Middle-earth PBM
Encyclopedia
Middle-Earth PBM is a turn-based, strategy play by email
Play-by-mail game
Play-by-mail games, sometimes known as "Play-by-post", are games, of any type, played through postal mail or e-mail. One example, chess, has been played by mail for centuries . Another example, Diplomacy, has been played by mail since the 1960s, starting with a printed newsletter written by John...

 and play-by-mail game set in the world of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings
The Lord of the Rings
The Lord of the Rings is a high fantasy epic written by English philologist and University of Oxford professor J. R. R. Tolkien. The story began as a sequel to Tolkien's earlier, less complex children's fantasy novel The Hobbit , but eventually developed into a much larger work. It was written in...

and The Hobbit
The Hobbit
The Hobbit, or There and Back Again, better known by its abbreviated title The Hobbit, is a fantasy novel and children's book by J. R. R. Tolkien. It was published on 21 September 1937 to wide critical acclaim, being nominated for the Carnegie Medal and awarded a prize from the New York Herald...

, including elements from ICE's Middle-earth Role Playing
Middle-earth Role Playing
Middle-earth Role Playing is a 1984 role-playing game based on the writings of J.R.R. Tolkien under license from Tolkien Enterprises. Iron Crown Enterprises published the game until they lost the license on 22 Sep 1999.-Setting:The setting for MERP is an expanded version of J. R. R...


under licence from GSIL.

Simply put, to win this game, you work together with your team-mates to take control of the lands of Middle-earth. There is no one way to achieve this aim; instead, victory is gained through a combination of martial strength, magical prowess, and economic power. Each nation has its own strengths and weaknesses, and the best teams utilise the strengths of each of its members whilst taking advantage of the weaknesses of their opponents.

There are several scenarios with smaller maps, including The Battle of Five Armies - based on The Hobbit, The Untold War based on the battles from The Lord of the Rings not focused on in the novels, focusing on Dol Guldur
Dol Guldur
Dol Guldur was Sauron's stronghold in Mirkwood in the fictional world of J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth. It is first mentioned in The Hobbit. The hill itself, rocky and barren, was the highest point in the southwestern part of the forest. Before Sauron's occupation it was called Amon Lanc...

 and Lothlórien which are only covered in the appendices, and variations on the main game, including Kin-strife and Gunboat variations.

Origins Award
Origins Award
The Origins Awards are American awards for outstanding work in the game industry. They are presented by the Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts and Design at the Origins Game Fair on an annual basis for the previous year, so the 1979 awards were given at the 1980 Origins.The Origins Award is commonly...

hall of Fame member.
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