Professions

The following professions are, in my view, OK for use in a MERP setting, with no restrictions:

These professions should be available only to races with sufficient "power" as appropriate:

Magical professions should be restricted to races like Elves and Dunedain, but with appropriate cultural limitations. For example it is unlikely that any Silvan Elves would become powerful magicians, whereas it might be relatively easy for a Noldo. Similarly Dwarves are most likely to be Alchemists or Runemasters. A profession like Sorceror should be restricted to human races, particularly Black Numenoreans

This next group are plausible within tightly constrained cultural situations, those marked * should be particularly cautiously used:

An example might be to allow Noldor Paladins, characters who have dedicated themselves to fighting the forces of evil. Another would be to allow Haradrim Nightblades or Dervishes. Professions like Barbarian or Shaman might be common in remote tribal areas.

The last group is a selection of professions that don't really fit into a Middle-Earth setting: