Hey, gang. The following is probably familiar to many of you, but I think it goes further than what I've seen explicitly written before. It takes the form of a sidebar in my house rules' section on magic, and is intended as the crash course for gamers grounded in generic fantasy. It should be suitably system-agnostic for anyone.

• I'm rather pleased with having remembered "únati" from *Ósanwe-kenta*,

because it offers a way of refuting generic fantasy stereotypes, but in a fashion that is applicable within Middle-earth rather than having to be addressed 'out of character' to the players.

• The main thing is: am I wrong on anything, and is there anything else I

missed?

Únati -- the Laws of Nature The Elves call únati those things which are simple impossibilities that would contravene Eru's 'laws of nature' by which all beings up to the Valar themselves are constrained – including even the rebel Melkor Morgoth.

No Creation or Destruction No power within Arda allows the creation or destruction of anything: matter, energy or spirit.

• Any magic that seems to create or destroy can only be achieved by

converting, transforming or reshaping that which exists.

No Conjuration No power exists to summon up any being, matter, energy or spirit from any other plane of existence.

• Arda does include one or more "other worlds" sometimes collectively

called "the Unseen" but they are still layers of this one and have neither time nor space of their own.

No Teleportation No magical power permits any being, any matter, energy or spirit to be relocated without passing normally through the space between one location and another.

No Resurrection Once an Incarnate is dead and their soul has departed their body, there is no way for them to be brought back to life. The Halls of Waiting are inviolable, and the souls of the dead within them also cannot enter into communion of any form.

• A soul may be undeparted for a short period following what the

uninitiated might call death, and can still conceivably be persuaded not to depart.

• Lore tells of the souls of the Elves going to Aman when they 'die' and

being re‑incarnated in new bodies. Whilst it is not únat for them to return to Middle‑earth, the Valar do not permit it. (Tolkien had such permission granted only for (1) Beren and Lúthien, and (2) Glorfindel.) Gandalf was incarnated, but was a maia rather than an Incarnate by nature.

No Regeneration Severed body parts cannot be restored. Wounds cannot be magically closed, nor broken bones re-knitted.

No Flying There is no magical power of levitation or flight.

• Force can be exerted at a distance as in telekinesis, but it has never

been applied to raise a living thing.

Good on you for chipping in instead of lurking. I'll try and answer in small bites. Do keep on asking.

• Some of us have been running Middle-earth stuff for years, usually

compromising with the expectations of our less Tolkien-nerdy players and just toning down the worst excesses -- like the únati I've made a stab at outlining, magic as 'heavy artillery' etc.

• MERP itself was a compromise, deriving from ICE's original Spell Law,

which had some notable Middle-earth inspired features, but was originally published as an alternative system for D&D magic. Some cherished D&Disms like being able to have an animal familiar from level 1, being able to cast Charm Person and (approximately) Invisibility at level 2 etc. were retained through successive revisions. If the example of Gandalf is what sticks in people's minds and they want to RP a Middle-earth that includes lesser Gandalfs -- which many people will on first buying it -- these details aren't too much of an issue.

• Decipher's LOTR RPG came it it from the exact other end, very much just

codifying (into a "Grimoire", a word that must have JRRT spinning in his grave) the magics observed in TH & LOTR so that magicians are very likely to be lesser Gandalfs. But this approach was rather system-light, and the outcome therefore rather 'gappy' to my mind. (The Hall of Fire e-zine may well have corrected for this by now!)

So, as to your question... > If you were to run a MERP Campaign, how would you approach the magic, or

• would you include it at all?

The purists would point out that there's a difference in tone between The Hobbit and LOTR, and prefer the latter (JRRT himself having wished to write a revised TH to match LOTR, but not having achieved it when he passed away).

• In LOTR only 'unique' individuals: Gandalf and the Istari, the Noldor,

and those of the Royal bloodline (which ultimately includes Noldor and maia blood) perform their own magic. Some magical effects arise from enchanted items; and if unmagical characters have 'magical' perceptions (true dreams etc.) these are not the doing of the characters themselves, but sent to them by one of our uniques.

