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D&D as a Game- On the Origin of Hit Points and Start of the Meat Debate
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<blockquote data-quote="Snarf Zagyg" data-source="post: 9226627" data-attributes="member: 7023840"><p>I draw a slightly different conclusion. Mind you, I'm not saying that I'm correct! But when I read what he says, I keep thinking, <em>Thou dost protest too much</em>.</p><p></p><p>I look at this way- Gygax's approach has certainly been validated by history. The increasing hit points (the gamification) as you level made combat fun and more predictable, and it's understandable why so many games (esp. videogames) adopted it.</p><p></p><p>....and yet. Gygax was a wargamer, and I think that it must have bugged him a little. You can't help but see all these references within the rules that seem to take "hit points" as a reference to "meat" (from the various curing spells, to the time to recover hit points, to constitution bonuses, and so on). When I read these passages, I read them not as a grand philosophy, but more of they typical Gygaxian "justification." He's trying so hard to square the circle and have it make sense, when he could have just as easily have said, "The game is supposed to be fun. This is fun. And you know it's fun!" Those words aren't meant for us; they're meant for him. And for Arneson.</p><p></p><p>In other words, "This is the way it is. Suck it, Arneson."</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Snarf Zagyg, post: 9226627, member: 7023840"] I draw a slightly different conclusion. Mind you, I'm not saying that I'm correct! But when I read what he says, I keep thinking, [I]Thou dost protest too much[/I]. I look at this way- Gygax's approach has certainly been validated by history. The increasing hit points (the gamification) as you level made combat fun and more predictable, and it's understandable why so many games (esp. videogames) adopted it. ....and yet. Gygax was a wargamer, and I think that it must have bugged him a little. You can't help but see all these references within the rules that seem to take "hit points" as a reference to "meat" (from the various curing spells, to the time to recover hit points, to constitution bonuses, and so on). When I read these passages, I read them not as a grand philosophy, but more of they typical Gygaxian "justification." He's trying so hard to square the circle and have it make sense, when he could have just as easily have said, "The game is supposed to be fun. This is fun. And you know it's fun!" Those words aren't meant for us; they're meant for him. And for Arneson. In other words, "This is the way it is. Suck it, Arneson." [/QUOTE]
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D&D as a Game- On the Origin of Hit Points and Start of the Meat Debate
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