D&D Gets Some Respect

So, thanks to Andrew H for this  link to a piece by a writer with the great name of Jedediah Berry. And the article is pretty good too: from the inside, linking together the roles of DM and author in a respectful way. And it's not another one of those journalist-descends-to-write-about-strange-people-and-their-strange (possibly dangerous) hobby. 

https://lithub.com/what-fiction-writers-can-learn-from-dungeons-dragons/ 

--And this  is a week when 'Settlers of Catan' was the correct answer to one of the challenges on NPR's 'Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me'  (an answer they didn't quite get right).

Have I mentioned the fundraising event coming up for the state of Washington's Attorney General where he's focusing the  event on his being a dedicated fan of the game? More on this one later.

--John R.

Marquette Tolkien in Sixty Seconds

So, thanks to Janice and to Jim Lowder for the link to this nice little piece: a brief account and overview of Marquette's Tolkien Collection. 

https://today.marquette.edu/2024/09/60-second-marquette-on-bill-fliss-the-tolkien-collection/

As someone who's spent a lot of time with this collection, let me say if you ever get the chance to see this in person, it's well worth the visit.

P.S.: can you spot the point where they briefly show my book?

--John R.

I.C.E. / E.Q. books

So, back in the day when there was no online gaming and DMs were hard to find, some of us filled the gap with pick-a-path books.*

 

Of the many variants thereof, the ones by Iron Crown (a.k.a. i.C.E.) show how relaxed a lot of game companies' understanding of copyright --esp. other people's copyright-- cd be.  And the trouble this cd cause when the Other People (e.g. lawyers) were paying attention.

 

So far as I can tell, I.C.E. released ten books in four series: Tolkien Quest (two books), Middle-earth Quest (four books), Narnia Solo Games (one book), and Sherlock Holmes Solo Mysteries (three books). It started as Tolkien Quest, then quickly changed to Middle-earth Quest --indeed one of the books advertised as part of the T.Q. series had been re-labeled to be MeQ books instead by the time it came out. 

Here's a listing which may not be complete, given that more books were announced than ever appeared on shelves.

 

I. Tolkien Quest

   —The Legend of Weathertop.  by Heike Kubasch (1985)

   —Night of the Nazgul.  by John David Ruemmler (1985)

 

II. Middle Earth Quest

—Rescue in Mirkwood.   by Gerald Lientz (1988).**  

—Treason at Helm's Deep.   by Kevin Barrett & Saul Peters (1988)

—Mines of Moria.  by Susan Mathews & J. D. Ruemmler (1988)

—A Spy in Isengard.  by Terry K. Amthor (1988)

            [Search for the Palantir]. announced but never released]

            [Race from RIvendell ].  never released

 

Next Up: Narnia Quest

--John R

*P.S.: In my case it was Dungeon Geomorphs and Cal-tech encounter tables, quickly followed by the Player's Handbook, which I actually read all the way through, from start to finish.

**best cover

 

Tolkien Quest

So, here are two very similar books published not that far apart. 

 One of those cases where small differences opened up a potential nightmare for that publisher, who  reallly shd have seen it coming.

And by the by this sequence of events had the wholly unintended result of allowing me to miss GenCon, that year. Among other things. 

More later

--John R.

Names and Numbers

 So, Janice asked me a question I cdn't answer. In TotR Orcs occasionally refer to other orcs as having identification numbers. She asks: Who keeps track of the enormous bureaucracy this wd generate?

I'm rereading The Lord Of The Rings for the first time in years and I have questions! John is absolutely no help.

In Book 6 Chapter 2 during a dust-up a soldier orc threatens to report a tracker orc. The tracker demands to know to whom he'll be reported and the soldier responds, "I'll give your name and number to the Nazgûl." What is this number? Who assigns it? What is it used for? Is there a Mordor Department of Orc Relations? Is there a separate Mordor Department of Human Relations for the easterlings? Do they share office space? I have so many questions.

There's a hint sharing something of the same attitude in Tolkien's anger in his comments to the Zimmerman script at the rooms in the inn at Bree having been assigned room numbers. 

--John R.