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It’s important to note that Middle-earth Role Playing was only one of two titles published under the Tolkien license. This put it not only in rarified air for the time, but it also helped to prove that there was room in the market for more than one major more player in the role-playing universe.
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It may not have ever overtaken D&D as the industry leader, but MERP was the second-best selling title on the market during this time period. The game was published in multiple languages and became something of a hit during the heyday of tabletop roleplaying games.
#Legends of middle earth license
The studio who received the license was Ice Crown Enterprises, who would hold the license for the game until 1999.ĭuring their fifteen years of stewardship, ICE would publish multiple editions of the game as well as several supplements. Protecting the copyrights and trademarks of the world meant either wading into the legal system on a frequent basis or giving players the chance to play in the universe with their own official game. It was only natural that there would be a licensed game – after all, the Tolkien estate’s relationship with Dungeons and Dragons had been litigious. Middle-earth Role Playing first came onto the scene in 1984 as the first officially licensed game in Tolkien’s Middle-earth universe. Taking a look at the game itself means looking not only at how it worked, but also its history and its impact. This game was one of the earliest licensed RPGs and one of the first true contenders for the roleplaying crown.
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The 1980s tabletop role-playing boom saw an official, licensed adaptation of Tolkien’s work in the form of the Middle-earth Role Playing game (MERP). That wasn’t the end of the story for Lord of the Rings and role-playing, though. Tolkien’s estate was able to see that as well, which led to a few lawsuits and some revisions that led D&D to become the game it is today. If you go all the way back to the beginning, though, it’s clear that one influence stood above all others – J.R.R. If you look at Dungeons and Dragons, you can see several major influences.