Greylin sent us this article from the UK Sunday Times. It’s not new, but we overlooked it at the time it came out and it’s worth a read for Eowyn/Otto fans.
As the sword-wielding Eowyn, saviour of Rohan, Miranda Otto might just become famous. That could be a problem, she tells Garth Pearce
In the battle for the Christmas box office these days, you need maximum firepower. Just like last year, Harry Potter is first into the field. Now Peter Jackson’s second Lord of the Rings instalment, The Two Towers, is readying itself for combat. Last time out, the wizard won – just. Harry Potter took $1,029.2m (£651.4m) worldwide; Lord of the Rings, $920.7m (£582.7m). What can Jackson do this time round? In part one, he put an army of orcs and a terrifying Balrog into the field. For part two, though, he’s got what he calls “my secret weapon”.
Her name is Miranda Otto. She’s Australian, not at all well known and happy for things to be that way. She’s had the occasional famous moment, such as playing the murdered girlfriend who haunted Harrison Ford in What Lies Beneath, but mostly she’s appeared in minor-league films. Jackson, though, considers her a major element in The Two Towers, and just as vital for the success of the final instalment, The Return of the King, due in December 2003.
Otto plays Eowyn, niece of the beleaguered King Théoden (Bernard Hill), who swaps her long flowing gowns for armour and sword in the fight against evil. She dominates scene after scene as the lone woman among a legion of men. It’s the kind of role many actresses would swing a sword just to win. Indeed, Otto was up against a small army of them, including many well-known American twentysomethings used to getting their own way. But she still won through, with the ringing endorsement of Jackson. “Part of me wants to rejoice about it all,” she says. “Another part of me thinks: ‘Do I need problems?’ I have become used to a life in which I can enjoy a successful career without worrying about the paparazzi or intrusions into my private affairs. I can still shop where I want and sit and observe people without becoming the centre of attention. It could be a lot to give up.”
It is easy to see why Otto is so cautious. She is blonde, blue-eyed and has a natural sexiness that would turn heads whether or not she was well known. She has lived comfortably for years in a Sydney apartment, she’s queen of the local indie movie scene and has a low-key relationship with the theatre actor Peter O’Brien. And even though she looks like she’s in her late twenties, she will turn 35 – ancient, by Hollywood standards – during the week of the The Two Towers’ worldwide release.
Her age is her armour, allowing her to confront the craziness of an actor’s life from a mature perspective. She’s seen what has happened to her fellow Australian Nicole Kidman, who, at 34, has had her success soured with the exposure of her private life, both during and after her marriage to Tom Cruise. “Yet when I split up with an actor boyfriend, Richard Roxburgh (the Duke of Monroth in Moulin Rouge), it took a year and a half for the papers to realise we were no longer together,” says Otto, with an ironic smile. “On the age thing, I should have lied about it years ago. I have always played younger, so I could have got away with it. Even at 28 I was playing 18. The only thing that worries me is that my age might limit me, in the eyes of directors, from doing things I know I can do. But there’s no denying I now know more about life. I was more easily pushed around in my twenties, and I would not want to go back to that.”
Otto does her own pushing these days. As Eowyn, she’s the saviour of Rohan – a proud race of humans on Middle Earth – after the king has been corrupted by his adviser, Wormtongue (Brad Dourif), who is in the power of Saruman (Christopher Lee). A desperate last stand in the Rohan fortress of Helm’s Deep is one of the most memor-able sets and scenes in the film. The Riders of Rohan are under attack by 10,000 Uruk-hai, who are determined to kill every man, woman and child in the citadel.
“Eowyn is the only real human heroine in The Lord of the Rings,” observes Otto. “And, although there are very few women in the books, Tolkien did make them strong characters. Galadriel (Cate Blanchett) and Arwen (Liv Tyler) were in the first film, as Elves, but this second film is more dominated by humans, with all their strengths and weaknesses. My character has to act as a prop for the king, who is confused and losing his power. I can’t think of any other myth or legend in which the woman actually saves the men. So this very much fits the idea of the new woman who makes her own decisions and fights. In the third film, it’s even more extreme – I dress up as a man, go to war and kill the king of the witches. It suited me fine, because, despite appearances, I am not too much of a girlie girl.”
