Questions

During the last few days, my topic over at the ODD74 Board about Supplement VII: Middle-earth has turned into a three-page long discussion about Supplement Enumeration. I'm not going to comment on this, as I still don't understand why. Mah.

Unofficial Supplement VII Art News

Still nothing confirmed, but this evening I swapped a couple of e-mails with a really cool artist, and incidentally the author of the first roleplaying game I ever played. He is, possibly, willing to do a couple of illustrations for the interior pages of Supplement VII. I just wanted to share this information, but I'm not saying more on it until something actually happens. Instead, you get some amazing Community Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, just in case you missed it. So watch it, you fools!

Monster Reference Table, Hostile & Benign Creatures:

Monster Type	Number Appearing	Armor Class	Move in Inches	Hit Dice	% in Lair	Type or Amount of Treasure
Balrogs	1	2	6/15	10	90%	Type F
Barrow-wights	1	3	9	4	100%	Type G
Crebain	30-300	7	3/18	1	Nil	Nil
Dragons	1	0	9/24	9+3	90%	Type H
Dwarves	40-400	4	6	1+2	50%	Type G
Eagles, great	2-12	3	6/24	6+2	20%	Nil
Elves	10-100	3	12	1+1	50%	Type E
Ents	1-6	1	15	9+3	10%	Nil
Fellbeasts	1-8	2	9/18	5+3	Nil	Nil
Giants	1-8	4	12	6+4	30%	Type G
Half-trolls	6-12	3	9	7+2	Nil	Nil
Hobgoblins	10-100	5	9	2+2	25%	Type D
Huorns	1-3	2	6	6	80%	Nil
Kraken	1	1	0/0/18	8+3	Nil	Nil
Mearas	1-3	3	24	5	Nil	Nil
Men	40-400	6	9	1	25%	Type A
Mûmakil	2-12	2	12	7+4	Nil	Nil
Olog-hai	4-12	2	9	8+3	Nil	Nil
Orcs	20-200	6	9	1+2	20%	Type D
Ring-wraiths	1-9	0	9	9+4	Nil	Nil
Spiders, great	3-30	4	12	2+3	Nil	Type D
Trolls	2-6	4	6	6+3	30%	Type D
Uruk-hai	10-100	4	12	4+3	Nil	Nil
Vampires	20-200	6	3/18	2	Nil	Nil
Wargs	2-12	4	15	3+2	Nil	Nil
Were-worms	2-12	3	12	2+3	Nil	Nil
Werewolves	1-6	2	18	4+3	Nil	Nil
Wights	1-3	4	9	3	90%	Type B

Done with Men & Magic

Finally! Here is a list of major changes since my last announcement:

• I've eliminated Noldor as PCs
• I've added Level names
• I've updated the Languages section
• I've updated the Alternative Combat System section*
• I've completely rewritten the Magic section (there is now only one spell list)

* Do you think I should include tables for fumbles? I like the critical hit equals full damage rule.

By the way I'm pretty happy with the result, although I would like to draw some b/w illustrations. Things could change again once I'm done with the other sections, but now that I've some rules for corruption and magic notoriety I think that I will go ahead with the Monsters & Treasure section. Oh, and Light spell is now very powerful - you can turn Nazguls with that!

A Question About Elves and Rangers

Right now I've two kinds of elves available as playable races: Wood Elves and Noldor (or High Elves). The first don't use magic, while the second have access to clerical-type magic. Now, Elves are definitely very powerful in Middle-earth, and Noldor are the highest representatives of the glory of their kind. They definitely have the powers of cure disease and remove curse, along with many others. I would, however, find it limiting to confine them to the role of "pseudo clerics", and all in all I should remove Cure Light Wounds from their spell list, since there is no hint of such a spell in Tolkien, as far as I can see. By the way, they look perfect from a pre-supplement OD&D point of view, where all the classes and monsters are over simplified (just look at the Balrogs!) So I'm a bit undecided whether or not to allow Noldor only as NPCs.

Also, I've removed all the spell capabilities of Rangers when I imported them into Supplement VII. I did it because, while Aragorn seems to be able to use at least a little bit of magic, it is my strong belief that this was because of the fact that he is the heir of Isildur, and other Rangers may not have his abilities. By the way, re-reading The Fellowship of the Ring, it is clear that since all Rangers are Dúnedain of the highest and finest lineage, the purest of the Núménoreans that still live in Middle-earth, they probably do have some magic abilities (at least at high levels.) So what to do? I guess I need advice from people wiser than me.

