Great video... I know I'm commenting long after the fact. My take on MERP is that it's "Middle Earth Roleplaying" more than "Lord of the Rings" roleplaying. What I mean by that is, I think that MERP is geared towards using Middle Earth as a setting for your fantasy roleplaying games. That may sound obvious, but I do *not* think that it's attempting to recreate a story like Lord of the Rings. It's a game where your elfs and dwarfs and magic-users can fight orcs and explore lost dungeons. Kind of like you do in D&D... but explicitly in Middle Earth with all the rich and cool lore, background and geography to build off of. Do you want to fight the orcs of Dangmar, Land of the Snitch Queen? No, you want to fight the orcs of Angmar, Land of the Witch King because that's really cool. Why do frp in some guy's knock-off homebrew setting when you can play in the best setting ever? I hope that distinction actually makes sense! LotR is an amazing story and very philosophical and even theological. But frpgs in general are not stories (they're situations approached by multiple players with problem-solving and randomizers) and they're not particularly philosophical. I know that some would criticize MERP for its game mechanics, and that's fair enough for any game, but I cannot see criticizing it for not recreating the style and feel of LotR because I don't think that it even sets out to do that. For that matter, the Hobbit is a very different book than LotR (especially in its first published version)... goblins make alliances with evil dwarves and trolls have talking pockets that are "the mischief"? Ask a Tolkien fundamentalist about that one some time! There's a lot of room in Middle Earth for different takes, and to me MERP is the classic frp take (the Hobbit is the folklore take with talking animals and even talking pockets, and LotR is the Catholic theology take, etc.).
I used to DM for D&D and I read the LoftT, Hobbit, & Silmarillion like 7 times each. I do it every so often. But when I was in my teens, when I would take poeple on adventures, my knowledge of the Dunedain, the Valar, different types of elves, etc... made my adventure so much more interesting. I usually started them out at a school in the early third age before the war of the ring, and the teacher was a wize wizard that was trying to teach the history of Middle Earth but was really a mage trying to recruit smart you students in the cause agains tha black forces of Angmar, etc. Also, my adventures always included mead halls and elven whore and bar wenches, and everyone just freaking loved it. I moved to a new school and i met these white dudes and they were talking about D&D so I went to their house and I DM'd an adventure in Middle Earth with some characters that had a history and stuff. They were blown away that I was Hispanic and I was creating advertures that far exceeded their expectations. They were so impressed that these guys ended up freaking harrassing me to be their DM constantly. I was starting to meet cool people in the school and these fuckers would call me Dungeon Master at school and it would drive me nuts. I'd tell them to STFU and not call me Dungeon Master in school or I would kick their ass!!! LOLOLOLOL
The book has some lovely art that I think does a good job of conveying the feel of Middle-Earth. However, the rule system while not bad itself, is not particularly Middle-Earth, but rather a gateway or starter set for Rolemaster proper, which, imho can do a better job of creating the feel of Middle-Earth by simply tailoring it to Middle-Earth. But, back in the day, Fighters, Wizards, Clerics and Thieves were expected, and so it has them.
I do like a lot of the art. Some of it was very formative on my conceptualization of Middle-earth. That is interesting that you think Rolemaster proper could actually do a better job at representing Middle-earth if properly tailored. It has been a long time since I have played Rolemaster, so I really don't have a basis to judge. My inclination would not have been to go further down that route. But, I did put a lot of effort into creating Middle-earth with GURPS years ago. So, I am sure great things can be done by tailoring a lot of different systems. The question is, as always, how much work is required to make it work?
Many fond Memories GMing this for a group consisting mainly of friends without prior P&P RPG experience. Since none of my players felt up to the task of playing one of the heavily magic-using classes we also never had any issues with a lack of "Tolkien Feel".
I.C.E. had a great take on Middle-Earth. Not so much the way they used magic (big no go - we hardly ever used spell users in our games and we've played für 20+ years) but the background and maps were and still are great.
If I were running a game in Middle-earth, regardless of the system, I can't see having the players be spellcasters, or really having that many in the game anyway. The MERP magic system always seems to be at the center of the critiques of its suitability for Middle-earth. If it is not considered, I can see arguments for and against the rest of the system.
