EDITORIAL so far, so good Well it's issue to and we're sill afloat. Our baptismal issue of Other Hands was a great success — one hundred and ‘wenty copies were printed of which less tban twenty now remain, More importantly, we have made progress in arrang- ing for a European contact to distribute our journal through: ‘out the EEC, which will hopefully reduce our overseas sub- scription rates. At the present moment we can boast of ‘twenty-two regular subscribers in addition to having an ex- change relationship with Bayond Bre and Ese (the journal of the Sociedad Tolkien Espafola). A small beginning, perhaps, but a beginning nonetheles. ‘What has been going on in the world of Middle-earth gaming since Apr? Behind the scenes with MERP, the authors of the forthcoming Usupers Riga module (announced last issue) have recently joined forces wth the weiter of the pro- jected revision of the 1982 Umbar module in order to synthe- size the parts of their respective work which overlap. This col- Iaborative process may delay publication a bit, but we hope that che resulting harmony (and mutual enrichment) of mate~ ial will be well worth the wait, Incidentally, much of the artwork you will be seeing in the next few issues will include some of the preliminary character sketches whose laterinearations may end up in The Usupers Reign (so forgive us if we appear preoccupied with the Kin- strife!) Although Iron Crown will be using its own artists for that module, the authors on the project decided to commis- sion these sketches as suggestive guides. And, of course (need Tsay?) ifyou find them abhorrent do not hesitate to take matters into your own hands by sending us your own artwork “This brings us to the matter of reader participation. You ‘may notice that this issue is somewhat thinner than is prede- cessor; that is because you haven't yet sent us all of that won- def gaming material you have hidden away We know that there are briliant gamers out there just waiting roar closet. ha Issue No.2 Jury to submit stuff to this, your gaming journal So do it; we want Other Hoods tobe BIG. Hiaving carved out a niche for ourselves benween Iron (Crown Enterprise in Virginia and Tolkien Enterprises in Ber- keley, we are now continuing discussions with the lt garding the legality of publishing actual adventure scenarios ‘within these pages. Other Hand is intended to be a procial journal of useful stuff for gamemasters, a well as an open fo- rum for conversing about Middle-earth and role-playing gea- celly, so we are strongly hoping to guin permission to do just that ‘The key legal nse at stake forthe licensing division of “Tolkien Enterprises is whether or not the publication of such raterial in our journal in any way undermines the exclusivity ‘of ICE's world-wide license over Tolkien-eated role-playing games (1€ OH 1: 1,3) Anyone wth a constrictive opinion fn this matter should send their comments in writing Tolkien Enterprises: PO Box 2005, Berkley, CA 94702. And now for introducing the contributions to the present issu. We are honored to have the name of Jorge Qiénes Joining the roster of Oter Hens authors with his response to Anders lie concemning the presence of Eres in Middle-earth during the Fourth Age. Jong isthe founder ofthe Ehish Lin- zuistic Fellowship and founding editor of ts prestigious jour- ral Vnger Tenor. He was atone time working ona Lindon ‘modi for ICE, and while lecturing me over the phone about 1993the trials and tribulations of being an editor, offered to write the present piece for us ‘My own essay on religion in Middle-earth tan attempt de- fine the role of cult and ritual ina role-playing context by taking the example of Nimenor and it successor realms. On a some- what lighter note, we decided to inaugurate (another) new fea- ture of Other Handi interview profiles of charcters that have been played in a Middle-earth campaign (a more “user-friendly” sway of communicating adventure or character ideas to other rolepliyer). Credit for this idea goes to Jef Hatch (our resident artist), whose ovm veteran character now has the honor of being the fist Middle-earth character to have ever been intervicwed by Tolkien-related journal. Jeff has offered to do character draw ings for anyone ele who wishes to submit ch an interview piece about one of their own characters. The contributor is asked to incade gaming stats anda writen or sketched descrip- tion ofthe interviewed charac. [Anders Blixt will already be known to those who have read our fist issue, He ia seasoned free-lance game writer who has contributed to the well-received Gargoroth module. He i also the content editor for The Unrpe's Rega aswell as fr a pro- jected future collaborative effort which will incorporate a re- vised and re-issued version of Haves of Gondor and Sea-lrdt of Gondor (sce OH 1:5). His short piece on game design for Middle-earth i reflective of his long experience with writing snd publishing in Sweden. brief word about advertising, Other Hands isa non-profit publication, and any promotional material appearing within its pages is either for the purpose of alerting Middle-earth gamers to publications of interest, o (inthe ease ofthe Invoce add on cour back cover) it represent a fee exchange, whereby the ad- ‘ertsed journal will reciprocally contain an advertisement for Other Hands. In this way, our journal wil get wider exposure to other gamers who may end up becoming subscribers So far, 20 good. Lets hope we can keep this joural in good heath, and that an increase in subscribers will lead to a corre- sponding increase in reader participation and contribution to these pages. Enjoyt OF (Chris Seeman, 20 June, 1993 i oS St Contributors Jorge Quisénez Chris Seeman Jeff Hatch + Anders Blixt Artwork Jeff Hatch ++ Tom Loback ‘+ Kirsten Lopez Layout 6 Desiga Lisa Disterheft-Solberg + Nicolas Solberg Sttement of Purpose ee (the Hands an interstionl ping our devted to fanaryrle paying etn RR. Toiien's secondary word of Midde-cah Iisa quar, nonprofit pubinton welcoming submisions dealng with any apes of gaming inthe context of Taller word: cearo idea, re suggestions aning product rien, [pnemaserng sda, ibliogaphi resources, ety on Middle-earth, and what ce out readership would keto in print. Ina word, Other Hands aims tobe the define Tobbien-elated gaming jour fora work-wide roleplaying comm. Within the pages ofr Hands the interted gumer may publish materials rh reference to any game mechan be or he chocaes incon Ralemerar nd ier ol Ping) Sach ganing mater may del wih any ie period of ‘Tens word, and eed sot be bound to what ha aeady seen prin in fron Crown's modules. Oiler Hane provid this feedom banuse iti a non-profit publntion Subscription ates ara flows inside dhe USA— 1 inue$2/4ianes S8;outslde the USA —surecr| ine) 5V4 aes SL4 alr ate $40 ‘Sues S18 All materials pblsed by Othe Hand remain the copyright of thi inddua authors.= v] 454 aw Ea RS i (Note: All quotations a ted LotR The SS from the Houghton Miflin hardcover editions. Also, SD=Sa [= The three volume = The S Simariion; & | iy = Th ‘— <=. Ki SS a = ZS ES ESSE at ve EE oN = z = SS SS aE ENS IS ONES aS ie LI oe ee