What's been happening in the world of Middle-earth gaming since October? Let's begin with the big news. 2nd Edition Middle-earth Role Playing is finally available, clocking in at two hundred and sixty-eight hard-bound pages (at the rather voluminous price of $30.00). I haven't had the time to read through it in its entirety, but there are much expanded introductory sections on the world and on the nature of magic. The latter caught my attention in particular because it included a new set of corruption rules reminiscent of Chris Pheby's article in OH 1. It seems that our authors and ICE's authors are thinking on similar lines.
Although the Arnor realm module was originally billed for a December release date, Jessica Ney has informed me that it is still being page-set and will not be ready until the end of January at the earliest. This module should be a real treat, as it will combine all of the previously published materials from the Arthedain, Cardolan, and Rhudaur modules, and then some (four hundred pages worth, we are told). It sounds like the Middle-earth Realms series is getting off to a big bang.
Speaking of realm modules, all of the chapters are now in hand for Southern Gondor, though I haven't yet done a word of editing on it. The reason for this is the yet unfinished The Kin-strife module, which (now that OH 4 is completed) I will be finishing editing work for by the end of January. Jim Morrison came to me in a dream and assured me that the final manuscript would be in Jessica's hands by the second week in February (I hope). Talk to you in three months!