It’s just as well. Otto, who was needed to work on the filming marathon in New Zealand from March to December 2000, was given nonstop training in riding and sword-fighting. “I was told they were after a fair-haired, fair-skinned look for my part – and someone with the strength to act tough in some sections and very feminine in others,” she says. “Fortunately, I did not quite appreciate the sheer scale of the project, which had a crew of 2,400 and about 20,000 extras. Otherwise, I could have messed up the audition, and I could have imagined them saying: ‘She appears so desperate.'”
Otto seems far from desperate or needy or even hungrily ambitious. The result is that she can talk freely, without guile or restrictions, and does not have to measure what she says against causing the slightest offence to anyone in Hollywood. She has been in only a handful of American films, including The Thin Red Line in 1998 – again she played the lone woman, Marty Bell – and her contact with star actors has been limited to film sets. “The first time I met Harrison Ford, I thought he was one of the carpenters,” she says. “The producer introduced me to this guy who was so low- key, with denim shirt, jeans and a cap, and I did not really see who he was because he kept his head down. He mumbled just one word, ‘Harrison’. I just said ‘Hi’. Then he was off. When it came to the scene, we just did it and that was that.
“But people vary, don’t they? When I arrived on the Two Towers set, on a night shoot, I saw Liv Tyler in the distance, looking radiantly gorgeous at 4am, even though she was wearing elves’ ears. I thought: ‘Oh, that is Liv, she is really famous.’ She came over and gave me a huge hug and said: ‘My God, there is another woman here at last. We can hang out and do things.’ Unfortunately, we only had a couple of weeks when our work overlapped, so I was back to being the only girl in the cast.”
She also witnessed the fanaticism of Viggo Mortensen, who plays the warrior Aragorn. He took to walking around with bare feet and even turned up, partly dressed in costume, when he wasn’t needed. And when he broke a tooth in a fight scene and filming was held up, he was prepared to resort to extreme measures. “He wanted to use Superglue to put the tooth back in so everyone could carry on. Fortunately, they insisted he went to a dentist. But that’s the kind of guy he is.
And that summed up the attitude of those who made these films.”
Otto’s own attitude has been honed over the years as the daughter of the Australian actor Barry Otto – he played Doug Hastings, the hen-pecked father in Strictly Ballroom – and by being around actors from childhood. Her parents separated when she was young, and her life was split between Sydney and her mother’s new home in the industrial town of Newcastle. “I had girlfriends who were the children of other actors in Sydney,” she says. “On the other hand, I went to a pretty normal school, nothing arty-farty. So I never became awestruck about actors or the business of acting.”
It is difficult to imagine Otto becoming awestruck about much at all. After attending the National Institute of Dramatic Art (“Cate Blanchett was there, too, a couple of years younger than me”), she quickly established herself as a lead in a succession of Aussie films including The Girl Who Came Late and Love Serenade. Such was her profile – she’s now a veteran of 22 movies – The Australian newspaper was prompted to observe: “The irony for Miranda’s career is that she’s become a big name among film financiers before she’s had a big hit.” Otto has already fought her way out of that corner, with a co-starring role opposite the ER actor Goran Visnjic in a ghost thriller, Doctor Sleep. And having been pipped to the post by Cameron Diaz for the female lead in Being John Malkovich, she landed a star part in a French-American co-production, Human Nature, that had the same screenwriter. In Human Nature, she plays a lab assistant who seduces a scientist (Tim Robbins) away from his wife (Patricia Arquette), only to become frustrated that he seems to devote so much time to a wild-man friend, played by Rhys Ifans.
