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Furthermore, like magic items, providing such ways to increase ability scores rewards in-game play rather than out of game "character building." Vastly preferable, in my opinion.

I reject the entire paradigm offered in that the three types all refer to combat only, particularly in manipulating rules for benefit (rules-play). If there's something for rules structure to be learned from another game, I'm for it, but not to put the entire "crunch" of the game into combat...

Gary realized the abstract nature of hit points as applied to higher level man characters. That is, a Fighting-man with 45 hit points can take as much damage as a heavy war horse, but not because he's as physically durable.

No. Stop right there. :eek:

Early Dragon or Gary Q&A threads . . . hit points were hull points in the original source.

Maybe, but Combat & Tactics was an optional supplement, not default rules.

You must be looking at Arms Law. :p Pre 3e, the default rules of AD&D/D&D did not include critical hits or misses.* *Aside from specific monsters or magic items that had an extra effect on a high attack roll.

Optimal number: 3 Fighting-man, Magic-user, Cleric Anything more is bloat.

You're only considering "after the fact" resources and ignoring "before the fact" resources.

Sure there is. Did the party know they were facing a high level magic-user? i.e. were they gathering intelligence and scouting? If they knew, and they have at least one cleric (and if they don't, why don't they), why wasn't at least one Silence, 15' Radius spell employed, for example? You're...

False! Sooooooo false! Old-school D&D is generally designed so that you can gauge the threat level of opponents and retreat if necessary. Why is no one meleeing the spell caster to disrupt his spells? What are your spell casters doing? Why didn't the thief scout ahead, spot the spellcaster, and...

How is 'smarter' play rewarding the reckless barbarian and the rogue starting or engaging in too many fights? The cleric has no obligation to Cure Wounds on poorly played characters. If the cleric withheld healing, perhaps the players of those characters would moderate their actions to not add...

Ah, I see. Isn't the same thing accomplished by the party retreating from the dungeon to recuperate combined with the party *not* fighting every monster encountered, whether by stealth, negotiation, etc.? From my experience and point of view, players who simply "push on and through" every...

What the heck is the 'narrative flow' of a dungeon?

The fore mentioned are not games in themselves, but kits to make your own game, in my opinion.

Gary wrote about this in an early Dragon about the origins of D&D, as well in his Q&A threads. I'm sure the quotes can be dug up. He chose Vancian-style spellcasting because it permitted powerful, yet limited magic-use. Each spell was likened to an arrow in the sheaf that is marked off when...

You're the referee. If players are caught trying to cheat, eject them from the game. It's that simple.

Here's how the caller of the group from Origins I reacted to the Forsaken Prison: We found ourselves inside a 10' square, 30' high room, without doors and possessed of 3 levers. At this point I announced that we were all driving spikes into the walls and standing on them. edit: That's an...

2 coppers on the overall topic: I don't object to 'influence/social' skills in principle, but in practice, they tend to turn into 'saving throw vs. social interaction' or essentially a 'charm' type of effect on a successful check against NPCs. Also, as a referee, I prefer to reward creative...

Does hell go with no?