Charlie Jane Anders writes:

The Brontë sisters are best known as the authors of literary gothic tales like Wuthering Heights and Jane Eyre, but in their childhood, they worked with their brother to invent the made-up realm of the Glass Town Federation.

According to the British Library, which is featuring the Brontë’s hand-written Glass Town sagas as part of its new exhibition on science fiction, the four Brontë siblings invented the kingdoms of Angria and Gondal, and the capital city of Glass Town. “They became obsessive about their imaginary worlds, drawing maps and creating lives for their characters and featured themselves as the “gods” (“genii”) of their world. Their stories are in tiny micro-script, as if written by their miniature toy soldiers.” (Read the full article here)

Interesting that the early pregenitors of RPGs should trace their way back to literary giants such as these!

A press release from cubicle7.co.uk give the following details:

The One Ring™, the fantasy roleplaying game set in the world of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings to be released by Cubicle 7 Entertainment in partnership with Sophisticated Games, is one of the most eagerly awaited RPG releases of the year. With gamer and fan anticipation growing toward the August 2011 debut, Cubicle 7 today released some details about the format and content of the game line’s first release: The One Ring™: Adventures over the Edge of the Wild.

The adventure begins five years after the events of The Hobbit. The defeat of the Dragon, the ousting of the Necromancer and the stunning victory of the Battle of Five Armies has made the land a much safer place. The Free Peoples of Wilderland are looking beyond their own borders for the first time in generations. Merchants are opening up previously-abandoned trade routes, bringing prosperity to the region and renewing bonds of friendship between long-estranged cultures. But while Lords and common folk become complacent in their new-found security, much evil still lurks in Wilderland. From the Orc-holds of the mountains to the dark and corrupt depths of Mirkwood a darkness waits, recovering its strength, laying its plans and slowly extending its shadow.

Small companies of heroes set out to explore the newly-opened frontiers. Whether their goal is to protect their homes, recover the treasures of a lost age or carry out the orders of their King, they could find themselves in the front lines of the battle against the ancient enemy, in adventures over the Edge of the Wild.

Focusing on the region of Wilderland – from the east of the Misty Mountains through Mirkwood to the Lonely Mountain – the game covers the geography of the region and its major cultures. Immersion in the setting is at the heart of the game. Players create their characters from the cultures of the region, integrating them fully with the setting and giving them a personalstake in the unfolding events. The wood elves of Mirkwood, the dwarves of the Lonely Mountain, the Woodmen of western Mirkwood, the Bardings of Dale, Beornings, or hobbits that have ventured into the region after Bilbo’s return to the Shire, are among the characters featured in the initial release.

The August release is the first of a series of core game titles. 2012 and 2013 will see similar core releases expanding from that point, first with provisionally titled The Errantries of the King and then leading up to the War of the Ring. Each of these will expand the attention given to Tolkien’s world as well as the range of playable cultures and races. “You could compare our approach to the way Fantasy Flight has handled the 40K franchise,” commented Dominic McDowall-Thomas, Cubicle 7’s Director of RPG Development. “We have a huge setting to explore, and this lets us approach it in stages, covering each element in detail instead of trying to stuff an encyclopedia of information into the initial release. It also helps players build their campaigns in a dramatic fashion. With Adventures over the Edge of the Wild as the starting point, the grand story of The Lord of the Rings is starting out, in the background, but players start at a point where they can influence events instead of just being along for the ride.”

This approach also allows the game to take on an epic, multi-generational character. While characters of long-lived races can span the different setting periods, others can pass the torch to their heirs (spiritual or ancestral) in later periods. “Some people have compared this aspect of the game to the classic RPG Pendragon,” Dominic went on to say. “It fits really nicely with Tolkien’s long view of his world.” In fact, the game is highly focused on Tolkien’s themes, with an emphasis on such values as hope, valor, and wisdom reflected in the rules as well as the background material.

The initial release will consist of two core books: the Loremaster’s Guide for GMs and the Adventurer’s Book for players. A full line of supplementary products will follow, with early releases including a Rivendell sourcebook and a campaign guide.

In August Cubicle 7 will release The One Ring: Adventures Over the Edge of the Wild is the Tolkien themed RPG that spans the time between The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings.  According to this source, the core set features 2 books, the Loremaster’s Book and the Adventurer’s Book as well as a poster map and gaming dice. With cover art by Tolkien artist, John Howe and written by War of the Rings board game designer, Francesco Nepitello, the set is scheduled to be listed at $59.99 retail.

