Lords of Middle-earth, Volume II

Lords of Middle-earth, Volume II, subtitled "The Mannish Races", is a supplement published by Iron Crown Enterprises (I.C.E.) in 1987 for the fantasy role-playing game Middle-earth Role Playing (MERP), itself based on the works of J.R.R. Tolkien.

Cover art by Angus McBride

Contents

Lords of Middle-earth, Volume II is the second of three supplements that detail all the characters that appeared in J.R.R. Tolkien's history of Middle-earth. The second volume gives descriptions and histories of the many humans in Tolkien's works.^[1] This includes the Nazgûl, the deadly spirits who were once human before falling victim to Sauron's rings.^[1]

Various tables describe each character in MERP game terms, should the player characters ever encounter them. There is also advice for the gamemaster on how to handle high-level characters.^[1]

Publication history

I.C.E. acquired the license to publish games based on Tolkien's works from the Tolkien Estate in the early 1980s, and released MERP in 1984. This was followed by a large number of supplements, including a series of three books describing every named character that appears in Tolkien's Middle-earth works. The first of these was Lords of Middle-earth, Volume I: The Immortals (1985), and the second was Lords of Middle-earth, Volume II: The Mannish Races, a 112-page softcover book designed by Peter Fenlon, with cover art by Angus McBride and interior art by Liz Danforth.^[2]

I.C.E. published a third book in the series: Lords of Middle-earth, Volume III: Hobbits, Dwarves, Ents, Orcs & Trolls (1989), as well as the related book Creatures of Middle-earth (1988).^[2]

Reception

In Issue 151 of Dragon (November 1989), Jim Bambra wrote, "Okay, Tolkien fans, [this is] for you! Full of background information on the ... mannish races of Middle-earth, it is a handy source of ideas for I.C.E.'s MERP game, other fantasy games, and lovers of Tolkien's creation."^[3]