David Wesely: The Man Who Accidentally Invented RPGs

W

Wofano Wotanto

Hero
We did something very much like Clay-O-Rama years before it appeared in all its glory in Dragon 125, right down to the number of legs being the basis for a figure's movement (measured in units of "one unsharpened pencil" IIRC). That was in grade school art class. Never wrote down anything though, so it was a little different every time. Oral traditions at work.

But that was a minis game, and I suppose the first one I ever played now that I think about it.
 

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pawsplay

pawsplay

Hero
The difference between playing pretend and an RPG is "the system decides." The system can be literally anything, but there is some formal method whereby potentially conflicting events in the narrative are resolved. It has to be something more formal than social clout; bullying is not a resolution system that decides anything, it simply postpones a proper resolution until the next bully gets involved.
 

W

Wofano Wotanto

Hero
pawsplay said:
The system can be literally anything, but there is some formal method whereby potentially conflicting events in the narrative are resolved. It has to be something more formal than social clout; bullying is not a resolution system that decides anything, it simply postpones a proper resolution until the next bully gets involved.
Click to expand...
You mean like rock-paper-scissors or card draws? Those are systems that produce resolutions, and some kids have been using them since time immemorial for deciding whose version of fiction is in effect.

If it didn't produce draws so often tic-tac-toe would probably be viable too, and I know we'd have been flipping coins as kids if A) we'd have had coins in our pockets more often and B) coins weren't as bad an idea as dice when playing outdoors.
 


MGibster

MGibster

Legend
Whizbang Dustyboots said:
I'm pretty sure every child independently invented RPGs, going back to before recorded history.
Click to expand...
I remember my brother and I made our own Amber game based on the stories by Roger Zelazny. We took on the role of royal brothers and sisters as we vied against one another in a teacherous game of intrigue and betrayal. I wonder if they'll ever find where I buried him?
 





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