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Whatever Happened to D&D's Underdog?
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<blockquote data-quote="talien" data-source="post: 7735039" data-attributes="member: 3285"><p>Well, I was talking specifically about Appendix N, which Gygax used in AD&D, so to speculate before that definitely changes the discussion. </p><p></p><p>I think Gygax modeled D&D after the Fighting-Man first and foremost (modeled after heroes and superheroes in Chainmail, which in turn was drawn from heroes like Conan), which is why everyone else was comparatively weaker -- and if I remember correctly, the only other form of 0-level character was a "0-level fighter." In other words, in comparison to a fighter type, EVERYONE was weaker and that was modeled in the other classes. By the time we get to AD&D, we finally had the knight archetype -- a character that in fiction can often come from lowly squire roots -- but to replicate that fighter-to-weakling ratio, Gygax created a 0-level progression in the cavalier class (and oh yeah, the cavalier had d12 hit dice then!). AD&D's power levels had expanded considerably by then. I definitely agree that playing a wizard may not feel much like being a capable hero, but casting his one shot sleep spell and leaving the dungeon afterward was a tactic we used frequently, and is still more of an option than a 0-level fighter had at his disposal.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="talien, post: 7735039, member: 3285"] Well, I was talking specifically about Appendix N, which Gygax used in AD&D, so to speculate before that definitely changes the discussion. I think Gygax modeled D&D after the Fighting-Man first and foremost (modeled after heroes and superheroes in Chainmail, which in turn was drawn from heroes like Conan), which is why everyone else was comparatively weaker -- and if I remember correctly, the only other form of 0-level character was a "0-level fighter." In other words, in comparison to a fighter type, EVERYONE was weaker and that was modeled in the other classes. By the time we get to AD&D, we finally had the knight archetype -- a character that in fiction can often come from lowly squire roots -- but to replicate that fighter-to-weakling ratio, Gygax created a 0-level progression in the cavalier class (and oh yeah, the cavalier had d12 hit dice then!). AD&D's power levels had expanded considerably by then. I definitely agree that playing a wizard may not feel much like being a capable hero, but casting his one shot sleep spell and leaving the dungeon afterward was a tactic we used frequently, and is still more of an option than a 0-level fighter had at his disposal. [/QUOTE]
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