Inspiration

"I would draw some of the great tales in fullness,
and leave many only placed in the scheme, and sketched.
The cycles should be linked to a majestic whole,
and yet leave scope for OTHER MINDS and hands,
wielding paint and music and drama..."
- John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, from a letter written to Milton Waldman, ca. 1951

Goal 

           The purpose of this publication is to provide Tolkien-related content of interest to Tolkien enthusiasts of all kinds and more specifically, information usable by those who love to use role playing games to enjoy the many facets of J.R.R. Tolkien's imaginary universe containing Middle-earth, Numenor, Endor, Arda and all of Eä, using whatever game system they desire.

Community

This is a community created and focused publication. The Tolkien gaming community runs this series,  geared initially for quarterly releases. Eventually we are hoping to have a monthly release cycle.
The zine is revised online, and released as downloads in PDF (or other Formats).  This is  a NON-COMMERCIAL endeavor, provided by many volunteers world-wide with professional, academic and amateur backgrounds.

Absolutely NO fees will be collected, nor paid for content or publication, however full recognition will be given.

Content

The publication receives content submissions from contributors of essays, maps, artwork, music, modules, source materials, email-based list discussions, wiki pages, web-based discussion boards, web pages, and other sources. Then organized into a magazine format suitable for public release. The first issue will have a limited print run available, but the primary format will be released as PDF. This will be initially be a quarterly publication, with plans down the road to increase it to bi-monthly, and eventually monthly releases.

    The following content types are welcomed (and we're open to others if you have suggestions):

• Essays
• Maps (original)
• Artwork (original)
• Music (original)
• Adventure "modules"
• Campaign "modules"
• Source materials
• Conversions (between or for Tolkien related game systems)
• Reviews
• Letters to the editor
• Event announcements
• Product announcements (Tolkien and Tolkien rpging related)
• Gamers wanted requests (must be Tolkien related)
• GM's wanted requests (must be Tolkien related)

    The hope is to try to fill in the gaps left by the loss of Other Hands, ICE Quarterly (MERPS section), and other paper-based as well as electronic publications that have come and gone over the years, that helped contribute to the role playing gaming community focused on gamers who love to play in Middle-earth and it's environs. Other Minds Magazine additionally fills in the voids that have NOT been filled by either the "Tolkien Purist" zines, the company-biased or game-system-specific zines.
    This magazine will be completely system-neutral. That means some content will not have any game system mechanics, while other submissions may support specific, or a multitude of systems. This publication will accept submissions for any system used to game in J.R.R. Tolkien's Middle-earth. These systems may include (but by no means be limited to):

• Decipher Lord of the Rings Role Playing Game
• Iron Crown Enterprises Middle-earth Role Playing Game
• d20/D&D (Dungeons & Dragons) adaptations to Middle-earth
• Ambarquenta
• Hitherlands
• Harnmaster (adapted)
• ICE HARP or Rolemaster (Adapted)
• Runequest (adapted)

Not all content must be game system oriented, but it should have some relevance and usefulness to players or game masters in understanding Tolkien's world, to better their role playing experience therein. This means the zine will be of value not only to
role playing gamers, but also to Tolkien fans and enthusiasts in general who do not role play, however rpging in Tolkien's world will continue to be the primary focused goal.

DEADLINES

We are eager for your submissions, to be added to the current content we have received, to "fill up the spaces". Whether you want to write something completely new or you have some essay, adventure or whatever else ready (or almost ready) for publication or review: Do not hesitate to send it to us, so that it might be brought to a wider audience.

The deadlines are as follows (all times UTC) for Issue #5:

• Submissions proposals must be received by Tuesday, October 7th.
• Submission initial drafts must be received by Saturday, October 11th
  
• Submission final drafts must be received by Sunday, October 19th.
  
• First issue - Public PDF - November 1st, 2008
  

Please email your submissions (and any questions) to othermindsmagazine at gmail dot com

Please send your submissions in either Open Office (Writer & Sheet) or MS Office (Word or Excel) formats for text-based submissions (do not send as PDF because we need to be able to reformat the content to fit the magazine layout). For map and art submissions, please only send in standard PNG, GIF or JPEG format (not TIFF, PSD, or other formats please). Resolution must be at leas 300 dpi, but no greater than 600 dpi.