Review of The Shire by Michael Bailey
First published in Other Hands 10/11 (October 1995) pp. 33-34

The Shire deals with "Hobbits and their place in Middle-earth." The land, its inhabitants, their culture and their history are covered in detail in this large tome (while not as massive as Arnor, The Shire is a large work, at almost three hundred pages).

Following a brief introduction, the book dives straight into a history of the Hobbits and their lands, from their unknown origins midway through the Second Age to the establishment of the Reunited Kingdom in the early Fourth.

The original Hobbit homelands in the Anduin Vales are described, as is their gradual migration across the Misty Mountains into Eriador. More time is spent on Hobbit settlement in Eriador, and the troubled years leading up to the Shire-grant in T.A. 1600. The one and a half millennia history of the Shire is covered in detail, as well as a history of the Shire lands before the arrival of the Hobbits. Like all of ICE's Middle-earth products, the period centering on T.A. 1640 is described in greatest detail, but the late Third and early Fourth Age is also given substantial coverage.

The Hobbits' lifestyle, culture and habits are described in detail, with particular reference to playing Hobbit characters. As is fitting, the attitudes and prejudices of the Shire-hobbits are the major subjects covered. Other inhabitants of the Shire and its surrounding areas are presented largely in terms of their relationship to the Hobbits, as are the flora and fauna found in the region.

"Power and Politics" deals with the political relations between the Shire and its neighbors, with extra attention given to the stand-off between the Shire-hobbits and the Arthadan House Tarma. House Tarma opposed the Shire-grant, and their conflicts with the Hobbits form the basis of many of the adventures found later in the book. Following the fall of Arthedain to the Witch-King, the Shire is an isolated and insular land, protected largely by the efforts of the Rangers, but is forced to deal with the outside world with the outbreak of the War of the Ring and the invasion by "Sharkey's Men." Hobbit relations with their neighbors during and after this time is dealt with briefly. Relations with other groups, including the Rivermen of the Baranduin, the Siranna Elves and the Dwarves of the Ered Luin are also dealt with.

"Magic, Magical Things and Weapons" covers typical Hobbitish attitudes to and uses for weapons, armor and magical artifacts. The section also lists various "mathoms" found in and around the Shire. The "mathoms" vary from trinkets and baubles through to some fairly powerful magical items, although in most cases the magic is either hidden or of a trivial nature. Hobbits' distrust of magic is noted and explained, as well as their distaste for martial pursuits.

"Personages of Note" covers the more important Hobbitish individuals from the mid-Third Age through to the War of the Ring. Important Men, Elves, Maiar and Faeries are also described. Complete Rolemaster, MERP and Lord of the Rings Adventure Game statistics are given for all individuals.

The "Gazetteer of Hobbit Lands" is divided into five sections: The Glennen (Anduin Vales) T.A. 500 to F.A. 20, Lands Adjacent to the Shire Bounds, The Shire T.A. 1640, The Shire T.A. 3018 and The Near Wild T.A. 3018. These sections form the heart of The Shire and cover, at least briefly, just about every village and site in the Shire and surrounding areas, as well as older Hobbit settlements in the Kingsland, Cardolan and the Anduin Vales. Floorplans and descriptions of significant adventure sites are provided at the end of the gazetteer, as well as relevant NPC statistics. The floorplans and site descriptions are highly detailed, and run to about thirty pages.

Nine adventure scenarios are provided, each designed for Hobbit characters. The adventures are keyed to specific sites and situations described in earlier pages, including the confrontations with House Tarma, struggles with Orcs and other scenarios. The adventures are geared towards lower level characters, but this isn't a surprise, given the scarcity of 15^th level Hobbit heroes! I can't comment a great deal on the adventures, as I have yet to play them out, but from reading through the material, I'd say that they will play out well.

The Shire was a good read, as well as an excellent RPG resource. It is a large book, but its contents, illustrations and artwork are of a uniformly high quality. The Shire remains consistent with both the Tolkien legacy, and other materials published by ICE (particularly the Arnor Realm module). As a guide to adventuring in and around the Shire, I can't fault it. The Shire fits neatly into the spaces left by Arnor. With the addition of the forthcoming Angmar module, there will be complete coverage of the entire area between the Gwathló and Forochel, and between the Ered Luin and the Misty Mountains. Personally, I would have like to have seen more material on the early Fourth Age, as I feel that this time period offers the most freedom for gamemasters and players, but there is enough present to get by, and fill in any gaps.

Still, The Shire will not be suitable for all gamers or gamemasters. It is focused largely on Hobbit player characters, other races are somewhat restricted within the Shire, especially after the War of the Ring. Given its setting and material, The Shire would not be suitable for a high level campaign. Adventures that are challenging for a party of Hobbits would be ridiculously easy for a higher level party (particularly one with magic users). Unless you are (like me) a serious collector of anything labeled "Middle-earth," I would have to advise a high level role player to give The Shire a miss.

Me, I loved it...but I'm biased (I have a long history of playing disturbed Hobbits). As a gamemaster, I found the book to provide just about everything I needed to run a Shire campaign. As a collector, I enjoyed it's high production quality and attention to detail. If you have an interest in the "furry-footed folk," or are planning a campaign in this part of Endor, The Shire is a must-have resource.

 

Review of The Shire and Angmar by Rick Swan
Quoted from Dragon Magazine 229 (May 1996) pp. 108-109, 111

I hate to travel. An agoraphobic and proud of it, I never leave the house with-king and screaming, and I go on vacations only at gun point. The way I see it, why hassle with flight schedules and hotel reservations when a role-playing game can take you anywhere you want to go? Sure, an airplane can get you to Monte Carlo. But it can't get you to Middle-earth.

