D&D General Why grognards still matter

[SkidAce]

Certainly, sir. And of course (as I tired to make clear), the categorizations are just a bit of fun and rather silly.

I mean, I think Luke Gygax is chronologically Master level, but gets honorary Grandmastery. I suppose anyone who was playing D&D before the AD&D books game out probably gets membership.

But more seriously, I think there is a generational difference between those who were cognizant while early D&D was developing and those, like myself, who caught the wave of the early 80s boom when there was already an established tradition of D&D.

Or to put it another way, if you had this you're definitely a Grandmaster:

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If you had this, you're on the cusp but probably still a Grandmaster:

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If this is Tomb of Horrors to you, then you're a Master:

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If it is this, then you're an Expert:

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If it is this, you're an Apprentice or Novice:

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Agewise I am Grandmaster, but otherwise I stand between Grand and Master.

Just like I stand between two generations.

 

[Mercurius]

I disagree with your definition. Grognard is not an insult.

Re: my sig.

I sort of see it like the older D&D players version of slurs that have been reclaimed and are used in a humorous, self-mocking sort of way.

But I guess I don't take such matters as seriously as some do.

 

[Sorcerers Apprentice]

Maybe the real grognards were the friends we made along the way!

 

[The Soloist]

Wotc loves me because I always switched to their newest edition. Wotc hates me because I don’t buy their stuff after the three core books. I’m confortable with our love/hate relationship.

I turned 60 last thursday, and I’m definitively not a grognard. I don’t have sacred cows. I don’t feel betrayed or insulted with changes they make.

 

[GobHag]

Repeated: I use grognared only in the most derisive way imaginable, I have not an iota of respect when I use the term

 

[Bae'zel]

Repeated: I use grognared only in the most derisive way imaginable, I have not an iota of respect when I use the term

I’m kind of in the same boat.

To be clear, having a preference for older games is totally fine. Nostalgia is a thing that affects us all.

It’s the people who are not only preferring the older games, but older mentality too. I associate this with reactionary, antisocial behaviours with certain political, religious and social stances that are not compatible with mine.

To each their own, but the term is not a positive one to my peers and I.

 

[GobHag]

I also don't like older designs.

 

[Bedrockgames]

It is weird how me saying "we're still at the table" is translated as me "insisting" that grognards matter more than younger players. In actuality, if anything what I'm saying is that younger players are central, but older players aren't dead and buried and still have a not-insignificant market share. Craziness, I tell you!

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I think it boils down to people don’t like being dismissed as grognards. No one likes being dismissed with a label. I am not invested in us mattering but I do admit when someone just calls me a grognards or use similarly dismissive rhetoric because I like and dislike different things than they do in a game, it is a bit annoying. So I think the grognard still matter thing is basically people my age and older saying ‘hey we still play, we still buy the books, this hobby doesn’t belong to any one generation’. Dungeon craft had a video on this topic I believe

 

[Sacrosanct]

Do grognards still matter? Yes, because they are the ones running D&D. People seem to forget or ignore that Chris and Jeremy and others all played AD&D back when it was current. So by the definitions given in the OP, master grogs are in control of D&D. Which in turn means it's super weird for people to argue that WotC has given up on or doesn't care about grognards.

Or is this "You're one of us until you do something we don't agree with" type of definitions?

 

[jasper]

painful post isn't it. Don't feel bad I"m only a year away from Grandmaster Grognard, except for playing with Gary I meet all the other requirements. Hopefully they have a Gamers nursing home for us.....

Frack gamer funk and old fart nursing room smell. YICK