Old Dungeons & Dragons Philosophy
"On the other hand, we are not loathe to answer your questions, but why have us do any more of your imagining for you?" -- Gary Gygax, from the afterward in the original Dungeons & Dragons box set (1973)
This is such a change from what has come since, where the rules must be codified and interpretation is frowned upon. Even Gary himself preferred this route as time wore on, in order to have a standard version of Dungeons & Dragons that could be used in tournaments. I'm going back toward the original philosophy, where only the slimmest framework is provided for you, and you are not only free, but encouraged, to create most of the game yourself.
Change started in the early 80's, when Advanced Dungeons & Dragons and the basic Dungeons & Dragons sets were seperate and co-existed. Gary wrote a contraversial article in Dragon Magazine, calling for the standardization of AD&D rules, saying that basic D&D would provide more free-wheeling gaming.
"As the creator and ultimate authority in your respective game, this work is written as one Dungeon Master to another. Pronouncements there may be, but they are not from "on high" as respects your game. Dictums are given for the sake of the game only, for if Advanced Dungeons & Dragons is to survive and grow, it must have some degree of uniformity, a familiarity of method and procedure from campaign to campaign within the whole. Advanced D&D is more than a framework around which individual DMs construct their respective millieux. It is above all a set of boundaries for all of the "worlds" devised by referees everywhere. These boundaries are broad and spacious, and there are numerous areas where they are so vague and amorphous as to make them nearly nonexistent, but they are there nonetheless.
"When you build your campaign you will tailor it to suit your personal tastes. In the heat of play it will slowly evolve into a compound of your personality and those of your better participants, a superior alloy. And as long as your campaign remains viable, it will continue a slow process of change and growth. In this lies a great danger, however. The systems and parameters contained in the whole of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons are based on a great deal of knowledge, experience gained through discussion, play, testing, questioning, and (hopefully) personal insight.
"... Returning to the framework aspect of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, what is aimed at is a "universe" into which similar campaigns and parallel worlds can be placed. With certain uniformity of systems and "laws", players will be able to move from one campaign to another and know at least the elemental principles which govern the new millieux, for all millieux will have certain (but not necessarily the same) laws in common. Character races and classes will be nearly the same. Character ability scores will have the identical meaning -- or nearly so. Magic spells will function in a certain manner regardless of which world the player is functioning in. Magic devices will certainly vary, but their principles will be similar. This uniformity will help not only players, it will enable DMs to carry on a meaningful dialogue and exchange of useful information. It might also lead to grand tournaments wherein persons from any part of the U.S., or the world for that matter, can compete for accolades." -- Gary Gygax, from the preface to the Dungeon Masters Guide (1979)
I really am coming to prefer this earlier attitude, where the dungeon master is ultimately the creator of the game. In the early 80's, Gary Gygax started printing information on his own Greyhawk campaign, though he was sort of mystified that people would be itnerested in it. In the mid-80's, TSR experimented with a new type of world, creating Dragonlance, a series of adventure modules that tied into some novels, and ultimately became a game world. After Gary Gygax was ousted from TSR, TSR replaced Greyhawk with The Forgotten Realms as their primary pre-created campaign world, which its creator, Ed Greenwood, had been writing about in articles in Dragon Magazine for quite some time. Now it's considered unusual to create your own world.
A quote from Katherine Kerr, regarding using pre-made campaign worlds: "When it comes to RPGs, I can speak as a gamer -- it's a lot mroe fun to make up your own world and more efficient, too. If you've drawn the map, you know what's on it, so you don't have to keep looking through your notes all the time. I always disliked purchased game modules for the same reason, though I'd use the maps out of them and change everything else."
In the 80's, it seemed that things were changing. Intead of generic toy dinosaurs and army guys, we were starting to play with toys that had names and often-complex stories. I wonder if this set the groundwork for today's glut of uncreative movies: the trinity of remakes, "reboots", and sequels.
This is such a change from what has come since, where the rules must be codified and interpretation is frowned upon. Even Gary himself preferred this route as time wore on, in order to have a standard version of Dungeons & Dragons that could be used in tournaments. I'm going back toward the original philosophy, where only the slimmest framework is provided for you, and you are not only free, but encouraged, to create most of the game yourself.
Change started in the early 80's, when Advanced Dungeons & Dragons and the basic Dungeons & Dragons sets were seperate and co-existed. Gary wrote a contraversial article in Dragon Magazine, calling for the standardization of AD&D rules, saying that basic D&D would provide more free-wheeling gaming.
"As the creator and ultimate authority in your respective game, this work is written as one Dungeon Master to another. Pronouncements there may be, but they are not from "on high" as respects your game. Dictums are given for the sake of the game only, for if Advanced Dungeons & Dragons is to survive and grow, it must have some degree of uniformity, a familiarity of method and procedure from campaign to campaign within the whole. Advanced D&D is more than a framework around which individual DMs construct their respective millieux. It is above all a set of boundaries for all of the "worlds" devised by referees everywhere. These boundaries are broad and spacious, and there are numerous areas where they are so vague and amorphous as to make them nearly nonexistent, but they are there nonetheless.
"When you build your campaign you will tailor it to suit your personal tastes. In the heat of play it will slowly evolve into a compound of your personality and those of your better participants, a superior alloy. And as long as your campaign remains viable, it will continue a slow process of change and growth. In this lies a great danger, however. The systems and parameters contained in the whole of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons are based on a great deal of knowledge, experience gained through discussion, play, testing, questioning, and (hopefully) personal insight.
"... Returning to the framework aspect of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, what is aimed at is a "universe" into which similar campaigns and parallel worlds can be placed. With certain uniformity of systems and "laws", players will be able to move from one campaign to another and know at least the elemental principles which govern the new millieux, for all millieux will have certain (but not necessarily the same) laws in common. Character races and classes will be nearly the same. Character ability scores will have the identical meaning -- or nearly so. Magic spells will function in a certain manner regardless of which world the player is functioning in. Magic devices will certainly vary, but their principles will be similar. This uniformity will help not only players, it will enable DMs to carry on a meaningful dialogue and exchange of useful information. It might also lead to grand tournaments wherein persons from any part of the U.S., or the world for that matter, can compete for accolades." -- Gary Gygax, from the preface to the Dungeon Masters Guide (1979)
I really am coming to prefer this earlier attitude, where the dungeon master is ultimately the creator of the game. In the early 80's, Gary Gygax started printing information on his own Greyhawk campaign, though he was sort of mystified that people would be itnerested in it. In the mid-80's, TSR experimented with a new type of world, creating Dragonlance, a series of adventure modules that tied into some novels, and ultimately became a game world. After Gary Gygax was ousted from TSR, TSR replaced Greyhawk with The Forgotten Realms as their primary pre-created campaign world, which its creator, Ed Greenwood, had been writing about in articles in Dragon Magazine for quite some time. Now it's considered unusual to create your own world.
A quote from Katherine Kerr, regarding using pre-made campaign worlds: "When it comes to RPGs, I can speak as a gamer -- it's a lot mroe fun to make up your own world and more efficient, too. If you've drawn the map, you know what's on it, so you don't have to keep looking through your notes all the time. I always disliked purchased game modules for the same reason, though I'd use the maps out of them and change everything else."
In the 80's, it seemed that things were changing. Intead of generic toy dinosaurs and army guys, we were starting to play with toys that had names and often-complex stories. I wonder if this set the groundwork for today's glut of uncreative movies: the trinity of remakes, "reboots", and sequels.