The One Ring Review

Written by James R. Brown

Introduction

Concerning Style:

When I first pre-ordered The One Ring in July of

2011, I was hoping for a better roleplaying
experience in Middle-earth that our gaming group
could really enjoy. Much to my delight, my copy of
the original slipcase edition arrived that August and
I was immediately drawn into the setting like never
before. I am the type of person
that likes to know the basic
mechanics of a game right away
(especially combat mechanics), so
I skipped to the Combat section
and took a look. That's when I got
really excited! I discovered that
miniatures and tactical maps are
not necessary to play the game.
You can actually play in your
living room if you wish, relaxed in
a recliner while using a laptop to
access the game's pdf's and a
television tray to roll the dice on!

The artwork is simply fantastic! Every page

Immediately, I became a member

of the Cubicle7 forums and I have
been an active poster enjoying interaction with other
fans as well as the publishers and authors ever since.
I play the game regularly and love to teach others
how to play it. It is fun and easy, interesting and
addicting. I have honestly not felt this level of
excitement about playing a roleplaying game since I
was ten years old when I first discovered the red box
Dungeons & Dragons classic roleplaying game.

The writing style is pleasant,

and because the rules are
explained so plainly, I find it easy to remember
them without needing to re-read as often as I have
for other games.

features some form of art, even if its only the

beautiful design of the top and bottom border and
the background of the page. My favorite paintings
are scenes of battle. The layout and graphics
capture the setting perfectly,
right down to the cool font
selections and the warm colors.
Everything "fits" Middle-earth.
The hardback edition includes
endpapers with gorgeous maps
of Wilderland (one for the
players and one for the
Loremaster that includes hexes
to calculate distances and other
marks of important gaming
information).
The
slipcase
edition actually includes these
printed maps.

The character sheet is organized brilliantly. I

especially love how the 18 Common skills are
divided into three columns of 6 skills, each linked
to one of the character's three Attributes (Body,
Heart, or Wits). But then, horizontally, the skills
are broken down into six Skill Groups: personality,
movement, perception, survival, custom, and
vocation. For example, the personality skills are
Awe (Body), Inspire (Heart), and Persuade (Wits).
Very well designed. Again, the fonts, colors, and
style of the character sheet fit Middle-earth
perfectly.

With the release of the single-volume hardback

edition came new improved rules for journeys,
encounters, and preliminary rolls, along with a
larger index, slight corrections, and many helpful
tables throughout. All of these additions increased
the quality of the game, which was already very high
to begin with.
Here are some of my thoughts more specifically...

While the slipcase edition includes a clear plastic

tray with dice, you can also purchase them
separately. A set comes with 6 Success dice (sixsided) and a Feat die (12-sided). As seen in

The One Ring Review

pictures, the Success dice feature an Elvish font;
Tengwar symbols accompany the 6's, while the 1's,
2's, and 3's are in outline form (these are not
counted on rolls when a hero is Weary). The Feat
die features a Gandalf rune ( A ) in place of the 12
and an Eye of Sauron ( C ) in place of the 11. The
A is an automatic success and the C is a zero
result during action resolution. The opposite is true
for Shadow creatures. Very stylish!

Wargs in the Realm

"In the year 29461 of the third age, an Elf of

Mirkwood2 named Amras3 joins a fellowship of

Dwarven companions near Esgaroth, the newly built
Lake-town a few miles north of where the bones of

Concerning Substance:

Smaug rest undisturbed. Among them is Bruni, his

very best friend4, who gives him hope and inspiration.

Let me begin by saying that this is distinctly a

Middle-earth roleplaying game, and you will not
find more dedication to the source material than
you will here. Every aspect of the game, starting
with character creation, captures Tolkien's values
and language. Indeed, the authors encourage
Loremasters to take another look at the books to
present the players with an authentic Middle-earth
experience.

It is Amras's job to protect Bruni during their

adventures. When he does, it rejuvenates Amras, but if

Bruni were ever to be harmed or killed, it would affect

Amras deeply5.

