Other Minds Magazine is "The unofficial, International Role Playing Gaming
magazine dedicated to exploring J.R.R. Tolkien's Middle-earth and beyond."

This magazine takes a scholarly approach to much of it's work, so much of the
content will be of value to Tolkien enthusiasts of all kinds, not just
Tolkien role playing gamers.

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 as a mode of creation and creative expression.


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.

This magazine is published under the GFDL (Gnu Free Documentation License),
most articles are also under this, though "normal" copyright is allowed for
those authors who prefer it over the GFDL "copyleft" approach.
http://www.gnu.org/licenses/fdl.html

Content

The first issue has the following topics:

* "Here We Are!"
* "The Acroteriasm of Other Hands"
* "The Battle Over Role Playing Gaming"
* "Mapping Arda"
* "Of Barrow-wights"
* "Magic in Middle-earth"
* "Thoughts on Imladris"
* "Maps of Arda" (mapping the entire world of Arda, not just Middle-earth)

The finished PDF was first released privately to all staff and contributors to
the magazine (around 20 people worldwide).

Then on July 27th at MerpCon III (http://www.merpcon.org) a limited fully
printed and high quality 8"x10" bound version was distributed to all
convention attendees and reviewers.

On August 1st, the PDF was made publicly available to all.

The next issue will be available on February 1st, 2008 as a PDF-only release.
It's theme-based topic will be "Numenor".

Issue #3 will be released at MerpCon IV in print, then on August 1st as PDF to
the public.

After August 1st 2008, the magazine will be on a quarterly cycle, with special
limited-edition printed releases available at each MerpCon event.

Please send all submissions and related requests to:
submissions@omzine.org

Submissions of all kinds are welcomed, including but not necessarily limited
to:
    * 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.

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.

    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.


Please send your submissions for text-based content as plain text (.txt), or
if formatting is a concern (embedded maps/references, etc.) send either as
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), but please only
use "standard" fonts. For map and art submissions, please only send in
standard PNG, or JPEG format (not GIF, TIFF, PSD, or other formats please).
Resolution must be at least 300 dpi, but no greater than 600 dpi.

Artwork is very much needed for every issue, so please do not be shy about
sending your submissions for consideration.

The deadline for all submissions for Issue #2 is December 31st, 2007.

The deadline for all submissions for issue #3 is June 30th, 2008.

Download the latest issue as a free pdf at:

http://othermindsmagazine.com/Other-Minds-Magazine-Issue-01

--
Other Minds Volunteer Staff