It was set in Third Age 1640 as default, but some modules were set in different eras. Personally, I find MERP superior in pretty much every way to the Middle Earth RPGs that have followed it. The current version of The One Ring is absolute trash in terms of the mechanics. It's essentially a glorified board game. But I'm hoping to get the second printing of the new RPG "Against the Darkmaster" and use that with my old MERP modules.
That is a very interesting take on it. I have heard so many speak very highly about the One Ring's representation of the feel of Middle-earth. I had never ever heard of "Against the Darkmaster". I just looked it up. Looks interesting. Will have to check it out.
As you said it is a great lead in to Rolemaster and the system we played most at our local club back in the day - but that could have been the fantastic GM that ran that particular game - I remember individual campaigns going on for a couple of years. IMHO it was better than AD&D being a tad more sophisticated but lacking the overt complexity of Rolemaster. The XP didn't suit my playstyle and I stalled for about 18 months at level 9 with my character as the the idea points were often overlooked with no malice intended as a GM has more on his mind than awarding various heads of XP - I didn't go to progress in a competition but to enjoy the game - which I did with this system.
At one point, I collected/owned every book in the overall series. It is a very interesting system, especially with its detailed critical hits table. The authors took a bit of liberty with the more nebulous Tolkien lore and in many instances expanded it to a rather interesting playset (ie. Who the Nine were before being turned). Great system, it just could not compete with D&D/AD&D etc in the timeframe that it was all written. You will also note extremely poor editing for a finished, printed book in many circumstances.
A ten session video series of MERP live play would be fantastic. Not sure if it’s doable. And you’re right, the hard cover is what are my prize gaming possessions.
Great video... I know I'm commenting long after the fact. My take on MERP is that it's "Middle Earth Roleplaying" more than "Lord of the Rings" roleplaying. What I mean by that is, I think that MERP is geared towards using Middle Earth as a setting for your fantasy roleplaying games. That may sound obvious, but I do *not* think that it's attempting to recreate a story like Lord of the Rings. It's a game where your elfs and dwarfs and magic-users can fight orcs and explore lost dungeons. Kind of like you do in D&D... but explicitly in Middle Earth with all the rich and cool lore, background and geography to build off of. Do you want to fight the orcs of Dangmar, Land of the Snitch Queen? No, you want to fight the orcs of Angmar, Land of the Witch King because that's really cool. Why do frp in some guy's knock-off homebrew setting when you can play in the best setting ever?
I hope that distinction actually makes sense! LotR is an amazing story and very philosophical and even theological. But frpgs in general are not stories (they're situations approached by multiple players with problem-solving and randomizers) and they're not particularly philosophical. I know that some would criticize MERP for its game mechanics, and that's fair enough for any game, but I cannot see criticizing it for not recreating the style and feel of LotR because I don't think that it even sets out to do that. For that matter, the Hobbit is a very different book than LotR (especially in its first published version)... goblins make alliances with evil dwarves and trolls have talking pockets that are "the mischief"? Ask a Tolkien fundamentalist about that one some time! There's a lot of room in Middle Earth for different takes, and to me MERP is the classic frp take (the Hobbit is the folklore take with talking animals and even talking pockets, and LotR is the Catholic theology take, etc.).
I used to DM for D&D and I read the LoftT, Hobbit, & Silmarillion like 7 times each. I do it every so often. But when I was in my teens, when I would take poeple on adventures, my knowledge of the Dunedain, the Valar, different types of elves, etc... made my adventure so much more interesting. I usually started them out at a school in the early third age before the war of the ring, and the teacher was a wize wizard that was trying to teach the history of Middle Earth but was really a mage trying to recruit smart you students in the cause agains tha black forces of Angmar, etc. Also, my adventures always included mead halls and elven whore and bar wenches, and everyone just freaking loved it. I moved to a new school and i met these white dudes and they were talking about D&D so I went to their house and I DM'd an adventure in Middle Earth with some characters that had a history and stuff. They were blown away that I was Hispanic and I was creating advertures that far exceeded their expectations. They were so impressed that these guys ended up freaking harrassing me to be their DM constantly. I was starting to meet cool people in the school and these fuckers would call me Dungeon Master at school and it would drive me nuts. I'd tell them to STFU and not call me Dungeon Master in school or I would kick their ass!!! LOLOLOLOL
So many fond memories! The maps are pieces of art.
