O The Internation Issue 3: October 1993 IN THIS ISSUE Editorial .. ‘Communications Frontlines Thoughts on the population of Gondor and Arnor .. Response to “Thoughts on the population of Gondor and Arnor” Developing a magic system for Middle-earth Role Playing .. Ajourney in the dark. ‘The forgotten race of the Drughtt Areply to ICE's “open letter” Scandinavian influences on Orkish Product Review .. A bibliography of Middle-earth gaming: 1982-1993 .. 18 2 241 THe AND Middle-earth Gaming al Journal for IR S sth editorial for July expresed my hope that our next issue woul be bigaes anit secs that have gorten my ish Akhough we are stl by no means over the nancial bard yo, Ose ends as been picking up speed during the simmer, thin tems of titers and subscribers, Welcome to OH 3! Besides offering al four usa fare, there ae wo ways in which this sue represents i= can progress twaed our goals a3 gaming journal, From its conception, Or Hands has | imed to provide forum of communication ‘meen te authors, uence and publishers of Taken related roleplaying games Thee ofthe rrany contributions to the present sue have banced usin this direction | James Owen ofthe Oxford Token Socety has offered an engacing response to Pate Fenlons open letter (wsiten on Behalf of CE to ur eaders— see OH I: 3-6). James' com: Snes are those ofa ong-time Raenazer player Ind we are hoping to ce more fom him in ture hues His extense ting inthe Ned of tretallarg makes him well quaiied ro sya {ingor two about forging technology in Midle- Moving across the English Chan, We o> sed letter of gest interest from Eduardo Marines Santamaria (se pg, 2), who has an~ | nounced th formation of 3 “olplying game “commission” within te Sociedad Tolkien Eapala. This roup ses to sablish contact EDITORIAL: THREE IS COMPANY ‘through Oter Hands with individual or groups ‘who are interested in Middle-earth gaming. They grealso involved in customizing the MERP rule System to sult their tastes, and Ihave encouraged them to submit any of tei ideas o our journal Finally asthe modulo-weiting process con- tinues apace for The Kine, Umar, and South en Gondor, celaboratve dialogue between the respective authors of these forthcoming Iron ‘Crown publications has led Gunnar Brolin to present his view on population levels for dhe Danadan realms-in-eule, Gunnar is man of many talents (one af these being demographics), fn he isa contributing author to both the Kn -anfe and Southem Gonder projects, Jason Beresford, author-to-be ofthe revised Unbor ‘module, has writen a brief response to Gannar's ‘ews, especially as they relate tothe region of| Umbar. Because both ofthese authors offer popu tion satistes which are atvarance with those ound inthe recently published Northwestern Mile-carh Gazer (See review on pgs. 26-27), swe have decided to presen: thei respective argu rents in these pags for further consideration nd discussion by both you, the reader, and Jese fica Ney of fron Crown, ssho is responsible for the development ofthe MERP line, The purpose pf tis deliberation process is to come to some yasensus on this mater, 50 that these degree of fond future modules wal not contain conf Figures. In this way we hope that Othe Hands will ‘Contributors: Gunnar Bra, Jason Beresford Andrew MeMary. Tim the Gothic Weiter” Ines, Anders ls, Chris Seeman, janes Oven Layout Editing: Cre Seeman Lis Distr Solberg [Nicola Solberg, Areworie jai Jem Lac, Iba Diet Soler [Edith Crowe: . and Desig: —— ‘Submission Deadline for next issue: December 7, 1993be able to help facilitate constructive dalogue on topics of relevance to Midile-carth gamers. “The second way in which the presen sue represents progres toward our sated goals is Jn our am to offer roca! materials forthe Middle-earth player or referee. Much ofthe stulln OH 1 and 2, wile no doubt of interest to many of our reers, was less diretly appli= table 1 the contingencies of role-playing “Theresa place in Other Hands for those more general Middle-crth-related topes: but we want to balance this outwith more “immed ately usble" materials (Our ultimate goals, of course, t publish acral adventure scenarios within dhse pages. [Although we have not achieved chat goal in this issue, we ead Tolkien Enterprises’ continued silence on this mater a tact consent pro- ceed with our plans to inckude at east one a= ‘venture in cach issue of Oder Hand, beginning ‘with sue four in January (see OF 2: | for the context ofthis discussion). We hope that cis announcement wl encourage sors of you to send us you unpublished adventures. OH 3 nevertheless contains 2 few pieces sshich are of practealincrest. Tim Innes, one ‘ofthe Southam Gondor authors, has gven us an textensve stay on the Deught (ic, Dréedain, ‘Wises, which inchdes RaneQues Stats for both the Drught themscives and the infamous “Pukelmen,” Finally im preparation for an adventure which may appear ina furure is, 1 Ihave writen an interpretive article on the nig matic Quoea Benithiel and her mysterious cas To wind things up, we have» programmatic say by Andrew McMurry (also of the Oxford Tolkien Society) on the principles governing the use of magic in Middle-carth, hich fliows closely on the hels of Chris Pheb's contribu tion to OF 1, And we have another short piece from Anders on — of l things — Scandina- san influences on the Orkish-English dict. rary in the Enpire ofthe Vnchcing module Finally we have added 3 new feature, “Frontnes," which wil bring