'Long ago, Elves akin to his folk dwelt around the

Naked Hill in the south of Greenwood the Great,

Another general observation is this: The One Ring

is filled with tables, stats, and pieces of critical
gaming information, and yet there is a microscopic
amount of errata associated with this game. I truly
cannot say the same thing for many of my other
favorites. This is a triumph in itself!

before the Necromancer claimed it to build his fastness

of sorcery. Now that the Shadow has fled, Amras has

often journeyed there to spy upon that dreaded place,

to ponder on the hurt suffered by his people in many

years of cruel warfare. Many of his kinsmen prefer to

The basic mechanic of the game is simple to

execute. To resolve any action, roll a Feat die and a
number of Success dice equal to the appropriate
skill rating, plus one bonus die (if available). To
succeed, you must equal or exceed a Target
Number. The game uses a default moderate
difficulty (TN 14) for most actions. If you roll a A
icon, it counts as a success regardless of the total.
If you roll the C, it counts as zero toward the
total. If you succeed with one Tengwar ( B ), it is a
great success. If you succeed with 2 or more
Tengwars ( B, B ), it is an extraordinary success.
All Common skills and Weapon skills have a rating
between 0 and 6. So, the higher the skill rating, the
more Success dice being rolled, and there is a
better chance for higher qualities of success.

forget and be merry, but he knows that evil is seldom

1 This is the default starting year for the game (five

years after the Battle of Five Armies in The Hobbit).
2 This is one of six playable heroic cultures. The
others are: Bardings, Beornings, Dwarves of the
Lonely Mountain, Hobbits of the Shire, and
Woodmen of Wilderland.
3 Amras is one of the suggested male names for
Mirkwood Elves.
4 Bruni is his chosen Fellowship Focus.

Now, for the rest of this review, please allow me to

explain the rich content of this game in a way I hope
you find entertaining and informative let me tell
you a story. And remember, this is just scratching the
surface of what you can do with this game!

5 Protecting a Fellowship Focus allows a player to

regain Hope points, while failing to do so causes a
gain of Shadow points. Hope points are used to
succeed at actions and are a depleting resource.
Amras begins with 11 Hope (8 for being an Elf and 3

The One Ring Review

conquered forever.'6 This is why he found friendship

him a stranger to the eyes of the common folk, a

among the Dwarves.

threatening figure like those he is protecting them

Because of his background, Amras has become a quick

making use of his personality and survival skills 12 to

preferring to lurk in the shadows using his knack for

However, the lure of power 14 constantly crouches at his

Elves of Mirkwood, his senses are sharper in the forest

arrogance that sometimes haunt him 15.

from.' But this is his calling11, and he will not falter,

thinker and physically fit, but he lacks spirit 7,

collect knowledge of the Shadow 13 everywhere he goes.

stealth8. He is wary and keen-eyed9, and like all the

door, and he must resist the flaws of resentment and

and under the moonlight and starlight 10.

Interrupting their annual travel plans to Dol Guldur in

Amras has 'sworn to defend all who cannot defend

Southern Mirkwood, rumours reach the fellowship

themselves. Often, this choice forces him to forsake

a pack of Wargs has recently attacked some raft-elves

what lurks right outside their fences. This has made

the palace of King Thranduil. The Elves were

for his basic Heart score). Shadow points are gained

through corruption during adventures (see item 14
below).

Lake-town16 under the new trade agreement with the

civilised areas, to better guard their inhabitants from

on the banks of the Forest River, only ten miles from

preparing to steer casks of artwork down the river to

11 All heroes have a motivation for adventuring

referred to as a Calling. There are 5 Callings to
choose from in the game: Scholar, Slayer, Treasurehunter, Wanderer, and Warden. Amras is a Warden.

6 Every culture has 6 different backgrounds to choose

from. This one is called 'Memory of Suffering.'
7 Backgrounds determine a hero's three basic
Attribute scores (Body, Heart, and Wits). Amras'
scores are: Body 5, Heart 3, and Wits 6. At character
creation, a hero will also choose his favoured
Attribute scores by adding 3 to one of them, 2 to the
second one, and 1 to the third one. Amras' favoured
Attribute scores are: Body 6, Heart 5, Wits 9.

