Muckraker Wars ?

From: Andrew Barton <AndrewBarton_at_...>
Date: Thu, 21 Feb 2002 18:24:42 -0500

> You mean that "Scratch Armpit" ; "Spot Vermin in Cabbage Patch" ;
"Remove Filth from Footwear" ; "Spread Ugly Gossip" ;
"Unnatural Practices in the Barnyard" ; "Hide Tubers" ;
"Scratch Groin" ; "Imperial Subsidies Knowledge" ;
"Spread Foot & Hoof" ; "Speak Incomprehensible Dialect" ;
"Ge'off Moy Laaaaand" ; "Ranged Combat (Shoot Rambler)" ;
"Follower (Vicious Hound 5W)" ; "Smell of Fertilizer"
_aren't_ good "farmer campaign" abilities, as I was thinking ?

Farmer Maggot in chapter 4 of 'Lord of the Rings' uses at least two of these abilities to see off a Black Rider - and if his Relationship to Frodo had been lower, the book might never have got to chapter 5. A farmer NPC may well belong in a heroic campaign and a past episode of mushroom stealing can have epic consequences.

The film leaves out nearly all these incidental characters. You can see why it has to, but it means the story loses a lot of its power.

Andrew