But it will be The Lord of the Rings that will promote her, however reluctantly, to a place among the famous. “Everyone is very keen to tell me my life will change,” says Otto. “But I’m keeping in mind that I will still have to clean the bathroom.”
Prarie11 & Erendira sends in these reports from their time with Billy Boyd up here in the Great White North. Take a look!
Prarie11:
“I arrived around 5 pm; the show was to start at 7:30 pm. It’s a small movie theatre in an odd location – near several light industrial companies, rather than in a shopping district. I had “will call” tix reserved, thanks to the wonderful Joe of the Oakville Arts Council, which sponsored this showing of Scottish Shorts as part of the Toronto Film Festival (thank you all!). By this time there were about 6 cars there – all obviously fangirls, including one elf (nice costume!). I had hoped we’d wait as long as possible to climb out of our cars and get in line, but after about 15 minutes the first pair got out and went to the door, so I followed.
It was a bit cold, but we lasted fairly well. We were worried there’d be no tickets (the girls from North Dakota who had been at Trent U the night before had none, and neither did the two Canadians we met), but a kind older gentleman who went in as part of the Arts Council said as he passed “there’s only a hundred tickets left; the other two hundred are sold out” – which left us rather ecstatic. There was a bit of a group there by the time we went in (50? more?), but I’m guessing that anybody who was there when the theatre opened at 6 pm got tickets.
At 7:30, Billy came in from the side door (exit) of the theatre, with (a publicist for the Scottish Shorts, I assume). He was dressed in a black shirt, with dark blue jeans, a jean jacket and his leather jacket over it. The crowd (probably made up of about half fans) went crazy, of course, but stayed in their seats and were well-behaved. He did a quick introduction, which, of course, I don’t remember, and on to the shorts.
Sniper 470 was first. To be honest, I was worried about the reaction, being afraid that some would laugh at the more “uncomfortable scenes”, or talk throughout the movie, but the audience was great. There was some laughter at the toilet scene, and some uncomfortable sounds during the “virtual sex” scene, but otherwise, quiet and appreciative. I thoroughly enjoyed seeing this on film on the large screen. For those of you who haven’t seen it, it’s an excellent 25 minute film that takes place in the future, about a gunner on an asteroid whose job is to shoot and destroy enemy ships passing through the asteroid belt. It focuses on the loneliness and isolation of his situation, the extreme lack of human contact, and the terror he has to face as a sitting target, and the terrible reality of killing. Very timely, and an excellent showcase for acting without the use of dialogue (and very little monologue). Much applause from the audience.
The other shorts were wonderful, because each was very different from the other – in subject, in how they were filmed, in tone, and so on, even though all were performed by Scottish actors, in Scotland..
Tears for Bobo was next, and also the next best, in my opinion – a very funny tongue-in-cheek movie about clowns in society, with clowns married to other clowns and having little clown children. They prefer not to be called clowns – rather they are “costumed entertainers”. It uses terrible funny lines – “send in the clowns” for a police lineup of clowns; a policeman saying “don’t try anything funny” to a clown suspect, etc. The policeman are stereotypical, even to the extreme of acting like Keystone Kops at time. It also makes fun of other movies very well: a clown trapped in an alley cries out: “I am not an animal!!! I am a costumed entertainer!!!” ala The Elephant Man.
Next was a story of a girl and her father (either divorced or a widower), centered around the father getting ready to be the best man at the wedding (called The Best Man) – and showing how he really is not being the best man in her life, as she works, without appreciation or notice, to take care of him, rather than the other way around.
Then, a story around a quote from Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities – about how one of the amazing things about life is how we are constitutionally mysteries to one another. Just a scene in a train station where a young girl with her mother watches the various people waiting for a train, and observes how they react in various ways to an ongoing delay in the arrival of the train. Very stylized, and interesting, in black and white.
