 Cover of the Player's Guide | |
| Designers | Dominic McDowall-Thomas, Jon Hodgson, Francesco Nepitello, Marco Maggi |
|---|---|
| Publishers | Cubicle 7 |
| Publication | 2016 |
| Genres | Fantasy |
| Systems | D&D 5e |
Adventures in Middle-Earth is atabletop role-playing game originally published byCubicle 7 in 2016 that uses the milieu ofJ.R.R. Tolkien's fantasy trilogyThe Lord of the Rings.
Adventures in Middle-Earth is set in the 60-year period between theBattle of Five Armies at the end ofThe Hobbit and the second departure ofBilbo Baggins fromThe Shire that marks the beginning ofThe Lord of the Rings. Adventures take place to the east of theMisty Mountains, in the Wilderlands ofErebor around theLonely Mountain, as well as theMirkwood Forest.[1]
The game uses a somewhat modified set of rules drawn fromthe fifth edition ofDungeons & Dragons under theOpen Game License (OGL) created byWizards of the Coast. Due to the relatively low use of magic and the lack of magical healing in Tolkien's works, the usualD&D rules and character classes built around magic and healing are not used. Instead, the system introduces new character classes, as well as new Cultures, Virtues and Backgrounds more in keeping with the Middle-earth setting. Similarly, magic items usually found inD&D are replaced by "heirlooms", items of lesser power that nevertheless are valuable in the low-magic setting.[1]
In 2011, Cubicle 7 publishedThe One Ring, a licensed fantasy role-playing game set in Tolkien's wilderness ofEriador west of theMisty Mountains that used an original set of rules. Five years later Cubicle 7 released a new Tolkien-related role-playing game,Adventures in Middle-earth, set to the east of the Misty Mountains that usedD&D rules under the OGL. ThePlayer's Guide was the firstMiddle-earth property released, a 224-page hardcover book designed by James Brown, Paul Butler, Walt Ciechanowski, Steve Emmott,Gareth Ryder-Hanrahan, John Hodgson,Shane Ivey, Andrew Kenrick,T. S. Luikart,Dominic McDowall-Thomas, Francesco Nepitello, James Spahn, and Ken Spencer, with interior art byJohn Howe, Jon Hodgson, Jason Juta, Naomi Robinson, Sam Manley, Jan Pospisil, Andrew Hepworth, and Tomas Jedrusek, cartography by Paul Bourne, and cover art by John Howe. Over the next three years, Cubicle 7 released a variety of source books and adventures for theMiddle-earth setting.
In November 2019, Cubicle 7 announced that publication of bothThe One Ring andAdventures in Middle-earth would cease due to contractual issues with the license holder.[2] The game license for both systems was subsequently acquired by Free League Publishing in 2020.[3] In August 2022, Free League Publishing announced that it would be publishingThe Lord of the Rings Roleplaying, an adaptation of the second edition ofThe One Ring (released in 2021) that also uses a modified version of theD&D fifth edition ruleset, with preorders for the game's core compendium scheduled to open in fall 2022 and a retail release planned for early 2023.[4]
John Farrell ofGaming Trend calledAdventures in Middle-earth the "reunion of two franchises [Dungeons & Dragons andLord of the Rings] that in many ways directly created the modern conception of fantasy wholecloth." However, Farrell noted that however the two franchises had been thematically joined in the beginning, "we have seen a stark divergence in how fantasy is presented under the two legacies." Farrell liked Cubicle 7's changes to the rules to make a low-magic system more in line with Tolkien's world, but noted that "none of it can completely escape being an adaptation of a game that was never made with Middle-earth in mind." Farrell concluded by givingAdventures in Middle-earth an above-average rating of 85%, saying the game "remains an engaging and exciting experience. Adapting itself to the 5E engine has diluted it in a few ways, but has mostly given us a fresh, intelligent way to experience Middle-earth. The good design choices far outweigh the questionable ones, resulting in a stylish, exciting, dark mystery that I am eager to experience."[1]
Lindsay Janice ofGamers Decide liked the new parts of the rules system, saying the game "truly brings its own originality when being compared to other iconic games." Although she admitted that players would need to purchase a variety of books, she thought that these were cheaper and therefore better value compared to other systems. Janice concluded by giving the game an above-average rating of 8 out of 10, commenting, "Adventures in Middle-Earth is the game for those Tolkien fans that want to be more immersed in Middle-Earth and have their own character walking through the iconic hills of the Shire, or through the valley of Rivendell."[5]
At the 2018Origins Awards,Adventures in Middle-earth won in the category "Best Role-playing Game of 2017".[6][7][8]
| Title | Release date (PDF format) | Notes & Ref |
|---|---|---|
| Player's Guide | September 7, 2016 | |
| Loremaster's Guide | January 31, 2017 | |
| Wilderland Adventures | April 19, 2017 | |
| Rhovanion Region Guide | July 5, 2017 | |
| The Eaves of Mirkwood & Loremaster's Screen | July 31, 2017 | [9] |
| The Road Goes Ever On | August 29, 2017 | [10] |
| The Mirkwood Campaign | November 9, 2017 | [11] |
| Rivendell Region Guide | March 13, 2018 | |
| Eriador Adventures | May 23, 2018 | |
| Bree-land Region Guide | March 14, 2019 | |
| Lonely Mountain Region Guide | August 9, 2019 | |
| Erebor Adventures | September, 2019 | |
| Rohan Region Guide | November, 2019 | PDF only |
| Moria | 2019 (cancelled) | deluxe boxed set |
