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Mountains on the Left, Ruins on the Right - Page 6

© Michael Martinez

Tuor and Idril Celebrindal would be better models for gaming heroes. They were fighters, but though their cause was lost in the north, they founded a new kingdom in the south. They did not end badly, like Turin, or simply fade away, like Beren and Luthien. They settled down in good, old-fashioned gaming hero tradition and became the leaders of a new land. They accomplished something, even if it wasn't lasting. The Third Age was a horrible time-period in which to set an adventure game. The good guys won a few victories, but they were generally in retreat after Sauron arose. One could set a game in Gondor around the time the Haradrim and Black Numenoreans were still a threat, but that's about it. There were better prospects near the end of the First Age and in the Second Age. Of course, no gaming licenses will be issued for those ages. So that puts gamers in a rather difficult position. If they want to be faithful to Tolkien, they have to find ways around his chronology, and the safest periods of time to risk altering everything are in the ages which the gaming companies don't address. Of course, not every gamer wants to be faithful to Tolkien, but it sure helps cut down on the arguments between purists and non-purists if the characters can wander off the map and out of the chronology. But then, if they leave the map, they are no longer really in Middle-earth. Of course, if they play games based on the Peter Jackson movies, they are no longer in Tolkien's Middle-earth, either. They are just in Tolkien Enterprises' Middle-earth, or a variation of it. Gamers will ultimately rebel against the constraints of The One Gaming System. They don't want to be told how to map out their world or what languages to propose for it, or how to act, behave, or enjoy themselves. They may get bored with the tediousness involved with creating a character, but they want to wander beneath the ancient oaks of Mirkwood, visit with the Ents, enjoy the hospitality of Elves and Hobbits, and fight Orcs. They want to kill Orcs and Dragons and Trolls and other evil things. Eventually, the underground gaming community will expand its ranks with new secret modules and statistical systems. New gaming methodologies will be adapted from competitive role-playing systems. After all, you cannot prevent the gamers from buying your neat maps and using Steve Jackson's generic GURPS role-playing system to manage the adventure. The online games will continue to slide Middle-earth modules in through their gaming community doors.

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