12 A hero's Calling determines his favoured Skill

Groups, from which he can choose two favoured
skills. Amras has chosen Awe (personality) and
Explore (survival).
13 Each Calling gives the hero a new Trait. Amras has
'Shadow-lore.'

8 Backgrounds give a hero a favoured skill. Amras'

favoured skill is Stealth. Anytime a hero attempts an
action and fails, he can spend a point of Hope to add
either his basic Attribute score to the total, or if the
skill is favoured, he can add his favoured Attribute
score to the total.

14 Each Calling has a unique Shadow Weakness that

is used to describe the degeneration of a hero as he
gains Shadow points through corruption. If the
number of his Shadow points equals or exceeds his
Hope points, he is made Miserable and risks a bout
of madness. Each time he experiences a bout of
madness, he gains a new Flaw. There are 4 Flaws
associated with each Shadow Weakness in increasing
seriousness. Wardens have a Shadow Weakness
called 'Lure of Power.'

9 Backgrounds allow a hero to choose two Traits from

a list of Distinctive Features that describe him best.
Amras chose 'Keen-eyed' and 'Wary.'
10 Every culture has a Cultural Blessing, which is a
special ability. Elves of Mirkwood have 'Folk of the
Dusk,' which allows them to do better with their
Common skills under the conditions described here.

15 The four Flaws for 'Lure of Power' are: resentful,

arrogant, over-confident, and tyrannical.
16 Each hex on the Loremaster's map represents 10

The One Ring Review

Master of Esgaroth. Amras will not tolerate this

information about obstacles and dangers. However,

breach of the Woodland Realm! His companions agree

the company makes a bad choice that leads them down

king himself about the matter (although they are

knowledge of Mirkwood assists him in finding a way

information they can gain from Thranduil, the easier

avoiding more fatigue 21. They are eventually met by a

they can combat them and restore peace to the

the palace. The trip has been easy on them, leaving

to journey to the Elvenking's Halls to encounter the

a path blocked by a large fallen tree 20. Amras'

nervous to do so). The more cooperation and

around, and he succeeds extraordinarily at this task,

it will be to hunt down the lair of the Wargs, where

region17.

Afterwards,

they

will

winter

at

band of Elves, who blindfold them and take them to

the

them unencumbered by their travelling gear 22.

Elvenking's Halls, cementing their relationship with

Thranduil and his people 18.

Huntsman, and Look-out Man. Each role uses a

signature skill to accomplish actions.

The companions follow the river by foot, travelling 50

20 During a journey, for each C rolled on a

Fatigue test, a Hazard episode is triggered. The
Loremaster determines the nature of any hazards
and what types of travelling companions that can
overcome them using a signature skill associated
with their role. This Hazard episode is called 'No Way
Forward' and requires a Scout to overcome it.

miles through marshes and dense forest. During the

journey, Amras acts as a scout 19, always gathering

miles. The distance between the Elvenking's Halls and
Esgaroth is 5 hexes (or 50 miles), about 2.5 days
travel downstream.

21 Amras makes a roll of Explore to find a way

around the fallen tree. He rolls an extraordinary
success and does not gain Fatigue like he would have
if he had failed. Because he succeeded, Amras
invokes his 'Mirkwood-lore' Trait to explain his
knowledge of the forest and to gain an Advancement
point. Advancement points are earned several ways
in the game and are used to improve a hero's
Common skills during a Fellowship phase.

17 There are two phases to every tale in The One Ring

an Adventuring phase and a Fellowship phase. The
Adventuring phase includes several parts played in
one or more gaming sessions with the Loremaster as
the main storyteller. Each part usually highlights one
of the three heroic ventures that really make the game
shine and feel like the books: Journey, Combat, and
Encounter. Journeys are very important in the game
as much as they were to J.R.R. Tolkien, testing the
travelling Fatigue of each companion; Combat is
unavoidable amidst the increasing threat of Shadow;
Encounters with allies become necessary to muster
unity and cooperation between cultures.