• So there's a case for either running an epic campaign where the players

are Aragorn, Galadriel etc. or running a more normal one in which the only magic derives from items.

But there are conflicting quotes from Tolkien himself, and no right answer when considering which is more authoritative than another.

• Those of us who prefer a fun game to a simulation are prepared to make

more compromises, and go with the level of magic that suits our tastes -- hopefully always heading in the direction of greater and greater faithfulness to the books, but this is still a work in progress!

I'm new to this all, but these Unati seem to be ignored in the magic > > > presented in the MERP books. How does this work? Or do they do this > > just so > > > people who play other fantasy rpgs have a reason to play?

You can of course take a big black marker pen to a photocopy of the spell lists and strike out the ones that don't belong...

• But for me the loophole that makes possible those 'magical' things that

break the regular laws of physics is to have the essence, the life-force, the stuff of magic in Middle-earth -- which physics does not recognise -- be translatable into energy. (This takes an effort of will on the part of the spellcaster, so magic wearies him, much as Gandalf was wearied after the Chamber of Mazarbul in Khazad-dum.)

• So with a wave of our GM's magic wand, magic is back in business again.

Then we have to decide what the books support and what else must be possible if we allow those things, and only strike out the rest. Broadly speaking I think that allows a fair amount of spirit and energy stuff, but things that directly affect matter are still rare and each have a rationale of their own...

Hope you're still with me. And hope this might have helped.

I sort of agree, though the factor amount could be variable, taking into account the health/strength/will/spirit of the injured, and the abilities of the healer, and necessary herbs, "healing magic", etc. I'm thinking of such things as Elrond in Rivendell, The Houses of the Healing, Aragorn with Athelas, etc. I do agree the instant healing is definitely not in keeping though.

My gaming group has agreed that certain Herbs are the brunt of any magical healing in MERP. None choose the Animist as a character class, and we rely strictly on Herbs for healing.

However, we have excluded any Herb which might affect ressurrection, or "lifegiving", or other high level life sustaining properties.

I also strictly enforce Difficulties for finding Herbs, and in the rare case we need to find a particlar Herb to heal an affliction, it has always been the object of a quest in it's very own right.

In my/our opinion, life and death should be a real issue in Middle Earth, and any Combat, even with low level yub-yubs should not to be taken lightly.

Thanks for the presentation of this topic. It is one we have broached a number of times. Here is my two dahlers worth...

We (my game group) are not purists by any means, but several years ago we felt the need to separate our Middle Earth role playing from standard Dungeons and Dragons style of gaming. It just seemed "right". This was at a time when none of us, myself included, were aware of such a community as this had this sort of interest in MERP

Magic was not at the crux of our game, and I was rather tight fisted with any magical Item, basically limited to rendering items that one might aquire whist spending background points.

Amazingly, we naturally followed (for the most part) the Asnati, without really realizing what that was! No flying, or teleportation, magical Invisibility, or Conjurations were ever used. Our MERP game was magic poor comparatively as one might regard such RPG'sas D&D or GURP.

As for healing, In the past, we have depended on Herbs for any kind of Healing. None choose the Animist as a character class, nor do we run Essence magicians of any kind in the party. To be fair, by the same token, I do not generate Spellcaster NPC's and rarely use Creatures with strong innate magical capabilities.

My gaming group has agreed that certain Herbs are to be the brunt of any magical healing in MERP. We have excluded any Herb which might affect resurrection, or "lifegiving", or other high level life sustaining properties.

However, in the spirit of Roleplay, we do allow certain restorative Herb usage. We spend a lot of time at roleplay, character personality development and the players love their characters, and the ICE MERP system can be rather ummm... brutal. To rework the healing system would also require a rework of the battle system IMO, and thats a job for those who are better suited than I am.

