Middle Earth Role Playing: Collector's Edition

Middle Earth Role Playing/MERP 2nd Edition

by Iron Crown Enterprises (ICE) (Designer), S. Coleman Charlton

Based on THE HOBBIT and THE LORD OF THE RINGS. Perfect for seasoned players as well as those who have never experienced the thrill of fantasy role playing. Role playing is a type of game which allows you to assume the role of a character in a "living" novel. MIDDLE-EARTH ROLE PLAYING, M.E.R.P. for short, provides the structure and framework for role playing in the greatest fantasy setting of all time... J.R.R. TOLKIEN'S MIDDLE-EARTH.

Genres: Role Playing Games

270 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1993

About the author

Iron Crown Enterprises (ICE) is a game publishing company founded in 1980 that became known for tabletop role playing, board, miniature, and collectible card games. The company emerged when Pete Fenlon, S. Coleman Charlton, and Kurt Fischer expanded house rules developed during a Dungeons and Dragons campaign set in Middle-earth while studying at the University of Virginia. After graduating they established ICE with several collaborators, initially operating with few full time employees and relying on volunteer help. Early releases included Arms Law, The Iron Wind, and Manassas, and the modular rule supplements Arms Law, Spell Law, Character Law, and Campaign Law gradually evolved into the detailed Rolemaster role playing system. Because the original campaign was set in Tolkien's world, ICE obtained a license from Tolkien Enterprises in 1982 and launched a successful Middle-earth role playing line that became one of the most widely played fantasy RPGs after Dungeons and Dragons. The company later expanded with science fiction titles such as Spacemaster and Cyberspace, the miniatures game Silent Death, and the Shadow World fantasy setting supporting Rolemaster. Experiments with solo gamebooks and later collectible card games brought mixed results and legal complications. Financial problems in the late 1990s forced bankruptcy in 2000 and ended the Middle-earth license and revived the brand.