Middle-Earth play-by-mail

Middle-Earth PBM is a turn-based, strategy play by email and play-by-mail game set in the world of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit, including elements from ICE's Middle-earth Role Playing 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 and Lothlórien which are only covered in the appendices, and variations on the main game, including Kin-strife and Gunboat variations.

Origins Award hall of Fame member.