together all of the latest gossip and news about Middle-earth saming whick il to get into the letters col- torino this editorial, Anyone with information about anything s encouraged to give report for ‘our fellow tears, Before closing {should bring everyone up to date onthe problem of European distribu ‘ion, We are sll working with the possibilty of arranging for Osher Hands to be produced and, ‘isrbuted independent in the EEC, so as to reduce the overseas mailing — and, Bence, subscripeion — cost for our readers outside the USA. For the present, however, it willbe possible to purchase indisidua issues of our journal through Myth of Adventures: Vag far phantastsche Medien, Berner Weg 24, D~ 7069 Luctwigialen, Germany We are also hoping to get Bilbo's Bookshop Bath to stock tus, but have not yet received reply from them, A final matter before signing off. am con- templating including an adress roster of cer Hands eubserbers inthe upcoming January Fesue, 9 as to facitate communication be ‘pecen our readers Please let me know ifor any reson you would ne care to be inluded in Ahislist. Well, chat'sall for now — talk to you in three months! Chris Seeman, 15 October, 1993 COMMUNICATIONS This lear col is ntended wo foncion a © foam ofcommunston beeen robber of Other i, Icam oo sere a pl for readers 0 comment on voou ops of irs thou wtng fill rae. This not, in fo. a 0 jet of Other Hands — we hove simp noted ary ecru now Soar tig Dear friend: My name is Eduardo Martinez Santaaria, and Lam a member of the roleplaying game commission of the Sociedad Tolkien Espafola... write to you regarding your announcement of Ocher Hands in ‘ur society bulletin some months ago. Our ‘commission intends to offer revisions ofthe ‘Midl-eods Roe Ping system inorder to bring it into greater fdlity with Tolkien's books, We are therefore very interested in ox changing dese with ather groups who have similar inerests As ron Crowm Enterprises is also located in the USA, we belive that Other Hond il be sory wel to Tolkien fans and gamers allover the world a 4 whicle fr keeping people ike usin contact, Congratulations for the idea ‘We would be grateful if you could send us further information about subscription prices, mthods of payment, tc, a well a reports shout other interested groups. And, of cours, if dere i something we can do, just tll us. Eduardo Martinez Santamaria c/Marqués de la Ensenada 11, 7°H, 126003 Lograto, Espaia [E — One of he pnp fancons of Other ands iso prove an opportunity forone ae suggestions tbe publakes 1 we welcome and en= sourdge our group to sub thse das for pen among Middl-carh games We ao hope thor ether indo groupe inved 0 prj such your wm thrsghoue the world send us tepors onthe pga 0 thi tes clam, 50 hat trecan devdop an are nswork fered games. Those sg fo somatune the or 1 Tran Gown dsl shold aderas ther inguies to Pee Fenlon: ICE, PO Bor 1605, Charlot, 22902, USA} as Hello Chris, When you review the NW'AME Gazer in OH #3, you may point out that Gondor has received untealistcaly low populiton figures, ‘expecially when compared with the army sizes supplied for Mordor in Gogoroth, With these figures, Sauron would likely have litle problem. ‘overrunning Gondor ‘Anders Blixt Haigervagen 16, $122 39 Enshede, SwedenSo what isthe lates news on the modules? The Kins (now sbi The Unupa Rag ' sal ging though the etng process buts ls acquiring ome addoonal centres (hich, tee anticipate, ling the grand tal to teat fe), Te current focus ison bringing Gunnar Brolin's Umbarchaprr nt accord with some of the major revisions in the ctyaven ayout eu ren proposed by Jason Beresford, The many Menture in thiscampaign module are nove beng pleted by members of Taruithor the xfer Tolls Soke), who wl be sending us her eactions and soggesons inthe near frre {Li this means you} “The Sotho Gandy “el” module which ssillbe covering everything north of Ubar and South ofthe Ered Nims, is beginingto tke ‘Shape. The fist dratof the Lamedon chaser hs bean received, and colaborave workon dre campaigh-lengt adventures snow underway (Onc of these achenures, ented “SUmarén's Crown.” was eceny platted Gin mach ade Frm) 3 Fo weeks ago atthe west coast ‘ming convenbon,Pacicon where itwas2 {peat sce, Theater vo campaigns wil be eating the Gondor-Corsair confit and inde war respect “The gener intention of The Kins an Sout Condor modules to cover the periods of 1437-1448 apd 1488-2050, whereas Json Beresford nr ral mex willbe cover ingthe en tory of that haven hough it vl lb focsing on the years ofthe 7h entry sd the niga 1982 puliston).1 Iw less about dhe curren 5% of Jason's ‘work, but have rad some very mpresv ep tens of fin progres. He, Gunna, ad [Anders Blix ar engaged in an onging dic ‘son not only about population kel, butabout sal orgniaton and ship desig (bh of tnkich re undersandablyoeropping en- cers) ‘Afnalbit of general nows When the ides of Othe Hand as frst conceived la August at the Tolkien Centenary conference in Oxford, ‘there mas mich ale sbout the formation of Special interest grnupe within the Tekin Soc Cy of England. Thus aro role-playing spec Interest group has emerged (hough, Tie, ‘here are many gamers inthe TS who might be Interested in forming oe), Once word of out journal gets ove among them, perhaps they will breencnuraged o form one. Inc, ven 35 We speak OH | and 2 ar being sold this yer’ Groninoot by James Owen and Andrew MeMurr, Les wish them god lack in Bing now subveibers!