Today, we continue my series of regional maps, showing the areas covered by supplements and adventures for the classic Middle Earth Roleplaying Game (MERP). This time, we head south to Gondor & Rohan.
- ERIADOR (MERP RPG books Mapped by Region, Part 1 – NW Middle Earth)
- RHOVANION (MERP RPG books Mapped by Region, Part 2 – Middle Earth East of the Misty Mountains)
Middle Earth is an intimidating place to play in an RPG. JRR Tolkien‘s encyclopedic history undergirding The Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings covers thousands of years, and an area the size of Europe. The best advice is to start a campaign in a relatively small area. Both editions of The One Ring game are excellent in this regard, with adventuring areas detailed east and west of the Misty Mountains (see my previous posts above).
Turning south into Rohan and Gondor? Not so much. Rohan got a couple of supplements in TOR 1st edition: Horse-lords of Rohan and Oaths of Riddermark.
Immediately, the gamemaster runs into the perennial problem with gaming in Middle Earth: Out of print books. The licensing for publishing Middle Earth RPGs has bounced from company to company over the decades, leaving older works stranded in limbo, the extant books becoming rarities. Because of the licensing dimension, MERP & TOR PDFs aren’t legally available, and will never be I reckon. Bootleg PDFs can be found on the webs, and I think they’re righteous in this situation. –> Be careful, some download sites are a bit sketchy.
I sell Middle Earth RPG stuff of course – The originals. Some titles aren’t terribly expensive. I also buy RPG lots & collections.
Gondor got no significant attention in The One Ring 1e, and so far nothing in 2nd edition either.
However, both Gondor & Rohan were well-covered back in the Eighties and Nineties in MERP supplements. The map I made shows the MERP covers, placed by location.
You can click on the image for the larger version. But no worries, I’ll be covering these in close-up below.
There are surprisingly few good maps of Gondor & Rohan. Where is this one from?
This is the Campaign Map of Northwest Middle-earth, released by Iron Crown Enterprises (ICE) for MERP. (By Eric Hotz, better known for his work on Harn.) The map dates to 1989, originally released (folded) with the Middle-Earth Adventure Guidebook II, and later re-released in the Northwestern Middle Earth Gazetteer (1992) and (rolled) in the Middle Earth Poster Maps set (1994). All are long-out of print, alas.
See my reference site pages for MERP for more info. Check my Sales Site to see what I have currently in stock.
On this map, you can see Eriador in the west, Rhovanion in the east. (See previous post links above). Mordor and more far-flung places I’ll cover in the future.
History
In this map from MERP’s Isengard & Northern Gondor, the kingdoms are shown at the time of the War of the Ring, as most people will know them from the Peter Jackson movies.
What casual fans won’t know is that Gondor used to be much, much larger.
At a time when Arnor in the west was shattering into successor states, beset by the Witch-King of Angmar, Gondor stood proud, pushing north into what would later be Rohan, and south into Umbar. But the civil war of the Kin-Strife, Great Plague, relentless strife with Umbar, and the Wainrider invasion exhausted the kingdom. Plus steadily-increasing pressure – covert and overt – from Mordor every century that passed… All pushed Gondor to the breaking point. Gondor collapsed behind the White Mountains. Rohan was ceded to the Horse Lords.
All of which explains the ruins that the Fellowship saw during their journey, like Amon Hen and the Argonath. These were remnants of the glory days, now far to the north of Gondor’s current borders.
A Closer Look
Let’s zoom-in on that Gondor/Rohan map to see MERP books by region.
I’m not going to describe the publications in detail, since I have already done so at my RPG Reference Site.
MERP at Wayne’s Books Old School RPG Reference
Isengard and Fangorn
Isengard dominates the Gap of Rohan, with Fangorn Forest and its famous Ents nearby.
The intimidating black tower of Orthanc was seen in the movies. The MERP module has the cutaway art on the right, as well as floor-by-floor plans.
Saruman arrived a couple hundred years before the War of the Ring, as a warden and protector of the tower for Gondor and Rohan. A few decades before the war, Saruman became ensnared by Sauron, and the wizard seized Isengard outright.
Isengard & Northern Gondor is set during TA 1442, but has tips for several other time periods. The maps cover the land just north of the White Mountains.
Ents of Fangorn covers the Forest eastward into the Wold.
