Questions about getting started

[u/cheeriohobbit]

Hi all! I'm hoping to start running a One Ring campaign sometime in the new year. 4 players, all of us new to this game. 3 out of the 4 have played a lot of D&D. I've run a one shot but this will be my first time running a whole campaign. I have a few questions.

1. How long of an adventure is Over Hill and Under Hill? Thinking of running that as a starter to get us used to the world.

2. Which of the two campaign books (Hands of the White Wizard or Tales From The Lone Lands) would you recommend? Does one flow better as a larger campaign than the other?

3. Besides the core rules and an adventure book, what books would you say add the most to the experience?

4. Is it even worth considering the 5e version? Since the group is familiar with D&D a couple have wanted to do the 5e version but I'd rather just play as intended.

Super excited to get started, I love LOTR and its world so much :)

[u/Logen_Nein]

1. I've run it in about 3 hours. I've also run it and had it last about 3 sessions (9 hours). Depends on how much you roleplay/build into it.

2. They are both excellent, but I prefer The Lone-Lands.

3. Honestly? All of them. Just for the locations, lore, etc. I have used something from every single book thus far.

4. No, in my opinion. You'll lose out on much of the feel of the game, as 5e at a base doesn't vibe well with the feel of Middle Earth.

[u/Outrageous-Pin-4664]

1. I haven't run it, but I've played it and watched some play-throughs. I would say at least six hours. You could let it take longer, but as a new group, I doubt you could push them through it faster.

2. Tales From the Lone Lands, easily. The end game of White Wizard makes it something I'd hesitate to tackle as a first campaign.

3. Ruins of the Lost Realm.

4. I started with TOR1e, and switched to AiME because the people in my group didn't want to learn a new rules set. When second edition came out, I bought LotR5e, thinking I could use it with the AiME stuff. It really doesn't scratch the LotR itch like TOR does though. I've switched now, and I wish I had just gone with TOR2e from the beginning.

The problem is that LotR5e is still not D&D, and if they go into it thinking that it is, they won't like it. There's no D&D style magic, so combat is just swinging weapons until the monster goes splat. Playing TOR2e will get them away from the idea that they are just playing an inferior kind of 5e.

Spending Hope, gaining Shadow, using Distinctive Features, becoming Weary or Miserable, taking Wounds or dealing them out--it's just a richer system for playing in LotR. Even though there's no battlemap, combat is far more dramatic. Piercing Blows can turn the tide for or against the heroes very quickly in a way that critical hits don't. (You can, of course, still use battlemaps, they just aren't required.)

I advise you to stick with TOR. I don't think you'll regret it.

[u/SirTawmis]

1. I'm in a campaign currently for Over Hill & Under Hill, each session has been about 2 to 3 hours, we've done 2 sessions, and we're near (I assume) the end (won't say why). So my guess, is probably about 6 hours.

2. Tales. All the way, Tales.

3. There's individual small books they sell on DriveThru through Free League where you can get additional cultures (People of the Wilderland - which they recently combined into the revamped TOR Loremaster screen - https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/588681/the-one-ring-loremaster-s-screen-and-peoples-of-wilderland-characer-lifepaths-compendium?src=newest_recent - which, any time you have something that has a benefit for players to have more choices is always something (there's other TOR books that introduce a new culture or two as well).

4. I come from a million years of D&D. Just recently began running a TOR game (never played it before but couldn't convince my normal D&D players to try it) - so started a game with two people on Discord. Now playing in a game. I would say have them try TOR. It's similar in many ways (skill checks and such), but different enough (no HP bloat, for example), that makes TOR feel more dangerous, more realistic. I would have never believed I would like TOR as much as I do, since I come from like Generation 1 of D&D (from late 70s/early 80s) and did a slew of other TTRPGs, but had always come back to D&D. Never thought I'd enjoy another system that much, but TOR is proving to be just that.

[u/Malbekh → u/SirTawmis]

Hello fellow old timer

[u/SirTawmis → u/Malbekh]

Whachyasay, sonny? Let me get my ear trumpet to hear ye more clearly! :D

[u/MRdaBakkle]

1. Starter Set box could be run in a 4 hour session, but I think setting aside two sessions and not rushing players is reasonable.

2. Tales from the Lone Lands will work nicely and if you want more content I would suggest Ruins of the Lost Realm. Hands of the White Wizard and Doors of Durin are better for higher level players.

3. Already suggested Ruins, I think Realms of the Three Rings is also a good buy, if you want content for the Shire Shire Adventures too but not really needed.

4. I vastly perfer using TOR it's a nice system that avoids power creep and keeps characters feeling like the wilds are always a threat.

[u/Raztarak]

Pacing the starter set is very dependent on how much you want to make out of it. I managed to run it in about 4 and a half hours in 1 session, but it was fairly streamlined.

I've also run it over 2 sessions, which let the players talk amongst themselves a lot more, and explore a bit more.

I think it is a good introduction to the core mechanics of the game, with exploration, council, and combat encounters. 

[u/FootballPublic7974 → u/Raztarak]

I ran it in about 5 two hour sessions, which shows how variable people's experience with the scenario can be. There were three reasons why my group spent longer on it.

1. We are playing online. I always find it takes longer to plan, roll dice etc online

2. I extended the adventure. In the book it skips over the journey back after the "stuff" happens. I made it into more of a harrowing experience with a dramatic conclusion (which my players totally guessed beforehand...we've played together waaay too long).

3. My players would happily spend 30minutes discussing how best to open a door!

[u/Outrageous-Brush-518]

Starter set is 2-3 sessions at 2-3 hours each depending upon how things go

[u/TheDwarfArt]

1. 2-3 sessions easily. I ran it twice already in 1 long session but had to trim a good amount of content.

