Rangers of the North
The Kingdom of Arthedain

Game Review

Review by Daniel Greenberg


By John Ruemmler
Iron Crown Enterprises P.O. Box 1605, Charlottesville, VA 22902
Released: January, 1985
Catalog No.: ME 3000
Price: $10.00
Complexity: Intermediate-Experienced
Solitaire Suitability: None
*****

One of the best kept secrets in the fantasy gaming world is Iron Crown Enterprises' Middle-earth series. Extensive, literate, and faithful to the Tolkien originals, the Middle-eartb modules should hold a more prominent place than they do. The series is, however, constrained by a few problems that keep it from attaining a better place. This module is no exception to the tradition.

Rangers of the North is a solid package. It is 56 pages of dense type, and contains eight pages of color maps. There are numerous charts, tables, and floor plans. The art is of above average quality. The color maps are intricately painted and capture the style of Tolkien.

The module contains technical material like system conversion charts, copious background information, and layouts of important places and scenarios. The scenarios are actually one of the shortest sections in the book, taking up only the last 12 pages or so. Still, the wealth of background information presented more that makes up for the length of the adventures.

The module begins with a long abbreviation chart. This chart is necessary, since the module is peppered with numerous abbreviations. Expect to refer to it often even if you are a hardened Tolkien scholar. Iron Crown Enterprises wisely includes a section on adapting the module to another system or campaign. They realize that while Tolkien lore is very popular, a large segment of gamers still use Dungeons and Dragons and not their Middle-earth Role-Playing (MERP) game. The conversion system still leaves most of the work on the referee's shoulders, especially in converting magic systems.

The background information on the land of Arthedain is the best part of the module. Arthedain is one of the most popular areas to base a Middle-eartb campaign, since it includes Fornost, the capital of the free world in Middle-earth; Bree, the wraith-haunted Barrow-downs; and, of course, the Shire. This section details the physical description of the land, including flora, fauna, and climate. it describes the people of each area, showing the extensive histories, migrations, wars, and so forth.

The author has extrapolated some very interesting and useful cultural material from the original Tolkien manuscripts. He includes the philosophies of the people, the social structure, and even daily chores. This material is all uniformly good, but there isn't enough of it, and the categories aren't consistent for each race.

The section on politics is clear and well-defined. Politics in Tolkien's world is rich and exciting and is one of the best sources for ideas on how to integrate war and scheming into a fantasy campaign. This section could be tapped and used with little modification in any fantasy world that does not yet have a political background.

The maps and layouts are all very good, especially the color maps. The floor plans look architecturally sound. They seem to be designed to be useful to the people who live in them, which adds to their realism. One problem with the maps is that the symbols are very tiny, some no more than one millimeter tall. Since there is so much open area on the map, they could have been enlarged to save the referee and players some eyestrain.

The statistics given for Aragorn and Gandalf are comprehensive and wellresearched. They work well in either the MERP system or the more complicated Rolemaster system (the parent game to MERP), but are difficult to convert to other systems. There are briefer stats on some 50 major nonplayer characters (NPCs) from the date 1050 in the Third Age (when Sauron begins his takeover) to the beginning of the Fourth Age, a span of some two thousand years. This allows the referee quite a range of eras in which to set up his Middle-eartb campaign. The six scenarios span almost as much time, making it difficult to use them all in one campaign without reworking. There are also 50 more sets of statistics on monsters and on soldiers in the many armies of the area.

The scenarios are briefly but clearly explained. They may be too brief for some referees, but for referees willing to do some work they make excellent adventures. Essentially they give the referee the who, what, where and why of the adventure, as well as some good maps and room/area descriptions, but that is all. They leave the referee to determine things like the non- player characters' (NPC) reactions to the player characters' decisions. The referees do have to be careful not to let the adventure get derailed by relying on the module.

The module is intelligently designed and put together. The writing is usually clear, but very dry and scholarly. it is not exciting to read. The information is exciting; the writing style is not. It is also not clear how the referee is to use the wealth of background information. It all can't be read to the players, and it is not really integrated into the adventures. The best way to use the information is for the referee to do extensive work assimilating it all so he can reel off pertinent facts as they become relevant in the course of the adventure. It is wonderful when a referee is so fully conversant with his campaign world that he can do that, but the reality is that many referees just don't have the time. The individual sections are all fine, but they are difficult to mesh.

Tolkien's works are truly expansive, so organization is going to be a problem in any effort to adapt his works. Rangers of the North attempts to address this problem with a glossary of crucial concepts. Unfortunately there are only 15 entries out of the literally hundreds of Tolkien words that appear in the module. The glossary really should have been expanded, at least to include a one sentence listing of the less familiar words or phrases. The definitions are given in the module, but they are often given after the subject has been referred to in a previous section. The abbreviation section is a good example of how this problem could be effectively addressed. This section was referred to constantly during the reading of the module and during the play of the game, but it never significantly interrupted the flow of either. If the whole module was indexed like that, it would have been far easier to absorb and run.

Rangers of the North is a solid campaign book and an excellent adventure book. It just doesn't blend the campaign material with the adventure material very well. it is a must if you run Middle-eartb, or if you want good ideas for a campaign.

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© Copyright 1986 by Dana Lombardy.
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