The Necromancer’s Lieutenant (1990) is a fairly late entry in 1e MERP. I picked it up because I like the David Martin cover and the idea that the men of Mirkwood wear antlered helmets. Liz Danforth does the interiors and they are very nice. I like how the titular villain’s portrait really gives off strong shithead vibes.

Other than that, I was dismayed to find that the rest of the book is pretty yawn-worthy. It’s a six-part thing that starts with an ambushed caravan, which leads to the players then ambushing some orcs and learning about an imminent attack on Thranduil’s Hall. The elves then task the players with harrying the lieutenants army while they gather their own. This culminates in a big battle (ugh) and the bad guy escape (double ugh) at which point the players have to travel to his lair to kill him, his pet bear and his mistress. You know, just to be sure.

It isn’t bad, but it isn’t particularly interesting, which I often find to be more damning. Even the most bizarre, least Tolkien-y MERP modules have a sense of place that is intriguing in some way, but not so much here. Oh well!