I have been thinking a lot lately about the way our characters play us in games like this. “Wait, I think you meant to say that the other way around,” you may say. But no. I mean, how does it change our experience of the world to play a female Hobbit Guardian versus a male Elven Lore-Master? It may be the same person sitting in the chair on Earth, but it’s a completely different character in Middle-Earth.

So, what does it mean to be a Lore-master?

I know I’m no master of lore. Middle-Earth has a rich history told in a collection of near-religious texts. It exists outside of the game, outside of the films, outside even the original trilogy + The Hobbit. To truly master the lore of Middle-Earth, one would have to know all of this information plus even a language no one speaks natively on our planet. Since I do not know these things, creating a Lore-Master in the beginning felt somewhat like a lie.

Of course, there are arguments that Lore-masters themselves are against lore. I won’t go into it, but I recall the heated conversations from early in the game’s history. There is a notion that lore exists on its own and is unchangeable. It is objective and true. One cannot fiddle with it at whim. And yet, like all truth I know of, it’s up for debate. It has holes and room for interpretation. In this more fluid idea of lore, how do we become a master of it or even define it as it is.

So, here you are, a new Lore-Master perhaps feeling a little daunted now about what exactly you’re supposed to know. But don’t worry, your LM will unveil to you as you go what exactly she knows. For example, I really think this class is more of a nature class than anything else. We have control over some animals (until they decide to aggro nearby mobs seemingly with no reason). We know how to make explosives out of gourds (it’s only magic if you don’t understand the science). We have some ability to bend light in such a way it blinds/stuns our enemies (I like to think of us carrying a little Newtonian prism). We have karate-chop abilities with our staff that do not just break a board, but rather crack the ground beneath our feet (Hiiii-ya!). I didn’t know that when I started, but that’s what my character has shown herself to be.

Actually, this makes the class sound like some steampunk collection of awesome. I’m pretty okay with that. Now they just need to add some steampunk cosmetic items and we’ll be set.

Back to serious talk. If I’m a Lore-Master who knows little about the lore of Middle- Earth, what kind of charade am I playing at? Even my character doesn’t seem to know that much about “true” lore. She knows nature and science, not the annals of the Kings of Gondor. My LM is a Scholar by trade, but this mostly means she knows how to mix potions and dyes from herbs. Again with the nature and science. Sure, she carries a big book around, but she uses her knowledge for practical purposes. Practical + Lore-master?

Personally, I tend to think of my LM as someone who learned all her science from big books somewhere. My house is full of bookshelves. Still, it’s not the lore we normally think of when speaking of Middle-Earth. I’m playing a pyromaniac, a self-made scientist, a tree-hugging animal-lover — or rather, she’s who is playing me. I know I didn’t start out thinking of her that way, but that’s part of the fun of being someone else in an imaginary world. They become who they are and we just follow along for the ride.