Rohan
Riders of Rohan details the famous “northmen”, their culture, and their evolution into the Horselords we know from the movies.
Calenhad: A Beacon of Gondor examines one of the famous signal bonfires. In Tolkien’s books, these beacon outposts were sensibly located in the foothills of the White Mountains. not clinging to desolate ice-capped peaks as seen in the Return of the King movie.
Northern Approaches to Mordor
Dagorlad and Dead Marshes, the site of a titanic battle in the Second Age. Adventure where the Frodo journeyed with Sam and Gollum, and grappled with dead people.
Gates of Mordor contains 3 adventures, where player characters contend with bandits and orcs in No Man’s Land.
Many will be a bit foggy as to the location of the gargantuan statues from Fellowship of the Ring. So I placed them on this map. Carved in the likenesses of Isildur and Anárion, the Argonath marked the northern border of Gondor in the old days. They stand at the north end of the lake Nen Hithoel, formed by the River Anduin.
Minas Tirith & Minas Morgul
Minas Tirith “commands the wide gap between the White Mountains and the Mountains of Shadow that encircle the Dark Lord’s homeland. Its seven walls and seven levels seem to grow out of the stone, as if carved by Giants. Each tier of the Royal City wraps around the rock and looms above the surrounding quarter, its ramparts glimmering white with each sunrise.” 1st edition is a hardcover, 2nd a paperback… Both with awesome maps of the fortress city.
The Kin-strife “presents the people, politics, and armies of Gondor under the repressive rule of Castamir the Usurper. The six largest cities of the South-kingdom – Pelargir, Umbar, Lond Ernil, Osgiliath, Minas Anor, and Minas Ithil – are described along with their administrative structures, military organization, and legal systems. Adventures tied to each metropolis bring the civil war to life.”
Minas Ithil. Before Minas Morgul fell into the hands of Sauron, the fortress was known as Minas Ithil. Admired for her beauty, Minas Ithil was a “marble city where poets, scholars, and artists rival the craftsmen, shopkeepers, and clerks in both numbers and influence.”
Tower of Cirith Ungol and Shelobs Lair. “On one side of the bridge Minas Ithil stands tall and proud, offering refuge and pleasures. On the other side lie the perils of Cirith Ungol and Mordor, where the valiant and skillful may win renown – or lose their lives trying! Here civilization and wilderness converge, and adventures are but a stone’s throw away.”
The Southern Borderlands
Ghosts of the Southern Anduin. “Confront bandits, undead, evil priests, and minions of Sauron as you hunt the Ghosts of the Southern Anduin in these four exciting adventures!”
Pirates of Pelargir. Three adventures set in the port town of Pelargir.
Sea-Lords of Gondor. “Challenge Pirates and Haradrim as you sail across the Bay of Belfalas. Journey to Lebennin, the “Place of Five Waters”, the province in the heart of Gondor. Weigh anchor in Pelargir, jewel of the mighty Anduin river. Now home to the Royal Fleet, it is the finest port in the Kingdom, and the principal focus of the struggle against the Haradan privateers and the Corsairs of Umbar.”
Central & South Gondor
Erech and Paths of the Dead “details the south central vales of the White Mountains where the ghosts of the Oath-breakers haunt the land. Discover the secret of the mysterious Black Stone of Erech and explore the underground paths of the Dead.”
Haunted Ruins of the Dunlendings. “Peril lurks among the Dunnish ruins, but glory and wealth follow danger in these 3 exciting adventures!”
Southern Gondor: The Land & The People. MERP 2nd Edition books collected material from earlier books, added new information, making for a more thorough examination of the region. There is a similar book for Arnor (a couple incarnations actually), and more for other regions as well.
Assassins of Dol Amroth. An important port city on the Belfalas peninsula. Dol Amroth was a feudal possession of Gondor, ruled by a succession of princes. This module has several adventures in the city.
Havens of Gondor. “Sail the rugged seas off Gondor’s south coast, where Corsairs of Umbar battle the majestic white ships of Dol Amroth. Here, the Elves built the great haven of Edhellond and Galadriel erected the Sea-ward Tower, most famous beacon of all Middle-earth. Journey along the twisting streets of Dol Amroth, City of Princes, and bustling capitol of Belfalas.”
Don’t miss Part 1, 2, and 4!
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