Middle-Earth Role Playing - Revision history

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86.43.125.21: /* The Setting */

2019-05-11T07:16:31Z

The Setting

← Older revision		Revision as of 07:16, 11 May 2019
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	You don't really need any additional manual to play: Tolkien had made a big amount of work, and if someone had read The Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit and The Silmarillion - not to say the massive History of Middle Earth series compiled by his son - that's about all an halfway-decent GM would need to put a campaign together. But I.C.E., being the awesome band of Nerds that they were, supplied us with many goodies.		You don't really need any additional manual to play: Tolkien had made a big amount of work, and if someone had read The Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit and The Silmarillion - not to say the massive History of Middle Earth series compiled by his son - that's about all an halfway-decent GM would need to put a campaign together. But I.C.E., being the awesome band of Nerds that they were, supplied us with many goodies.

	The game was supposed to be played in the years between 1600 and 1700 of the Third Age, and all the modules ~~details~~ this period, that feels a lot like the original but with a little more ~~spices~~ - Khazad-Dum was still a thriving Dwarf Fortress and no [[Fun]] had yet occurred, Arnor and Gondor are still powerful ~~kingdom~~ etc. - so you have plenty of adventure going around - but nothing stops you from using different Ages.		The game was supposed to be played in the years between 1600 and 1700 of the Third Age, and all the modules detail this period, that feels a lot like the original but with a little more spice - Khazad-Dum was still a thriving Dwarf Fortress and no [[Fun]] had yet occurred, Arnor and Gondor are still powerful kingdoms, etc. - so you have plenty of adventure going around - but nothing stops you from using different Ages.

	All geographic modules - of which I.C.E. put out a good amount, of varying but generally good quality - ~~reads~~ like history books and can be interesting even for non-players as good sources of lore about Middle Earth and Tolkien-related stuff. Among them there's a Sourcebook ~~who's~~ nothing but a big dictionary of the Elvish tongues and a glossary of Middle Earth ~~therms~~, in case you want to experience the full Tolkien experience and roleplay everything in Quenya (one of the ~~tongues~~ Tolkien created) without subtitles.		All geographic modules - of which I.C.E. put out a good amount, of varying but generally good quality - read like history books and can be interesting even for non-players as good sources of lore about Middle Earth and Tolkien-related stuff. Among them there's a Sourcebook which’s nothing but a big dictionary of the Elvish tongues and a glossary of Middle Earth terms, in case you want to experience the full Tolkien experience and roleplay everything in Quenya (one of the Languages Tolkien created) without subtitles.

	= See also =		= See also =

108.172.100.201: /* Magic */

2018-10-14T15:22:07Z

Magic

← Older revision		Revision as of 15:22, 14 October 2018
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	The progression was the same as many other games: a 1st level wizard was about as useful in combat as a wet sponge, then it started getting better and better until it had a spell to solve every situation. Magic is learned by Lists, and when you have learned a list you continue to acquire spells in that list. So at 1st level you had 1 spell, then you got 4 spells at 2nd level, 9 at 3rd and so on. [http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/LinearWarriorsQuadraticWizards You see where this leads.]		The progression was the same as many other games: a 1st level wizard was about as useful in combat as a wet sponge, then it started getting better and better until it had a spell to solve every situation. Magic is learned by Lists, and when you have learned a list you continue to acquire spells in that list. So at 1st level you had 1 spell, then you got 4 spells at 2nd level, 9 at 3rd and so on. [http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/LinearWarriorsQuadraticWizards You see where this leads.]

			However using magic is risky, bringing the eye of Sauron and his agents. Players take a risk every time they cast a spell which can lead to encounters with dark forces.

