Questions about The One Ring RPG

[Ethelred the Almost Ready]

Has anyone read or played this game?  I believe there are some interesting campaign mechanics and I wonder whether they could be incorporated into a skirmish campaign.  I will never play this as a role playing game, but if the ideas in the books are useful it might still be worth buying them.  I particularly like what I have read about the effect of the Shadow on characters.

[Little Odo]

I've not played The One Ring, but I have picked up the (D&D 5th edition OGL) RPG rulebooks for Adventures in Middle Earth - the One Ring stuff is slowly being converted to AiME by the company (Cubicle 7 Entertainment) that owns both franchises, so I reckon it will be updated and re-presented in a more modern format. Lots of source material and pretty pictures in the rule books, based mostly on the professor's writings rather than the films. I will be using them for a spot of RPG in the next year or two but will also mine it for ideas for GW's Middle Earth Strategy Battle Game tabletop, erm, game.

[Verderer]

I've not played The One Ring, but I have picked up the (D&D 5th edition OGL) RPG rulebooks for Adventures in Middle Earth - the One Ring stuff is slowly being converted to AiME by the company (Cubicle 7 Entertainment) that owns both franchises, so I reckon it will be updated and re-presented in a more modern format. Lots of source material and pretty pictures in the rule books, based mostly on the professor's writings rather than the films. I will be using them for a spot of RPG in the next year or two but will also mine it for ideas for GW's Middle Earth Strategy Battle Game tabletop, erm, game.

Eh, no? TOR is still going strong with new releases coming, and re-prints of outsold books done. The material is converted to AiMe that's true, but there's no indication TOR will dry up. And to be honest, I much rather play game that's purpose built for Middle-Earth rather than one that's modified for it. No doubt AiMe can be fun too, I've only GMed TOR. It's great fun, and true to Tolkien's works. I don't think it's in any way outdated, quite the contrary, it contains many new and innovative mechanisms.

I am eagerly waiting for a Moria boxed set which is going to include stats for both systems in separate books, and the actual campaign stuff is system-free. Cubicle has indicated that this is an exception, and that they will not be using the dual format in any of the foreseeable materials.

Cubicle 7 has a great forum for both games, and you're more than welcome to visit and ask question. In fact there are many threads comparing the two games already, as one might expect: http://forums.cubicle7.co.uk/index.php

One of the novel ideas in the game is combat, you don't actually do it the traditional way on tactical maps etc. You can use miniatures - I certainly do and they're useful - but their job is to mark a companions (hero) stance in the fray, like forward, open, defensive, rear. If you want to hang back and loose some arrows, you choose rear, if you're aggresively pushing the enemy, you take forward stance. These affect how hard it's to hit the enemy/you etc. So it's kinda abstract narrative way of combat resolution not a simulation, and therefore maybe not suited for skirmish tabletop style of play? Although there are fan-made skirmish/battle rules, but I am not familiar with them.

[Ethelred the Almost Ready]

Thanks for the replies.
I wasn't thinking of using the One Ring as a skirmish game. It was more a case of using the Shadow Points and campaign aspects (Fellowship phase??) etc to bolt on to a skirmish game (Sellswords and Spell Singers) to run a Middle Earth campaign with those rules. 
As much as I would love to play an RPG again, I don't think I know anyone who would be particularly keen to do so.

[Verderer]

Ok, understood.

Yes you certainly could take Shadow Points mechanism and certain campaign aspects, even though I am sure how it would work out. Using shadow should also involve using Hope, I think to balance it out. They're kinda two sides of the same coin.

But you get shadow points for doing misdeeds, being anguished, or dwelling in blighted places. If you have more shadow than hope, then you're miserable, and cannot spend hope points to boost your rolls. And you can get bouts of madness which make you temporarily act, well crazy.

Note that TOR is not symmetrical system in that only the heroes have shadow/hope, monsters and other servants of the Enemy have Hate, which is simpler thing used to power both special abilities and weapons skills.

Fellowship phase is really an 'end of the year' kinda thing, where you use XP and advancement points to raise you weapons skills, general skills, buy wisdom or valor related virtues and rewards, visit special places to raise hope, get special blessings and so on.

[MachinaMandala]

It'd definitely be interesting to see the mechanics translated to a wargame.

Likely more suited to Pulp Alley-style gameplay than anything else.

P.S. On the RPG front, I don't think the system is great. There's some really nice ideas and wow the Mirkwood campaign is excellent (I'd love to see that translated into wargame form), but the system didn't grab me. I'm more simulationist in RPGs and TOR is very narrative.