The book has some lovely art that I think does a good job of conveying the feel of Middle-Earth. However, the rule system while not bad itself, is not particularly Middle-Earth, but rather a gateway or starter set for Rolemaster proper, which, imho can do a better job of creating the feel of Middle-Earth by simply tailoring it to Middle-Earth. But, back in the day, Fighters, Wizards, Clerics and Thieves were expected, and so it has them.
I do like a lot of the art. Some of it was very formative on my conceptualization of Middle-earth. That is interesting that you think Rolemaster proper could actually do a better job at representing Middle-earth if properly tailored. It has been a long time since I have played Rolemaster, so I really don't have a basis to judge. My inclination would not have been to go further down that route. But, I did put a lot of effort into creating Middle-earth with GURPS years ago. So, I am sure great things can be done by tailoring a lot of different systems. The question is, as always, how much work is required to make it work?
Many fond Memories GMing this for a group consisting mainly of friends without prior P&P RPG experience. Since none of my players felt up to the task of playing one of the heavily magic-using classes we also never had any issues with a lack of "Tolkien Feel".
I.C.E. had a great take on Middle-Earth. Not so much the way they used magic (big no go - we hardly ever used spell users in our games and we've played für 20+ years) but the background and maps were and still are great.
If I were running a game in Middle-earth, regardless of the system, I can't see having the players be spellcasters, or really having that many in the game anyway. The MERP magic system always seems to be at the center of the critiques of its suitability for Middle-earth. If it is not considered, I can see arguments for and against the rest of the system.
Awesome. I'm in a group that has been playing since the 90's and now our kids play with us
It was set in Third Age 1640 as default, but some modules were set in different eras. Personally, I find MERP superior in pretty much every way to the Middle Earth RPGs that have followed it. The current version of The One Ring is absolute trash in terms of the mechanics. It's essentially a glorified board game. But I'm hoping to get the second printing of the new RPG "Against the Darkmaster" and use that with my old MERP modules.
That is a very interesting take on it. I have heard so many speak very highly about the One Ring's representation of the feel of Middle-earth. I had never ever heard of "Against the Darkmaster". I just looked it up. Looks interesting. Will have to check it out.
As you said it is a great lead in to Rolemaster and the system we played most at our local club back in the day - but that could have been the fantastic GM that ran that particular game - I remember individual campaigns going on for a couple of years. IMHO it was better than AD&D being a tad more sophisticated but lacking the overt complexity of Rolemaster. The XP didn't suit my playstyle and I stalled for about 18 months at level 9 with my character as the the idea points were often overlooked with no malice intended as a GM has more on his mind than awarding various heads of XP - I didn't go to progress in a competition but to enjoy the game - which I did with this system.
I have this for 30 years now. Never learned the rules but I still love to turn the pages and watch the drawings.
Loved when the example of play had a PC cast a levitation spell like it was no big deal. Very Tolkienesque. 🤣 Still a great game, though.
I know. I know. That one gets me too!
At one point, I collected/owned every book in the overall series. It is a very interesting system, especially with its detailed critical hits table. The authors took a bit of liberty with the more nebulous Tolkien lore and in many instances expanded it to a rather interesting playset (ie. Who the Nine were before being turned). Great system, it just could not compete with D&D/AD&D etc in the timeframe that it was all written. You will also note extremely poor editing for a finished, printed book in many circumstances.
They did add several things but, I think that they had some trouble with the Tolkien Estate over the "Court of Ardor" material.
What would be amazing is a ten session Let's play using these rules, by your group.
And that Hardcover is an amazing original
A ten session video series of MERP live play would be fantastic. Not sure if it’s doable. And you’re right, the hard cover is what are my prize gaming possessions.
I Loved playing with my group of friends I still have all my original books and die even some of my old character sheets.
Haber si volvéis editar el merp con nuevas aventuras y módulos y campañas somos millones los ke esperamos esto ❤❤❤❤❤❤❤