April 1996 marked the publication of the 13th issue of the Other Hands journal. Publisher Chris Seeman handled edited duties. Lisa Disterheft was responsible for Layout and Design. Some maps from MERP were used by permission. Artwork was provided by Quentin Westcott, Tom Loback, Johan Söderberg, Patrick Wynne, and Martin Baker. Contributors included Johan Söderberg, Fredrik Ekman, Mike Campbell, Michael Martinez, Chris Seeman, Dirk Brandherm, Jessica Ney-Grimm, Martin Baker, Bjorn Asle Taranger, Anarsil Istaratan, Mark Thorne, and Luke Potter.
EDITORIAL: FULL CIRCLE
So much has happened since last issue. Where to begin? Most of the product news can be saved for “Frontlines;” but on top of all that, I am very pleased to announce that Jessica Ney-Grimm has appointed me as her “Assistant Series Editor” for the Middle-earth Role Playing series. Holding down both the series editorship and the art direction position at ICE as she does (and with the huge amount of energy ICE has had to put into the ME:TW card game), Jessicas ability to devote time to current MERP projects has been whittled away. So I will be playing a much more active role in bringing the various new modules to completion. Other Hands will, of course, remain an independent publication, as that is one of its main reasons for existence, but it will also better be able to serve its function as a forum between ICE and its audience. OH has certainly come full circle from being a prophet crying in the wilderness.
As those of you with Internet access have probably discovered, the on-line version of OH 12 promised last issue has not yet appeared. The reason for the delay (as I have recently learned) is that the managers of the site have decided not to release any of their materials until ALL of them are operational. I have no firm release date to give you as I write this, but I wouldn’t be surprised if we are on-line by the time you read this. Just so no one forgets, we will be available at: www.vas-tus.com. I have already taken a peek at the finished product, and it is WELL worth the wait. Everything is in color, a new logo has been designed, and in all humility it rocks!
Enough of my gloating. In this issue we offer the second installment of our “Taste of Things to Come” module preview series, in which Mike Campbell, author of the soon-to-be finished Southern Rhûn realm module, gives us the dirt. Mike is part of our on-line network of collaborating MERP authors, who can all vouch for the quality of his work. A bold step eastwards for Middle-earth Role Playing!
Next in line, we are honored to have OH newcomer Michael Martinez give us a fine sample of his scholarly work on the First Age realm of Hithlum. While not involved in Middle-earth gaming per se, Michael has for some time been researching the “History of Middleearth” series (as well as the previously published sources) with a view to eventually publishing a book on the history of Tolkien’s world and its peoples — surely something of immense value to fantasy role players who want to explore Middle-earth in depth! Hithlum seemed a particularly apt choice for OH, since I very much want to encourage interest in and development of a First Age game setting. We look forward to seeing more pieces of Michael’s work in future issues.
Speaking of full circles, we now bring our “Making of MERP” interview series to a close by having a talk with none other than Jessica Ney-Grimm herself. Having worked on the line from many angles — layout design, editing, and art direction — Jessica is well-qualified to offer us “the big picture” of MERP: how it emerged, how it developed, and where it is going.
Finally (in addition to all our usual offerings) we are graced with a very innovative and thought-provoking article by Martin Baker (the gentleman responsible for those amazing calendar concordances in Southern Gondor) on the topic of relating the “fictional” history of Middle-earth to our own “real” history, a motif that Tolkien himself developed in his treatment of The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit as “translations” from the mysterious Red Book of Westmarch. Even if the Fourth Age (or the Fifth, or the Sixth) is not your cup of tea, you will be missing an incredibly enjoyable read if you skip this article.
Finally, we have included in this issue a map…a map that should have appeared in Southern Gondor: The Land, but doesn’t. Without it, a good chunk of that module will be cryptic. This is the map of Harondor, the South-kingdom’s desert frontier with Umbar and Near Harad. So consider yourselves lucky to own a copy, since Pete Fenlon’s color map of this region is unlikely to appear until the publication of Wes Frank’s Near Harad module sometime early next year.
Oh yes, I almost forgot to mention that due to popular demand (read “Mark Thorne”) we have run a limited edition reprinting of all back issues of OH, so if you are missing a few (or if your are tired of those annoying xeroxes) this is your one chance to set matters right. The reprinted issues are priced at $1.00 more than the usual subscription price (i.e., $4.00 in the US and Canada; $4.50 or $5.50 overseas). Be advised that this is indeed a limited edition, and issues are going like hotcakes (We are completely out of #12.), so ORDER NOW! Chris Pheby in England also still has some original back issues that he can sell at a substantially lower price for those of you in England or Europe, so be sure to check with him as well (Hadspen Cottage, Hadspen, Castle Cary, Somerset, BA7 7LR, England, chris.pheby@ukonline.co.uk).
There’s lots of great stuff lined up for our (hopefully on-schedule) July issue, so for once you will not have long to wait for your OH fix! Until then…
Chris Seeman
May 23, 1996
You may download Other Hands Issue 13 for free either from Other Minds’ Other Hands archive or MERP.Com’s Other Hands archive.