But I strictly enforce Difficulties for finding Herbs, and in the rare case we need to find a particlar Herb to heal a serious injury, it has always been the object of a quest in it's very own right, which IS a lot of fun. Typically, the healing of a serious, non-lethal injury has always been the domain of either an Item, Herb or the skills of an ancient Elvish Lord from Thranduil's kingdom(in my campaign). In any case, such an injury always derails an ongoing campaign, and itself becomes part of our "story"

In my/our opinion, life and death should be a real issue in Middle Earth, and any Combat, even with low level yub-yubs should not ever be taken lightly. And often times, a non-combative resolution to a problem is always preferred over a bloody conflict. (I give the same amount of EXP whether blood was spilt or not, if the mission was accomplished)

I think that is in keeping with Tolkien's concepts, as it was a reoccuring theme of his where through his characters he often proclaimed that there has been too much blood spilt already...

Does this make sense?

My work is now "refocussing" (to use a d20ism) away from a d20 modification onto a HarnMaster? one. For the HM fans out there, if anyone has any advice on how to go about replacing the six Convocations, do let me know!

• I'd put in loads of time and effort, but couldn't claim the credit for

the final state of these d20 'Unfinished Rules' since I'd shamelessly incorporated some of Vince Schiavoni's and other people's stuff.

• But rather than ditch it all, I will try and brush up the analysis of D&D

magic that was all my own work. Curiously, poring over how D&D does fit M-e (a bit) and doesn't (a lot) was a really valuable exercise in consolidating my sense of what M-e magic does and doesn't allow, more so than other systems that were a better fit to start with...

• If it could be of use to Ea d20, and if other people found it useful,

that would be justification for all the work, even if I never use it with my own group. (These were the b***ers who've only wanted to do D&D 3.0 for the past 2 years and more, but who then started encouraging me to GM whatever system I think is best for the job.)

As far as I'm aware, ICE gets a place in roleplaying history for introducing healing with herbs to get away from the ubiquitous Cure Light Wounds of D&D. Hats off to them for the first move in the right direction.

• Some herbs' descriptions did say "heals instantly", and they tended to be

more expensive as a consequence. Others would describe the time sequence over which points of 'hits' would be regained, but then there was a big gap for how rapidly all the rest worked.

• I first broke with this when someone shattered his spine, and someone

stumped up a herb that would heal shattered bones. I insisted that it would take overnight, and the guys were prepared to be reasonable.

We know that severed body parts cannot be regrown -- that 'Regeneration' spells are únat -- from the example of Maedhros' severed hand. If anyone was going to have access to the top grade of healing magic known to Middle-earth it would be the Noldo-ruling Sons of Feanor.

Beyond that, there are no examples of wounds being miraculously healed before our eyes. But there is precedent for magical healing of sorts.

"The hands of the king are the hands of a healer." – The Steward and the King

Aragorn's 'healing' might be regarded as 'magical', or at least a blend of magic with pharmacy and 'hypnotic' processes. – Letters

[At Glorfindel's touch]? Frodo felt the chill lessen in his side and arm; a little warmth crept from his shoulder to his hand, and the pain grew easier. The dusk of evening seemed to grow lighter around him, as if a cloud had been withdrawn. He saw his friends' faces more clearly again, and a measure of new strength and hope returned. – Flight to the Ford

while Luthien murmuring in the shade the staunching song, that Elvish wives long years had sung in those sad lives of war and weapons, wove o'er him. ~ *Lay of Leithian, HoME? III*

his brow caresses, and softly croons a song more potent than in runes or leeches' lore hath since been writ. ~ *ibid*

And Beren's own description:

but ever a voice that I knew well, like bells, like viols, like harps, like birds, like music moving without words, called me, called me through the night, enchanted drew me back to light! Healed the wound, assuaged the pain!' ~ * ibid*

Luthien is of course half-maia, and the Lay of Leithian arguably more high-magic than the version than comes down to us in The Silmarillion, and even there the phrase "healed the wound" is as likely to be poetic as literally true.

• But pain relief at least does seem possible. It certainly seems to me an

entirely acceptable 'goetic' power. To the extent that pain is partially psychological, even a rousing song from a minstrel might make pain go away.

• In a system like D&D where wounds never cause anything but loss of

abstract hit points, magical healing is perfectly fine! But other systems -- including D&D's 'Vitality and Wound Point' or 'Grim 'n Gritty' options -- will still have the actual physical damage component to account for. I used to house-rule that RM/MERP penalties were half pain and half physical incapacitation; maximum pain relief could therefore halve a broken leg's -40% penalty to -20%, at the risk of exacerbating the wound!

