Trolls of the Misty Mountains

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Cover art by Daniel Horne, 1986 Cover of Trolls of the Misty Mountains 1986.png
Cover art by Daniel Horne, 1986

Trolls of the Misty Mountains is a supplement published by Iron Crown Enterprises (ICE) in 1986 for the fantasy role-playing game Middle-earth Role Playing (MERP), which is itself based on the works of J.R.R. Tolkien.

Contents

Description

Background

In The Hobbit , Tolkien's precursor to The Lord of the Rings , Bilbo Baggins and his companions encounter some of the denizens that live under the Misty Mountains.

Contents

This book contains three adventures that take place in the vestiges of the former kingdom of Rhudaur that once lay against the eastern side of the Misty Mountains. The time is 1600 years after the defeat of Sauron by the Last Alliance of Elves and Men, and 1500 years before the events described in The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. It includes a set of three adventures, each with an increasing difficulty over the previous one. [1]

The adventurers are hired to reconnoitre the route of a proposed road to be built between the keeps of Daenos and Elnost, rooting out any potential dangers such as trolls and orcs. To do this, they must complete three adventures: [2]

Publication history

ICE published the licensed game Middle Earth Role-Playing in 1982, and then released many supplements for it over the next 17 years, until the Tolkien Estate withdrew their license in 1999. Trolls of the Misty Mountains was written by John Cresswell and Mike Cresswell, with a cover by Daniel Horne, cartography by Jessica Ney, and illustrations by Denis Loubet, and was published by Iron Crown Enterprises in 1986 as a 32-page book. [3] I.C.E. revisited this area in later publications including Phantom of the Northern Marches (1986), Dark Mage of Rhudaur (1989), and Arnor (1994). [2]

Reception

Some reviewers were generally dismissive of this book, finding it lacked originality:

Denis Beck, in the April 1987 edition of Casus Belli (Issue #37), disagreed, calling theses adventures "very classic." His only complaint was "the meagreness of the historical background, which risks confusing a beginner gamemaster." [5]

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References

  1. 1 2 Staplehurst, Graham (March 1987). "Open Box". White Dwarf . No. 87. Games Workshop. p. 4.
  2. 1 2 "Trolls of the Misty Mountains". Guide du Rôliste Galactique (in French). 2009-05-08. Retrieved 2021-01-13.
  3. Schick, Lawrence (1991). Heroic Worlds: A History and Guide to Role-Playing Games. Prometheus Books. p. 198. ISBN   0-87975-653-5.
  4. Sutherland, Jon (December 1986). "Shop Window". Adventurer. No. 6. pp. 12–13.
  5. Beck, Denis (April 1987). "Trolls of the Misty Mountains". Casus Belli (in French). No. 37. p. 24.