OF THE

1.0 Guidelines

CREDITS
Authors1 Designers:
Matthias and Karen Birkner
EditoriDeveloper: JesstcaNey
Cover Art: Angus McBnde
Interior AIL: Liz Danforrh
Layouts: Steve Sullivan
Additional Art & Graphics: Pete Fenlon
Project Specific Contributions: SeriesEdiror: Jessrca M.
Nev: Conent E d m r Peter C. Fenlon: Pmemkinn.
" "
Jennifer Kieme; Layour: Elleen Smith. Cheryl Klef,
Andrew Christensen, Larry B m k , Edward Dinwiddie;
Cover Groph~s:I. ~ a i n eSprunt.
i
Special Thanks: Greg Jones, Eric Haywwd-Queen. Beth
Miller, and Ron Robertson, and to Jim "Jennifer's
limmBoyer,Roger nSqumel-Killer" Hohensee, h m
"Jimmy Mac' MacDonald, Jodi "I'm Sony" Norman, Eric
"Anosher Ale" Oueen. Raloh "The Protector" and Vicky
"Run Away!? ~oblchaud-Scharr.
ICE MANAGEMENT-Produ~lmn Mnnaprr Tcw Amthor; S o l e 4
C m r m r ~ S e ~Manaaw m mane Bwsbmg. Edtnng & Drv~lopmpnr
Manager CdemnCharhm, Prmdem PmaFmlon: CEO BNCL
~ e ~ d l m g econrrolle
c ~un~srmur~n.
ICESTAW-Llunsmg Kun Rrchcr: Murkrrmp Conmlrmf John
Morgan,Pmnr Buyer 6111Dawns: Pmducnon Suprruwor Sulannc
Young. Edmne & Dlvrlopmmr S r d Tern Amlhor, Kevm Barma.
Rob nell, Pea Rnlon. L ~ ~ L ~ D lcrrica I I I . ~ c y~. o h n~ucmmler:
Producnon Si@ Lco L a k l l . Ellan Smllh: Lami B m k . Edward
5.32 llmaryen Keep. ......................................................21 D~nwlddre,Willxam Hyds. Cheryl Klcf. Jennifer Klcmc, Andrew
5 4 THETASK. ..................................................................... 27 r n r t e n s m . K~~~~ w l n l a m s . ~H~~~~~
. wla
sprunt. cmder.
5.41 Staning the Players............................................. 27 Opermons Srq? Marc Ramey: S d c l rC CuriomrrS?rvm Sioff John
BNnWlmt, Hadl Hefiner. Becky POW: Sh#ppln#S!aff Iahn "Frat"
5.42 Aids. ...................................... Breckmndgc, Roben "Crnnn~e"Crnnrhaw.Dawd "Big Davr"1ohnson.
Corny "EU"Wtckr.

Frnt US. E d a m . 1989. ISBN 145806-081-2

1.0 GUIDELINES 1.22 CONVERSION CHART
If youplay someth~ngotherthanMERPorRohasIe~and you
The Middle-ermh Ready-lo-Run Sericr is designed for Game- do not use a wrcent~lesvstem, use the followine,chan to conven
masten whowantadventureswhichcanbesetup inafewmmutes 1-lCC numb& to figures suited to your game
and played in a few hours. The adventures require little or no
preparatmn. I-100 DIM DZO 3-18 2-12
Donirons of1hoDmk Wood has four parts. Section 1.0 deals Slat Bonus Bonus Stat Stat
with guidelines regarding the use of the module. Senion 2.0 102t +35 +7 2@k 17+
pregener&d characten for the players (whtch can be 101 +30 +6 19 15-16
used as non-player characters if so desired).
The third part consists of Sections 3.0. 4.0. and 5.0, the ad-
ventures. Each adventure stands on as own, although a common
themeunitesrhestones.TheycanbesetanywheremMiddle-earth
where the story seems appmpnate. The founh pan consists of
Section6 0, the Encounter, Beast. Herb, and NPC tables.

