The folks at Iron Crown Enterprises (I.C.E.) produced some of my favorite play aids ever for their Middle Earth Role Playing system (M.E.R.P.s.). The line seems a near perfect blend of Tolkien and adventure gaming in many ways. The glaring exception being "magic". Fortunately active magic plays little part in most of the play aid material which lends itself to easy adaptation to most any other RPG system. Having rights to The Lord of the Rings, but not to the other Tolkien material, many if not most, of the stories and background material in the play aids is the invention of I.C.E., therefore it is fresh and useful inside a Middle Earth setting or imported into another Middle Earth-like campaign setting...and there have been many of those over the history of the hobby.
Prof. Tolkien's influence can be found in early White Box and many other fantasy games and in lots of published and home-brewed settings. Like many referees (and players) my game is a combination of a number of influences including my reading of the works of J.R.R. Tolkien and some original thought. This is true whether I am playing something labeled "Middle Earth" or not. Over the nearly four decades in which I have played at this hobby, many sessions and a few campaigns have been Middle Earth in spirit if not out-right name. For several of them in which I refereed, I have drawn heavily not only on the canon as found in the official works, but on I.C.E.'s "interpretation" of Middle Earth as found in their various play aids.
Arnor, the product pictured, is a later I.C.E. publication (1994) containing material from several previous publications dating back ten years as well as some new material. It is one of their bigger books at over 400 pages and includes a number of color and b&w maps. The excellent maps, mostly the work of Pete Fenlon, are really works of art themselves. This play aid is nicely illustrated as is mostly true throughout the line. The cover illustration is by noted artist Angus McBride whose work often depicted historic soldiers appearing in the popular Osprey series of military reference books. According to gamer legend, Mr. McBride enjoyed painting fantasy subjects and gave I.C.E. a good deal when painting for them. Many of the titles in the Middle Earth series include b&w art by Liz Danforth, who is noted for her elegant style. Being a revised compilation of five previous publications the interior art in this book is the work of several artists.
Arnor describes the realm which lies about the shire and was home to elves and Dunedain men in earlier times, but is largely underpopulated by the Third Age as depicted in The Hobbit and Lord Of The Rings novels. Early in the Third Age, Arnor has been split into three competing kingdoms, Arthedain, Cardolan and Rhudaur, which will work against each other until they are all gone and only the Rangers remain, scattered and hunted. Arnor takes us back to the early Third Age before the fall of the Dunedain kingdoms in the north and describes several locations including the fortress capitol of Fornost and the city of Tharbad. The setting is a time when the shadow forces are infiltrating and causing strife which will lead eventually to the downfall of the Dunedain kingdoms.
Arnor is rich in details providing much information either gleaned from Lord of the rings or invented by I.C.E. to consistently flow with the novel. There is enough here to easily stretch for years of play. A referee could simply use it as the sole basis for such a campaign. It is also a resource for mining ideas for inclusion in other campaigns. A growing evil presence, working through secret agents to undermine government and religion in an effort to weaken nations and set brother against brother in an ultimate bid for power could be used as the basis for almost any campaign. It is one of the more interesting themes in the history of Middle Earth and I have used Arnor as inspiration and resource for my own game play set during this fictional era.
The I.C.E. Middle Earth products are mostly like Arnor in that they focus on an area and time which were not part of the novel, thereby avoiding the problem of playing "second fiddle" to Frodo and the Fellowship. Having a limited agreement to use Middle Earth, I.C.E. made up most of the content of their play aids rather than take it directly from canon. To me this adds to, rather than detracts from its usefulness for gaming. The feel or flavor of Middle Earth is there without feeling like you have to have a degree in Middle Earth studies in order to referee the thing.
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