Review of River Running by Chris Seeman
First published in Other Hands 1 (April 1993) pp. 34-35

River Running is the most recent MERP supplement published to date. The approximately ninety pages of text, charts, and illustrations that make up this module comprise six scenarios set in the land of Dorwinion (presumably around the seventeenth century of the Third Age). The scenarios are independent of one another, but may be run with equal ease as a series of consecutive adventures. In addition to the scenarios, a brief introduction and epilogue provide background on the inhabitants of this region and information about the wine trade for which it is famous.

The adventures contained in the module share certain common themes and plot elements. Each scenario is set or begins in one of the many small villages along the Celduin (S. River Running) which, up until now, has enjoyed a relatively serene and prosperous existence. An ill (or, in one case, an opportune) event transpires which in some way threatens the lives of the peace-loving villagers, and which can ultimately be rectified only if a party of wandering mercenaries is hired to set things right. In five out of the six scenarios, the minions or purposes of the Necromancer of Dol Guldur are directly or indirectly involved; in all but one of them, violent conflict is the necessary means of resolution.

The first scenario, The Corruption of Durannon Wood, draws on the Tolkienian theme of the malevolence of sentient forests. It tells the story of a vengeful exile from the sleepy little village of Kardavan who was cheated out of his inheritance, and who has returned from a stint at Dol Guldur to get even with his ostracizers by transforming the local forest into a miniature version of Mirkwood, spiders and all. A reward is offered for explaining why the forest has gone bad, rescuing any surviving victims of its malice, and presenting proof that its evil has been vanquished.

The second scenario, Hijacked Wine Barge, tells you all you ever wanted to know about trade on the Celduin, and what to do when you run into the problem of Uruk-hai river banditry. A renegade Orc-band has just landed itself a valuable wine barge by ambush, and its surviving owner is attempting to raise up a posse in the nearby river depot of Caradsurga to exterminate the thieves and recover whatever cargo the Orcs have not already imbibed.

The third scenario, The Gargoyles of Haradruin, concerns an old, ruined fortress overlooking the small but important toll town of Karfas. Another wandering band of Orcs, down on its luck, has had the misfortune of taking up residence in the crumbling ruins of Haradruin, just prior to its having become the roost for a quintet of beasties recently escaped from the spawning pits of the Necromancer. Each of these sorcerously created creatures has its own personality and unique talents, making them a veritable commando team for terrorizing the locals. On top of all that, Haradruin is cursed with an apocalyptic prophecy that the end of the world will be nigh whenever suitably evil creatures take up residence in it, making their removal all the more pressing for the restoration of peace, harmony, and trade.

The fourth scenario, Carnage at Forodim, allows player-characters to assume the roles of Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli by hunting yet another marauding Orc-band across the plains of Rhovanion in order to rescue innocent captives before their captors reach the safety of Mirkwood. This sleepy little village is burnt to a cinder when its potential saviors arrive on the scene, its population recently abducted by the Necromancer's cronies. A cruising trio of trigger-happy Elves far from Thranduil's halls offer their assistance in tracking down the baddies, and a pair of overzealous village lads who managed to avoid capture beckon all wandering swords to oblige themselves of the time-honored tradition of giving aid to strangers in need. A race against time begins.

The fifth scenario, The Wounded Drake, begins when a wild-eyed stranger (one of the Lossoth of the Northern Waste) stumbles into the small village of Pardfan with the excited (and suitably exaggerated) eye-witness account of a dying dragon in a nearby cave ripe for slaughter and "profitable dismemberment." The gullible villagers, eager for salvage rights over the worm's valuable parts (i.e. scales, horn, bones, etc.), gather a harvesting party and head off for the Iron Hills. Unfortunately, the drake is not in as bad a way as the villagers have been led to believe, and joyfully awaits its anticipated meal. Characters hoping to partake of the worm had better be quick enough to see that the current expedition is getting the drake right where it wants them.