1.1 HANDLING PLAY

Each adventure 8s geared for a differentdifficulty level. Theone
found in Section 3.0 is challenging for 1st or 2nd levelcharacten,
or inexperienced players. Section 4.0's adventure is aimed at 2nd
or 3rd level adventurers, while the adventure m Section 5.0 is
designed for 4th or 6th level characten.
The adventuresare divided into five standard pans: (I) the tale.
which describes how to stan m terms of the settmg, the back-
ground, and the plot; (2) the Non-player Characters. NPCs, a
person-by-persondescription of the prominent no" player charac-
ters: (3) the primarv lavouts and m a maps: descriptions of the
major adventure s&s,~complete with ""mbered diagrams and
2.0 PLAYER CHARACTERS
floorplanlans;(4)themk.adascussion of how to start the adventure, The following ehan provides the statistm for the Player Char-
along with the ods, clues, obstacles, and rewards awaiting the acters that can be used in each of the three adventures. The GM
may wish to assign his playen a characterorallow them to select
.
adventurers: and ( 5 ) encounters. whlch cover tvoical or vrobable
from the list. Ofcourse, theGMcan utilize theunused PCs asnon-
meetings betwee" the adventurers and the NPG. plr)er r h i n a u r r .After all. the pla)crr ma) d e w n lhor uun
The GM should skim each section of an adventure before
:lnaracten or cmplo) charuser\ meld) mu,:
kgmning play. Then he can have the playen pick pre-designed
charactenfmmthoseprovidedin Secrmn2.0.m hecanpermit the ThcGM <houlJ remrmkr. huucvrr.lhnt rceardlcrr of hou the
players to design their own PCs. (Of course,the OM can assign players acquire their characters, each adventure is geared for a
PC$.) Once olav ensues. the OM should refer to the Encounter different difficulty level (see Sectlon 1.1). We suggest PCstaugh
enough to meet the challenge.
Table and thk &art Table at the back of the module.
Codes: See the NPC smts for an explanation of the basic coder.
1.2 ADAPTING THIS MODULE The following is a list of other c a l e s and abbrevmtions which
mlght be ambiguous.
Like the rest of the series, this module is designed for use with
the Middle-ewlh Role PInying game (MERP) or the more PowerPoints:Thenumbcr(if any)given in parentheses mdicates
advancedRolemsIer(RMJ system, but isadaptabletomost other the possessionof a"bonus spell item"and tts bonus(seeMERP,
major FRP gamer. Statistics are expressed on a closed or open- --..-.. ..--,.
ended scale, using a 1-100 base and percentile dlce (D100). No Skill Bonuses:NA. SL,RL,Ch= ManeuverandMovement in No
other dice are require*. Amor, Soti Leather, Rigid Leather, and Chain: IHE OB. IHC
OB, ZH OB. ThrownGB, MisrileGB, P o l e m O B = Offensive
1.21 CONVERTING HITS AND BONUSES Ronuves for I-H Edeed. l-H Concussion. ?--Handed.Thmwn.
- ~~

Bonuses: When convening percentile valuer to a 1-20 system a
simderuleis, forevery+5onaDIWscale youget a c l onaD2O.
describe serious wounds. The hit figures shown here are less
important Ulan those used in game syrkms where death occun as
a result of exceeding one's available hits. Should you use a game
system that employs no specific cnrical strike results (e.g.. TSR
1nc:s Duneeons ondDronons).simolv double the number of hlts
your char&n take or h i v e the hli&es found in this module.
MISSIIO. and pole-a& DW. Swll=Dtrected Spells; Secondary
S k d k Secondary Skrlls
S-ndary Skills: Each secondary skill is abbreviated by giving
thebegininglcltenof theskill (MERPSection2.33).Thebonur
for that skill rank is gwen following the abbreviatm.
following the abbreviation.
SpcllLisb: Spell hsts areabbreviated by usingthefirstfew letters
in each word of the spell list name; for example, "SR. Ways"
refen to the "SoundlLight Wayr" spell list.
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3.0 AlTERCOP AlTACK
To the east of Mrkwood, nestled under the eaves of the great
forest, liesatiny villagenamed Ulgarstat. Thevillagewasfounded
by Ulgar Restmard some three years before the Great Plague. At
the time of the Plague, the community was self-sufficient and
isolated. E~therbecause of that tsolation, or by some other
workings of fate, it escaped the Plague entirely.
Ulgarjtat isin aplrarant lucalr. The land is rolling,graced wiL
tall trees, and ensscrossed by gurgling streams. Sheltered by
nearby Mirkwood from harsh winds and the hat afternoon sun, the
settlement boasts soft breezesand gentle sunlight. Birds flockand
nest w~llmglyamong the houses, controlling insects and making
the handc<mtnhlulby thc~rsongs In qmng and wmmcr. lhc
brd-' mpht plumqe v c * u ~ r hthe cultnalcd flown that bloom
~n wmdou bows and kltshen gaalen~.and u ~ t hthe ulldfloucrr
blankeung the meadow$
Floucr~rrcnottlronl) plantstha! thnvr ~ n l h e a r e rt h e m l tr
. . . .
nchx~dthruatrrl r e s h . ~ ~ ~ r ~ ~ ~ a n dFarmer~and ~ ~ ~ t ~ r ~ ~ m m r
villagers are well-fed; they work hard but are cheerful, and proud
of thetr villape. Ulpar is a f a r and a wise lender, and is reswted
by the ~ O W ~ & &
In the nearby fields, small game animals are plentiful. Until
recently, the ewl beasts of Mirkwood did not trouble the village
that wasnearbut not in the forest. But sixmonthsago. thedenizens
of the dark wood began to raid Ulgarstat. Ulgarstat, so long self-
sufficient, is now looking far help.

