Dark Mage of Rhudaur was the first book I got for the Middle-Earth Role Playing system (like so many other RPG books, from the Walden Books at the Ocean County Mall in New Jersey). The book struck me then as it still does now: a more stately and refined appearance than most RPGs, given a bit of literary weight by the connection to Tolkien’s legacy. Angus McBride’s cover art (for this and other MERP supplements) seems more distinguished than the work of other fantasy artists – a muted palette, realistic detailing and composition that echoes classic illustrators like Wyeth and Rackham (McBride, who died in 2007, was perhaps best known for his illustrations of military history).

Once I got the shrink-wrap off, the surprises continued. MERP books look weird compared to D&D ones. The system, based on Iron Crown Enterprise’s generic Rolemaster system, was complicated (I am not sure that, as an eleven-year-old in 1989, I realized that there even were different systems – that’s how completely I associated D&D with roleplaying). Liz Danforth’s NPC portraits were delicate character studies. The maps didn’t have graph squares. There were all sorts of footnotes referring to Tolkien books I’d never heard of.

Nor does the book, or MERP in general, feel copacetic with Tolkien’s work. More like a fever dream of Middle Earth. The feeling of great swaths of wilderness hiding ancient ruins of long lost glory is there, but magic is definitely not draining out of this world. I also can’t imagine Tolkien creating a character who wears a cape made from human ears. And while the setting feels mysterious, it also subverts itself – the titular dark mage, Ethacali is a feared minion of the Witch-King, but he winds up being a fat old dude with a frizzy beard. He doesn’t even wear a cool mask or anything. What fun is that?

(Lest I give the impression that MERP has a deficit of villains in cool masks, there are plenty in the Gorgoroth sourcebook, at least)