Regarding supplements, Cubicle 7 says:

The initial release will consist of two core books: the Loremaster’s Guide for GMs and the Adventurer’s Book for players. A full line of supplementary products will follow, with early releases including a Rivendell sourcebook and a campaign guide. (Source)

I’ll be very interested to see this new game. One thing I hope they include soon in follow-up releases are adventure modules similar to Paizo’s Pathfinder line. Maybe that’s what the campaign guide is — something to aid in creating adventures. I recall the old MERP (Middle-Earth Role Playing) adventures from the 80’s, and I’m very much looking forward to see what Cubicle 7 does in this upcoming RPG.

New to Pathfinder? Here’s how to decipher a couple of the stats for NPCs and monsters listed in Pathfinder scenarios.

Take these stats in the Offense section:

Melee shortsword +3 (1d6+2/19-20)
Ranged shortbow +3 (1d6/x3)

“Melee shortsword +3” means an attack bonus, pre-calculated to include all bonuses which always apply such as Base Attack Bonus. It may not include some bonuses like “Rage” if there is a bonus which applies conditionally.

“Melee shortsword +3” is to hit only, and is not a damage bonus.

“19-20” for the melee shortshord means “possible critical on a 19 or 20” and if the critical is confirmed, it’s double damage.

“x3” for the Ranged shortbow means “possible critical on a 20, triple damage if critical is confirmed”

Here’s a system I developed after being inspired by both mind-mapping software I have used as part of story-creation as well as the very innovative Smallville RPG techniques of character building. I call it “character connections.”

Developing Character Connections

Creating a character connections chart is a great way to chart relationships and conflicts and build some depth for your characters before you launch a campaign. Taking this extra step can make your two dimensional characters come to life and make your roleplaying experience more enjoyable.

Create a grid which maps all the characters possible connections such as the one below.  As you go through each stage, players add sentences to a square in the row with their name next to it.

The process has a number of steps equal to the number of other characters in your group (for example, a party of five requires 4 steps to complete this process.

• If you have three characters, the steps are: Person and Trouble
• If you have four characters, the steps are: Person, Trouble and Event
• If you have five characters, the steps are: Person, Trouble, Event and Place
• If you have six characters (the maximum recommended), the steps are: Person, Trouble, Event, Place and Heritage

In the Person stage, you create an NPC (maybe a father, captain of the guard, an ex-girlfriend, etc.) which somehow connects you to another player. Alternatively, highlight some interesting aspect of the relationship between you and the other character.

In the Trouble stage, you determine some conflict between you and another player. This should add drama but not be something that would hamper teamwork. A “vowed to kill you” aspect doesn’t exactly lend itself to working together!

In the Event stage, you identify some past event which effected both you and another player.

In the Place stage, you pinpoint a location which connects you and another player.

In the Heritage stage, you develop a shared ancestry or other origin related event to connect you and another character.

Example

In this example we’ll have three characters from Star Trek.

In the Person stage, Kirk writes “Knows Spock’s ambassador father Sarek.” For McCoy, he writes “Friends with McCoy since the Academy.” Note that the Person connecting them may simply be a past friendship between the two, so the person is simply the other character. Spock writes “Kirk reminds Spock of his Human mother’s influence on his DNA” and “McCoy’s nurse, Christian Chapel, has a crush on Spock.” McCoy writes “Always tries to may Jim (Kirk) think” and “Spock should be more human.”

In the Trouble stage, Kirk writes “Why can’t Spock see the value of human emotion?” and “McCoy is always acting like Jiminy Cricket.” Spock writes “Kirk is simply not…logical” and “McCoy is a loose canon, letting his emotions cloud his judgment.” McCoy writes “I’ll put Kirk on medical leave if he goes off the deep end” and “Spock is like a green-blooded computer.”

When you’re done, the chart looks like this:

There’s simply a few summary sentences in each box, but behind those sentences are deeper stories which have been fleshed out during the banter between the players (if you’re at a tabletop) or in a paragraph or two per stage (if you’re doing this online via text posts).

Tips for Online Usage

If you’re doing this online it may be a good idea to post your idea as a ‘Draft’ (put the word “Draft” in the title or at the beginning of the paragraph). This gives you a chance to essentially ask permission from the other player to do something with your shared history.

Note that conflicts can add drama and excitement, but do be careful to make sure you give affirmation in OOC posts and continue to stress that this is just story-conflict not actual conflict between the players. I should all be in good fun; not something personal.

If your RPG system has the concept of alignments or values, make sure the relationships reflect this. Don’t allow one lone wolf evil character whose actions sully the group’s fun!