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Isn't this common in other fantasy, and its foundational literature? In the Old English poem, Beowulf, Grendel wages a "lonely war" for twelve years "inflicting constant cruelties on the people" (Heaney translation) until he is finally stopped by the eponymous hero. Superhuman adventurers are...

I can't provide any I'm afraid. I can only say I've seen people using it in the second sense on rpg message boards in the last few years.

The word "gamist" currently has two different meanings in an rpg context. One derives from its use by the Forge in GNS theory, which was itself based on the Threefold Model which dates at least as far back as 1997. This refers to challenge-oriented play ie challenging the players. The second...

Further to post #2683 above, here are two more examples of the use of "living world". The first recommends a significant amount of prep while the second advocates 'Schrodinger's GM-ing' – abandoning one's prep! Dragon #65 (1982), Law of the land by Ed Greenwood In the article “Plan Before You...

The following quotations provide examples of the use of “living world” and related terms – “living, breathing campaign world”, “real world”, “living setting” – in D&D. Campaign Sourcebook and Catacomb Guide (1990) The campaign is more than a game world or a clever plot line. It must be a place...

That's really good. I particularly liked the idea that talking animals are associated with fey.

No to both. To my knowledge no one in my gaming circle in Glasgow has ever done anything that broke the fourth wall in this way. I used to be into doing it in kind of a minor way with my PCs in the 90s and early noughties -- there was a lot of that kind of thing around at the time, like John...

I think that's a good idea, one I'd have no problem with as a player. PCs receiving incomplete, false, or even misleading information at the start of a mission is pretty standard in traditional rpgs. Distinguishing between the fake BBEG/treasure and real BBEG/treasure seems like it could be an...

A suggested plot in Jonathan Tweet's rpg Over the Edge (1992) has the PCs gradually realising they are characters in a roleplaying game via this method (among others). Someone confronts the PCs and says they are not real people. To prove it, she throws rapid-fire questions at them, such as...

The Battle of the Nations image is larger and uses more solid black, but it's less detailed. Compare the BotN halberd head: with the RetroMUD halberd head: The RetroMUD also has many more images that I detailed in the previous post. A google image search on the broad blades image shows it...

There are many more images of weapons and armour on the RetroMUD site, all in the same style. Some feature unique terms – "Meritoson sword", "Meritoson bow", "Welstarian mace". Welstar is a planet in RetroMUD, like Sosel, but with a European flavour. Meritoson seems to be a nation or culture on...

Googling the word "Soselian", it doesn’t seem to appear in an rpg context anywhere except this MUD. The weapon names on the left-hand side look 'off' – they’re not lined up properly – but the weapon art seems fairly professional. Therefore I think the text on the left might've been added to a...

The term "Soselian Ear-Spoon" is very strange. The usual term is "Bohemian Ear-Spoon". The image seems to come from this site for RetroMUD, a computer roleplaying game. One of the planets is called Sosel. The polearms image appears on this page. Another page for staves mentions a "Soselian bo...

Regarding the origin of the drow, Gygax says in Dragon #31: Drow are mentioned in Keightley’s THE FAIRY MYTHOLOGY, as I recall (it might have been THE SECRET COMMONWEALTH—neither book is before me, and it is not all that important anyway), and as Dark Elves of evil nature, they served as an...

That's right. Unearthed Arcana: Drow are generally evil and chaotic in nature, though player characters are not required to be so. A dark elf player character is considered an outcast from his or her homeland deep within the earth, whether by matter of choice, alignment, or merely being on the...

You're right. Checking the text, it's quite explicit -- "Drow are generally evil and chaotic in nature, though player characters are not required to be so" (page 10). It says much the same about duergar -- "While the majority of the members of this sub-race are of lawful evil alignment (with...

Orcs, and similar creatures such as goblins and hobgoblins are already almost completely anthropomorphised. They are flesh and blood. They require food, water, and shelter. They are mortal. They can be injured and die. They feel pain. They are humanoid and of roughly human size. They have...

The lore has, at times, said that the evil of orcs, and the other creatures you mention, is not innate or homogeneous. The Roger Moore article Half-Orcs in Dragon #62 (June 1982) gives an environmental explanation. Orcs are like this [evil] because of the influence of their deities… and...