When it comes to real wounds, fëa fans will be delighted to find that the body's own powers of recuperation seem to be more than a base biological process, but to depend on the fëa's power of applying healing energy to the body.

[Elves']? *fëar *were tenacious of life 'in the raiment of Arda', and far excelled the spirits of Men in power over that 'raiment', even from the first days protecting their bodies from many ills and assaults (such as disease), and healing them swiftly of injuries, so that they recovered from wounds that would have proved fatal to Men. – Of Death and the Severance of *Fëa *and *Hröa*, MR* *

And through the weakness of the *fëar *our *hröar *fell into unhealth, and lay open to all evils and disorders of the world. – Athrabeth

So it is not únat for the inherent power of the victim to heal their wounds better and "more swiftly" than biology alone would offer. (To an extent this means that what we tend to quantify by the Consitution stat is the power of the spirit!) And so it becomes reasonable that an infusion with essence/life-force/spirit-energy/fairë either from the touch of a healer, or from a plant of power like athelas with more concentration of it than most flora, or possibly from various magical items, could accelerate the body's ability to heal itself.

• Where you choose to go from there is going to need to be more specific

than the books can inform us on, and plot-requirements are always going to tempt us to skew things one way or another, but Thomas's recommendations seem like a good rule of thumb to me.

Blimey. Everything I know on healing. I feel almost naked now. ;-)

But do please keep on at the rest of the únati so that we can get to the point where we can have a comprehensive list.

I'd like to offer an alternative. Remember that Maedhros' hand was severed moments after he actually suggested to Fingon to kill him. I think if we bear in mind the importance of elven spirit also for their bodies you elaborate on below, emotional "scarring" may well manifest itself in lasting physical damage. I know of one online roleplayer who's played a scarred elven character. Supposedly, as part of his character history, he had been tortured both physically and psychologically, and due to the psychological damage done, the physical damage wouldn't heal fully either. I think that fits pretty well to Tolkien's general ideas, although I agree that regrowing a lost limb would "look" weird.

The other useful part is addiction factor and side effects to help reduce any abuse of many of the herbs. ;-) One thing hasn't been added, but I've been mulling over is interaction of herbs with other drugs. In the "real" world mixing several herbs together that by themselves would be benign, as a "cocktail" can be quite hazardous. I just don't have enough phamacopea knowledge to figure out which ones would act on each other in each way, but I think it would be a nice added level of complexity to herb use, and again reduce the abuse/overuse of them in addition to the "normal" side effects and addiction factors. And I've had the same thing where entire adventures were based on trying to find rare ingredients either to help save a party member, or in the employ of an herbalist, or notable person needing such rare and difficult to acquire flora.

Ah yes... My group was contemplating the old Potion Miscibility rules just two nights ago. But if anything, the historical indicators are that herbal remedies often contained all sorts of stuff (many of them probably not active ingredients, if only an 'experimental apothecary' with expendable patients would ever discover this). That would tend to point away from dangerous combinations.

• But when we're dealing with herbs in a "plants of power" sense rather

than a real-world pharmacological one -- then interference does become more intriguing.

• As if the three or four-dimensional herb tables weren't difficult enough

to present already... (I forget who did all the hard work on spreadsheeting them, but thankyou again; your efforts have been much appreciated!)

And then I think seasonality should often be a real showstopper. "We have to find the fruit of the Splendifera bush for an antidote, or Asbo will die of the poison in his system. Healer?"

• "Uh... Splendifera doesn't come into fruit for another 7 months."

Of course there are options to dry, smoke or otherwise preserve herbs, or to extract their essences to make a powder or a cordial or something. But plot logic suggests that the most potent stuff should be acquired and used fresh, and require some considerable effort to obtain.

• In line with this 'plants of power' scheme I had a super-rare herb called

Vilyana (which may or may not have had a researched Quenya origin; I forget) which only grew in 'places of power' which tend to attract Stuff that makes them adventure locations. Vilyana bestowed positive character levels -- very handy for Fear RRs? against undead, and doubly handy if you get within arm's reach of such monsters' level drain attacks.

