Of Chansons and Orcs (continued)

The epics also describe the supporting cast. Roland's fighting bishop, Turpin, can swing steel with the best. His friends are stalwart and tactically adept. The Saracen enemies, although scheming pagans, do fight bravely. Weapons, clothes and supplies are described as are orders of march and tactics. Epics provide the foundation and trappings of fantasy games.

However, the epics do not provide for a good game story line. The primary reason for this is because their basis is Fate, called Wyrd in old English. The heroes are not only doomed but are obviously so. Beowulf knew Grindl's mother was going to take him down. Charlemagne wept for Roland as soon as he saw that he had to let his nephew command the rearguard. Medieval life was so rough that Fate had to be relied upon to lend some sense to it. Magic had to be used sparingly because, if spells were too powerful, they could actually save somebody worthwhile and thus cheat Fate. Villainy was surely punished but only by sacrificing the noblest of the noble. A game whose end is not only foreordained but requires that the main characters be spitted, burnt, pulled apart and otherwise slaughtered would not meet market demand. No, epics provide the meat of games but not the sauce.

Enter Professor J.R.R. Tolkien and his tomes. The professor insisted his works were not allegories, deep and laden with lessons, but were merely stories he enjoyed writing and hoped others enjoyed reading. He can be taken at his word. Given his academic background, he was undoubtedly influenced by epics but his story lines were a combination of Victorian values and modern psychology. His characters are three-dimensional with character flaws and their fate is dependent on their will. Aragorn/Strider is noble and bold, speaking tersely. At the same time, though, he has a past that haunts him and is given to self-doubt and prideful temptation. Frodo overcomes the beckoning of the Ring through conscious will, not the workings of Fate. Some of the bad guys are three-dimensional. Sauraman and Gollum were victims of weak wills but were not innately evil from their beginnings. Here, then, are the plot and character twists that provide decision points in game story lines.

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