Finally the [Dwarves]? have come upon you in Other Minds as well. Fortunately for you this time not in war-gear and with sharp axes ready to chop off heads, but in civilized essays, maps, adventures and the like. This issue of Other Minds is dedicated to an often under-represented theme in role-playing – the proud “Children of [Aulë]?“ and adopted children of [Ilúvatar]?.

Since the great events reported in The [Silmarillion]? and [The Lord of the Rings]? are centered upon the deeds and histories of [Elves]? and [Men]?, Dwarves play only a minor rôle there. The only exception in [Tolkien]?’s works where Dwarves play a central rôle is [The Hobbit]?. Unfortunately, this is often seen as “only a children’s book” and consequently the Dwarves are marginalized with it too.

This lack of focus is unfortunately augmented by a lack of first-hand writings about the Naugrim. The Lord of the Rings (mainly the appendices),The Hobbit,The Silmarillion and the [History of Middle-earth series]? all offer some guidance, but compared to the wealth of information provided about Elves, Men and Hob- bits, the passages that deal with the Dwarves are quite limited in number and extent. Nonetheless, this is our chance to stand up and develop our own interpretations. Whether closely based on Tolkien's – few – notes or more orientated towards liberal interpretations, we have the chance to further develop the original material by Tolkien and the various RPG publications into something solid that gives the Naugrim what they deserve: a firm and broad base to stand upon for further developments!

So far, so good. But what do we have for you this time? Again, a wide mix of contributions that sheds light on many aspects of the Naugrim. First there is Neville Percy’s fine analysis about the Dwarven women. Its well-balanced mix of scholarly research and “gameable” extrapolations makes it an excellent piece of information for the scholarly-minded as well as the gamer.

Second comes a contribution by myself that deals with the history of the Dwarven mansions. In broad strokes it depicts their development throughout the ages. Its survey-like nature leaves ample room for further details developed by “Other Minds” to build upon. Neville Percy’s prolific output on all things Middle-earth is astounding. He seems to be a real fan of the Naugrim – looking at the number of contributions of any kind he has to offer! Beside the above-mentioned treatise on the Dwarven women he serves us with not two but really three short and very “gameable” contributions on top of the first. The first of the three portrays a Dwarvish rune-cryptogram that may be encountered in any sizeable Dwarf-hold. It might be an interesting hint for an adventure. Then he provides us with a very useful list of names for the western Dwarves (both male and female) that might be used in your campaign. The final icing on the cake is his description of a subterranean monster, the Giant Moldewarp, that could be a real challenge to any Dwarven mining in great deeps.

Tom Davies' contribution is a true gaming piece that deals with a legendary item made in the distant past for the Dwarves and which may be introduced in a campaign. Its structure as an adventure idea with no specific plot makes it very easy to use and/or adapt to your own needs.

Now, beside all the content-related topics, we thought that a little survey of Middle-earth-gaming related websites available out there are on the net might be helpful. Of course we are aware that there can be no complete or even representative answer to that (es- pecially due to the rapidly changing nature of the Internet). Do note however, that we will copy this list in coming weeks to the Other Minds website in the “links” section, and that all registered users (it's free, private, and safe) can contribute links as well. In the past weeks and months there have been some new sites – in addition to the established ones – that definitely deserve attention. Enjoy our findings and do not hesitate to send us any new pearls you have stumbled upon!

Oh yes - you will encounter several text boxes whose content is unrelated to the contribution it is placed within. These are several tidbits of knowledge about Tolkien's Dwarves, that is interesting, but not big enough for a separate essay. Neville Percy, our prolific "Dwarven" writer found them and accordingly the credits go to him.

In addition to our own "categorization" logos (core, optional and house), we introduce the logos of the specific games a contribution has statistics for. These logos remain the sole copyright of the respective companies of course.

Thomas Morwinsky

July 2008