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There Are Games Afoot! - Page 5

© Michael Martinez

Which is not to say that reference to the books cannot be made. But how much reference will be made? If the movies disagree with the books (for example, in describing the Uruk-hai as plate armor-clad monsters which emerge from pods), will the game be able to be true to the books, or will it have to keep the armor-plated Uruk-hai? Jackson's Uruk-hai may not prove to be much of an embarrassment to him, but a role-playing game isn't going to be judged by the movies. It will be judged by the books. And Saruman's Orcs wore chain-mail, not plate armor, and they don't emerge from pods. I pity the first person who makes the statement that they do in a news group, or on a mailing list where there is no moderator. People take no prisoners on the Internet. The Rohirrim are another source of potential embarrassment for people. I've too often heard people associated with the movies call them "the Rohans". I dread hearing this term in the movies. It won't ruin the movies for me, but the long-term effect could be devastating to the politics of Tolkien discussions. People are going to be dragged through the mud and humiliated if they insist on saying "The Rohans" when they try to discuss Rohirric history. A game which uses this Kiwi name for the Rohirrim would just make matters worse. But maybe the actors won't actually say "the Rohans" in the movies. A movie-based role-playing game doesn't have to be a disaster. In fact, it might prove to be a lot of fun. But there is more to a role-playing system than a single module. If all there is to play in the game is the journey of the Ringbearers during the War of the Ring, I don't think many players are going to hang around. That adventure has been played out in both the book and the movies. Gamers like to go on and do new things. I.C.E. actually provided background material for playing out adventures in different parts of Middle-earth, and at different time periods. Some of their material was well-thought out. Some of it left me shaking my head. But gamers have certain expectations, too, and that market has to be addressed either through raising new expectations, or meeting the old ones. One of the greatest travesties ever effected upon Tolkien's creation was the stereotyping of Hobbits as ideal thieves. Smeagol may have been capable of murder, and Bilbo may have eventually become a passable burglar, but these were exceptions to the rule. Hobbits were generally stay-at-home characters. Except for the Fallohides, there weren't many among them who really cared for adventures. It would be nice to see a gaming system that didn't turn Hobbits into thieves and deceptive little imps, a concept which owes nothing to Tolkien.

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