A cute short cartoon called Night Windows showing people in apartments as viewed through their windows at night, from outside – going from one window to another to show what they’re doing… ending by showing, from the back, a man shuffling around his apartment in nothing but bunny slippers…*g*.
Finally, a short called Poached – about a family in Scotland, with an older boy at odds with his father and his younger brother. The brothers bond while catching a whopper of a salmon (illegally, of course), and it brings them closer to their father as well.
As I mentioned above, all were done in Scotland, by Scottish actors. In fact, Billy mentioned with a laugh that when they did Sniper 470, they were told that a science fiction movie had never been made in Scotland – which, of course, was an excellent reason to do it! *L*! And, again, the audience stayed in their seats the whole time, and applauded every short. I was very impressed.
Then – Q&A! Billy came in again, this time without the leather jacket. They only had 15 minutes, so he only took a few questions. He was asked about New Zealand and said he’d be there in May and June doing shooting. He was asked about his tattoo, and he gave the same answer as at Trent U – he explained what it was and where he got it – his ankle – without showing it, and commented that, in retrospect, it wasn’t the smartest decision he made, since when they did it, he still had two weeks of acting in hobbit feet left, and glue over a raw wound is not a pleasant experience!
He was asked about the screenplay with Dom, and of course he teased and said how TERRIBLE Dom was to work with in writing it, it was just TORTURE, but the script was so good that it was worth it. Was asked about The Ballad of Crazy Paola (the gentleman acting as his publicist, or publicist for the Scottish Shorts mangled the name, so I guess he’s not familiar with Billy’s stage work – *g*) by a girl who’s doing a scene from it (Scene 4) in acting class. He noted that the playwright wanted to call the scenes “Round 1”, “Round 2”, etc. because it’s really a fight between two people, and that that scene should be played as one where the woman has the upper hand, because in that scene she knows more about the person connecting them (who is her dead lover and his dead brother). Billy then left; unfortunately, he was unable to stay and give autographs and had to keep his appearance at the end of the show short.
Again, a wonderful experience, a funny, thoughtful and gracious man. Thank you, Billy Boyd. “
Erendira:
I just thought you would like to hear about Billy Boyd’s appearance in Burlington, Ont. tonight–one of many stops he is making in Canada as he tours with his festival of independent films. I just got back from the cinema at Harvester Road, in Burlington, and I am still in awe of this talented actor. A sold-out audience filed into the small, intimate theatre and we were treated to a short speech by Billy himself before the films were shown, with the promise of more to come when the films were done.
From a writer’s perspective, I thought the films were very inventive, with kudos going to Billy’s project, Sniper 427, (I hope I’m getting that right!). There is a quiet intensity permeating the entire scope of the movie and I found myself rooted to my seat for the duration. The tension is palpable and I’m glad to see Billy finally get a chance to stretch his abilities to the extent that he does in this film, something he really hasn’t had the opportunity to do yet in the LOTR’s trilogy. The isolation of being alone in space, as well as being under the constant threat of loneliness and retaliation from enemy intruders seems to slowly break his character down, so much that we can even see it in his eyes. There are times when his pupils are so dilated from fear and an overactive imagination that I wondered if he didn’t put some kind of drops in them to create the effect? All in all, the performance was inspiring. He takes chances with this character and pulls it off with conviction and courage.
Briefly, the next film was about clowns. There was something truly brilliant in the way this film shifts our perspective about disparaging hopelessness of relationships and life and turns it into a humorous, slapstick joke. There is only one inevitable conclusion for poor Bo Bo and we see it coming a mile away, but the punchline is delivered straight from the heart and I found myself recalling that old scene from The Mary Tyler Moore Show, when Chuckie The Clown is laid to rest, and in spite of the painful reality of death, he still manages to have the last laugh.
The third film was presented as “Best Man”. The message I got from this film was that it focuses on a desperate, middle-aged man, who was more concerned with the fruitless banality of his life to realise his young daughter was aching for his love and attention. His own search for validation was a tangible agony, all wrapped up in a speech he was writing to give at a friend’s wedding reception. In his effort to create the perfect anecdote, he had forsaken his own daughter, who was growing up right in front of him, and by the time he realised what was important in his life, it was too late.
