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One assumes this case is being fought with attorneys paid by the hour. Especially now at the appeals stages, that or the attorney involved is doing this pro bono out of an ideological or personal belief in the case.

If nothing else this saga should indicate how miserable, expensive, and drawn out a court case can be if the opposing party is committed ... even if they don't have a strong case (or perhaps any case).

OSE also has a free version - and it's good enough for the first few levels even if you later want to add in more stuff. Heck you can basically run OSE from its online SRD. The thing I'd say though is that all four of these systems are basically the same. They are all Basic/Expert D&D...

Agree completely with the idea that conceptually a good chunk of 70's/80's RPG design, including Tekumel were interesting in setting that had "mythic" undertones. The distinction I'm aiming at is one of formal dungeon design - as in the form of the dungeons these folks were designing. The...

What I'd note here is that the "Mythic Underworld" is more then just a big, singular dungeon (as suggested in OD&D and adopted by most early cultures of play) -- it's a specific sensibility about dungeon design. Philotomy, when he wrote about it is often seen as reaching back to the early hobby...

My own reading of the impact of this style is that A) it represents a break with and adaption of the style of dungeon design suggested in the LBBs. B) The OSR, as it often did, interpreted, perhaps over interpreted, these sparse clues and the claims, memories, fabrications, and desires that...

What am I even supposed to do with this willful seeming misreading? All I can say is ... the worst thing for Gygax's legacy, worse even then his approving remarks about Chivington, are his fanatical devotees. It's like arguing theology when the Jehovah's Witnesses ring your bell - except...

None of us are going to effect Gygax's legacy one bit. That said. His mechanics are not the best, but it was the mis-1970's and they work well enough to make an RPG that is style very very playable if you want run a game about treasure hunting in a fantasy world. Other's contributed, but...

It's a quote from Mark Antony's eulogy in Shakespeare's "Julius Caesar". I'm am using it here for humorous effect saying I don't particularly care about Gygax's alleged greatness or flaws. My interest is on how his adventures read and play and what we, as adventure designers, can learn from...

I'd add to this that one of the biggest differences between lower courts and appeals is that in the appellate courts these deadlines are enforced with absolute merciless rigor. They don't want you there. Lower courts, maybe not federal ones except BK?, tend to be a bit open to human failings...

I'd add that his self-promotion also stretched as far as screwing over and suing his friends. I think D&D would be in a far better place if Gygax hadn't seen it as his way to get wealthy quick, and followed through with the intentions he claimed in OD&D and Blackmoor's introduction. However...

Most of the advice about multiple entrances, levels and such are found or implied in OD&D as of 1974. It seems unlikely Gygax is borrowing much from her, largely because their design is rather different. Jaquays was an amazing designer, and her maps/level design are extremely good. They...

I want to be careful either giving Gygax too much credit or too little. He was certainly a key figure in the creation of the RPG, but his own approach to rules varies quite a bit over time. Certainly the earliest D&D publications do have a focus on referee freedom and creativity ... but for...

Ah yes that is totally correct. Though G1 at least has a very different feel from the later tournament stuff. When I think Tournament modules I tend to think of stuff like Tamoachan and the A series. More aggressively structured and gimmicky. I still don't think Gygax's design is entirely a...

I mean neither the G series nor B2 are tournament modules - and mostly this is what I'm considering. Greyhawk (which I touch on in the prior post of the "stack" style of dungeon from OD&D's examples) is his early dungeon, but I suspect his own design evolved considerably over time. The issue...

Thanks again for posting and analyzing this. I think you're take is spot on. I still somewhat shocked with NuTSR's tenacity. Appeals aren't cheap, even if one has a free lawyer. Not cheap to defend either. Defamation law and the way it's used in the US remains a damn shame.

I wrote an essay the other day on the way Gygax designed his dungeons, specifically around the idea that many of his most famous dungeons are a break from the advice in OD&D. They are not randomly or otherwise quickly generated "funhouses" the several levels and a lot of efforts to thwart...

Barrowmaze is okay. It's the best of the Gillespie mega-dungeons but suffers a bit from its undead theming because most encounters are rather one (combat) dimensional. That's too be expected from a large number of classic undead. I guess it depends on what kind of play style you want to...

Thanks for the details Willie. I trust you're correct - we we slapping them onto a basically 1E chassis because we didn't have all the books. Well that one guy did, but no one really wanted to play with him for other (stupid kid) reasons... The main thing I think of when I look at the 2e stuff...

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