The Middle Kingdom — RoE

The Middle Kingdom is a large underground map measuring 108 by 108 tiles, designed for expert play with eight computer-controlled players and only one human player allowed. The players are grouped into four teams, and the factions in play include Inferno, Castle, Necropolis, Rampart, Fortress, Tower, and a Dungeon and Stronghold pairing. Victory requires defeating all enemies, while a player loses once all of their towns and heroes are gone. The author's description frames the story as a long peace that is finally broken by escalating border skirmishes. Terrain is mostly rock, snow, and subterranean ground, with water covering about eleven percent of the map. Notable features include twenty towns, eighteen placed heroes, and numerous wandering monsters, among them water elementals and several dragons, along with a set of placed dragon-themed artifacts.