The next film was a short, animated feature that used rustic movement and simplistic figures seen through moving windows, each of them giving us a glimpse into the narrow world of its occupants. When they say “a picture is worth a thousand words”, this short film embodies the very essence of that.
The next offering was a bit more difficult to pin down. Titled, “Station”, this film presented us with a black-and-white view of the mystery of human beings, as seen through a young girl’s eyes. The focus seemed to shift briefly in the middle of the film from a montage of faces and emotions and personalities of a crowd of people waiting on a train platform, to the nakedness of our need for acceptance. Personally, I thought the film could have stood on its own just by staying focused on the conflicts and understated quirks of everyone on this platform, but I can understand what the writer was trying to do. We are all afraid of being judged, especially when our souls are bared and we are at our most vulnerable.
The final film was slightly weaker in its appeal, although still thought-provoking and bleak in its own way. The quality of the actual film seemed to be suffering from multiple showings so it was a bit distracting to watch, but the characters were well-developed and multi-layered. You got a sense that there was very little holding this family together. Again, the main theme was acceptance and understanding and forgiveness; you know these people are going to be okay in the end. No, “life’s a b**tch and then you die,” which would have been the easier road to take.
Perhaps other people may have gotten a different perspective of these films–this is just my opinion and food for thought. My one quip would be that I would have really loved to have had some prior information concerning the history and inspirations of the writers and directors of these films, perhaps on a handout or bit of text before each movie? One has a sense that there is more to come from these talented filmmakers and I would like to keep an eye out for other projects.
After the screenings, Billy came back out, much to the delight of the fans, and answered a few questions from the audience, one of which having been directed at him from yours truly!!! I was shaking like a mallorn leaf but I think I hid it well and tried not to trip up on my tongue while I asked him to give his opinion on the difference between the independent film and the mass marketed blockbuster. Graciously, he spoke right to me and offered an insightful answer, most of which I can’t remember because I was awe-struck and trying not to blush to the roots of my hair! There were other questions from the floor, and he answered each one with a charming smile and any excuse for a laugh. By the way, I found out that his Elvish “Fellowship” tattoo is on his ankle. The question period lasted only minutes before his publicist whisked him out the side door and no one got an autograph, which was really too bad because I think everyone, (and I do mean everyone!) brought something Billy-ish for him to sign! I did manage to get some wonderful pictures though, only by inching my way closer and closer to him, (and stepping on a few toes, I might add), and I hope at least one of them turns out!
It was a wonderful evening. One that I’ll talk about for many days to come.
All you happy Party Guests can count on a really fantastic raffle during our Oscar Party event. Just one little ticket and you might walk away with a HUGE prize package. This time the prizes will not be given out piecemeal; but are collected into *big raffle packages.* Each package is different, and each contains a variety of items. There are approximately 10 raffle prize packages to be given away (maybe more).
Here is a sample of one complete raffle prize package:
A) Official TORN t-shirt for the “Two Towers One Party” event B) Games WorkshopTwo Towers battle games, including “Heroes of Helm’s Deep” and “Uruk-Hai Paint Set” miniatures C) Serious USA box of CD-Rom Cardz featuring The Two Towers D) Sideshow/WETA Collectibles Saruman polystone statue E) American Flyer luggage 3-piece set: Duffle Bag, Travel Tote and Beauty Case
With raffle tickets at only $2.00 apiece, you can’t go wrong!
We will have raffle tickets on sale throughout the evening, and all Party-goers will enjoy the thrill of a live announcement of the winners immediately after the Awards Ceremony.
“Rohan cannot come.” Gondor is under seige and cut off from its allies as the forces of Sauron swarm Minas Tirith. Can the city hold?