• Multiple doses had cumulative effects, until the point -- which I didn't

identify for them -- where a catastrophic overdose could occur, so they all had to gamble on their dosage... It also had to be taken fresh and the effects wore off fast and so they had a race against time to get back to the scene of the undead encounter before the 'buff' effect wore off.

• And I'm delighted to say the animist insisted on them not stripping the

plant bare, but leaving it to regrow for the future.

I confess I've forgotten the ICE definitions of Lifegiving and Lifekeeping. I'd think Lifekeeping was OK for modest periods of time, and Lifegiving might need a reworking to make it more closely match Aragorn's Athelas/Houses of Healing (which had a forerunner in that Lay of Leithian quote, above) and not be doable on the truly dead.

• IIRC, the key was that at the point you were "dead", your soul still lingered for a while in or around the body until departing. Within that period, healing of the injuries could still revive the character. After that, a true resurrection was necessary. Livegiving would be that resurrection, whereas lifekeeping would keep the soul from leaving, thus allowing you more time to take care of the injuries, but that's just from memory, since I don't have access to my books at the moment.

Lifekeeping is preventing the soul of the 'dead' from leaving just yet. Its a great low level spell, and can make a difference in more brutal systems. It gives you time to get the person someplace where they can be helped, or to prevent full death through more normal means. If used before the person technically expires it prevents expiration but results in a coma. Keep in mind that it will time out, and have to be recast, which may tax your animists ability, especially if low level.

Lifegiving returns a departed soul to the body. In my campaign it can be used only on those whose souls are still 'in the area', so there is definately a time limit. Also it requires a patent body, without mortal injury. A person who was run through the heart, or had their brain destroyed is pretty much toast.

I have allowed limb reattachment, but not regeneration. It required a powerful animist, and until just recently it was an NPC. If I didn't all of my PCs? would riding around in wheelchairs, and have hooks instead of hands. They have gone for long periods sans a limb or even two, and even now that they have an animist of noteable level in the party , it will burn most her power points to reattach a limb or two.

Generally we lean heavily on herbs, and I adjust the time to heal based on severity of the injury. A broken bone could be healed with no outside help at all, just time, so I don't see accelerating the time to be a problem. Things like lifegiving, lifekeeping, and limb reattachment are a few steps above. Time won't fix those. So they require more to heal at all, and even more still to heal faster. A couple of times we have had quests to find a special herb, or healing item, and we have had a couple of PCs? who are effectively out of the game convalescing.

We had an interesting instance where a person was killed, and the party had the animist preserve him until they get back to civilization. In the meantime they picked up an npc animist, who picked up the task of doing the preservation. As it turned out he was a bad guy, and wasn't preserving the PC in the way everyone thought. They were quite shocked when the truth was revealed and their dead freind got up suddenly and came after them.

• I tried to pursue the idea that elves heal perfectly without forming scars,

and couldn't find it. I think I might have subconsciously carried it over from another source, like the 'Sindarin', the elves of Harn.

But in so doing, I did find this:

• They were thus capable of far greater and longer physical exertions (in pursuit of some dominant purpose of their minds) without weariness; they were not subject to diseases; they healed rapidly and completely after injuries that would have proved fatal to Men; and they could endure great physical pain for long periods. Their bodies could not, however, survive vital injuries, or violent assaults upon their structure; nor replace missing members (such as a hand hewn off). -- Note 5 (JRRT) to Athrabeth, HoME? X

To say that they healed completely is not to say that they healed perfectly without scarring -- although a GM could rule it that way if it suited their game. If we had examples of the scars of Men being described, it might make it more significant if no scar of an Elf ever is. Examples would be welcome, of course, but I haven't thought to do an exhaustive survey... ;-)

If Elves were to have the power to heal scarlessly, that's not to say that they would always do so. I think the idea of an Elf bearing the scars of some dreadful encounter could be really expressive -- the more so if they chose to keep their scars rather than heal perfectly. But I think would be a sign that the Elf were somewhat lacking in right-mindedness and estel.

Hi guys,

I came up with one additional únat, and discovered yet another.

