Sarah Wells: It occurs to me that population figures for Medieval cities are probably based on quite low buildings, rarely more than three stories, whereas the architects of Minas Tirith would have had no difficulty with seven or eight-story buildings. This doubles your living space, so you don't need to double the area covered by the city to allow a population of 50K. Also, it was built as a fort, so you've probably got a high proportion of the population living in barracks, which are not normally renown for luxury and spaciousness. On a more general point, to what extent do OH readers think we should rely on Tolkien's pictures? My own feeling is that rough drafts such as the Minas Tirith drawings should be used on a level with, say, The Book of Lost Tales II, and only finished paintings as "canonical." To accuse the Professor of "vertical exaggeration," on the other hand, smacks of text criticism... 6 New Covenant Pl
Jesse Dallin: My initial reaction to Other Hands may be influenced by a long yearning for a Middle-earth fanzine. For years I have scoured game stores and book shops, hoping in vain to find anything containing information on role-playing in Middle-earth. And here it is. A journal for Middle-earth gaming. Fantastic. Ever since I began playing and collecting MERP modules, I have been amazed by their ability to embellish and solidify Tolkien's world. A fan of the books long before my first MERP session, I was overjoyed when I discovered that, despite Tolkien's death, his world was continuing to grow and develop. To me this is the most important and fascinating part of playing and collecting MERP. It is as though we, the gamers, are creating and living the history of a real world. I agree with Brian Carlton when he expressed his desire to see nontraditional settings developed, primarily those to the East and south. These areas are wrapped in a mysterious fog of untold and unwritten possibilities. The histories, lives, and cultures of as yet unknown peoples are waiting to be brought forth, and only we—the game players and creators—can do it. It has always been a fanciful dream of mine to see all of Middle-earth (as imagined in Pete Fenlon's map) detailed and brought to life. After reading Other Hands, I realize that there are probably many other people out there who wish to see this "dream" realized. Hopefully some of these people might try their hand at authoring a MERP module, or an article for Other Hands. jessedallin@hotmail.com
Sam Daish: Just a quick note that I thought you might want to pass on to the readers of OH. The Arcane Companion contains a reprint of certain pages of the Rolemaster Standard Rules, where there were mistakes or a clarity problem. They also contain a fairly major rule change concerning certain types of skills, and have included a Transcend Armor skill. (Yay!) 7/38 Cleveland St