Oh boy, was I excited about this weekend. Three nights and 3 days of gaming in the lovely midlands village of Malvern, based in a rather posh 4 floor house with great views across to the hills.
We arrived handily on the Thursday, meeting in a nearby coffee shop before topping up supplies for the weekend at a local supermarket. Then it was onto our accommodation. The place really was spot on; a bedroom each and a good sized, well stocked kitchen with a big table for gaming.
Our group has played The One Ring on and off since 2019 when we had the first roadtrip and used the 1e rules from Cubicle 7. We’ve since had virtual events, face to face events and a combined Tolkien/Moorcock weekend, and in each case there has been a big focus on Tolkien gaming. Alongside these bigger events we’ve had regular online sessions where we’ve played Oaths of the Riddermark and Laughter of Dragons, and the plan for TORR 2024 was to kick off a Moria campaign.
Unfortunately the Moria pdf arrived a month or two too late for our GM Steve to prep, so instead we launched the weekend on the Thursday evening with Ruins of the North, an adventure supplement for The One Ring 2e. With newly created PCs, we had a hybrid session with 4 of us in Malvern and David and Martin (who joined us in person on the Friday evening) playing remotely. It was a clever setup and worked really well.
I love the start of a new module, the promise of adventure and excitement ahead, and this weekend delivered that in spades. In the spirit of no spoilers I won’t go into detail, but our adventures continued across the weekend including a bumper all-day session on the Saturday. Glorious stuff! I loved the adventures we played, taking on trolls, bandits, a wayward wizard and an ancient spirit all in a beautifully rendered version of Middle-Earth. Really it was top-notch GMing, world building and player engagement throughout, the stuff of legends.
Our adventures in Eriador featuring Steve’s clever hybrid face-to-face/tech setup
Besides all of the The One Ring gaming, we played The Lord of the Rings: Adventure to Mount Doom boardgame, a co-operative sort that we won, handily dropping the ring into Mount Doom. That was followed by The Lord of the Rings Exit Room game which confounded, confused and delighted us in equal measure – yet to be completed! We had a fair bit of socialising as well, settling later in the evening with some fine whisky and grand company, and filling our already ample bellies with curry and other fine consumables.
The Lord of the Rings: Adventure to Mount Doom and Exit the Game, both great Tolkien themed games
I’m not one for rating and ranking gaming weekends, but this one is really high up there, I enjoyed every moment of it, spent with the finest of company. Roll on the next one!
Old Scouser Roleplaying 