Last year, one of my friends introduced me to Adventures in Middle Earth (AiME), Cubicle 7’s 5e OGL-based Tolkien RPG. (They also offered another, The One Ring.) I loved it immediately. Enough that it was one of my 3 additions to d20 Radio’s 2019 Holiday Gift Guide.
Unfortunately, around that time, Cubicle 7 announced that they were “[ending] our licensing agreement with Sophisticated Games” as of early 2020. This meant no more AiME, and the cancellation of the planned second edition of The One Ring (TOR). Not that this was going to stop me from playing, especially not after my AiME GM friend gave me a copy of the player’s book for Christmas. But still, it was a bummer, to know the line was ending. I felt a little like Bilbo at the Battle of Five Armies. Then–
On March 9, 2020, the Eagles arrived! Fria Ligan/Free League Publishing announced their new partnership with Sophisticated Games to continue both TOR and AiME Middle-earth RPG lines! The companies’ agreement is effective Jun 1, 2020. This on its own would be a promising partnership in my opinion. Sophisticated Games, being one of the previous publishers of these two RPGs, is experienced with the IP, for starters. And Sweden’s Free League/Fria Ligan has an outstanding record with RPGs including the dark fantasy Symbaroum and space opera Coriolis. That’s not all. The articles I’ve read on Fria Ligan’s website and EN World make the prospect look even better, with more continuity. Francesco Nepitello is staying on as lead designer. He was also a co-author (with Marco Maggi) of the RPG series.
No release dates have been announced, and I doubt they can be, until at least June first. But I am looking forward to seeing where this new pairing takes AiME and TOR.
Linda Whitson
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