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<blockquote data-quote="ArmoredSaint" data-source="post: 6030457" data-attributes="member: 54539"><p>I think you should read the "Loyal Readers" section of Dragon Magazine #67 from November 1982. Gary Gygax pretty much all but comes out and says that D&D's default cultural template and set of assumptions is essentially European medieval fantasy.</p><p></p><p>He mentions that he intended to move the monk class to an appendix and states that adding a samurai class would be "<em>compounding error</em>" and that such classes belong in "<em>an Oriental-based game.</em>" He believed that non-European Medieval themed classes and their associated trappings (notably, he mentions arms and armour) should be saved for "<em>...another version of the AD&D game system which is based on Sino-Japanese culture."</em> He even goes so far as to call for "special rules" for when Eastern and Western cultures encounter one another. Clearly, the game's creator intended for the game to feature a firm boundary between East & West. </p><p></p><p>So, yeah: default D&D <strong><em>was</em></strong>--at least in the mind of its creator--based on Medieval Europe, and he makes it pretty plain in the article mentioned above. </p><p></p><p>Now, mind you, I'm <em>not</em> arguing that it still <em>should be</em> based on Medieval Europe anymore, but let's be honest with ourselves--the game <em>did</em> have a heavy Euro-Medieval flavor in its early years.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="ArmoredSaint, post: 6030457, member: 54539"] I think you should read the "Loyal Readers" section of Dragon Magazine #67 from November 1982. Gary Gygax pretty much all but comes out and says that D&D's default cultural template and set of assumptions is essentially European medieval fantasy. He mentions that he intended to move the monk class to an appendix and states that adding a samurai class would be "[I]compounding error[/I]" and that such classes belong in "[I]an Oriental-based game.[/I]" He believed that non-European Medieval themed classes and their associated trappings (notably, he mentions arms and armour) should be saved for "[I]...another version of the AD&D game system which is based on Sino-Japanese culture."[/I] He even goes so far as to call for "special rules" for when Eastern and Western cultures encounter one another. Clearly, the game's creator intended for the game to feature a firm boundary between East & West. So, yeah: default D&D [B][I]was[/I][/B]--at least in the mind of its creator--based on Medieval Europe, and he makes it pretty plain in the article mentioned above. Now, mind you, I'm [I]not[/I] arguing that it still [I]should be[/I] based on Medieval Europe anymore, but let's be honest with ourselves--the game [I]did[/I] have a heavy Euro-Medieval flavor in its early years. [/QUOTE]
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