Roleplaying in Tolkien

“Elves seldom give unguarded advice, for advice is a dangerous gift, even from the wise to the wise, and all courses may run ill.”

– J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring, Book One, Chapter III

As previously hinted, I'm going to include a small section in The Underworld & Wilderness Adventures entitled Roleplaying in Tolkien. Here I would like to discuss some of the more common issues that a referee starting his own campaign in the Middle-earth may face. So far, I have included the following paragraphs:

• This is not a Matter for Purists
• The Timeline
• Monsters & Ecology
• Running a Middle-earth Megadungeon
• Running a Middle-earth Sandbox

Is there anything else that should be covered? I don't want to offer guidelines on the topic of campaign design in Middle-earth, but rather personal musings on how to face common issues.

Saving the Goat and Cabbages

This is an old riddle, I don't know how it will sound in english.

A farmer has a basket of cabbages, a goat and a wolf. One day, he happens to cross a river with his little boat. Between the basket, the goat and the wolf he can transport only one at a time . How will the farmer avoid the goat eating the cabbages or the wolf eating the goat while he is crossing the river on his boat?

So, saving the goat and cabbages (a literal translation of the italian saying "salvare capra e cavoli") means resolving two related problem at a time. My problem is that I really want to go ahead with Supplement VII, but this project is taking up a really large part of my free time, which is, in itself, pretty limited. So I have thought of two possible solutions: 1) spread the project out over time and 2) ask for a small amount of money in exchange for all of the hard work. If you think that writing a supplement for a roleplaying game in a foreign language with only a "high school level" understanding is easy, you try it!

Solution number 1 is risky: I know myself enough to know that if I miss the beat the chances of the project being abandoned will grow exponentially. Solution number 2 is equally problematic, since the only possible way to avoid copyright infringement seems to be the Midnight way, or in other words eliminating any direct reference to Tolkien and other copyrighted terms. Even so, I would have to eliminate sections like the short Quenya and Sindarin dictionary, and this would be a shame. So, how to not slow down the work, and still find myself motivated to invest time and energy in the project?

As a potential solution, I will offer the pdf for free. If you download it and find it useful, then you can offer to "buy me a beer" by donating 5€ through Paypal (5€ is the cost of a pint in Milan). All in all, it will be a simple question of confidence. What do you think about that? Perhaps I will get only 20 bucks for all my work, but a little is better than nothing, isn't it? :D

Need Help with Tolkien Estate + Wonderful News

Okay, this is the problem. I guess there is no problem in writing and offering free material which includes copyrighted terms like "Hobbit", "Balrog" and so on. On the other hand, I would love to also produce a small print run of about 100 deluxe copies, using the same paper as the original supplements, but I guess this would be an infringement of copyright. My question, therefore, is this: is there any way to avoid this issue? Perhaps by using paraphrase and epithets instead of proper names, like "Ring Wraiths" instead of "Nazgûl", or "Shadow Demon" instead of "Balrog". I guess that quoting a few passages from Tolkien would not in itself be copyright infringement, would it?

By the way, the talented artist Steve Zieser (which many of you will remember from the wonderful illustrations of Labyrinth Lord) has offered to make the cover: I'm too excited! Stay tuned!

Ideas for The Underworld & Wilderness Adventures

As I've hinted in my previous post, I'm going to write The Underworld & Wilderness Adventures section before Monsters & Treasure. I've made this decision due to the fact that I want to have a clear idea of the rules to handle corruption before starting work on Artifacts and Magic Items. So far, this is want I intend to include in this section:

• The Darkened Path: Rules to handle corruption due to powerful magic, artifacts and insane choices.
• The Eye of the Dark Lord: How Wizards may catch the eye of the Dark Powers when using magic.
• Roleplaying in Tolkien: Ideas and suggestions (not guidelines) for Middle-earth campaigns.
• Languages of Middle-earth: A little Sindarin and Quenya dictionary.
• Suggested Reading: Sort of an Appendix N for Middle-earth campaigns.
• The Shadows Over Fornost: An example adventure for low level characters (it may be published separately, depending on the final page count).

If you think that I should change/add something, please let me know: suggestions are always appreciated!

Updates & Cover Art

I've sent the first section of Supplement VII to Greyharp to correct and revise. I'll start working now on The Underworld & Wilderness Adventures section, because I want to define the "special" rules before working on creatures and treasures. All in all, I'm equally excited and confident that Supplement VII will see the light in spring, so that I will have some time to playtest it. Also, I started wondering about the cover, and the possibility of hiring an artist to draw it. Here is a list of possible candidates:

• Stefan Poag – I simply love his artwork. I wonder what would he draw for a LotR inspired book.
• Ichi Sangiorgio – A friend of mine. Near perfect coloring skills, great style.
• Erol Otus – Probably out of my reach, but it would be a dream come true.
• Pete Mullen – A symbol of the OSR! Very awesome artist.
• Russ Nicholson – HELL YEAH!

