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It’s worth mentioning that although the Vancian spell system has become an iconic Dungeons & Dragons trope, psionics (a spell point magic system) was also introduced in the original Dungeons & Dragons set in Eldritch Wizardry (Gygax and Blume 1976:1). This spell point system would be revisited by MUDs and CRPGs.

Status

In The Lord of the Rings, Merry, Pippin, and Sam all start the Quest of Mount Doom with little experience in the ways of adventuring. But by the end of the quest, Merry and Pippin were celebrated warriors and Sam had successfully navigated the perils of Mount Doom. Aragorn ascended from ranger to king. Even Gandalf began the narrative as Gandalf the Grey only to return more powerful than ever as Gandalf the White.

Both the Middle-earth Role Playing game and The Lord of the Rings Roleplaying Game portray characters as gaining experience and increasing in levels. Middle-earth Role Playing spans just 10 levels, but provides a variety of experience-point awards (hit points, critical points, kill points, maneuver points, spell points, idea points, travel points, and miscellaneous) (Coleman 1993:38). The Lord of the Rings Roleplaying Game, on the other hand, offers increases in skills, edges, renown, reactions, courage, health, or attributes instead of levels (Long 2002:277).

The differences between growing in advancement in a story and in a game are twofold. Characters in a story grow organically through their adventures. In role-playing games, players are motivated to advance their characters so that they become more powerful. Fictional protagonists are motivated to adventure through exigent circumstances, but in fantasy games players know the rewards they will acquire through advancement. A character’s ignorance of what the future holds is a fundamental aspect of fantasy narrative and a key differentiator from fantasy gaming. Fantasy gaming provides a clear path for players to project their own desire for power through their characters.

Conclusion

Ultimately, Tolkien’s Fellowship was precisely that—a gathering of fellows, allies, and friends. Even when the Fellowship was forced to split, Sam refused to leave Frodo’s side. The Fellowship knew it had to work together to survive. Likewise, adventuring parties in fantasy games are more than just groups of convenience. Getting a bunch of people to play together varies by medium. It can involve one player with computer-controlled nonplayer characters, players working together who are not in the same room across an electronic medium, or even a hybrid system where some players are physically present while others are not.

“It’s worth noting that Tolkien’s project, as exhibited in all of his writing and just those [works] for which he has become famous, is so vast, so unbounded in its aspirations, that we cannot even imagine its long-run consequences,” said Castronova in Synthetic Worlds (2005:298). “In the short run, today, all we see is the fact that almost every synthetic world that’s been created has been modeled on Middle-earth.”

In the following chapters, we will explore those consequences.

TWO

COLLECTIBLE CARD GAMES AND MINIATURE WARGAMES

And in all ages a certain barbaric warfare has been waged with soldiers of tin and lead and wood, with the weapons of the wild, with the catapult, the elastic circular garter, the peashooter, the rubber ball, and such—like appliances—a mere setting up and knocking down of men. Tin murder. The advance of civilization has swept such rude contests altogether from the playroom. We know them no more [Wells 2004:2].

Introduction

Any examination of the notion of the Fellowship in fantasy gaming must start with the roots of Dungeons &Dragons, the wargame. Critics of the third and fourth editions of Dungeons &Dragons have expressed concerns that the game is too miniature-focused. And yet, it was a miniature game that ultimately spawned Dungeons &Dragons.

Miniature wargames involve small figures in a large-scale battle on simulated terrain. Movement of miniatures and engagement