22 After the length of a Journey is calculated, the

season determines the number of Fatigue tests each
companion must make. Since it is spring, Amras and
his companions make 1 Fatigue test every 5 days. The
entire Journey is only 2.5 days, so they each make
one roll using their Travel skill. The land they are
travelling is mostly hard, but they are also joined
part way by the Elves. The Loremaster rules that this
is a TN 14 test. Amras has two ranks in Travel and
easily makes his roll, along with the rest of the
fellowship. If anyone had failed, they would have
raised their Fatigue score by 2 points to account for
the encumbrance of their travelling gear in the
spring. Weapons and armor have encumbrance
ratings that always make up a hero's Fatigue score. If
their Fatigue score ever equals or exceeds their
Endurance score (see item 39 below), they become

18 A Fellowship phase follows an Adventuring phase

and gives the player-heroes a chance to perform
important Undertakings, which they tell the story
about. The one described here is called 'Open New
Sanctuary' which allows heroes to establish free
access to a new location and good relations with the
people of that culture. Having a sanctuary outside of
home is important for performing undertakings.
19 Every companion chooses a travelling role for the
Journey. The game has 4 roles to choose from: Guide
(only one hero can choose this role), Scout,

The One Ring Review

After a short wait, they are finally given audience

court26. The encounter is over quickly27. They did not

with the wise Elf-king, but because of his prejudice

gain the information they sought, but they did get

tolerant as he would have been otherwise . While

Woodland Realm28, but no more.

that he likes confident and brief introductions 24. He

Early the next morning, the heroes join a group of

and deeds, which makes a good impression , however,

they pull ashore at the location of the attacks.

Amras cannot clearly make his points, nor inspire the

recognizes the tracks of the creatures. Due to their low

against Amras' Dwarven friends, Thranduil is not as

permission to spend a week hunting Wargs in the

23

observing the king for a moment, Amras remembers

gives a powerful summary of the Dwarves' lineage

cargo rafts headed down-river. A half day goes by and

25

interaction with Thranduil is a bit awkward, as

Investigating

the

scene,

Amras

immediately

numbers, he suspects they are spies sent by an evil from

the south29. They follow the tracks into the forest.

Weary and cannot count 1s, 2s, and 3s on any

Success dice until properly rested.

A short while later, under the dark canopy of

Mirkwood, they hear the sounds of growling and

23 At the start of any Encounter, a Tolerance rating is

established. This number is based on the highest
Wisdom or Valour rating among the heroes,
depending on the preference of the host, and then
modified by a number of factors. At character
creation, every hero must choose whether to begin
with (Wisdom 2, Valour 1) or (Wisdom 1, Valour 2).
Wisdom is used to resist corruption; Valour is used to
resist fear. In addition, starting with a 2 in Wisdom
grants a Virtue, while starting with 2 in Valour grants
a Reward (see item 36 below). Thranduil is impressed
by Wisdom and Amras has chosen a Wisdom of 2.
But Thranduil is prejudiced against Dwarves, so the 2
is modified down to 1 for this Encounter. The meeting
will end if the heroes fail more than 1 roll and no
more progress is made toward their objectives.

chewing up ahead. Amras sneaks up to take a peek 30

and discovers two Wargs ripping the flesh off a dead

Elf. He quickly looks away in anguish, trying to put

26 After making such a great
however, Amras fails back-to-back
and Inspire during the Interaction
ranks in those skills made things
him.

first impression,
rolls of Persuade
stage. Having no
very difficult for

27 These two failures exceed the Tolerance rating of 1

and Thranduil ends the conversation.
28 After considering the great success during the
Introduction, the Loremaster rules that it was enough
to grant the fellowship permission to be on Elvenland for a short time, but he gives no help.

24 All Encounters have two stages: Introduction (to

properly introduce the companions) & Interaction (to
make further progress toward the objectives). Amras
makes a successful preliminary roll of Insight to
know the best course of action. The Loremaster rules
that this gives him a bonus Success dice to use
anytime during the Encounter.

29 Amras invokes his 'Shadow-lore' Trait to ask for an

automatic success when recognizing the tracks and
where the creatures came from. The Loremaster rules
that this is appropriate and keeps the narrative
moving.