	==The Setting==		==The Setting==

2A01:CB00:A30:4700:1130:CD07:F4E8:60A8: /* Magic */

2018-03-17T07:18:34Z

Magic

← Older revision		Revision as of 07:18, 17 March 2018
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	If you've read [[The Lord of the Rings]] (and if you have not, leave '''NOW''', as you don't belong to this Wiki at all), you will remember that Middle Earth is a very low-magic setting: even Gandalf was pretty much into hack'n'slash rather than spamming fireballs and magic missiles, so blasting your way through a dungeon casting thunderbolts left and right didn't really fit into the setting well enough to satisfy purists. Tolkien was a old schooler that took a lot of inspiration from classical sources, so being able to heal people by imposing your hands on them was sufficient to identify you as King of the most powerful nation in existence - remember Aragorn? - and being able to outclass him with low-level spells is surely odd.		If you've read [[The Lord of the Rings]] (and if you have not, leave '''NOW''', as you don't belong to this Wiki at all), you will remember that Middle Earth is a very low-magic setting: even Gandalf was pretty much into hack'n'slash rather than spamming fireballs and magic missiles, so blasting your way through a dungeon casting thunderbolts left and right didn't really fit into the setting well enough to satisfy purists. Tolkien was a old schooler that took a lot of inspiration from classical sources, so being able to heal people by imposing your hands on them was sufficient to identify you as King of the most powerful nation in existence - remember Aragorn? - and being able to outclass him with low-level spells is surely odd.

	That said, magic was a straightforward affair: you had ~~3 types~~ of full magic users for 2 schools of magic, and a bunch of classic spells. You could optimize your characters to cover all the classic roles that are normally covered by magic users - from the wacky fellow who likes to blow up stuff to the healer and so on. And, because you can transfer the Development Points you got when levelling up, all classes had the possibility to multiclass as a magic user.		That said, magic was a straightforward affair: you had 1 type of full magic users and 1 type of "half" magic users for each of 2 schools of magic, and a bunch of classic spells. You could optimize your characters to cover all the classic roles that are normally covered by magic users - from the wacky fellow who likes to blow up stuff to the healer and so on. And, because you can transfer the Development Points you got when levelling up, all classes had the possibility to multiclass as a magic user.

	The progression was the same as many other games: a 1st level wizard was about as useful in combat as a wet sponge, then it started getting better and better until it had a spell to solve every situation. Magic is learned by Lists, and when you have learned a list you continue to acquire spells in that list. So at 1st level you had 1 spell, then you got 4 spells at 2nd level, 9 at 3rd and so on. [http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/LinearWarriorsQuadraticWizards You see where this leads.]		The progression was the same as many other games: a 1st level wizard was about as useful in combat as a wet sponge, then it started getting better and better until it had a spell to solve every situation. Magic is learned by Lists, and when you have learned a list you continue to acquire spells in that list. So at 1st level you had 1 spell, then you got 4 spells at 2nd level, 9 at 3rd and so on. [http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/LinearWarriorsQuadraticWizards You see where this leads.]

2A01:CB00:A30:4700:1130:CD07:F4E8:60A8: /* Magic */

2018-03-17T07:15:39Z

Magic

← Older revision		Revision as of 07:15, 17 March 2018
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	This is probably the most skub aspect of the whole system. It was not that magic was overpowered or messy or defective, but something about it didn't sound really right.		This is probably the most skub aspect of the whole system. It was not that magic was overpowered or messy or defective, but something about it didn't sound really right.

	If you've read [[The Lord of the Rings]] (and if you have not, leave '''NOW''', as you don't belong to this Wiki at all), you will remember that Middle Earth is a very low-magic setting: even ~~Gandal~~ was pretty much into hack'n'slash rather than spamming fireballs and magic missiles, so blasting your way through a dungeon casting thunderbolts left and right didn't really fit into the setting well enough to satisfy purists. Tolkien was a old schooler that took a lot of inspiration from classical sources, so being able to heal people by imposing your hands on them was sufficient to identify you as King of the most powerful nation in existence - remember Aragorn? - and being able to outclass him with low-level spells is surely odd.		If you've read [[The Lord of the Rings]] (and if you have not, leave '''NOW''', as you don't belong to this Wiki at all), you will remember that Middle Earth is a very low-magic setting: even Gandalf was pretty much into hack'n'slash rather than spamming fireballs and magic missiles, so blasting your way through a dungeon casting thunderbolts left and right didn't really fit into the setting well enough to satisfy purists. Tolkien was a old schooler that took a lot of inspiration from classical sources, so being able to heal people by imposing your hands on them was sufficient to identify you as King of the most powerful nation in existence - remember Aragorn? - and being able to outclass him with low-level spells is surely odd.

