#RPGaDay: Day Twelve - Old RPG I Still Play/Read

Go get 'em, Aragorn!

I've got a lot of older RPGs, and I take them all down at one time or another to read them. Having to pick just one is somewhat difficult, and defining which ones are "old" is also somewhat problematic (though in this case, I'll concentrate on RPGs that were published in the 90's or earlier).

I suppose I'd pick Middle-Eearth Role Playing (and its supplements) as the game I'll take down and read from time to time. Despite my issues with MERP (which I talked about in an earlier entry), there's a heck of a lot of worthwhile fluff in those old Iron Crown supplements. Outside of every single supplement those guys released under the MERP trademark, there's a good bit of Tolkien reference material to absorb within the pages of the Middle-Earth Campaign Guide, which was published in 1993.

The Middle-Earth Campaign Guide includes a wealth of information compiled from two prior MERP supplements, the Middle Earth Adventure Guidebooks #1 and #2. It's an awesome reference for any fan of Tolkien's work, as well as anyone who's running a game set in that world regardless of system mechanics. It even includes references so you know where the information can be found in Tolkien's published work.

As for the rest of the MERP library, ICE published plenty of supplements detailing regions from Angmar to Gondor. Most of these books I picked up are for MERP's second edition, though I have a handful of first edition MERP books, too. The first one I ever bought was Moria: The Dwarven City, which was released in 1984. I also picked up a bunch of adventures for 1st edition MERP on sale for about a buck apiece, and they're great places to look for plot seeds and inspiration.

See that cover? Angus McBride was an awesome artist.

And then there's the maps. ICE loved putting maps in everything, from large full-color geographical maps to maps of cities, buildings, villages, etc. I've got a whole stack of these in an old shoe box in my closet, and I love taking them down every so often just to remind myself they exist.

Even the smallest MERP supplements and adventures from the old days of fantasy role-playing are worthy of your attention if you can dig them up. Are you a big fan of Tolkien's tales and characters? Then you really should check them out.

Given my current love affair with The One Ring, my MERP library is bound to come in handy. How about you? Do you have any of the older MERP supplements? If so, do you ever break them out for a lazy afternoon of reading and re-reading?