25 To properly introduce the fellowship, Amras

makes a roll of Awe using the Feat die, 2 Success dice
for his skill, and the bonus Success die he gained
from Insight. He rolls a total of 16 with one Tengwar,
a great success! This is recorded because every
success leads to better results toward the objectives.

30 Using his Stealth skill to keep them from noticing,

Amras rolls a Feat die and 2 Success dice against TN
14. He fails with a terrible total of 5 (getting the C,
1, 4). Spending a point of Hope, he adds his favoured
Wits 9, to succeed with a 14.

The One Ring Review

the image out of his mind31. These are the culprits! He

lets it go35. Speaking strange words in his Elven

signals the Dwarves to draw their weapons and move

tongue, the arrow flickers as with magical fire and it

steps on a tree root that snaps in half and alerts the

squealing sound and falls with a thud.37 "Light the

surroundings to make good use of the terrain 33. The

35 Amras makes an attack roll using his Bow skill

that is favoured. He rolls a Feat die and 2 Success
dice. The TN for ranged attacks is equal to 12 + the
Parry rating of the target. The Wild Wolf has a Parry
rating of 5. So, the TN to hit the wolf is 17. Amras rolls
an 18, B, B an extraordinary success! If he had
missed, he could have spent a point of Hope to add
his favoured Body 6 to the total.

in for the ambush. But as they move forward, Bruni

pierces the neck of the beast36. It makes a horrible

Wargs of their presence 32. They quickly assess their

battle is on!

Amras only has time for one shot with his bow before
the Wargs close in34. He draws back the string and
31 The gruesome scene triggers a Corruption test.
Amras rolls a Feat die and 2 Success dice for his
Wisdom rating and fails against TN 14. He gains 1
Shadow point. In the game, there are several sources
of corruption with various amounts of Shadow gain.
This one is called anguish. Blighted places and
misdeeds can also corrupt, as well as cursed items
(as described in the Rivendell book).

36 When Amras chose Wisdom 2, he also chose a

Virtue. Virtues are special abilities categorized into
Masteries and Cultural Virtues. There are 6 different
Masteries available to any culture and there are 5
different Cultural Virtues for each culture. Amras
chose the Cultural Virtue 'Wood-elf Magic' which has
three levels of power. The first level of power is called
'Stinging Arrow,' which allows him to spend a point
of Hope to have an arrow fly up to twice its range, or
grant an automatic Piercing blow on a successful
attack with an arrow. Later, if he wanted to increase
his Wood-elf Magic, he would need to raise his
Wisdom to 3 and unlock an additional power.
Raising Valour unlocks Rewards. These are special
items (such as improved or unique weapons and
armour) divided into Qualities and Cultural Rewards.
There are 6 Qualities available to any culture and
there are 3 Cultural Rewards for each culture.

32 Setting an ambush in the wild against a small

number of adversaries is best represented by a
Hunting roll. Since the enemy is busy eating and not
watching, it is a TN 12 test. Bruni fails his test and the
ambush is blown. If anyone else had gotten a great or
extraordinary success, they would have cancelled
Bruni's failure.
33 Before Combat begins, player-heroes are allowed
to make a preliminary roll for combat advantages.
Everyone makes a roll of Battle against TN 14. Amras
rolls and gets a success. This will give him 1 extra
Success dice to use during the battle. He may also
give it to someone else to use if he wishes. Great
successes grant 2 extra dice, while extraordinary
successes grant 3. Only one extra Success die may be
used per turn, however.

37 Every weapon has a static damage rating that is

subtracted from the Endurance score of a target.
Bows do 5 damage. However, if the attacker rolls a
great or extraordinary success, he adds a bonus to
the damage. Weapons also have an Edge rating,
which tells you if the blow was Piercing or not. Bows
have an Edge of 10. That means, a successful Bow
attack is Piercing if the Feat die shows a 10 or higher
(in this case a 10 or a A ). Weapons also have an
Injury rating, which serve as the TN for a Protection
test against a Piercing blow. Bows have an Injury
rating of 14. A Protection test is made by considering
the armour of the target. All armour has a rating in
Success dice. For example, a leather corslet is rated
2d. This means that to stop a Piercing blow from a
bow, the target wearing a leather corslet would roll
the Feat die and 2 Success dice against a TN 14. If he

34 Before Combat moves to close quarters, the

Loremaster decides on the number of ranged volleys
allowed. Here, there is only time for 1 round of
ranged volleys. If the adversaries had ranged
weapons in this situation, they would be able shoot
as well because Amras and the Dwarves failed their
ambush attempt. But Amras is the only one with a
ranged weapon.