	That said, magic was a straightforward affair: you had 3 types of full magic users for 2 schools of magic, and a bunch of classic spells. You could optimize your characters to cover all the classic roles that are normally covered by magic users - from the wacky fellow who likes to blow up stuff to the healer and so on. And, because you can transfer the Development Points you got when levelling up, all classes had the possibility to multiclass as a magic user.		That said, magic was a straightforward affair: you had 3 types of full magic users for 2 schools of magic, and a bunch of classic spells. You could optimize your characters to cover all the classic roles that are normally covered by magic users - from the wacky fellow who likes to blow up stuff to the healer and so on. And, because you can transfer the Development Points you got when levelling up, all classes had the possibility to multiclass as a magic user.

2A01:CB00:A30:4700:1130:CD07:F4E8:60A8: /* Combat */

2018-03-17T07:13:14Z

Combat

← Older revision		Revision as of 07:13, 17 March 2018
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	M.E.R.P. goes for the simulation approach: combat is detailed and rather messy and as you may have come to expect, involves an unholy number of tables.		M.E.R.P. goes for the simulation approach: combat is detailed and rather messy and as you may have come to expect, involves an unholy number of tables.

	Weapons and armour are used in a pretty clever way: instead of ''"you hit with X, your armour absorbs Y damages, your Hit Points go down to Z"'', you had to go for a trip down the merry lane as follows: When you attacked you roll a D100 dice, added your Offensive Bonus and cross-referenced it with the armour your opponent was wearing on the appropriate table - 1 handed slashing weapons, 2 handed weapons, magic bolts and so on. If you were using the expanded rules Rolemaster provides, EVERY single weapon ([[What\|down to and including raw fishes and thrown henchmens]]) and offensive spell had its own damage table, that gave you different results against 20 different types of armour. Anal retentive much? This process gave you a code like 8A, 30E or similar, and the fun was just starting.:<br />		Weapons and armour are used in a pretty clever way: instead of ''"you hit with X, your armour absorbs Y damages, your Hit Points go down to Z"'', you had to go for a trip down the merry lane as follows: When you attacked you roll a D100 dice, added your Offensive Bonus, substracted your target's Defensive Bonus and cross-referenced the final result with the armour your opponent was wearing on the appropriate table - 1 handed slashing weapons, 2 handed weapons, magic bolts and so on. If you were using the expanded rules Rolemaster provides, EVERY single weapon ([[What\|down to and including raw fishes and thrown henchmens]]) and offensive spell had its own damage table, that gave you different results against 20 different types of armour. Anal retentive much? This process gave you a code like 8A, 30E or similar, and the fun was just starting.:<br />
	* The number was the quantity of damage you had inflicted, that was subtracted form you opponents hit points.		* The number was the quantity of damage you had inflicted, that was subtracted form you opponents hit points.
	* The letter - if present - was the severity of the '''Critical Hit''' you achieved, meaning that you've done additional damage. You the rolled ANOTHER D100 dice, applied a modifier based on the code and looked up the result (you may have guessed it) on another table where the damage - that varied accordingly to the type of critical you were inflicting - was described in gleeful details, like "Blow to upper legs, +5hits", "Minor forearm wound, +2hits, stunned for 1 round" or "Strike through ear destroys brain. The unfortunate lummox dies instantly, and ''any ear wax is removed"'' or "Blast annihilates entire skeleton. Reduced to a gelatinous pulp. Try a spatula". Something tells me that [[Dwarf Fortress\|The Toady One]] played this game at one point of another of his life.		* The letter - if present - was the severity of the '''Critical Hit''' you achieved, meaning that you've done additional damage. You the rolled ANOTHER D100 dice, applied a modifier based on the code and looked up the result (you may have guessed it) on another table where the damage - that varied accordingly to the type of critical you were inflicting - was described in gleeful details, like "Blow to upper legs, +5hits", "Minor forearm wound, +2hits, stunned for 1 round" or "Strike through ear destroys brain. The unfortunate lummox dies instantly, and ''any ear wax is removed"'' or "Blast annihilates entire skeleton. Reduced to a gelatinous pulp. Try a spatula". Something tells me that [[Dwarf Fortress\|The Toady One]] played this game at one point of another of his life.
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	The tables actually made sense: quick and light weapons caused damage stating from lower rolls, but it was harder to achieve a critical hit, while heavy weapons started to be effective with higher rolls but caused heavier critics. In the same way it was harder to hit a person with light or no armour, but critics were a lot worse, and with heavier armour you started taking damage earlier but it was harder to get a good shot.		The tables actually made sense: quick and light weapons caused damage stating from lower rolls, but it was harder to achieve a critical hit, while heavy weapons started to be effective with higher rolls but caused heavier critics. In the same way it was harder to hit a person with light or no armour, but critics were a lot worse, and with heavier armour you started taking damage earlier but it was harder to get a good shot.

