Angmar (ICE)

[tkdco2]

This module is set at T.A. 1700. It details the forces of the Witch King, as well as the local inhabitants. The population is a mix of people from Rhudaur, Rhun, and the native Estarave. Unfortunately, this last group is missing details on how to roll them up as characters; perhaps treating them as Dunlendings will work. Eriadoreans (Rural Men in MERP 1E) may also be a good fit. The natives are not evil like their rulers, and most join the military to escape poverty.

There are a few high-level threats. Aside from the Witch King and his generals, there are giants and a couple of large dragons in the area. However, most of the NPCs and enemy forces are below level 10, even in Carn Dum. This makes it a bit easier for MERP characters to successfully adventure in the area. This module also has rough guidelines for adapting it into other rpgs.

[doublejig2]

Angmar was my first MERP purchase. Good stuff!

[Falconer]

The original module predates MERP proper (it is for RM), so the remake Empire of the Witch-king is also a “conversion” to MERP. It suggests that Estaravi = Rural Men. From everything I can see they are a Northman culture from the Northern Anduin Vale, akin to the Éothéod, but fallen and somehow grim.

Since all the locals mentioned in Angmar are under the Witch-king’s banner, I assumed the PCs would be from Arthedain and other free Eriador cultures.

[tkdco2]

Rural Men would work. I have been wondering how to write up Hill-men lately. Since Dunlendings are related to them, I've been using them as a template.

LOTRO has a different take on the the natives of Angmar. They are Hill-men ruled by a Black Numenorean elite. some tribes are friendly to the Free People; others are hostile. But that's a different game.

[Vile Traveller]

(I fixed the img url - Zenopus)

I still have this, and fond memories of running it with RQ2 rules. IIR we bought these because I.C.E. emphasised those conversion rules in their advertising. The characters were unemployed youths from (then contemporary) 1980s England, equipped with £2,000 worth of gear from the latest copy of Gun Mart. Ah, my trusty .455" Webley and SPAS-12! PCs came and went fast, to the extent that the current crop developed a problem in transporting all the 20th-century hardware looted from the corpses. It was a great, long-running campaign, played with great abandon and no regard for the different time periods portrayed in the various books. We were vaguely supposed to be summoned to get rid of the One Ring (because who in their right mind would trust hobbits to do that?). Of course we got side-tracked all over the place and by the time we destroyed it Sauron had found a way to free himself from it, so the campaign just kept going until our group slit up.

We went through a lot of the pre-MERP modules and some MERP ones, including Isengard, Rivendell, Bree, Cardolan, Arthedain, Dark Mage of Rhudaur, Gates of Mordor, Raiders of Cardolan. It's weird looking back to realise that I probably bought more of these than any other published modules at the time. I still read through them from time to time. The maps are beautiful, and sometimes all we used as we sandboxed our way around (though the Angmar maps, being the earliest, were not as good as most).

[Falconer]

Did ICE ever suggest a home base for expeditions into Angmar? Assuming you are good Arthedain and allies.

[tkdco2]

It doesn't seem like ICE did that explicitly. However, the module states that the average citizen isn't necessarily evil, so travelers may be able to find shelter in a village, as long as the villagers aren't too suspicious of the adventurers or intimidated by the authorities, and the adventurers keep their true purposes secret.

You can do it the LOTRO way, where some of the Hillman tribes are sympathetic to the Free Peoples, while others are allied with Angmar.