The One Ring Review

torches!" he yells to the Dwarves.

in terrible pain39. Bruni plants his feet well and with a

mighty swing of his axe, he cuts the body of the

The remaining Wild Wolf continues the charge as

wolf40. Amras draws his sword, but swings and

Bruni aggressively engages him and prepares to be

misses41. With a lit torch, one of the Dwarves tries to

from all harm. The wolf lunges at Bruni, saliva

39 Every combat stance also has an associated

special combat task. Amras is in Defensive stance, so
he chooses to perform the Protect Companion
combat task. This allows him to spend a point of
Hope to protect someone in Forward or Open stance
by receiving the attack himself. The Wolf rolls a Feat
die and 2 Success dice for his favoured Bite skill.
Adversaries do not have Attribute scores, nor do they
have Hope points to spend to improve rolls. Instead,
they have an Attribute level that they automatically
add to rolls using favoured skills and they add it as a
Damage bonus if they roll a great success and twice if
they roll an extraordinary success. The Wild Wolf has
Attribute level 3, so he adds that to his roll against TN
18 (Amras is in Defensive stance TN 12 + Parry 6,
determined by his basic Wits 6). The Wolf rolls a 19
with one Tengwar a great success! The bite
normally does the Wolf's Attribute level in damage +
3 more for the great success = 6 damage! Amras
subtracts that from his starting Endurance of 25 (22
for being an Elf + basic Heart 3) and is reduced to 19
Endurance. If he falls to his current Fatigue score of
11 or below, he will become Weary. In addition, the
Feat die result shows a 10 (a Piercing blow for a bite).
Amras rolls a Protection test using a Feat die + 2
Success dice for his armour against a TN 14 (the Edge
rating of the bite). He fails miserably and takes a
Wound!

bitten38. Amras swiftly runs to his side to protect him

dripping from its sharp fangs, but Amras shoves the

Dwarf to the side and takes the bite instead, wincing

fails, he takes a Wound. All Shadow creatures are
killed when they take a Wound, unless they have a
special ability that says they don't. Heroes don't die
unless they have a Wound that goes untreated after
being reduced to zero Endurance, or they take a
second Wound and are reduced to zero Endurance at
the same time. Amras spends a point of Hope on his
attack to allow his Wood-elf Magic to gain an
automatic Piercing blow. The Wild Wolf rolls a Feat
die and 2 Success dice for his 2d armour rating
against the Injury 14 rating of the bow and succeeds.
The Wound has been stopped. However, Amras rolled
an extraordinary success, so he gets to add his basic
Body 5 rating to the damage twice! If he had only
rolled a great success, he would only add it once.
Amras does 15 damage from his arrow. The Wild
Wolf's Endurance score is only 12, so it passes out on
the ground.
38 Since the fellowship failed the ambush, the Wild
Wolf will hold the initiative and make its attack first,
then the companions. However, since there are more
companions than enemies, the player-heroes decide
how to engage the creature. Bruni, Amras and one
other Dwarf will attack it at close quarters (there is a
limit of 3 close combat attackers against a creature of
that size). At the top of every round, all player-heroes
must declare a combat stance that determines the
base TN for attack and defense, as well as the turn
order among heroes. There are four choices of stance
in the game: Forward (TN 6), Open (TN 9), Defensive
(TN 12), or Rearward (TN 12). Bruni chooses the
Forward stance, Amras chooses Defensive, Dwarf #2
chooses Defensive, and Dwarf #3 chooses Rearward.
The turn order is always Forward, Open, Defensive,
Rearward. If more than one hero is in a stance, the
one with the highest Wits goes first. This means it will
be Bruni, Amras, Dwarf #2, then Dwarf #3.