	This mechanism made fighting interesting but slow, and while in games like D&D you win by grinding down the hit points of your adversary, M.E.R.P. fights tended to be won by getting a good critical hit to land. It also meant that you were always at risk of being butchered, as it was possible - albeit unlikely - for a low-level character to one-shot a strong adversary with a lucky roll - or vice-versa.		This mechanism made fighting interesting but slow, and while in games like D&D you win by grinding down the hit points of your adversary, M.E.R.P. fights tended to be won by getting a good critical hit to land. It also meant that you were always at risk of being butchered, as it was possible - albeit unlikely - for a low-level character to one-shot a strong adversary with a lucky roll - or vice-versa.

	===Magic===		===Magic===

1d4chan>Biggus Berrus at 22:09, 22 August 2017

2017-08-22T22:09:02Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 22:09, 22 August 2017
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	{{Game Infobox		{{Game Infobox
	\|name = Middle Earth Role Playing		\|name = Middle Earth Role Playing
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	\|year = 1984 (1st edition) <br /> 1986 (2nd edition)		\|year = 1984 (1st edition) <br /> 1986 (2nd edition)
	}}		}}

	'''''Middle Earth Role Playing''''' was an ancient relic from the Dawn of Time. How old it is, you may wonder? Let's say that it [[Crayola Dice\|predates the diffusion of the 10-sided dice.]]		'''''Middle Earth Role Playing''''' was an ancient relic from the Dawn of Time. How old it is, you may wonder? Let's say that it [[Crayola Dice\|predates the diffusion of the 10-sided dice.]]

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	==The Game==		==The Game==

	M.E.R.P. is a D100 based game, meaning you use 2 D10 dices to get a random number that you will use to look up a result on a fuckton of different tables to obtain a result. Said roll is open-ended, so if you get a number above 95 you re-roll and sum the results and if you get a number that's lower than 06 you re-roll and subtract.		M.E.R.P. is a D100 based game, meaning you use 2 D10 dices to get a random number that you will use to look up a result on a fuckton of different tables to obtain a result. Said roll is open-ended, so if you get a number above 95 you re-roll and sum the results and if you get a number that's lower than 06 you re-roll and subtract.