Return of the King – Book V, Chapter 4: Siege of Gondor
Through the eyes of Pippin, we see the dissension between Gondor’s leaders , the distrust between Denethor and Gandalf, and the rift between Denethor and his son, Faramir. We witness the growing despair that sweeps the Tower of the Guard as Sauron’s hordes sweep across the river and lay seige to Minas Tirith.
Whether you want to talk about objects such as Grond and the Great Gate of Minas Tirith, Tolkien’s vivid descriptions of war, or the growing mental disintegration of Denethor the Steward, this chapter is sure to provide great discussion material.
Join us this weekend at hall of fire!
Upcoming Discussions:
March 28-29: What would you like to see included or dis-included in RoTK? Why? What needs to be cut, and what must stay? How would you avoid creating a critical/popular disaster? Chance for everyone to play scriptwriter/director.
Place: #thehalloffire on theonering.net server; come to theonering.net’s chat room Barliman’s and then type /join #thehalloffire .
Times: Saturday Chat: 5:30 pm ET (17:30) [also 11:30 pm (23:30) CET and 7:30 am Sunday (07:30) AET]
Sunday Chat: 7:00 pm (19:00) CET [also 1:00 pm (13:00) ET and 4:00 am (04:00) Monday morning AET]
ET = Eastern Time, USA’s East Coast CET = Central European Time, Central Europe
Do you have a possible topic for Hall of Fire? Drop us a line at halloffire@theonering.net. And don’t forget that you can check out previous chats here.
So you have your reservations and you ready to attend the largest fan-run Lord of the Rings celebration ever. Besides the live entertainment and various activities taking place throughout the night, you might ask, “What else can I expect?” How about the opportunity to bid on some of the most sought after collectibles available!
Here is a list of the items that will be available during a silent auction:
Giant TTT Banner – 50ft x 20ft Official ‘The Lord of the Rings – The Two Towers.’ Generously donated by a local theater chain.
2002 Official Academy Awards Poster signed by ‘The One Party to Rule them All’ VIP attendees – This piece is professionally framed and includes the signatures of Peter Jackson, Ian McKellen, Richard Taylor, and others.
The Watcher in the Water Statue – Pre-Production Piece. Retail value of $250. (Regular version is yet to be released) [Standard Watcher Info]
The Balrog Statue – Pre-Production/Clear Resin. Unique piece. The standard version is sold out and had a retail value of $300. [Standard Balrog Info]
Moria Orc Swordsman Statue Signed by WETA Workshop crew at Comic Con 2002 – Retail value of $125 previous to signing. Signatures include Richard Taylor, Daniel Falconer, Gino Acevedo, Warren Mahy and others. This piece is also signed by Sala Baker(Sauron) and Lawrence Makoare (Lurtz). A Houghton Mifflin display stand is included in this auction. [Statue Info]
Bronzed ‘No Admittance’ Bookends w/ Houghton Mifflin Display Stand – The popular ‘No Admittance except on Party Business’ Bookends retail at $60. These are the exact same sculpt, yet in a gorgeous bronzed format. [Original Bookends Info]
The Alan Lee Lithograph and Filmstrip Collectible – Hand signed by Peter Jackson, Alan Lee and Richard Taylor. Retail value of $599. [More Info]
Orthanc Environment – Pre-Production piece. The yet to be released environment from Sideshow/Weta Collectibles. Retail value of $95. [Orthanc Info]
Other items will be available and we hope to announce previous to the party.
Silent auctions will last until approximately 10pm-10:30pm on party night. We will be accepting Visa, Mastercard, and Discover for bids. Winners will be able to immediately take their prize with them, or choose to have TheOneRing.net ship it. Shipping however will be charged to the winning bidder.
