The Tuesday Sundries - Using MERP's/Tolkien's Setting

For those who don't have time to create their own Tabletop RPG Setting or simply have a hankering to allow players to explore Middle-earth, one of the easiest ways to do so is to get hold of some old Middle-earth Role Playing (MERP) games books.  Licensed by Iron Crown Enterprises (I.C.E.) from 1984 through 1999 from Tolkien Enterprises, the setting detailed by I.C.E. spans much of J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit works.  If you go this route, just look for some of the (admittedly expensive) out of print books on eBay.  The I.C.E. website has some alternate suggestions for resource materials here.  There is a good guide to the products and what is in them over on waynesbooks.com here.  One eBay auction I saw here seems to be offering much more than what is supposed to come in the basic boxed set.  I'd send a question to that seller before committing to buy it though.

The Tuesday Sundries on GRYMVALD.com
Essentially, a clearinghouse for topics on GRYMVALD.com
not covered elsewhere or wanting a particular focus.

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Middle Earth Comes to the Midwest, and the Whole USA

Over on io9.com is a cool article on how someone remapped the USA in the style of Middle Earth maps.  Something to consider as you plan your next tabletop roleplaying game setting.  Read more here!

Black & White Campaign Map Style

In my search for more inspiration for the style of the Grymvald setting, I ran across Dan Cruger, a cartographer and artist, whose work dates back to the Mid-Nineties as used in the second edition of the Middle Earth Role Playing Game (MERP) from Iron Crown Enterprises (I.C.E.).  Although I only played the system a couple of times, I always found the work of Cruger to be elegant and compelling.  As a long time Tolkien fan, I was first drawn to the system for reasons of nostalgia but perhaps my prediliction to fashion my own stories, at the table and with the players, free of the constraints of a literary giant kept me from doing more with that particular game.

Nevertheless, I just love the work done by this master of maps and illustrations.  Cruger began posting some of his old work on his blog, Tales from the Tower, back in March and April of this year but it is only with his recent August post of more of it that I caught up with his work again.  Some of his blog posts include work highlighting Dol Guldor, Gondor, Moria, Lake Town, Minas Tirith, and Mirkwood.  Check it out and I'm sure you'll agree on its fine quality.