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	===Character generation===		===Character generation===

	As this a simulation game, character creations is pretty detailed. It was a kind of a nightmare for new players, and it could take you a session to create a character. Seasoned players could pull out a character off in half an hour. Remember, kiddos, this was the '80s: we had no spreadsheets, no handy programs or ''* shudder *'' apps nor online creation tables. [[Old School Roleplaying\|All was done by blood, sweat and tears. ]]<br />		As this a simulation game, character creations is pretty detailed. It was a kind of a nightmare for new players, and it could take you a session to create a character. Seasoned players could pull out a character off in half an hour. Remember, kiddos, this was the '80s: we had no spreadsheets, no handy programs or ''* shudder *'' apps nor online creation tables. [[Old School Roleplaying\|All was done by blood, sweat and tears. ]]<br />
	So how did you proceed?		So how did you proceed?
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	M.E.R.P. goes for the simulation approach: combat is detailed and rather messy and as you may have come to expect, involves an unholy number of tables.		M.E.R.P. goes for the simulation approach: combat is detailed and rather messy and as you may have come to expect, involves an unholy number of tables.

	Weapons and armour are used in a pretty clever way: instead of ''"you hit with X, your armour absorbs Y damages, your Hit Points go down to Z"'', you had to go for a trip down the merry lane as follows:~~<br />~~		Weapons and armour are used in a pretty clever way: instead of ''"you hit with X, your armour absorbs Y damages, your Hit Points go down to Z"'', you had to go for a trip down the merry lane as follows: When you attacked you roll a D100 dice, added your Offensive Bonus and cross-referenced it with the armour your opponent was wearing on the appropriate table - 1 handed slashing weapons, 2 handed weapons, magic bolts and so on. If you were using the expanded rules Rolemaster provides, EVERY single weapon ([[What\|down to and including raw fishes and thrown henchmens]]) and offensive spell had its own damage table, that gave you different results against 20 different types of armour. Anal retentive much? This process gave you a code like 8A, 30E or similar, and the fun was just starting.:<br />
	When you attacked you roll a D100 dice, added your Offensive Bonus and cross-referenced it with the armour your opponent was wearing on the appropriate table - 1 handed slashing weapons, 2 handed weapons, magic bolts and so on. If you were using the expanded rules Rolemaster provides, EVERY single weapon ([[What\|down to and including raw fishes and thrown henchmens]]) and offensive spell had its own damage table, that gave you different results against 20 different types of armour. Anal retentive much? This process gave you a code like 8A, 30E or similar, and the fun was just starting.:<br />
	* The number was the quantity of damage you had inflicted, that was subtracted form you opponents hit points.		* The number was the quantity of damage you had inflicted, that was subtracted form you opponents hit points.
	* The letter - if present - was the severity of the '''Critical Hit''' you achieved, meaning that you've done additional damage. You the rolled ANOTHER D100 dice, applied a modifier based on the code and looked up the result (you may have guessed it) on another table where the damage - that varied accordingly to the type of critical you were inflicting - was described in gleeful details, like "Blow to upper legs, +5hits", "Minor forearm wound, +2hits, stunned for 1 round" or "Strike through ear destroys brain. The unfortunate lummox dies instantly, and ''any ear wax is removed"'' or "Blast annihilates entire skeleton. Reduced to a gelatinous pulp. Try a spatula". Something tells me that [[Dwarf Fortress\|The Toady One]] played this game at one point of another of his life.		* The letter - if present - was the severity of the '''Critical Hit''' you achieved, meaning that you've done additional damage. You the rolled ANOTHER D100 dice, applied a modifier based on the code and looked up the result (you may have guessed it) on another table where the damage - that varied accordingly to the type of critical you were inflicting - was described in gleeful details, like "Blow to upper legs, +5hits", "Minor forearm wound, +2hits, stunned for 1 round" or "Strike through ear destroys brain. The unfortunate lummox dies instantly, and ''any ear wax is removed"'' or "Blast annihilates entire skeleton. Reduced to a gelatinous pulp. Try a spatula". Something tells me that [[Dwarf Fortress\|The Toady One]] played this game at one point of another of his life.
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	All geographic modules - of which I.C.E. put out a good amount, of varying but generally good quality - reads like history books and can be interesting even for non-players as good sources of lore about Middle Earth and Tolkien-related stuff. Among them there's a Sourcebook who's nothing but a big dictionary of the Elvish tongues and a glossary of Middle Earth therms, in case you want to experience the full Tolkien experience and roleplay everything in Quenya (one of the tongues Tolkien created) without subtitles.		All geographic modules - of which I.C.E. put out a good amount, of varying but generally good quality - reads like history books and can be interesting even for non-players as good sources of lore about Middle Earth and Tolkien-related stuff. Among them there's a Sourcebook who's nothing but a big dictionary of the Elvish tongues and a glossary of Middle Earth therms, in case you want to experience the full Tolkien experience and roleplay everything in Quenya (one of the tongues Tolkien created) without subtitles.