Iron Crown has spent more than a decade mining gold from J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings trilogy. They've cranked out board games, poster maps, miniature figures, everything but Hobbit-flavored ice cream. Ironically, Middle-earth Role Playing (MERP), the centerpiece of the Iron Crown line, is one of their more troubling efforts. Though MERP boasts a solid system, it never quite nails the fairy tale ambiance of the novels and tends to emphasize the wrong elements. Combat and magic, for example, play much larger roles in the game than in the books. Still, despite my reservations about MERP, I'm crazy about the sourcebooks, noteworthy for their stunning attention to detail. When Tolkien fans die and go to heaven, they'll likely find themselves in a library stuffed with MERP books. The Shire and Angmar, two volumes in the 'Realms of Middle-earth' series documenting specific locales in the Tolkien universe, typify what Iron Crown does best.

The Shire, the lighter of the two, features the land of the Hobbits. Angmar, the darker one, describes the eerie realm of the Witch-king. The books follow the same format, more or less, with long chapters devoted to culture, history, politics, personalities, and landmarks. Tolkien aficionados will probably feel more at home with The Shire, arguably the most memorable locale in the novels. Designer Wesley Frank provides vivid depictions of Hobbiton, Sackville, and other Hobbit hideaways, along with in-depth profiles of Bilbo Baggins, Samwise Gamgee, and Gandalf the Grey. The brainy treatise on Hobbit magic includes a generous list of magical items unique to Middle-earth, such as the vantage stick and Lestine's pipe of creature comforts. A five-page timeline brings newcomers up to date, a chapter-long glossary explains the difference between 'mathom' (a gift with sentimental value but no practical use) and 'muck' (sheep droppings). Angmar covers less-familiar territory, requiring the designers to fill in a lot of blanks; while casual players won't find that a problem, Middle-earth scholars might take issue with some of the second guesses. Though not as character-focused as The Shire - and hence a bit drier - Angmar impresses with its analysis of military affairs (Angmaran fortifications, siege equipment, and chains of command) and imaginative essays (herb lore, orcish nomenclature, and castle design).

Both books are well-organized and tightly edited, and contain a surplus of informative, clutter-free maps. Neither has an index, however, reducing their value as references; if you want to find Bilbo's biography, you'll have to recruit a search party. The writing is generally strong, more so in Angmar. The Shire, though comprehensible, is stilted in spots ('Hobbits possess a subtler/& panache than most legendary beings'), as if Frank were trying too hard to impress his English teacher.

But it's the content that's important here, not the execution. Frank so skillfully evokes the pastoral landscapes of the Shire that you can almost smell the daisies. He takes us on a whirlwind tour of Bywater, the Bridge of Stonebows, and Hardbottle, spinning enchanting tales of the fairy spirits of Brocken Borings and how the Hobbit Bandobras invented the game of golf. He gives us a taste of the Hobbits' pastries (made with maple drippings and fresh plums) and opens their dresser drawers (proper gentlehobbits prefer linen bedding to straw). If Bilbo fractures his leg, he can mend the bone with an arfandas flower poultice; if he burns his lip on a hot pastry, he can ease the pain by nibbling on a klaven berry.

Angmar is an equally riveting place. Designers Graham Staplehurst and Heike Kubasch conjure a world of barren plains, gray skies, and random death. Here, a description of the slave city of Litash: 'The remains of some [of the slaves] could still be seen, skeletons wrapped in wind-dried skin like parchment, nailed with barbed spikes to the clay walls of their dwellings.' Trolls infest the hills, dwelling in garbage-strewn lairs riddled with lice and fleas. Minions of the Witch-king protect their fortresses with pit traps coated with jegga, a pasty black poison made from bat venom.

If the books share a flaw, it's that they tend to emphasize the whimsical a bit too much. The blissfully serene Shire seems more like a place you'd go for a vacation than a place you'd go for a fight. Angmar oozes gloom but doesn't seem particularly menacing. Angmar bad guys spend too much time fortifying their strongholds and not enough stirring up trouble. The trolls don't seem to be up to much other than wallowing in garbage. We're told of a mighty dragon called the Worm, 'greedy, devious, and selfish.' Sounds promising. But what kind of greedy, devious, and selfish stuff does the Worm do?

A more troubling drawback for Angmar is the absence of adventure hooks. That's a drawback hard to overlook considering the formidable task facing a referee attempting to put together campaign from all these bits and pieces. (Let's see... I'll use the Cult of the Dark Lord from Chapter Five, add the Storugoruz Orc-hold from Chapter Eight, and maybe throw in a few trolls from Chapter Three.) By comparison, The Shire serves up 30 pages of adventures; though none are earth-shattering, they're complete, they're playable, and best of all - they're there.

Evaluation: The Shire and Angmar are first-rate sourcebooks, meticulously researched and staggeringly complete. Iron Crown did just about everything right, even sequestering most of the statistics in the appendices to make the books accessible to those who've never heard of MERP. If I could have only one of the two, I'd take The Shire; Angmar loses a pip for skimping on adventure ideas. Still, both volumes are worth a look from anyone drawn to the concepts in Lord of the Rings. And if you're a fan of the AD&D® game - which, like just about every fantasy game that's ever wriggled its way out of a word processor, owes a heavy debt to Professor Tolkien - that means you.