I wanted Rogues of the Borderlands (1990) for a long time, pretty much on the strength of the cover alone, but it tends to be one of the pricier MERP books for some reason. That lovely fellow on the cover is Gaurithoth. I rather hoped he was a barrow-wight, as I find them to be one of Tolkien’s most under-illustrated beasties, but he’s actually a wraith, just not one enslaved to Sauron like the Nazgûl. I guess that’s OK.

Same basic structure as Ghosts of the Southern Anduin, actually. There’s a large section of regional information, followed by three scenarios. The first even has a fake ghost Scooby-doo set-up, with a bunch of bandits using illusions to convince a dwarf he’s cursed while they jump his mining claim. The second scenario involves a trio trolls playing practical jokes. I can’t tell if I love this one or hate it. Gaurithoth shows up for the finale. He’s set up shop in a burial mound and is building an undead army to torment the local elves with. He needs to be stopped, obviously, but despite being a pretty by-the-numbers schemer (oh, a horde of undead, how scary), he is sort of outrageously powerful. Players would have to resort to cleverness to see him defeated in most cases, which is cool.

Does it measure up to the promise of the cover? Eh, not really. So often the case with MERP. I much prefer Ghosts.

Paul Jermy is the interior illustrator. Not at all familiar with him, but I like how unhinged his villains look. Cool maps, too.