tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post1370874945886253570..comments2024-03-29T07:58:31.156-04:00Comments on GROGNARDIA: Retrospective: Bree and the Barrow-DownsJames Maliszewskihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00341941102398271464noreply@blogger.comBlogger15125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-15785278830960147952020-12-31T01:09:58.771-05:002020-12-31T01:09:58.771-05:00One of my earliest MERP campaigns used Bree as the...One of my earliest MERP campaigns used Bree as the PCs' base (sort of like a Middle-earth version of the Keep on the Borderlands). The adventures were very "D&D-ish" but the PCs at least did try to focus on being heroes (taking on the bandits of Bar-en-Dindol and avoiding excessive looting of the barows).<br />I quite like the art of Charles Peale. He did much of the internal art for this module, as well as for many other early ICE products. Akrasiahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08734103159691571156noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-82266413044928355582020-12-19T22:34:08.632-05:002020-12-19T22:34:08.632-05:00Yes, that's right. I simply never did one on M...Yes, that's right. I simply never did one on MERP itself, which is something I will rectify next week.James Maliszewskihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00341941102398271464noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-23003857471658107032020-12-19T22:28:30.189-05:002020-12-19T22:28:30.189-05:00You actually did another MERP post:
http://grogna...You actually did another MERP post:<br /><br />http://grognardia.blogspot.com/2010/10/retrospective-court-of-ardor.htmlAlanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17582898842629047347noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-62762380553819838682020-12-17T14:28:44.764-05:002020-12-17T14:28:44.764-05:00We played many fantasy systems from D&D, Cthuh...We played many fantasy systems from D&D, Cthuhlhu, and MERS/RoleMaster, and I feel the modules from ICE had a level of believability and realism to them that way way above the Dungeon/D&D fare. Even very thin ones, with their approach of just describing sites and inhabitants and their motivations, not prescribing how the adventure would develop, gave you a lot of play and room for exploration and player-driven stories. Groodyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11807640588820379915noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-87327678479124369922020-12-17T13:44:56.850-05:002020-12-17T13:44:56.850-05:00I'm looking forward to the broader discussion ...I'm looking forward to the broader discussion of MERP. We had quite a campaign, though we mostly focused on Mirkwood and environs, which were more interesting in this default setting than the barrow-downs. We quickly adopted the Rolemaster books and ended up with a much more high-fantasy version of Middle-Earth than intended by the main book or depicted by Tolkien.Cashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02466335053537506923noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-16147702534248821142020-12-17T11:30:29.184-05:002020-12-17T11:30:29.184-05:00I also bought this module before l had anything el...I also bought this module before l had anything else for MERP, and l also felt that sharp pang of disappointment. I own a fair number of MERP books, but I’ve never played or ran the game. It always felt very dry and lifeless to me as a system, and despite how much I really WANTED to like it, l could never get into it.cmg88https://www.blogger.com/profile/05460468800415480757noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-10030940272632274482020-12-17T06:52:52.817-05:002020-12-17T06:52:52.817-05:00I'll try to touch on that question a bit next ...I'll try to touch on that question a bit next week, when I do my retrospective on MERP itself.James Maliszewskihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00341941102398271464noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-16649765706205189492020-12-17T01:01:36.792-05:002020-12-17T01:01:36.792-05:00James, I would be interested to hear your commenta...James, I would be interested to hear your commentary on the 'default' setting of most of these materials, being T.A. 1640 or so. Almost 1400 years before the War of the Ring. A few things come to mind for me: everyone pretty much looks and acts the same and has the same tech as 1400 years later. And this is before the building of the White Tower, the Battle of the Plains, and other things that establish some places as recognizable. I'm a fan of MERP but it's an unusual choice in some respects.Korgothhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04683370654357044679noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-27449834954433388572020-12-16T20:27:29.922-05:002020-12-16T20:27:29.922-05:00I sort of think that the only way to judge Tolkien...I sort of think that the only way to judge Tolkien related RPG products is Moria. The One Ring never produced one. At GenCon I was told that something was coming out. It was cancelled last year. MERPS, in my opinion, has the best Moria ever made. And I'm including Lew Pulsipher's Khazad Dum! in issue #38 of White Dwarf. I remember buying MERP's Mirkwood and sort of shrugging. But its Moria advanced my knowledge about something I sorely wanted to know more about.brasspenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00740202895575678193noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-69078381363436408852020-12-16T15:44:46.805-05:002020-12-16T15:44:46.805-05:00I have a friend who was trying to complete his lib...I have a friend who was trying to complete his library of MERP books and it was a very expensive endeavor. I believe he has nearly all of them now, but the last few cost him dearly.James Maliszewskihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00341941102398271464noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-89112861812716950072020-12-16T15:40:05.422-05:002020-12-16T15:40:05.422-05:00By a weird stroke of luck, while I gave away all A...By a weird stroke of luck, while I gave away all AD&D and D&D books and modules at 23, I ended up keeping my MERP book and three scenarios. It remains a favourite game and setting, and the cartography and front covers still remain the best fantasy representations I've come across. However, the modules' content always seemed lacking and dull.<br /><br />As an aside MERP modules command crazy prices on E-bay.Jacob72https://www.blogger.com/profile/17268402292420473229noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-92199398980716472722020-12-16T11:43:07.333-05:002020-12-16T11:43:07.333-05:00The ICE MERPS maps were great, but outside of that...The ICE MERPS maps were great, but outside of that their products were mediocre at best. I bought more than a few back in the day but unlike material for Ars Magica or Harn, they were of limit use.<br /><br />In contrast the material produced for The One Ring and especially Adventures in Middle Earth are among the best Middle Earth products ever produced. <br /><br />Robert Conleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03863009007381185340noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-4864256008563978842020-12-16T08:36:49.374-05:002020-12-16T08:36:49.374-05:00Absolutely true, though, at the time I first bough...Absolutely true, though, at the time I first bought this, I didn't quite understand that. I had assumed that MERP would have a different "feel," much like Tolkien than proved to be the case.James Maliszewskihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00341941102398271464noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-86659350203848719762020-12-16T08:28:34.347-05:002020-12-16T08:28:34.347-05:00To be fair, your average adventuring party in MERP...To be fair, your average adventuring party in MERP (which had a rather D&D-inspired playstyle IME) probably spent a lot more time looting barrows than they did in town, so maybe the detail was where it needed to be. If nothing else the work they put into explaining who was buried where and what they'd meant to the world when they were alive is a touch you don't see often enough in many "tomb" dungeoncrawls.Dick McGeehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14521293874696659063noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-77850437957577943882020-12-16T07:29:42.085-05:002020-12-16T07:29:42.085-05:00It's probably not intentional, but spending pa...It's probably not intentional, but spending pages describing the occupants of the burial mounds and their places in history, while skipping over the people living in the here and now, feels very Tolkienesque. So it's quite fitting in a way!thekelvingreenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01928260185408072124noreply@blogger.com