I don't want the cover illustration to look too serious: I want it a) super-bright colored and b) SCREAMING ADVENTURE! One of the central goals of Supplement VII is to have people think "hey, I was totally wrong: of course I can run a really awesome campaign in Middle-earth!"
I have no idea of how much a colored illustration costs, so if you have an idea please comment and let me know.

On Dwarfs, Dwarves, Dwarrows and Dwerrows

The discussion on the choice of using Dwarfs instead of Tolkien's "Dwarves" has reached a point where I feel obliged to offer justification. Unfortunately, I don't have an original english edition of The Hobbit, so I would be glad if you could help me find the original quotes. I have the edition annotated by Douglas A. Anderson. The interesting part is in the prelude (the section entitled "The Hobbit, or There and Back Again", written in runes). In this foreword, Tolkien explains that he has used the words "dwarves" and "dwarvish" instead of "dwarfs" and "dwarfish" only when referring to the dwarfs of the Middle-earth (pardon the pun). In his Note 1, Anderson quotes two passages by Tolkien: the first from the Letter n. 17, and the second from The Lord of the Rings, Appendix F. In both these passages, Tolkien says that he would have preferred the word "dwarrows", although it's a bit too archaic. Therefore I happen to be wrong, since I have confused "dwarfs" and "dwarrows". If I'm willing to respect Tolkien's sensibilities I should choose "dwarrows" or "dwerrows" for the plural. Let me know what you think.

P.S.: And yes, the use of "dwarves" instead of "dwarfs" was definitely intentional by Tolkien, at least according to Carpenter's biography:

"He was also infuriated by his first sight of the proofs, for he found that the printers had changed several of his spellings, altering dwarves to dwarfs, elvish to elfish, further to farther, and ('worst of all' said Tolkien) elvin to elfin.

The printers were reproved; they said in self-defence that they had merely followed the dictionary spellings. "

- J.R.R. Tolkien: A Biography, by Humphrey Carpenter

Updates

I've almost finished the Men & Magic section of Supplement VII, and I guess I will send it to Greyharp for a grammar check tonight or tomorrow morning. So far I've covered:

• Character Types (Fighters, Rangers, Wizards, Dwarfs, Noldor, Wood Elves and Hobbits)
• Rules for Alignment
• Additional Rules for Determination of Abilities
• Updated Languages Section
• Advancement of Characters
• Statistics Regarding Classes
• Alternative Combat System Additions
• Saving Throws
• Spell Tables
• Explanation of Spells

The whole section runs to about 10 consecutive pages (unformatted). I'm going to revise it all right now, and I'm so excited! I will keep you informed. Oh, and I got rid of the Level Titles, for the moment. I never liked them, and they were pushing down my enthusiasm way too much.

Level Titles are a Pain in the Neck

So far I have found level titles for Rangers, Dwarfs and Hobbits. Noldor and Sylvan Elves prove to be much more difficult. As always, post your impressions!

Rangers
Wanderer
Border Watcher
Tracker
Hunter
Wilderness Master
Wilderness Watcher
Wilderness Keeper
Ranger, 8th+ Level

Dwarfs
Miner
Orc Slayer
Troll Slayer
Giant Slayer
Stone Keeper
Hero
Champion
Stone Lord
Stone Lord, 9th Level*

Hobbits
Halfling
Adventurer
Burglar
Hero
Champion
Shire Keeper*

*Maximum level

New Spells!

I have just finished writing the new spells. Here's the list:

• Animal Form
• Cause Disease
• Cause Fear
• Command Person**
• Contaminate Food & Water*
• Continual Darkness*
• Control Smoke**
• Curse
• Darkness*
• Detect Good*
• Elven Song
• Enhance Presence**
• Extinguish Flames**
• Flash**
• Greater Invisibility
• Loud Noise**
• Remove Fear
• Sunder**
• Worm Tongue

*Names of reversed spells
**Picked from Finarvyn's list, I will send him a PM to ask permission of use his work ASAP. EDIT: I have contacted Finarvyn and obtained the right to use his names for the spells in exchange for crediting his work.

If you note something missing, please report!

