Post by tavis on Feb 9, 2009 8:45:04 GMT -6
One of the players in my White Sandbox game hand-bound a hardback of the 3 LBB's from the PDF, and as I was admiring it I saw it had an illustration I'd never seen before. That led to the realization that the set I inherited from my ex-brother-in-law, who bought it and a couple of early issues of the Dungeoneer in Grand Rapids, MI, is the original Tolkienized printing.
Some observations that folks have probably made before:
- Hobbits appear in Men & Magic "should any player wish to be one", and are listed among the lawful races on p. 9.
- Hobbits don't appear on the chart of monster stats in Monsters & Treasure, or among the wilderness or dungeon wandering monster tables in The Underground & Wilderness Encounters.
Men & Magic refers the player to CHAINMAIL for the missile abilties of hobbits, but that's also true for elves. Still, it seems like the focus of play had already shifted away from a Tolkien wargame and towards campaigns that pick and choose his creations and other mythological creatures like gnomes, kobolds, and minotaurs about as often.
I think the development of the Wilderlands shows the same development very early in play. By 1980 I'd played D&D and read mass-market fantasy before I read Tolkien, but in the early '70s the Lord of the Rings dominated the landscape much more completely. So it makes sense to me that campaigns often started out in territories just off the map of Middle Earth, but quickly become original otherworlds that were more flexible. The depth and mood of Tolkien doesn't allow much room for the things players want, like silly character names and blowing up towns with fireballs during a tavern fight.
Some observations that folks have probably made before:
- Hobbits appear in Men & Magic "should any player wish to be one", and are listed among the lawful races on p. 9.
- Hobbits don't appear on the chart of monster stats in Monsters & Treasure, or among the wilderness or dungeon wandering monster tables in The Underground & Wilderness Encounters.
Men & Magic refers the player to CHAINMAIL for the missile abilties of hobbits, but that's also true for elves. Still, it seems like the focus of play had already shifted away from a Tolkien wargame and towards campaigns that pick and choose his creations and other mythological creatures like gnomes, kobolds, and minotaurs about as often.
I think the development of the Wilderlands shows the same development very early in play. By 1980 I'd played D&D and read mass-market fantasy before I read Tolkien, but in the early '70s the Lord of the Rings dominated the landscape much more completely. So it makes sense to me that campaigns often started out in territories just off the map of Middle Earth, but quickly become original otherworlds that were more flexible. The depth and mood of Tolkien doesn't allow much room for the things players want, like silly character names and blowing up towns with fireballs during a tavern fight.