Fantasy gaming has been taken to a whole new level, spearheaded by Decipher’s OFFICIAL Lord of the Rings Role Playing Game – or RPG. In my humble opinion: the RPG experience is still one of the most rewarding over and above most other gaming platforms available. Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE playing all types of all games – especially when it comes to Lord of the Rings. Yet, in pleasant contrast to TCG’s, video games, table-top miniatures and board games, in an RPG there are no set patterns, no rare powerful cards, no cheat codes, no rare figures, foils or holograms, no pre-programmed interactivity and best of all – no reset button. The only components you will ever need to fully enjoy the wonders of the Role Playing game system are a few books, a few friends and the one element no amount of money in the world can ever buy – your imagination!
The Lord of the Rings Role Playing system is quite simply the very best in RPG entertainment to date. The Decipher RPG Studio, led by Christian Moore, has created a simplified, yet engrossing system of play which embraces the very nature of The Lord of the Rings in the most profound way. Utilizing the breathtaking design and imagery from Peter Jackson’s extraordinary films in concert with the literary support and detail from Tolkien’s epic masterpiece, The Lord of the Rings RPG is the pinnacle product of the industry; unparalleled and unmatched in its level of inspiration, production quality and artistic detail.
Honestly, I could write several pages praising the design achievements that the LOTR RPG Design Team has achieved, because every single support piece I have seen has been worthy of such accolades and more! However, I must address the details of this gaming system in later chapters of LOTR RPG 101. For now, just trust in the fact that this is the era we RPG fans have been waiting for. I am very proud and excited to embark upon what will be a very fulfilling and educational look at The Lord of the Rings and its impact upon the modern world of Role Playing and Fantasy Gaming.
But first…a little history:
Chapter 1: Introduction to Fantasy
It is a foregone conclusion that many people share a very misunderstood and ill-conceived perspective about people who are engaged in the world of role-playing games. Society perceives these “gamers” as congregations who shy away from “normal” society in order to bask in the realm of fantasy worlds filled with faeries, dragons, wizards, heroes and villains. Due to this misconception, normal society brands these people as deviants; those who choose to embrace the abnormal rather than fall in line with ‘decent’ society. How very uninformed and completely wrong society as a whole truly is.
Fantasy gaming has also traditionally been perceived as a past-time for the high-school outsider, the socially unskilled or the reclusive introvert. Would you be surprised to learn that RPG communities are frequented by doctor’s, lawyers, engineers, artists, writers, actors and scientists? Society’s perception of the Role-Playing Gamer has dissuaded many people from participating in what is probably one of the last, true forms of communication and entertainment our culture has ever known: the Oral Tradition.
Oral Tradition? What is that you may ask? In the pre-literary ancient days, and even in many pre-industrial societies today, the verbal passing of tales and legends preserved much of the lore we today call myth or fantasy. The Lord of the Rings itself is a manifestation of Professor J.R.R. Tolkien’s passion to preserve and encapsulate the grand testimony of his ideals regarding his interpretation of the Anglo-Saxon pre-history in a way that can be passed on; inherited from generation to generation.
So what does all of this have to even remotely do with role playing and fantasy gaming? Well, the core of any role playing game community is the Storyteller – or Game Master. In comparison, the preservation and passing of stories through the oral tradition is testimony to the skill of the storyteller – the original “Game Master”. From the telling of tales in ancient kingdoms to the ghost stories spun around frontier campfires – the storyteller transported audiences into far off places; distant lands full of wonder, of light, of darkness, of heroes, of great battles, of heroic sacrifices, of love, of fellowship, of pain and of joy. For a point in time, the listener could close his or her eyes and through awe-inspired imagination, become closer to a world far more interesting than the present. This was the first true form of escapist entertainment – now preserved in the form of the RPG; a more modernized form, yet no less impactful.
In the early 1970’s, this style of fantasy and escapist entertainment broke monumental ground as it took the form of one of the most influential RPG systems of all time: TSR’s (Tactical Studies Rules) Dungeons and Dragons. With its foundation firmly rooted in the modern fantasy masterpiece that is The Lord of the Rings, this bold and exciting RPG combined a new system of integrated and interactive play. D & D, as it was affectionately referred to, allowed individuals to congregate and embellish upon the very foundation of Frodo’s journey. Each member of the gaming group created a character, who in turn joined the quest as a member of a fellowship of companions in order to protect the hero and fulfill the journey – which of course was to eradicate evil and restore light in the land.
