Recent content by M.L. Martin

In this case, the fiction did come first--the moons as the source of/influence on magic shows up in the Dragonlance fiction (novels and game source material) from the beginning in 1984, but doesn't get reflected in mechanics until DRAGONLANCE Adventures in 1987.

And I.C.E. was planning a full-fledged RPG, but it turned out the license they were using for both was an illegitimate sublicense, which got them into trouble with the Lewis estate.

Advanced Player's Guide II includes design notes and two Social Combat Systems, covering 18 pages.

Very true. Forward worked on He-Man and She-Ra as well, and wrote what is generally considered the best episode of the former, "The Problem with Power."

There are numerous references in core Dragonlance material that Raistlin was "born with the gift" and that he and others are "strong in the magic." Older D&D kept the magic-user broader and less defined; it had some definite quirks (learning, memorization, dependence on Intelligence), but it...

I don't think the poly/henotheism shows up until Supplement IV. And don't forget the Templars in the original mix. :)

I tell you, Krynn makes a lot more sense once you realize that most of the 'gods' are ancient, lie-breathing, soul-devouring dragons ... ;)

I would note that the sharp divide between the two is a 3E innovation; while wizards/mages/magic-users in earlier editions need training of some sort, it's entirely up to players and DMs whether the capacity for magic itself is learned, inborn, or granted. I admit that part of me was grouchy...

Straight from Richard Baker himself, only a couple of weeks ago: https://richardbakerauthor.com/2024/03/10/50-years-of-dd-the-sorcerer/

The 3E sorcerer exists in large part to justify spending all that PHB space on the massive wizard spell list, so I'm afraid that was a non-starter from the beginning.

Sadly true, and I've known it for years. But sometimes I still miss the SAGA Rules System, although I believe Tab Creations has done retroclones of it for some games and is working on a standalone revision.

But if you read Gygax's articles on the AD&D project from the early Dragons, he considered it a bug, not a feature.

The ownership (by which I mean WotC), the pressure of online agitators, and the general bent of the designers and online fanbase.

Raphael is one of the three angels canonically named in Scripture and venerated by the Catholic and Orthodox Churches. (He's in the book of Tobit, which many other Christians and Jews reject as non-canonical. Said book is also where you find Asmodeus.)

Wait ... they actually named a devil Raphael? That's rather tone-deaf and mildly offensive, but I suppose I'm not too surprised, especially since it appears to have come out of Baldur's Gate III.