Middle Earth Roleplaying
Arnor
Author: Wesley J. Frank, John David Ruemmler, Jeff McKeage, Heike Kubasch, Lisa J. Evans, Walter H. Hunt, Evan Jamieson, Richard Meyer, Robert G. Traynor
Stock #: 2005
ISBN: 1-55806-176-2
Published 1994 by Iron Crown Enterpises
Cover Price: $30.00
Page Count: 416
Type: Realm 2nd Edition

Cover/Jacket Text:

Arnor INCLUDES:

COLOR TERRAIN MAPS detailing the lands of Arthedain, Cardolan, and Rhudaur - a total of 10 pages.
MYSTICAL AND RELIGIOUS ORDERS of Arthedain, including the healing Sisters of Nienna and the secret Lindalistyari.
WARCRAFT used by the three sister kingdoms, including the Dagarim Aran and the Degerim Ereter of Arthedain, the "Raggers" of Cardolan, and the mercenaries who sell their services to the highest bidder - the Radh Crann-Sleagha, the Cruaidh Maraich, the Troich-Armchleasah, and the Forak-Eiginn.
CASTLES, CITIES AND SITES including the eerie leaning hill of Cameth Brin, bustling and over-populated Tharbad, and the haunted Barrow-downs.
RANGERS OF THE NORTH - their history, organization, duties, and how to create a Ranger player character.
THE FATE OF THE KINGS, a series of exciting scenarios combining political intrigue with royal warfare.
COLOR CITY MAPS depicting the streets, canals, bridges, and edifices of Tharbad; the avenues, gardens, and libraries of Annúminas; and the earthen dikes, stone walls, and high guard towers of fortified Fornost Erain.
In the year 861 of the Third Age, Arnor was sundered. The death of the tenth and last Arnorian king, Eärendur, left the North Kingdom's loyalties split among Eärendur's three surviving sons. Amlaith of Fornost, the eldest of the three and thus the Prince most deserving of inheriting his father's full domain, won the Sceptre of Annúminas but in the process lost half of Arnor's territory and much of her power. His brothers staked claim to the eastern and southern lands and successfully countered his attempts to reunify the realm.

Thus the North Kingdom split into three independent, neighboring but lesser states: Arthedain, Cardolan, and Rhudaur.

This realm module details the three sister kingdoms and their relations with one another. Much of the material covering Arthedain and Cardolan was previously available in Rangers of the North and The Lost Realm of Cardolan. The information on Rhudaur, together with more extensive lore concerning the inhabitants of sundered Arnor, has never appeared in previous modules.

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NOTE: ARNOR is a compilation of revised material from the following 1st Edition modules combined with new information: Lost Realm of CARDOLAN (1987), RANGERS of the North (1984), HILLMEN of the Trollshaws (1984), BREE and the Barrow Downs (1984), and Thieves of THARBAD (1985).

NOTE: The SHIRE (1995) 2nd Edition Realm module was written based on ideas first detailed here.

NOTE: ARNOR has been replaced and split into the two 2nd Edition volumes ARNOR: The Land (1997) and ARNOR: The People (1996).

Comments

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Mon 27 May 2002 18:35 - E. Maturi Rating: 10 / 10

Absolutely one of the best sourcebooks for any rpg- middle-earth or not. The maps are great, the attention to detail is wonderful. Tables out of the ying yang---for random encounters, weather, herbs, you name it. No stone was left unturned. ICE`s best.

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Wed 27 Nov 2002 09:50 - Phil Rating: 7 / 10

I recently bought this on e-bay, and already own Lost Realm of Cardolan; Rangers of the North and Thieves of Tharbad. I also used to own Hillmen of the Trollshaws.

Truth is that I found it a little disappointing. I had hoped to find something that combined all the detail in the above modules with even more depth, filled in some of the gaps and gave more options for campaigns at different times than the standard T.A. 1640 setting.

What I found was that a lot of the detail from the above modules was missing eg no map/detail of Tharbad; no internal map/detail of Cameth Brin. It was also very heavily keyed to TA 1640, without even the TA 1409 detail from Thieves of Tharbad. It was also fairly obvious where some of the earlier material had been shoehorned in. Sometimes with the addition of fairly substandard artwork.

True there was a lot of additional high level information but there is only so much of this that you need. A lot of the extra material seemed to consist of a long winded section on places that gives a couple of short paragraphs on any number of locations - but no detail.

On the positive side it was good at pulling together the Arthedain/Cardolan/Rhudaur story in a single place with appropriate context. This presented Arnor as a single entity rather than the bitty approach you got from the smaller modules. It also removed some of the inconsistencies within and between these modules.

Overall it would just have been nice to have had a bit more meat on these bones. I understand these modules are settings, rather than ready to run adventures but maps and detailed descriptions would take out a lot of the leg work. I don`t suppose anyone could tell me if this was put straight in the later Arnor: The Land and Arnor: The People?

Still a good book and the maps are fantastic.