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MERP: Further Thoughts on MERP

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I continue to find MERP enjoyable to run, and quite a bit more playable than its reputation would lead one to believe. There is no doubt in my mind that the combination of the tools available through Roll20, and Scott's super-helpful scripts, increase the fun factor of this game quite a bit. The increased speed of play gained by eliminating the table searching allows the tactical detail introduced by those tables to really shine through, adding a layer of surprise to combat that other systems lack. On several occasions, the players have been forced to alter their tactics in a fight because of a result on the critical tables either going for or against them. The layer of detailed added by the adjustments to Defensive Bonuses based on positioning and stun also add to the tactical element. Even a multi-session combat (as we will see in The Battle of the Barrow Downs) can stay interesting and exciting to run, something I have never experienced in a D&D descended game.

 I am also enjoying the looser class definitions that RoleMaster/MERP bring to the table. Dirdan is able to participate in the full scope of the fellowship's activities in addition to contributing through his limited spells. Even the warriors can have a spell or two. Dirdan's invisibility spell has allowed him to basically become the party scout, a role far too dangerous for a standard D&D Magic User.

Many of the ICE books are great for background material, but they suffer from two problems:

  1. They rarely present "ready to run" game material, no matter what it says on the cover. For the most part, the adventures in these books are really just outlines that need significant work on the part of the GM to get going. This isn't really a problem for me, I tend to heavily rework premade adventures no matter what, but it is important to note that you cannot rely on them if you find yourself in a preparation bind. Also, the adventure outlines are nowhere as inspired as the setting information. I actually prefer the adventures made for The One Ring/Adventures in Middle Earth.
  2. The Middle Earth Bestiary is starting to be a problem for me. There just aren't all that many different monsters baked into the setting. Worse, due to years of fantasy RPGs riffing of LotR, most of the monsters are ones that the players have seen hundreds of times over. This has put me in the interesting position of trying to use as few monsters as possible when planning my games, relying on human foes more often than not. Despite that, the fellowship has already faced two trolls, several wights, and orcs. I have been trying to hold orcs and goblins in reserve as much as possible. The vaious underwater creatures and the from demons in the Tharbad sewer adventures are present in the MERP materials, but I suspect they come from the MERP designers facing the same problem I am. Honestly, even with their additions to the actual Tolkien monsters, the MERP bestiary is still very limited, consisting mostly of birds and fish. The appeal of this game is adventuring in Middle Earth and the tactical depth, and those two are starting to be in tension with one another due to the lack of monster types. I may have to just start adding monsters from other sources that seem appropriate.
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