The sixth and final scenario, The Man-Wolf of Galgorin, is a classic tale of unintended lycanthropy and the struggle to cure (or destroy) the unknowing victim before he devours all of his neighbors and becomes a pawn for the Necromancer's machinations. The peace and serenity of the isolated village of Galgorin has been shattered by an unnatural plague of wolves and wargs that now infest the farmstead of the swiftly-transforming local who was bitten by a werewolf while on sojourn. Because the man is not yet wholly infected with lycanthropy, would-be heroes have the option of trying to rehabilitate, rather than kill, their opponent with the help of the village lycanthropy experts.

All six of these adventures are detailed and internally consistent, providing fairly conventional, "episodic" plots which can be played out in a single session of gaming; they may therefore serve as useful fillers for a lengthier campaign. There is also nothing particularly original about them—or, rather, there is little in these scenarios that gives the player a taste of what makes Dorwinion a distinctive and interesting game setting. Small villages with their idiosyncratic problems can be found practically anywhere in Middle-earth, Dorwinion included; but one might have hoped to find at least one adventure in this collection which would involve characters in what the inhabitants of Dorwinion (according to their resume) do best—namely, mercantile adventure to far-off, exotic places.

In actual fact, the module's epilogue addresses the issue of how characters might utilize their newfound fame (or infamy) from their recent exploits to win themselves a position in the wine trade, either as agents for the Dorwinion "Realm-master," or as holders of the coveted license to export the legendary Dorwinion vintage. River Running would have been a more balanced module if these adventure possibilities had been exploited as more than an afterthought, particularly since the author himself states that "arrangements for profit are more honorable than combat or adventuring for treasure" (87), which is what the greater part of these scenarios boil down to. Accordingly, we look forward to a second Dorwinion adventure module which brandishes the cry: "See the Middle-earth! Trade in wine from the Land of Maidens!" (90).

While the content of this module is in general solid and well-conceived, there are a few minor aspects of it which bear nit-picking by the Tolkien purist. The background material on Dorwinion is necessarily incomplete, and may be fleshed-out in fuller detail with the Ready-to-Run module Perils on the Sea of Rhûn (8110); nevertheless, this reviewer at least would have liked to have heard something more about how the inhabitants of this land characterize themselves. We are never told, for example, what these people call themselves (certainly not "Dorwinrim," since Sindarin is presumably not their primary language). Why, moreover, is Dorwinion referred to as "the Land of Maidens?" This is never explained.

Other peoples or races are sometimes referred to in this module with unwieldy diction: Sagaths (Sagath?), Logaths (Logath?), Logathian (Logathig?), Lossadan (Lossoth?). On a two occasions, one Éothraim character is anachronistically called a Rohir (74, 80). More significant a deviation, in my view, are the references to the Necromancer as "the Nameless One" (6, 9, 32, 48), which seem to imply recognition of the Necromancer's true identity (which is not supposed to be revealed, much less perceived by anyone, until much later in the Third Age. Similarly, my understanding is that Uruk-hai do not appear at all until after the year 2000 in Mordor—not Dol Guldur at this earlier period (33). On one occasion, there is a Dorwinion military officer who is conversant in Black Speech (37), a secret (and dead) language in the Third Age known only to Sauron's most intimate servants.

The organization and presentation of the module is reasonably clear, though it is often necessary to read a scenario in its entirety in order to understand its basic plot. A summary paragraph at the beginning of each adventure for the benefit of the gamemaster (such as we have provided in this review) would have been much appreciated. Moreover, because the epilogue provides the overall rationale for adventuring in Dorwinion, it might have been better placed at the opening of the module. Some of the illustrations and maps might have been more tightly integrated with their accompanying texts. The one serious organizational flaw of River Running is its lack of any map which locates the individual adventure sites in the "big picture" (as one who apprehends things visually, I found the elaborate written descriptions of the locations of some of these village settings difficult going). It is unfortunate that such a map was not included, since I think many will agree that Pete Fenlon's cartography is one of the high points of the Middle-earth Role Playing series.