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Jul 25Liked by J.Q. Graziano

John Howe, along with Alan Lee were hired as conceptual artists initially and both ended up staying on and working with the art and special effects folks for all of the Lord of the Rings and Hobbit movies. So having John Howes art in the RPG books is amazing for people who liked the movies' take on Middle Earth.

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Both artists are so incredible, and like you said, were integral to the style of the LOTR movies (which I love intensely). Thanks for commenting, Robin!

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Went to try and find this on eBay only to discover there are only a few copies at over £100 each so that’ll be one to save up for I guess!

However, what I do have is the Middle Earth Campaign and Adventure Guide Book from a company called Iron Crown Enterprises. Seems to be published in 1983. I would include a photo but can’t seem to do that on comments. It was hidden amongst all my old Dragons and White Dwarf’s 😁

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Wow! I didn't realize these had gone up in price like that. I've heard from others that you can get .pdf versions in case you're interested.

Sounds like you may have some old school MERP! (Middle Earth Role Playing). I LOVED the ads for that system in Dragon and other fantasy mags back then. Great find!

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I own PDFs of both this and The One Ring, and most of the art is the same (AiME is basically a 5e conversion of One Ring). The rules can be messy, but the art and layout are great! They really nailed the aesthetics of Lord of the Rings.

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I’m particularly fond of the orc going weak at the knees after taking an arrow to the chest. Very dramatic.

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Totally! I appreciate that too. I also love the illustrations of the settings/backgrounds/environments. Makes me want to explore!

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That's cool! I've seen The One Ring out in the wild but never had it to compare. I agree with you about the LOTR aesthetics. Thanks for sharing, Jonah!

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