02-14-2019, 08:28 PM | #11 | |
Join Date: Feb 2007
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Re: Magic of Middle Earth
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I'm sure Grima's advice was in fact usually good. Probably 90% of the time, what Grima suggested was in fact the right course of action, or at least a defensible choice. That would make his subtle negative suggestions effective and poisonous. His bad advice was probably usually subtly bad, and he did this over the course of years. Of course he had help from Saruman, but that was 'mundane' help. The damage, both to Théoden's self-confidence and hope, and to Rohan's strategic position, was done slowly, insidiously, and carefully. Sometimes his advice would seem to work because Saruman would cooperate in making it work, I'm sure Grima's advice led to some apparent successes that were actually Saruman throwing the contest. "We defeated the raiding party from Orthanc, Grima's plan worked." "Yeah, but the cost! We lost over fifty knights and their horses, including several of our most experienced Riders, and another hundred foot levy!" "But at least we repelled the raiders!" Of course, in actual fact the 'raiders' were a feint, and the whole purpose of the exercise was eroding away Rohan's strength in a pointless fight. But not magic. Just a very, very, dangerous and able enemy agent and traitor doing his work very skillfully. Words have a magic all their own, an entirely natural magic that can be used for evil.
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02-14-2019, 11:07 PM | #12 | ||
Join Date: May 2005
Location: Oz
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Re: Magic of Middle Earth
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02-15-2019, 02:42 AM | #13 |
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Central Europe
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Re: Magic of Middle Earth
Another scene to watch closely is the burial of the troll treasure in The Hobbit; I guess the attempts to open the gate at the Lonely Mountain and to Moria too. They teach us that magic in Middle Earth is like magic in our earth: anyone can try it, expert wizards just know more and claim to have the command of especially powerful spirits/patronage of especially powerful saints/possession of especially potent relics.
Natural magic is another important term for anyone interested in Tolkien's thought and the thought of his characters to research.
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02-15-2019, 08:07 AM | #14 | ||
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Ronkonkoma, NY
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Re: Magic of Middle Earth
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Consider Tolkien himself. He created, with words, a world that millions of people deeply believe in, even while they know it's imaginary. It feels just as real to them, to me, as the world I can see outside my window. If that isn't magic, what is? |
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02-15-2019, 10:06 AM | #15 | |||
Join Date: Jul 2006
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Re: Magic of Middle Earth
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A summary of how it work that it is understated, low key, and pervasive. Frankly it is the best RPG implementation of Middle Earth magic I seen. For example a Dwarven Cultural Virtue Quote:
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The shadow system can be adapted via the Fright Check system. The structure of the classes and virtue are such that it lends itself well for conversion over to templates, powers, advantages, and disadvantage. Last edited by robertsconley; 02-15-2019 at 10:10 AM. |
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08-31-2021, 08:52 PM | #16 | |
Join Date: Aug 2021
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Re: Magic of Middle Earth
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Last edited by brycechard; 09-02-2021 at 06:54 PM. |
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09-01-2021, 03:29 AM | #17 |
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Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Sumter, SC
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Re: Magic of Middle Earth
It is important to remember that while he looks human Gandalf is not human but a Maiar a type of primordial spirit created by the Valar to help them shape the world. Saruman was also a Maiar as was Sauron.
Now I think about it, are they any wizards who aren't effectively primordial spirit disguised as humans?
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09-01-2021, 04:40 AM | #18 | ||
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Gothenburg, Sweden
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Re: Magic of Middle Earth
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GirlNextGondor has done a series on Magic in Middle Earth. It's often tied to song - see the duel between Finrod and Sauron or Luthien putting Morgoth's court to sleep. Quote:
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09-01-2021, 07:08 AM | #19 | |
Join Date: Jul 2015
Location: England
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Re: Magic of Middle Earth
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To be honest, if I were doing GURPS Middle-earth I'd just reskin Psionic Powers or maybe Sorcery, and change the power modifier. -10% would cover countermeasures (Neutralise et al) and having to speak or sing. You could get abilities more cheaply if you were willing to pay the price and draw on the arts of the Enemy, modelled by an additional percentage on the power modifier for incurring corruption. Then there are the invokations and prayers to the Valar which show up occasionally in the narrative, maybe done by GM fiat, but if you wanted game mechanics maybe low levels of Divine Favour would work. |
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09-01-2021, 07:11 AM | #20 | |
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Ronkonkoma, NY
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Re: Magic of Middle Earth
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No, it's not the literal possession that the Jackson film shows, but it may not have been entirely mundane. |
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magic, tolkien |
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