Chris Seeman, editor and publisher of Other Hands brought out the eighth issue of the journal in January 1995. Contributors included Michael R. Hickman, Jeff Hatch, Torquil Gault, Deena McKinney, Gerrit Nuckton, and Greg Bailey for articles. Artwork was provided by Sophia Caramagno and Jeff Hatch. Lisa Disterheft-Solberg and Nicolas Solberg handled layout and design. Frances Poon assisted with editing.
Editorial: Vision or Illusion?
So, where is this “role-playing in Middleearth” thing going anyway? Every game concept (potentially) has a chance for its moment in the limelight, when all the world (or at least the greater part of the gaming world) is seized with sudden interest and excitement at something new, innovative, or striking; when a particular rule system or world achieves notoriety beyond the narrow confines of its introverted cult following; when its adherents feel as though the endless hours of imaginative energy they have invested into that world have become a part of something larger, something of value over and above the simple enjoyment of role-playing. Has this moment already passed for Middleearth? Was it ever there in the first place? Is there a future for this passion or will it, like us, one day fade into obscurity?
This is a question I have been asking myself for a long time, and it may well be that Other Hands was conceived in part as a space for answering that question. For before one can even presume to contemplate such a thing, there must be some sense, some suspension of disbelief, that a network of Middle-earth gamers exists at all. Many may think this an unnecessarily extreme point of entry to take, but it rings true with my experience at any rate.
Think about it. How many people do you know who actually role-play in Middle-earth on a regular basis or as their primary game—as compared with, say, how many people play Dungeons & Dragons, or Cyberpunk, or Call of Cthulhu, or Vampire? In my own experience, not many. It is my impression that Middle-earth gaming is in truth quite marginal to both the fantasy role-playing world on the one hand, and to Tolkien fandom on the other.
With the former, Tolkien’s world is, I think, largely absorbed into the by now thoroughly generic conventions and expectations of heroic fantasy (conventions and expectations which Tolkien’s own writings helped shape) such that, whatever may be its actual merits, in the minds of the vast majority of gamers, Middle-earth simply rehearses (if even in exemplary fashion) those conventions.
Things are not so different in the realms of international Tolkien fandom. Although a burgeoning new interest in Tolkien exists now in Europe, it has been my experience that Tolkien enthusiasts are all too often turned in upon themselves in their struggle to champion the genius of Tolkien’s writings to a literary establishment that was never listening in the first place, and to a general public whose once energetic slogans of “Frodo lives!” and “Gandalf for president” have long since become cultural artifacts of the 70’s. I do not want to paint a wholly negative picture of Tolkien fandom—great advances have been made and continue to be made in many fields of inquiry and enjoyment—but in all of this, role-playing has had small part, being typically viewed as one of the many haute-vulgarizations of Holy Writ.
So where does this leave Other Hands and its 23 paying subscribers, scattered across seven countries throughout the globe? We may be few in number, but we are persistent; and we have a forum that will be around so long as there are voices to fill it. But what of the future, the undiscovered country? There is certainly much work to be done. If Middle-earth gaming has the potential for greatness (or, more modestly stated, the capacity to become something of lasting value to gamers and Tolkien fans alike), then the remainder of this final decade of the century (and, indeed, of the millennium!) will be the time for us to lay the groundwork.
The massive revision project of Iron Crown’s Middle-earth series is certainly a step in the right direction, as is the publication of the first ever MERP campaign module. But the real task at hand still lies with us, the readers and contributors of Other Hands, to define the underlying nature and unique character of the fantasy setting we have chosen for ourselves.
By “uniqueness” I do not mean to appeal to any particular quality—real or imagined— inherent in Tolkien’s world. Instead, what truly distinguishes Middle-earth from all other fantasy gaming worlds is what we as gamers choose to give it. Tolkien has provided us with a canvas to paint upon; but in the last analysis, we cannot presume to rely upon the alleged virtues of that literary edifice if we hope to create a game setting that will advance beyond rehearsing the litanies of the past. It is only on the basis of this realization that an opportunity exists for us to raise a voice that will someday be heard in the world outside.
And now on to the introductions for this issue. We are grateful to the Tolkien Society (UK) for granting us permission to reprint a fine pair of essays from Mallorn, their annual publication. Both of these articles were written by Michael Hickman, whom I had the pleasure of meeting at a Tolkien Society seminar in 1990. Michael has an extensive background in the comparative study of religion, and his articles (the second of which will be appearing next issue) are incisive treatments of religious practices in Middle-earth. As such, they deserve to be made more accessible to the gaming community.
The first of these articles, which appears in this issue, focuses on the Dúnedain. This is an important, ground-breaking study, which drives home the central point I attempted to make in my own article in OH 2; namely, that no disembedded religious institutions or personnel exist in Middle-earth because the priestly role is—and, indeed, only can be fully manifested in and performed by the King and those to whom he chooses to delegate sacral power. To be sure, other channels of divine power will exist alongside the person of the King, but such “spiritual” hierarchies would follow a parallel principle of organization. In this way, Hickman’s article may serve as a paradigm for developing religious structures among other peoples of Middle-earth.
The next piece we have in this issue is by Deena McKinney, editor of the role-playing magazine MOTiVE which, as the bibliography she has provided us shows, contains a substantial amount of Tolkien-related material. Deena has been running a game based in the far northeastern corner of Middle-earth (based on the ICE map), and has written a brief campaign oudine. It is always interesting to see what sort of settings people choose for their Middle-earth games, especially if these are exotic or unfamiliar. I would encourage more of our readers to share their own campaign ideas with us in future issues.
The other way to share ideas is through adventure scenarios, and we have two to offer you in this issue. The first, by our resident artist Jeff Hatch, is a classic murder mystery set in Arthedain in T.A. 1450. The second, by Torquil Gault, is a magic item quest set in eastern Eriador in T.A. 1643. We hope you enjoy both.
Finally, we have been graced with reviews of two new MERP products: the Palantír Quest campaign and the revised Moria citadel module. If you own a copy of a 2nd edition Iron Crown publication that has not yet been reviewed in Other Hands, please take it upon yourself to do so. We want to have a diversity of critical voices commenting on the most recent work by ICE, as it is an effective medium for giving them constructive feedback on their efforts to improve the Middle-earth line.
Chris Seeman
January 1, 1995
You may download Other Hands Issue 8 for free either from Other Minds’ Other Hands archive or MERP.Com’s Other Hands archive.