Merpcon
| Merpcon / Tolkienmoot | |
|---|---|
| Status | Now as Tolkienmoot |
| Genre | Gaming |
| Venue | Ramada Suites Limited Newport Highway |
| Location(s) | Spokane, Washington |
| Country | United States |
| Inaugurated | 2005 |
| Most recent | 2009 |
| Organized by | Inland Empire Tolkien Society |
| Filing status | Non-profit/free |
| Website | |
| http://www.tolkienmoot.org/ | |
MerpCon is an acronym for "Middle-Earth Role Playing Convention", a role playing game convention dedicated solely to role-playing gaming in J.R.R. Tolkien's Middle-earth. The event is held annually on the last weekend of July and runs for 3 days from Friday, through to the end of Sunday (and sometimes a little into the following Monday morning). To date MerpCon has been held each year in Spokane, WA, USA. Beginning in 2009 MerpCon began to transition to being called Tolkienmoot as this convention's venue began to expand to include more Tolkien-related activities, events, and guests beyond just role playing in Middle-earth.
The event began with MerpCon I in 2005, followed by MerpCon II in 2006, MerpCon III in 2007, MerpCon IV in 2008, MerpCon V was held in 2009, MerpCon VI aka Tolkienmoot 2010, MerpCon VII aka Tolkienmoot 2011.
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 broadly one wants to make it).
During the event, the MerpCon website also enables some remote participation, by providing the live webcams, streaming audio, and live real time chat rooms (using Internet Relay Chat).
The "MERP" portion of the name is not to be confused with, or thought of as exclusively Iron Crown Enterprises' MERP (Middle-earth Role Playing) game system, although that is one of the game systems used during the event.
A number of MerpCon / Tolkienmoot guest speakers have been at each event, including noted Tolkien scholars, doctors, professors, and published authors. More detailed information is provided on the "Guest Speakers Biographies" page.
...
Wikipedia