About Magic

As I have said, magic for Wizards will be vancian, while Noldor will have the use of clerical magic but they won't have to prepare their spells before adventuring and they won't need a spell book. Yesterday, Reshaim wrote to me asking for explanations about the Black Magic spell list, and the reason why it included various spells that will also appear in the Wizard's spell list. My point is that, while some magic is definitely "evil" in nature, the rest may be "good" or "evil", depending on how it is used. Still, I understand why Reshaim was puzzled. Therefore I have thought of two possible solutions, and I would like to ask you what you think of these:

• Gifts of Darkness: Only two spell lists (Wizards and Noldor). Particularly powerful creatures of darkness (i.e. Balrogs, Dragons, Ring-wraiths, evil Wizards) will have one or more Gifts of Darkness. These are spells that work as special magical abilities. Many of the Gifts will not be on the Wizard spell list.
• The Easy Peasy Way: Only two spell lists. The difference between light and darkness is in the spells that are cast and in the use that one makes of a spell. For example, consider the spell Wormtongue: Gandalf appears to have used it a couple of times like a Jedi would have used the Force, both in Edoras and in Minas Tirith, while Gríma appears to have made extensive use of that spell, empowered by Saruman through the Palantír. On the other hand, the use of spells like Curse are paving the road to ruin.

Also, Greyharp will be absent for a couple of days. In the meantime this blog will be possessed by the well known Syntax Monster! So please, if you note of any horrible mistakes - report it.

Layout Fixed, Again

I've made some small changes to the layout, hope you guys will like it. Rock on!

Magic in Middle-Earth

I've completed the spell lists for Wizards, Noldor and the Servants of Morgoth. If you think I should add/eliminate/replace something, please let me know.

Edit: I've tweaked the file a bit to make it more easy to read. Also, * spells are the new ones, while italic spells are reversed ones.

Wizards & Noldor Spells

Black Magic

Supplement VII, Final Take

I want to be clear on the point that Supplement VII will not be a canonical ruleset for campaigns in the Middle-earth. What I intend to do is to add some tolkienian flavor to the original 3LBBs without actually transforming them into something different, in the style of the early supplements. There will be class and levels and magic will be vancian (except for elven magic). So, if you expect a good ruleset to represent the complexity and wonder of Tolkien novels, look elsewhere, as you are not likely to find that in Supplement VII. Also, it won't be a gazetteer: I am not expert enough to replace the reading of masterworks like The Silmarillion, The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit. So that's it: it will be OD&D + Tolkien flavor, nothing more.

The most important part of the supplement will be rules to handle corruption. They will be presented in The Underworld & Wilderness Adventures section, along with various guidelines to conduct an epic campaign. The Monsters section will include the canonical creatures of the Middle-earth, and so will the Treasure section. I may ask your help, from time to time, but when the work is completed and corrected by Greyharp, I will ask for revision and advice from people who are more expert than me in that kind of stuff. As you can imagine, I'm pretty tense.

Monster Reference Table, Hostile & Benign Creatures of Middle-earth

This is a list of creatures I've included so far. If you note something missing, please report!

• Balrogs
• Barrow-wights
• Crebain
• Dragons
• Dwarfs
• Eagles, great
• Elves
• Ents
• Fellbeasts (thanks to M.P.)
• Giants (Hill?)
• Ghosts (thanks to Beedo)
• Half-trolls
• Hobbits
• Huorns (including Old Man Willow)
• Kraken
• Mearas (thanks to BIUsKrEEm)
• Men (including Haradrim, Easterlings, Corsairs, Woses, Black Núménoreans et al.)
• Mûmakil
• Olog-hai
• Orcs (including Goblins)
• Ring-wraiths
• Spiders, great
• Trolls
• Uruk-hai
• Vampires
• Wargs
• Werewolves
• Were-worms (thanks to Greg)
• Wolves

Supplement VII, Unofficial Announcement

Yesterday evening I was at home, all alone. My girlfriend was studying, and I was unable to think of anything else to do than eat pizza, drink some weizenbier and watch "The Fellowship of the Ring" with my brother and (later) my father. When the movie ended, instead of watching "The Two Towers" dvd (which is what I would have normally done), I sat down at my macbook and wrote the first six pages of Supplement VII – i.e. the whole Characters and Alignment sections. I'm pretty happy with the result and am thinking of going ahead with this project, for which I feel like I'm on the right track. This is not a promise, because I know from experience that the possibility of having this work never end is definitely real. Attached you'll find a pic of the first page, which covers character types. I have tried to get as close as I can to the original format of the supplements. Please forgive my syntax mistakes, if I ever finish this work I will send it to Greyharp for proofreading and corrections.

Pages 4 and 5 in Booklet format