40 Bruni goes first among the companions. Amras

gives him the bonus Success dice he earned at the
beginning for combat advantage, hoping Bruni will
put the Wolf down. Bruni rolls the Feat die + 2
Success dice for his favoured Mattock skill + a bonus
die (he plants his feet well) against TN 11 (Forward
stance TN 6 + Parry 5) and hits, but he gets no
Tengwars. The mattock does 8 points of damage to
the Wolf. Subtracting that from the creature's 12
Endurance leaves it with 4 points left.
41 Even though Amras used the Protect Companion
combat task this round, he does not forfeit his attack
roll. However, he rolls a Feat die + 1 Success die for
his Sword skill against TN 17 (Defensive stance TN 12
+ Wolf's Parry 5) and gets the Eye and a 3 a failure.

The One Ring Review

burn the Wolf but is unsuccessful. The other Dwarf
stays back waving the fire and lighting up the forest.

The heroes are filled with joy as they return to the

The Wild Wolf seems to be afraid of the fire , but he

palace of the Elf-king to talk of their experiences 46."

42

goes after Bruni again, this time grabbing hold of his

arm and violently shaking it as its teeth grind against

46 During the adventure, Amras spent 3 Hope points

(the first on a Stealth test, the second to use 'Wood-elf
magic', and the third to use the 'Protect Companion'
special combat task). Every adventuring group has a
pool of Fellowship points that can be used to
replenish Hope points. Fellowship points reset
between gaming sessions and are equal to the
number of companions in the company (although
Hobbits add an additional point each).

the coat of mail . Amras increases his fury, driving

43

his sword deep into the creature's gut44. The battle is

over quickly, but healing will be necessary 45.
42 Every creature has Hate points and special
abilities (which can also be limitations). The Wolf has
1 Hate Point and a few special abilities. One of them
is called 'Fear of Fire.' If any hero directly opposes the
Wolf while wielding a torch or burning item, the
creature loses its Hate point at the end of the round. If
any creature loses all its Hate points, it is considered
to be Weary. This is what happens here.

Amras recovers 1 Hope point because his Fellowship

focus wasn't Wounded. Then, he takes 2 Fellowship
points from the pool and brings himself back to his
original total. At this point, the company enters the
Fellowship phase and the Loremaster awards them
each with 2 Experience points. Experience points can
be accumulated and spent on improving Weapon
skills, Wisdom or Valour. If they had enough
Advancement points, they could improve Common
skills.

43 It is the top of a new round. Amras switches to

Forward stance while the other companions keep
their current stance. The Wild Wolf attacks Bruni by
rolling the Feat die + 2 Success dice + 3 Attribute level
for favoured Bite against TN 11 (Forward stance TN 6
+ Parry 5). It rolls a 10 (a Piercing blow for a bite), a
3, and 2. The 3 and 2 do not count because the Wolf
is Weary. However, it adds its 3 Attribute level for a
total of 13, a hit. Bruni makes a Protection test rolling
the Feat die and 4 Success dice + 4 (for armour and
helm) against TN 14 (the Edge rating of the bite). He
easily makes the roll to stop the Wound. Yet, he still
takes 3 Endurance damage from the bite.
44 Amras attacks before Bruni because of his higher
Wits. He rolls a Feat die + 1 Success die for his Sword
skill against TN 11 (Forward stance TN 6 + Parry 5).
He rolls a Gandalf rune (automatic success + Piercing
blow) and a 3. The Wild Wolf makes a Protection test
against TN 16 (the sword's Injury rating) by rolling
the Feat die + 2 Success dice for armour and fails. It
takes a Wound and dies.
45 Amras' Wound should be treated if he wants to
heal quicker. As is, he will only gain 1 Endurance
point per prolonged rest (a night's sleep). A successful
roll of the Healing skill (TN 14) will let him gain 2
Endurance points per prolonged rest. Once he
reaches 25 Endurance again, he will no longer be
Wounded.