This site is still running in development mode. However, it was far enough along, and the old site so ancient, we switched over in the interested of getting things rolling faster by popular demand. If whatever you're looking for from the old site is not yet on the new site, please email webmaster@merp.com with details, and/or try the old site still online at: http://old.merp.com.

Thank you for visiting this 100% community driven, non-commercial, volunteer run website, dedicated to role playing gaming in J.R.R. Tolkien's Middle-earth. We have been serving the role-player gaming community online since 1998.

Merp.com is the home of the international community dedicated to Role Playing gaming in J.R.R. Tolkien 's Middle-earth, Endor, Arda, Eä and beyond.

Merp.com is NOT just about ICE's MERPS ( Iron Crown Enterprises Middle-earth Role-Playing System) or Decipher's LotR RPG (Lord of the Rings Role Playing Game). This site is about ANY gaming in the Middle-earth, Numenor, Valinor, Endor, Arda, or Eä settings, using ANY paper and dice role-playing gaming system you want in JRR Tolkien's related imaginary masterpiece or works.

Be sure to visit the NEWS section for up to date information on Middle-earth gaming events, movies, website updates, and much more! Be sure to check out the new MerpCon convention(s) section of the site!

Be sure to check out the DOWNLOADS section of the site with thousands of files related to gaming in Tolkien's universe, and new content added almost daily.

NOTE ON DOWNLOADS: As has been the case for years, many of the files LINKED to from this site, links to servers that are NOT associated with Merp.com. Most notably, the ICE MERP downloads, none of them are on the Merp.com site, instead on sites around the world. Merp.com merely LINKS to these remote locations. Use caution since we have no control over those files.

Disclaimers

Merp.com has been running as a BBS since 1994, and on the Internet since 1998. The new version (7.0) of this site was launched Friday, August 3rd 2007. This front page was last updated Tuesday October 23rd, 2006. The rest of the content on this site updated daily, see the "Recent Items" block for what's recently been published.

As of October 21st, 2006, since September 2004, we had over
11,120 new registered users!

From 2001 to October 2005 we were steadily gaining 50,000+ hits per month. in February 2005 we reached over 1,500,000+ unique visitors per month! Between the mirrors around the world, we were seeing an average of 10-20 Gigabytes a day in downloads!

This site is best viewed with a minimum screen resolution of at least 1024x768

The primary purpose of this site is:

• To help current RPG gamers (Role Playing Game) using any rpg game system of choice for use in Middle-earth, Arda, Endor, Eä, or other aspects of J.R.R. Tolkien's universe.
• Provide gaming-related content for any Tolkien and Middle Earth fans in general.
• Enlighten & assist new fans and/or gamers
• Provide information for those who are just curious what it's all about
• Be the single best resource on the Internet to meet the needs of all who want to game in JRR Tolkien's world

This site is 100% volunteer run. It is a non-revenue, non-profit, decentralized non-business entity site dedicated to fans who like to role-play in Middle-earth. No revenue of any kind is generated or accepted. No financial donations can be accepted. The donations we can accept,and always need include volunteers willing to dedicate their time, and people with servers willing to mirror the site, content, and archives.

Disclaimers

On this site you will find plenty of information on role-playing games, especially adapting/using them in J.R.R. Tolkien's Middle-earth.
You will find all resources and downloads completely free for:

• ICE MERP Rulebooks, Modules, and References ready for download (See the notice about harrassment from Tolkien Enterprises in the Legal and News sections of this site)
• Decipher LotR (Lord of the Rings) resources
• Adapting various other game systems (Rolemaster (RM / RM2 / RMFRP / RMSS ) Dungeons and Dragons ( AD&D / D&D / d20 ), HarnMaster, GURPS, HERO, Decipher LOTR (Lord of the Rings (such as Helm's Deep, Moria, Cities and Strongholds,Sourcebooks, Fell Beasts and Wondrous Magic, Heor's Journal, Narrator's Screen, The Two Towers, Fellowship of the Ring, Return of the King) role playing game to fit your preferences for Middle earth gaming), as well as the Silmarillion, Unfinished Tales, War of the Ring and many others for gaming in Middle-earth, using whatever system you like. This site will help you find the resources, chat with authors and contributors, and guide you in playing in this wonderful rich world of Arda created by J.R.R. Tolkien's wonderful imagination (for the sake of somewhere to put his language(s) of Elvish to use).
• Magazine articles and entire publications (viewable online and for download) from various publications (OtherHands, etc.) over the years related to middle earth
• Mailing lists, chatrooms, web forums, and many other live community interactive resources
• Unique Essays on Tolkien and his works from published authors such as Michael Martinez and Chris Seeman
• Complete archived catalogs of related material useful for gaming in Middle Earth (ICE, Decipher, RPGs, Atlases, Compendiums and much more)

Many of the authors of published rpg modules are on the merp.com e-mail mailing lists and this site, as well as thousands of avid gamers/fans.

DISCLAIMERS) The original designers of the ICE MERP system (Iron Crown Enterprises version) can no longer have anything to do with any Tolkien related material (since 1999), so it is up to the the huge international merp community to keep it alive.
This site is NOT, however, focused on any one system! This site promotes role playing in Tolkien's world no matter what the system(s).

Merp.com has the largest array available from any single site, original and/or author approved content (essays and such), as well as news, chat, mailing lists, fan modules, and much more.
The more the community gives the more everyone benefits.

For any questions or issues, please feel free to CONTACT US at webmaster[at}merp dot com or join the merp.com mailing list.

If you've never heard of J.R.R. Tolkien, The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, or Middle-Earth, you can get more information that is not necessarily gaming related, but focused on those broader topics, at Frequently Asked Questions or the Tolkien Section of this site.

For those of you already familiar with Tolkien and his works, MERP (Middle-Earth Role-Playing) is a role playing game based on his writings, and the world of his creation.

Those who prefer Tolkien and his works in a more "pure" form, unmuddied by so many third and fourth parties, and the "tweaking" for gaming purposes, may prefer to visit The Tolkien Purists Section of this site for resources more specific to Tolkien's literature, history, languages, and works, and not gaming oriented or influenced content.

MERPS was created by Iron Crown Enterprises in the early eighties. They created the system as a simplified version of their Rolemaster RPG system, and modified a lot of the information from RM to fit the "feel" of Tolkien's world. it is hotly debated in the community how well it actually does fit the feel as far as the system, especially magic in Middle-earth, but the source material for modules, campaigns, references etc. has no current equal in content in the 20+ years since it's inception. Hopefully Decipher's (and other's) attempts will work our over the coming years. For more information on ICE MERPS, see the ICE MERPS Wiki page.

Decipher has since acquired the licensing rights from Tolkien Enterprises to make gaming products based on The Lord of the Rings movies and books. They call it The Lord of the Rings Role Playing Game, abbrieviated as LotR RPG.

Many thanks to Planetmirror for their mirroring services!