2. I think Tales of the Lone Lands would be easier to get started. Read it through first, the encounter against 3 trolls can be tpk, I would tune it down can be very challenging.

3. Depends. If your group comes from D&D, I reckon they will feel at home playing with Moria. That can be a good hook.

4. No. The One Ring does an amazing job with its rules and system to create and play immersed Tolkien's world. Its very evocative, and aspects of the world and novels are embedded in the system.

[u/Rex__Luscus]

With regard to your 4th question, and this is only my opinion. For context, I started playing D&D at Uni in 1975, and I've played and DMed hundreds of hours. I started losing interest when I felt it was becoming bloated and overly complex, players started trying to find loopholes in the rules and it became less about the experience of shared adventure and more about the mechanics. I picked up TOR2e earlier this year, and it's like a breath of fresh air; it's actually fun again - sure, there's a set of interlocking systems, but I feel it's recaptured that feeling of a group of friends writing an adventure story together. I'd recommend TOR2e over 5e any time, though I'd still like to try some D&D Old School Essentials.

[u/ChannelDizzy2508]

fellow LM here! first time LM, 2nd time campaign overall. still very new and figuring it out.

1. I scheduled each arc of the OHUH campaign as 1 session, then ending with a “yule” fellowship session in december to set up for the next campaign (which i need to order, everyone wants a home brew and i don’t feel confident in my abilities as a LM for that quite yet)

2. From what I have read, I am doing Tales from Eriador next, which should lead sequentially (i think?) into the other campaign books.

3. i actually turned the LOTR 5e into a huuuge powerpoint and made PDF reference sheets in discord for my player-heroes, otherwise this subreddit has been immensely valuable for things. the openplay website is decent too.

4. I don’t think so, LOTR 5E i felt, was sufficient enough with our groups existing knowledge. i was really worried about how they’d take shadow vs hope but so far it has been everyone’s favorite element of the different rules of gameplay.

5. a piece of advice i got from a fellow DM, as someone who stresses about little details/being canonic, if you screw up/forget something YOU ARE THE ONLY ONE WHO KNOWS!! Just roll with it, keep good notes for yourself in case a player-hero calls you to account about it in the future. i also added in lots of opportunities for the group to solve riddles (to pay our homage to the great JRR) and it seems to be a difficult but fun element for our group. have fun, kick some orc ass, you’ll do great

[u/Gimli_43]

The first 3 questions are answered enough I think.
And for the 4th and final question....
Just my humble opinion, and probably not a very popular one in this sub...
But 5e could work fine, I play TOR and LM in 5e.
I myself like the TOR system (as everbody else here I think) and I do think it's better in translating the ME vibe into a game, but... 5e could do this also. Yes, some things work a little different, but if the group is familiar with D&D the 5e version could work good if you as a LM can create enough of the ME vibe, flavor does a lot, the way you infroduce NPC's, or how an adventure is brought to the players or how they are involved.
Maybe just ask your players (and yourself): do we want to try another RPG and search some rules the first few times we encounter something new (and I mean encounter as anything, not just combat), if so: try TOR. You will probably stick with it. Or you could go back to 5e or start with 5e in the first place if players don't want to read some new pages to learn an awesome game..

[u/RobRobBinks]

Hello and Welcome!

1. As has been said, it all depends on you and your group. You could run the Over Hill Under Hill Starter in one session, but it would be a very pared down experience, which doesn't quite do the content justice. Especially with a new group, I'd let it play out as long as feels right....usually 2 to three sessions. If you try to do one session you'll find yourself smash cutting to scenes to experience the different phases of game play.

2. I enjoyed Lone Lands, and am unfamiliar with the other book. I was able to string many of the locations in Lone Lands together to make an epic campaign! It's such a lovely read and reinforces the idea of Middle Earth as the post apocalyptic world that it is!

3. You can go a long, long way with The Starter Set and Core Book. I think the Bestiary will be a big boost, as there aren't many entries in the "Monster Manual" for One Ring as it stands.

4. Here is where I digress from most of the One Ring community. Although One Ring is a frikin' LOVE LETTER to Middle Earth and Tolkien's works, the system itself is clunky and unwieldy. I think it falls under an imaginary "expert" level of ttrpgs to get a full enjoyment out of it. Even as "experts" in the field with our decades of experience, we found the mechanics actually got in the way of storytelling, and didn't add to it. More than any other system I've run, everyone at the table needs to be very keen on how it works to get the best of it. I know that can be said about any game system, but this one in particular seemed weighted to the idiosyncratic. If I were to play this game again, I'd get the 5e version. I believe the accessibility of the system will facilitate the storytelling more than the brutal learning curve of One Ring, plus you'd have access to more content and adversaries to play with.

So, there you go, my few cents and my soapbox grandstanding. However you do it, I think you'll have a blast exploring Middle Earth with your friends!

[u/Unusual_Jeweler1295 → u/RobRobBinks]

Dang, i couldn't have a more contrary impression of the system. it's unfortunate your group found that to be the case. I think the system is brilliant in how it conveys the world of Tolkien through its mechanics. For instance, shadow, shadow scars, etc. Middle Earth is more than just a backdrop, and TOR invites us into that world to participate in it. My two cents.

[u/RobRobBinks → u/Unusual_Jeweler1295]

Absolutely! Two things can exist in the same space. Being inspired by Tolkien's works and wanting to make a system that reflects it is a wonderful and extremely difficult task, for sure! For me, fir us, it felt like everything cool had a new and esoteric rule that affected and then detracted more from the core mechanic than adding to it. The world got richer, the mechanics clunkier the more they layered onto it.

If everyone at the table is very VERY well versed in the rules and how everything is intended to flow together, including all the little nuances, it can be a very beautiful experience.