Let's Take Another Look At That One Ring 2E Cover

Last week the cover of the upcoming The One Ring 2E was revealed by Cubicle 7. But that's only half the picture. Cubicle 7 has released the full art piece by Johan Grenier!

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While Gandalf was clearly one of the characters depicted, many people wondered who the others were. According to Cubicle 7 "The cover scene is titled “The Coming of Boldog” and depicts Gandalf along with our iconic party — a Hobbit of the Shire, a Beorning, a Dwarf of the Lonely Mountain, an Elf of Mirkwood, a Rider of Rohan, and a Man of Minas Tirith — fleeing from a horde of orcs and a terrifying cave troll. “The Coming of Boldog” will be a free adventure that will be released alongside the core rules so that you and your Company can begin your adventures straight away."

 

[Necrothesp]

Not only that, but a female dwarf in Middle Earth is often mistaken for a male, since all dwarves have beards.

Tolkien never actually wrote this. Gimli says they are similar to male dwarves. He never says they have beards. That was Gary Gygax (who wrote that many have beards) and Aragorn in the films.

 

[Arilyn]

Player characters aren't canon, by definition. That's how RPGs work. Your character in a Star Trek RPG isn't canon, either.

Exactly.

Role playing games based on other properties, such as Lord of the Rings, Conan or Star Wars always expand the original setting. We are letting players loose on these worlds, after all. I mean just look what's been done to the Cthuluhu mythos! To do otherwise would be far too constraining. And does it matter that much? We're not making movies, the stories told are rarely going beyond our tables.

 

[ilsundal]

Tolkien never actually wrote this. Gimli says they are similar to male dwarves. He never says they have beards. That was Gary Gygax (who wrote that many have beards) and Aragorn in the films.

Mmm... Actually Tolkien kind of did (strongly) imply that all dwarves, including dwarf woman, have a beard. Check here.

In my view, Cubicle7 is making a mistake showing a female dwarf without a beard on their front over. I mean... why do they do it? What's the point? If the point is to show that anything is possible in Tolkien's world (in their RPG), then, sure, fine, we get it. Can I also play a good-natured ring-wraith then? A balrog in a bikini? Of course, some people might like such silliness, and many settings encourage such, and some GMs love such in their own games set in Middle-Earth, but to most people, me included, Tolkien's world isn't like that. Its highly consistent. That's one of the things I love about it.

Oh, and I think we can all safely agree that PCs (and DM creations) are not canon, but that's not the point here. The point is that a good front cover image of any setting should be (very) representative of that setting. For Tolkien's middle-earth, a dwarf woman without a beard isn't.

Anyway...

 

[Enevhar Aldarion]

They have also revealed the 8th of the 11 playable cultures, the long-requested Rangers of the North, and this iconic is male. I think if they had made the Ranger female, there would have been an even bigger fuss than the "visibly female" dwarf has caused. The Ranger is the one class/culture from Middle-Earth that I just cannot think of any way to legitimately be female and still be at least close to lore/canon. And that is not me being anti anything, I just cannot think of a way a female character could be a Ranger with the capital R.

 

[Necrothesp]

They have also revealed the 8th of the 11 playable cultures, the long-requested Rangers of the North, and this iconic is male. I think if they had made the Ranger female, there would have been an even bigger fuss than the "visibly female" dwarf has caused. The Ranger is the one class/culture from Middle-Earth that I just cannot think of any way to legitimately be female and still be at least close to lore/canon. And that is not me being anti anything, I just cannot think of a way a female character could be a Ranger with the capital R.

Not sure I see why. Only two Rangers are named in the LotR: Aragorn and Halbarad. They're both male, of course. But does it say anywhere that all Rangers are male? But let's face it, even if it did, Tolkien was writing at a time when women weren't expected to fill 'warrior' roles. Éowyn was clearly supposed to be highly unusual, and was of course forbidden to ride to war anyway, even though she was trained for it. I think we have to take Tolkien's own times into account when we consider whether things are 'canon', otherwise we're in danger of ruling out female adventurers pretty much entirely.

 

[Necrothesp]

Mmm... Actually Tolkien kind of did (strongly) imply that all dwarves, including dwarf woman, have a beard. Check here.

I stand corrected. I was only going by the published works, not by the collected musings. It's always struck me as immensely silly that female dwarves have beards. It's even more silly that all dwarves have beards from the day they're born! But if that's what he wrote...

 

[MartyW]

A female dwarf adventurer in Tolkien’s universe? No thank you. Too much against canon for me.

Seriously? What canon would that be against? Show me some quotes where it says women Dwarfs don't fight.

Yes, the Hobbit had no female dwarfs in the company, but there is no mention of the make-up of Dain's forces. The Fellowship only had the one Dwarf.

So, your sample size is... two novels?

In my view, Cubicle7 is making a mistake showing a female dwarf without a beard on their front over.

Who TF cares? Clearly, you were never intending to buy this book or you wouldn't be trolling about the stupid f-ing Dwarf beards. This is exactly why women say gamers have a problem with misogyny.

 

[BookBarbarian]

Another great piece of artwork for Cubicle7's LotR games.

I love the art in AiME.

 

[Mark Hope]

Maybe the dwarf shaved her beard for the day. No chin-shaming!

 

[BookBarbarian]

Maybe the dwarf shaved her beard for the day. No chin-shaming!

She probably lost it in battle.