Phantom of the Northern Marches (1986) has a lot in common with other MERP adventure modules I’ve covered this year. It introduces a small region and sets three successive scenarios in it, allowing the place and the NPCs to grow and change over time. I like that! The skin of Middle-earth is also pretty thin here — you could easily peel it off for a Celtic or Viking themed game. Very little ties the material directly to Tolkien.

The first two scenarios are pretty solid. The first is the title tale, about about a vengeful witch in her treehouse, plotting against the town. I like this one a lot because the witch’s scheme is going to fail with or without the intervention of the players. That hardly ever happens. If she’s left alone, though, she’ll spill some innocent blood along the way. The second scenario involves brokering peace between the settlement and something big that is sort of menacing the area. Turns out to be a stone giant and the whole thing can be resolved with a riddle contest. Delightful.

The third scenario sucks. A dragon comes to the area and basically lays waste to it, and the players need to stop it. In theory, this is all right, but I tend to not like arcs that introduce a bunch of NPCs then kill them off screen to evoke the sympathy of the players. There is a whole thing with a guardian spirit protecting the region, and using its help sparingly, but this one just doesn’t have the cleverness of the other two scenarios.

Daniel Horne cover. Love it. Horne only did a handful of MERP covers, but I think his talents were well-suited for the the game. Also, I have much love for the orange trade dress. I should note that MERP books have several different types of trade dress, and I find all of them very attractive, especially for their use of bright colors. Steve Peregrine delivers some nice penciled portraits inside. The maps are by a mix of folks, and they’re all right, but not the finest Iron Crown published.