• No Time Travel*

It is not possible for any matter, energy or spirit to travel back or forwards in time, save by the normal persistence of its nature. Nor is any communion possible across time.

Perception can be extended backwards in time, but not forward.

This could be nifty for Seer characters.

• I like to co-opt the so-called "time-travel" technique Tolkien employed

in The Notion Club Papers into Middle-earth -- as I'm sure he would have done himself if the need or the opportunity arose.

• This was not traditional time-travel at all, but involved casting one's

perception, or 'point of presence' backwards in time either (we must presume) to one's own former experiences, or 'memory-surfing' back in time via the akashic-style memories imprinted on an item. The effect was something close to the psychic power of psychometry or object-reading, and finds the suggestion of canonical support in the memory of the stones of Eregion.

• IIRC, one could even surf via a succession of items that were each in

contact with the last. And might it also be conceivable to work with an alternative focus, such as the words of a composition?

* *

*No Knowledge without a Source*

No mind can know that which is not in it. All knowledge ultimately derives either from experience, previously forgotten or otherwise, deduction and extrapolation from existing knowledge, or from an external source.

This could substantially dump on Seer characters, or at least require a GM and/or player to do some sub-creation of their own to reinterpret everything into line. I, at least, do think incorporating such inconveniences as logically as may be is really worth the effort .

This únat is derived from a direct quote of Pengolodh's in Ósanwë-kenta:

No mind, [Pengolodh]? asserts, knows what is not in it. All that it has experienced is in it, though in the case of the Incarnate, dependent upon the instruments of the *hröa*, some things may be "forgotten", not immediately available for recollection. But no part of the "future" is there, for the mind cannot see it or have seen it: that is, a mind placed in time. Such a mind can learn of the future only from another mind which has seen it. But that means only from Eru ultimately, or mediately from some mind that has seen in Eru some part of His purpose (such as the Ainur who are now the Valar in Eä). An Incarnate can thus only know anything of the future, by instruction derived from the Valar, or by a revelation coming direct from Eru. But any mind, whether of the Valar or of the Incarnate, may deduce by reason what will or may come to pass. This is not *foresight*, not though it may be clearer in terms and indeed even more accurate than glimpses of foresight. Not even if it is formed into visions seen in dream, which is a means whereby "foresight' also is frequently presented to the mind.

Minds that have great knowledge of the past, the present, and the nature of Eä may predict with great accuracy, and the nearer the future the clearer (saving always the freedom of Eru). Much therefore of what is called "foresight" in careless speech is only the deduction of the wise; and if it be received, as warning or instruction, from the Valar, it may be only deduction of the wiser, though it may sometimes be "foresight" at second hand. – *Ósanwe-kenta*

I also added to my original document of this the clarification (under No Creation or Destruction):*

• 'Destroyed' spirits are merely reduced to permanent impotence.*

And to include this here for maximum comprehensiveness: JRRT also notes in MR that a **fëa cannot be absorbed or subsumed into another one. What was he reading if he felt the need to state that?!

• It might be of relevance to considerations of Necromancy and the powers

of the undead that whatever the theft or consumption of 'life-essence' might seem to be -- however stripped bare, crippled and impotent it might be rendered -- a soul does always retain its existence and individuality. (Much good will that do it!)

It might have been beyond the scope of that article, but would you share my opinion that the Palantiri were -- in a way like the Rings of Power -- primarily magifiers of the inherent powers of the user?

• We know that mind-speech: projecting thoughts independent of language,

and also the projection images into the mind was possible at least to the Great (for all that Tolkien seems to have decided on this for mind-speech late in the writing of LOTR). And we know that powers such as these that were achievable to the Elves were also conceivable for Men, even if they were only ever unrealised latencies unless magnified in some way...

• Individual GMs? can choose how much of that is allowable in their games,

but JRRT did have even hobbits as valid recipients of true dreams, flashes of uncanny insight etc. (their powerful friends and centrality to the greatest plotline in M-e notwithstanding).

It seems to me that* níratië *might be one example from a naming scheme for different branches or specialties of magic. I've found a few online but never recorded them.

• Can I invite those who've created or otherwise found such schemes might

post them in for collation and discussion?