Three weeks later, apeddler IeftUlgarstat, announcing hisplans

3.1 FEAR IN ULGARSTAT
Sir months ago. Ulgarstat began to experience problems with
marauding wildanirnals. Wolves have twiceattackedthe townand
twice beenrepulsed: the people of Ulgarstat, accustomed to living
in peace, had never before kept guards or any type of armedforce.
After the first attack. they remforced the wall around the town and
posted a ntght watch. In addaion, townspeople began to practice
the mania1 ans, and to keep weapons nearby at all times. These
additional safety measures have kept the town fairly well-pro-
tected for several months.
Now Ulgarstat is facing yet another hazard. This time, the
pmblemismoredifficuIttofight. Inrecentmonths,severalpeople
have disappeared while travelling between Ulgarstat andoutlying
lands to the north.
Two months ago, afarmer set out for Ulgarstat from his farm in
the north. The young man had come alone to Ulgarstat two years
before, and was still unmamed, so his d~sappearmeemight have
gone unnoticed for some time if he hadn't promised to bring hls
neighbors seed from town. But when he neglected to stop by his
neighbors' farm the next day, they became concerned. When he
still hadn'tretumedat theendofaweek,theneighborssenttotown
to learn what had haowned and discovered that he had never
amved there. The man disappeared without trace, leavrng behind
his moderately successful farm.
to visit Wessun Fraelsen, another farmer in the north. When
Wessun visited Ulgarstat the following week, Ulgar learned that
the peddler had never arrived at Wessun's farm. Ulgar and
Wessun, still disturbed by the farmer'sdisappearance. tracked the
peddler as far as they could along the wooded nail between
Ulgarstat and Wessun's farm. Wagon tracks led halfway up the
trail, thendisappeared into the forest. The twomen swnfound the
wagon, but although they searched the woodsaround~t.they could
find no other signs of horse or peddler.
Twoweeksafterthepeddlerdisappeared,threeyoungmenwent
gamehunting up the northern trail. When they didn't return for
supper, their fathersand brothers wentafter them Notraceofany
of the three was found.
The farmers and citirens of Ulgarstlt are afraid of thn new
threat, but don't know what they're dealing with or how to cope
with it. Some people believe that bandm are hiding in the forest
and are leaving i u cover to attack travellers. Others fear that
wolves have begun to attack by day. Stxll others claim that bears
are responsible.
Ulgarcan't understand why bandm would takecorpses,orwhy
wolvesorbears wouldleavenouaceofthemselvesorofasrmggle,
nor baggage nor clothing from their victims. Unfonunately, he
doesn't have any ideaofwhat kindofcreature wouldcausepeople
and their goods to vanish. Though not usually given to hysterical
imagimngs, Ulgar feels that neither he nor anyone else in h s
village iscapableofdealingwiththisnewmenace. Hehasdecided
to seek outside help to determine what the menace is, and to
somehow destroy it.