So which one should you choose for your table? I’ve run both of them and will get into their strengths and weaknesses here.

But first, some quick facts about both.

Starter Set

Over Hill and Under Hill Starter Set

both boxed sets next to each other

Starter Set

Physical Content

This is the Starter Set that was released alongside the Core Book in the initial Kickstarter Campaign. There have been many stretch goals that filled the box above and beyond, and it shows, especially in comparison to the new set. There is a lot of stuff inside:

So first and foremost this has some neat play aids in there. They’re useful, but in no way necessary to play the game. The map is considerably larger than in the other set.

The Starter Set

Adventures

There are a total of five adventures, along with a setting guide about the Shire. The adventures are all set in the Shire and players will portray canonically known Hobbits (like Frodo’s father) and the occasional Dwarf (Balin). The adventures can be played in order or as standalones and will run roughly one session of 2-3 hours each, with the last one possibly a bit longer.

The hobbits are being sent on adventures by their patron Bilbo and will find themselves on adventures like breaking into the Mathom-house in Michel Delving, search for the lost club of Bandobras “Bullroarer” Took as well as the last of Gandalf’s fireworks, escape incarceration for disturbing the peace by working for the Quick Post and finally help Farmer Maggot with some strange beast troubling him. In their adventures they will meet foes great (like Jack the Stone-Troll in the North Moors) and small (like Fireworks the dog in Michel Delving) and make many a friend and acquaintance with Hobbits, Dwarves and even Elves.

I greatly enjoyed running the adventures for a group that was into Lord of the Rings. Since they’re Hobbit-adventures, they’re occasionally low-stakes and the company will spend a lot of time hiking through the Shire. Which is really neat for a group excited about Lord of the Rings, but can become less engaging for those not as excited about the premise, especially in the first adventure before the pace starts picking up in the second.

Setting

The Shire setting booklet contains a bit about the history and geography of the Shire and simplified Journey rules before delving into the main part: locations. There is a detailed Shire map included and the majority of the booklet is location information as well as short hooks for adventures and things to do (without being fleshed out into full adventures). There are also a ton of amazing artworks in there, both large (two-page full color) and small (mostly NPC and enemy portraits). I can wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone wanting to run their own adventures in the Shire or to those who want to add some more content to the adventure booklet.

There will be a “Hobbit Tales” book released soon, which will probably include all of this information, too.

Rules

Unique to this Starter Set are the less challenging rules, fitting for Hobbit adventures. The premade characters’ target numbers allow for easier rolls and the Wound and Death rules are lessened so the Hobbits can’t die. Journeys have been simplified for Hobbit Walks and can be found in the Shire booklet.

The biggest rules difference is that combat stances have been simplified compared to the full rules: instead of three melee stances there is only one here. While being mostly fine in these adventures, they bring long-term problems, as it heavily favours characters built for combat by taking away the combat tasks as non-violent options.

There are descriptions of the different Skills and Combat Proficiencies in here, that are missing in the other Rules booklet.

Over Hill and Under Hill Starter Set

Physical Content

Released more recently, this Starter Set is less packed, but at the same time also considerably cheaper. In it you will find:

What’s new in there is the cardboard standees that can be used with the combat stance map, but otherwise there is less bling than in the previous Starter Set.

The Over Hill and Under Hill Starter Set

Adventure

There is also less adventure in here: it’s a single adventure of roughly 4 hours and no extended setting information. I enjoyed running the adventure and it gives a more varied insight into the game with the premade characters consisting of five different heroic cultures, instead of mostly Hobbits.

The adventure is more conventional fantasy: at the behest of their patron, Lady Gilraen (the mother of Aragorn), the heroes are sent to investigate some strange happenings north of Weathertop. They’ll help some kids, they’ll explore strange hills and dungeons, fight some orcs, goblins and wolves and hopefully rescue some prisoners. On the way they’ll also meet Aragorn himself! The adventure is executed well and relatively easy to run. What I was missing was a way to make player characters bond from the beginning, like a few establishing questions; but this is something The One Ring generally lacks a little and needs to be done by every table themselves.

What is interesting is that the adventure is specifically marketed towards people completely new to the hobby and the three arcs of the story (act 1 and 2 being one hour of play, act 3 being two hours) are recommended to be split across three different sessions. I very successfully ran it in a single session of 4 hours and the story is enjoyable for veterans as well as beginners to the system.

Rules

There have been a few updates in the condensed rules booklet and I like the way it’s organised a lot more. Some things have been cut to make space for a few more rules: rules for Shadow, adversary rules for the GM, Council rules, Journey rules as well as a combat example have made it inside now.

The rules in here are considerably closer to the core book now and a group playing through the adventure will also have seen a good impression how a proper campaign of The One Ring could look.

The biggest new inclusion in here is the combat diagram and the way it enables the group to track combat stances in combat, something that has been mostly omitted in the first Starter Set. I tried out the combat diagram with my group of experienced players and we immediately chose to keep using it - it makes combat a lot easier to understand. It also means you’ll need miniatures, but the standees included already cover some of the most widely used adversaries: orcs, goblins and wolves.

Conclusion

If you want to get all adventure-content or are new to the hobby, I would recommend getting the new (and cheaper) “Over Hill and Under Hill Starter Set” as a starting point. It’s a great introduction to The One Ring and the switch to the full rules in the core book will be easier, due to the rules being not as simplified. The Shire content is being re-released in the new “Hobbit Tales” book and can thus be picked up later, without having to purchase the other Starter Set.

That being said, the bling in the Shire-themed “Starter Set” is not to be dismissed: my group greatly appreciates the weapon and combat/journey cards and the huge map is really nice. The adventures are also a lot more wholesome and the rules more forgiving, if that is something your table appreciates or wants. Not getting the “Over Hill and Under Hill Starter Set” means you’re only missing out on one adventure and the play aids for miniature combat - but the combat diagram is also included with digital purchases of the Moria book (strangely enough not by itself as of this time).

Whichever set you choose, you’ll get a well made product that enables you to delve into a Middle-Earth that really feels like the books and movies. And you might even get both - the contents are different enough and more of the custom dice are always nice to have.

Other Modules

Looking for a campaign afterwards? You might want to check out my Review of "Tales from the Lone-Lands".

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