The first time I posted this Middle-Earth Role Playing box set (1984), it was sealed in its original shrink wrap. I couldn’t bear it and finally opened it, so it seemed like I should do a whole new post instead of reposting the original.

MERP, of course, is Iron Crown Enterprise’s licensed RPG based on Tolkien’s Middle-earth. The system is a derivative of ICE’s Rolemaster – in fact, a number of Middle-earth sourcebooks were released before this box set saw print. Rolemaster is a complicated D20 D&D derivative. MERP is slightly less complicated than Rolemaster. Broadly, the rules, particularly the magic system, seem out of sync with the themes and aesthetic of Tolkien’s world.

Still, I like MERP a lot. It has beautiful maps. It adds tons of detail to Middle-earth (they name the Nazgul!) in a way that doesn’t feel correct, but is so internally consistent it is hard not to love. I often think of it as extremely high quality, thoughtful fanfic.

This original box isn’t terribly different from the second box set – I’ve posted about that before. It is rather light on illustrations. Most of them are very small. A lot of them, atmospheric landscapes, are from a Dover clip art book. The character and monster illustrations are so small I can’t actually tell the difference between the three credited artists. The scenario – a classic exploration of a ruined keep – is the same one that appeared in all the versions of the rules (I love this keep, man).

Was it worth opening? I dunno. But at least I got to inhale some air from way back in 1984 when I did.