Merpcon
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
MerpCon is an acronym for Middle-Earth Role Playing Convention, a role playing game convention.
The MERP portion of the name is not to be confused with, or thought of as exclusively ICE's ([1]Iron Crown Enterprises) [2] MERP (Middle-earth Role Playing) game system, although that is certainly one of the many game systems used to play during the event.
There are a few other gaming conventions that sometimes host a role playing gaming set in Middle-earth table or series of tables in their event. These conventions include but are not limited to: DundraCon Any others anyone knows about?
Other Hands
The Guild Companion
The event is held each year during the last weekend of July. It runs for 3 days from Friday, through to the end of Sunday (and sometimes a little into the morning of that following Monday).
To date MerpCon has been held each year in Spokane, WA, USA.
The event is focused on paper and dice based Role_playing_games, with the emphasis being Role Playing Gaming set in J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth, using ANY role playing game system adapted or created for play in Middle-earth or any aspect of Tolkien's universe (Middle-earth, Endor, Arda or Eä depending on your perspective of how broad one wants to make it).
The event began with MerpCon I in 2005, followed by MerpCon II in 2006, and currently MerpCon III is in the preparation stage for the Summer 2007 event.
A number of MerpCon Guest Speakers have been at each event, including doctors, professors, and published authors. Guest speakers include:
- Professor Chris Seeman, from Iowa, USA, professor of theology.
- Michael M. Martinez, computer scientist, published author and Tolkien essayist.
- Doctor Thomas Morwinksy, from Munich, Germany, doctor of entomology for the German Government's military.
- Hawke Robinson, from Washington, USA, retired computer scientist published by the Sans Institute.
The [3] www.merpcon.org website offers downloads of audio and video clips from the event, including the guest speakers' speeches and follow-up Q&A.
During the event, the MerpCon website makes it possible for people to participate to some degree (though only those who physically show up get to participate fully in the role playing game sessions, although there are plans to extend those capabilities in the future) from around the world by viewing the live webcams, streaming audio, and live real time chat rooms (using [IRC] ([Internet Relay Chat]).
Campaign Settings MerpCon I had the campaign setting set in the final 2 weeks before the Fall of Númenor as detailed in the Akallabêth in The Silmarillion by J. R. R. Tolkien.
MerpCon II had the campaign setting set in Umbar shortly after the Fall of Númenor, and before the establishment of the Kingdoms In Exile: Gondor and Arnor. Those kingdoms were declared about a year after "The Fall".
MerpCon III is set earlier in the Second Age on the shores of Northwestern Middle-earth. This is a time period when the Númenóreans first made contact with the "lesser" men, who were under the terror of the shadow of Sauron and his minions. The Númenóreans came as benefactors, teachers, and defenders. In later centuries they returned more as conquerors demanding tribute.[1] Original source, with edits for Wikipedia, from the [4] Old Merp.com, [5] New Merp.com, and [6] MerpCon websites from MerpCon Volunteers. Copied with permission from the site owners at [7] dev.merp.com and the convention organizers at [8] www.merpcon.org.
References:
[2]. MerpCon Guest Speaker Biographies page
Professor Chris Seeman, published author of many ICE MERP and Decipher LotR adventure modules, as well as publisher of [9] Other Hands Magazine and assistant editor and contributor to the zine [10] The Guild Companion Magazine.[3] An article mentioning his lead up to participation in the MerpCon I event: . Then his review of the event afterwards for MerpCon I:[4]
[5] Michael Martinez's main website, and his [11]</ref> blog specifically mentioning his participation in MerpCon II. Michael Martinez is the published author of "Visualizing Middle-earth", "Understanding Middle-earth", and "Parma Endorian".