For the last 30 years, Dungeons and Dragons, and fantasy gaming ‘en masse’ has taken great strides in the continuation of the oral tradition. This success through perseverance has undeniably succeeded thanks to the Lord of the Rings – the ONE TRUE SOURCE of which all modern fantasy gaming is based upon. This is due to the single fact that Tolkien’s unwavering preservation over his own, personal oral tradition – the pre-history of the Anglo-Saxon people – is so compelling and engrossing, that it is nearly unavoidable to use this material as a resource to perpetuate new stories with such fully realized races, cultures, maps, languages and mythologies – as Tolkien presented in his own works of Middle-Earth. However, as close as these realms were to Tolkien’s world – they were only BASED upon The Lord of the Rings which undeniably left the adventure longing for the next level; the ability to adventure IN MIDDLE EARTH ITSELF!
Now, we as role playing game fans, enthusiasts and fanatics alike have the unique opportunity to finally create our adventures within the context of The Lord of the Rings in a way never before attempted. The Lord of the Rings Role Playing game system in the most fully realized, detailed and structured system which has ever been offered in this industry. It has broken conformity with the standard D20 – 20 sided dice – rules systems in favor of a more engaging style of play – the Coda System; favoring greater character flexibility over the calculations of dice-induced fate. Yet I digress…and such details like this will be addressed in later chapters – so stay tuned!
If you are interested in delving into the LOTR RPG, there are several products that you may purchase right now to begin your journey.
1. The CORE Book – without a doubt, the single most important resource in the RPG library thus far. It is a beautifully designed, informational source-book full of almost every detail regarding the Third Age and more.
2. Maps of Middle Earth – Daniel Reeve, the master illustrator and map-designer who brought us many of the maps and scrolls used in Peter Jackson’s films – now has brought us 6 beautifully rendered and detailed maps – including close-ups of Gondor, Rohan, Mordor and the Shire.
3. The Mines of Moria: Adventure Game – Have you ever wondered what it would have been like to stand atop the Bridge of Khazad-Dum, defending your companions against the Balrog of Moria. What would you do? What choices would you have made? This mini-adventure is the perfect ENTRY POINT for beginners who want to try the RPG system in an adventure that is all too familiar.
4. The Two Towers: Adventure Game – The Battle of Helm’s Deep: Take command in the role of Aragorn, Gimli and Legolas and assist King Theoden in defending Helm’s Deep against the onslaught of 10,000 Uruk-Hai, bent on the destruction of men. Experience the battle which made men heroes and made heroes legends! Yet another great ENTRY POINT for beginners and fans.
5. The Narrator’s Screen – all good storytellers need help every once and a while and the Narrator’s Screen is it. It is a self-contained reference which helps speed along many of the common actions necessary in the course of a game in an easy to read format. The cover which faces the audience is beautifully printed with a panoramic scene of Minas Tirith.
6. The Fellowship of the Ring Source Book – the second installment of the major RPG texts is a 128 page resource book, just as incredibly detailed and illustrated as its CORE BOOK counterpart. However, this sourcebook presents more of an overview regarding the characters, places, events and timelines within the context of the Fellowship of the Ring.
To take a closer look at these products, please visit Decipher’s online store HERE
For more information on the Role Playing Game, its creators and what is on the horizon, please visit Decipher’s LOTR RPG arena HERE
And of course continue to visit Gaming Havens here on TheOneRing.net for more continuing coverage of The Lord of the Rings RPG.
Be sure to tune it to the next installment of LOTR RPG 101: Breaking all the Rules!
Until then, the world of Middle Earth belongs to YOU!