	= See also =		= See also =
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	* [http://merp1.free.fr/ The full game system, Campaign setting and Adventure Modules]		* [http://merp1.free.fr/ The full game system, Campaign setting and Adventure Modules]
	* [http://merp2.free.fr/ Ready-to-run adventure modules, Cities, Fortresses and Sourcebooks]		* [http://merp2.free.fr/ Ready-to-run adventure modules, Cities, Fortresses and Sourcebooks]

	[[Category:Roleplaying]][[Category:The Lord of the Rings]]		[[Category:Roleplaying]][[Category:The Lord of the Rings]]

1d4chan>BloodyStupidJohnson at 19:20, 8 January 2017

2017-01-08T19:20:54Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 19:20, 8 January 2017
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	* [http://merp1.free.fr/ The full game system, Campaign setting and Adventure Modules]		* [http://merp1.free.fr/ The full game system, Campaign setting and Adventure Modules]
	* [http://merp2.free.fr/ Ready-to-run adventure modules, Cities, Fortresses and Sourcebooks]		* [http://merp2.free.fr/ Ready-to-run adventure modules, Cities, Fortresses and Sourcebooks]
	[[Category:Roleplaying]][Category:The Lord of the Rings]]		[[Category:Roleplaying]][[Category:The Lord of the Rings]]

1d4chan>Naeondaemon: Spelling

2017-01-08T19:20:37Z

Spelling

← Older revision		Revision as of 19:20, 8 January 2017
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	'''''Middle Earth Role Playing''''' was an ancient relic from the Dawn of Time. How old it is, you may wonder? Let's say that it [[Crayola Dice\|predates the diffusion of the 10-sided dice.]]		'''''Middle Earth Role Playing''''' was an ancient relic from the Dawn of Time. How old it is, you may wonder? Let's say that it [[Crayola Dice\|predates the diffusion of the 10-sided dice.]]

	It was a more streamlined version of the generic fantasy [[Rolemaster]] system (streamlined as in "one fight takes one whole session instead of four"), the integration between the two being so seamless that one would be able to play M.E.R.P. with the extended set of rules that Rolemaster provides for one aspect - say, magic - without using those for other aspects - say, combat. It was ~~eveloped~~ under licence by the [[Tolkien]] society and set in Middle Earth, and became pretty popular in the '90s before fading into obscurity.		It was a more streamlined version of the generic fantasy [[Rolemaster]] system (streamlined as in "one fight takes one whole session instead of four"), the integration between the two being so seamless that one would be able to play M.E.R.P. with the extended set of rules that Rolemaster provides for one aspect - say, magic - without using those for other aspects - say, combat. It was developed under licence by the [[Tolkien]] society and set in Middle Earth, and became pretty popular in the '90s before fading into obscurity.

	It survived for a whooping 16 years until I.C.E. went bankrupt in the 2000, making M.E.R.P. a sort of highlander of the RPG world.		It survived for a whooping 16 years until I.C.E. went bankrupt in the 2000, making M.E.R.P. a sort of highlander of the RPG world.