ICE Middle-earth: 1st and 2nd waves

[Falconer]

ICE’s official Middle-earth series originally did not have a dedicated RPG but was written for RM rules. As I think is well-known, here is the first wave:

1982
Campaign and Adventure Guidebook
Angmar
Umbar

1983
The Court of Ardor
Northern Mirkwood
Southern Mirkwood

Now, if you look at the product list at the back of Southern Mirkwood, you will find a list of the planned second wave:

The Riders of Rohan
Dol Amroth
Cardolan
Arthedain
Moria I
A Tolkien Bestiary

I gather that these products were all well on their way, having been written under RM rules like the first wave, but some of them were put on the back burner because ICE decided to do a RPG - MERP - and so, starting in 1984, everything had to be converted over to the new rules. Either way, here are their eventual release dates and titles:

1983
The Riders of Rohan [part I] → Isengard and Northern Gondor

1984
Arthedain → Rangers of the North
Moria I → Moria

1985
The Riders of Rohan [part II] → Riders of Rohan

1987
Dol Amroth → Havens of Gondor
Cardolan → Lost Realm of Cardolan

1988
A Tolkien Bestiary → Creatures of Middle-earth

Interestingly, if you look at the product list at the back of The Court of Ardor, it lists The Riders of Rohan as part of the first wave, so arguably Isengard can be counted as part of the first wave (especially since it is still done with RM stats). Isengard itself lists The Riders of Rohan with the second wave.

[Finarvyn]

Interesting. I think the first I heard of ICE was through their MERP ads in The Dragon. I don't think I knew that they had done any Middle-earth stuff prior to MERP.

[jeffb]

ICE was in Charlottesville about 2 hours away from me, so I saw their products very early on in a local mom and pop bookstore. I always wanted to visit them, but now I even wonder if they had a real office or storefront. I drove through there a few times each year on my way further south to visit my Dad's family/work the farms and go hunting/fishing. My Brother went to UVA and I asked him to check out the address, but I'm sure y'all can guess how that turned out.

I picked up the pre MERP Guidebook, and then soon after I got some of the RM 1st print items (Arms Law, and one of their other world supplements-Iron Wind?), then down the road the 1E RM boxed set showed up under the Xmas tree. I have to say I recall not being impressed with that original guidebook. But the later versions of them I thought were excellent. I enjoyed most of the MERP materials, and the system was far more palatable than what RM became- especially if you got fast and loose with M&M rolls.

[Falconer]

Jul 30, 2021 7:58:42 GMT -6 jeffb said:

Arms Law, and one of their other world supplements-Iron Wind?

Yep, those were their first two products, published in 1980. Wave Zero, if you will.

[tkdco2]

IIRC, some of the early Rolemaster modules were originally set in the expanded map of Middle-earth. Later on they became part of the Shadow World setting.

[Falconer]

Well, here is the map from the 1980 Iron Wind module:



and here is ICE’s 1982 Middle-earth map:

[doublejig2]

So that's where the wainriders come from! And, their wizards change the very coastal geography to tell tale of a yonder topographically fractal realm. That's my take.  

[bobjester0e]

I'll have to look at my Mirkwood book to see when it came out.
It combined North & South books.
I also have the Moria book, but I was disappointed at the time in how the maps were presented. I think I could make a go of it now, 30 some years later.

But I'd rather use the Mirkwood book as a mini-setting. I simply love the maps, the encounters, the descriptions, lore, background.... everything!
Dying to have a go with the Necromancer with DCC rules. lol

[Falconer]

Jul 30, 2021 22:32:43 GMT -6 bobjester0e said:

But I'd rather use the Mirkwood book as a mini-setting. I simply love the maps, the encounters, the descriptions, lore, background.... everything!

You might be interested in this thread!

[bobjester0e]

Thanks for the directions, Falconer!

[jeffb]

Jul 30, 2021 18:07:59 GMT -6 Falconer said:

Well, here is the map from the 1980 Iron Wind module:



and here is ICE’s 1982 Middle-earth map:

Seeing this cracked me up.

I guess it helped cut costs and workload

[tkdco2]

IIRC a lot of the early ICE modules were assumed to be set in Middle-earth, far to the east of the lands we're familiar with. Later on they became part of the Loremaster series, which eventually turned into the Shadow World setting.

The Middle-earth maps that ICE produced were beautiful. It's a shame they didn't quite line up. That was something I discovered to my dismay when I put a few of them together.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=f3TdG7n8qsw

[Falconer]

Yeah. Too bad. Still amazing. One thing that helps is Arnor: The Land. They redrew a bunch of maps to make one consistent and matching whole. Covers from Fangorn to Angmar.

[tkdco2]

I have that one. The maps are all in the book, not detached, and they're in grayscale instead of color. Still pretty good maps.

[Falconer]

Hrrmmm, in my copy they are in full color and were never attached. The other 2e module I have, Moria, also has unattached maps.

[tkdco2]

Maybe my copies came with maps, but I separated them and put them in their own folder. I'll have to look for them.

Meanwhile, here's how not to do it: www.youtube.com/watch?v=l2027INnp1o

I'd probably stick with the module maps and Fonstad's Atlas.

[Zenopus]

FYI, Terry Amthor has passed away. He was one of the founders of ICE, and wrote Court of Ardor, and co-wrote Iron Wind, among many other later projects. I enjoyed A Spy In Isengard, his contribution to the Middle-Earth Quest Series, as a teen and still have a copy.

[tkdco2]

Sad news indeed.