In a recent news post, Free League Publishing announced the Realms of the Three Rings expansion for The One Ring RPG and its 5e version Keepers of the Elven-rings.

This new expansion will concentrate on the elves of Lórien, Rivendell, and Lindon. Three chapters will introduce players to new sites, events, adversaries and characters. An appendix will also include rules for building some playable elves, such as Elf-Lords.

This expansion is already available for pre-order on the Free League shop, which provides you with a full PDF for early access. Free League also invited players to report errors, a collaborative attitude that I’m sure fellow fans appreciate.

What a week for Tolkien fans! War of the Rohirrim is in theaters, and Fellowship of the Ring has another anniversary just around the corner. I can’t imagine a better time for Free League’s announcement, a welcome surprise since the holidays are typically slower.

The new Elven settings and builds are really going to round out potential storytelling in these RPGs, following the Moria expansion. I’m most curious about the Elf-Lords, which Free League mentions are “especially suited for solo play.”

Solo can be easily overlooked, even though RPG fans can’t always get the group to the table. And, an Elf-Lord sounds like a perfect solution!

Their unusual power could help players handle obstacles alone. But more importantly, it should give solo players many responsibilities. This naturally creates a lot of story, possibly with arm-chair intrigue and larger-scale issues that will really expand The One Ring and its 5e counterpart.

Elf-Lord gameplay may also present themes of isolation, and tie into niche concepts or relationships from the source material.

I’m also interested in the new sites “created specifically for the game,” since I trust these RPGs to explore Middle-Earth in an authentic way. This expansion looks just as promising as anything else from Free League.

So, check it out for yourself! Warm up for your Fellowship anniversary binge of Jackson’s trilogy, which the fiancee and I have been planning too. Don’t forget to cozy up with your Nerd of the Rings, Prancing Pony podcast, and books!

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