David Howery
Hero
I'm always amused at the idea of 'one true way to play D&D', considering the lack of clarity in the 1E rules...
BrOSR
CleverNickName
Limit Break Dancing
Here's a breakdown of that atrocious comic, so that you don't have to read it.
Title: The title of this comic can be roughly translated as "Things I'm Mad About: D&D Edition."
Panel 1: This is the way you should be playing D&D: just you and your old friends, making sure that nothing changes.
Panel 2: It's okay to invite a guest every now and then, but only for demonstration purposes. Remember that they are there to learn how you like to play D&D, and then fall into line. You don't want any new ideas from outsiders, because those are always bad.
Panel 3: It is important that new players never outnumber you and your old friends, because they will promptly outvote you. This is a serious problem in D&D: you need to be able to shout down all opposition, and being outnumbered makes this very hard on your vocal cords.
Panel 4: Women instantly ruin the hobby. They are only there for the attention, obviously, and so they are too busy flirting with the new players to play the game properly. Also they're uncontrollable, and it's important that you be able to control them. This is all bigoted garbage and everyone knows it, but you mustn't let that stop you. Your gaming preferences are too important for women to be treated fairly.
Panel 5: This is just a continuation of Panel 4's rant about women in the hobby. You see, women will attract other men, and you will lose control of the group. This only ever happens when women are allowed to play: men are never attracted to other men, for example. And besides: a woman at the table will make everyone call you a "nerd," and that has never happened before. This will undermine your authority at the table, which is totally a real thing that only you and your old friends deserve to have.
Panel 6: Enough people in the room will cause them to start drinking and smoking apparently. It will also cause you and your small group of old friends to start calling yourselves "the founding and core audience." And worst of all, you will have no choice but to make your game easier to understand. It will no longer be just you and your old friends, sitting alone at the same table, playing the same game, in the same manner, with rules that only you understand. And remember, this is bad. Very very bad.
Panel 7: Eventually you and your old friends will have to leave the group. Sure, you could have done this way back in Panel 2, or at any point really, but if you wait long enough you can be extra-sanctimonious and dramatic about your departure. On your way out the door, you should take a moment to point at everyone else at the table and mock them for having fun without you. Maybe they'll notice.
Yep, the comic really is this bad. It was written by a real person who really espouses these points of view. Worse still, these views and opinions are not uncommon in our hobby--if you play D&D long enough, you'll meet such a person (you might have even been such a person.) I wish I were exaggerating in my breakdown, but I'm not. This is the kind of elitism and hatred that we have to deal with in our hobby.
Title: The title of this comic can be roughly translated as "Things I'm Mad About: D&D Edition."
Panel 1: This is the way you should be playing D&D: just you and your old friends, making sure that nothing changes.
Panel 2: It's okay to invite a guest every now and then, but only for demonstration purposes. Remember that they are there to learn how you like to play D&D, and then fall into line. You don't want any new ideas from outsiders, because those are always bad.
Panel 3: It is important that new players never outnumber you and your old friends, because they will promptly outvote you. This is a serious problem in D&D: you need to be able to shout down all opposition, and being outnumbered makes this very hard on your vocal cords.
Panel 4: Women instantly ruin the hobby. They are only there for the attention, obviously, and so they are too busy flirting with the new players to play the game properly. Also they're uncontrollable, and it's important that you be able to control them. This is all bigoted garbage and everyone knows it, but you mustn't let that stop you. Your gaming preferences are too important for women to be treated fairly.
Panel 5: This is just a continuation of Panel 4's rant about women in the hobby. You see, women will attract other men, and you will lose control of the group. This only ever happens when women are allowed to play: men are never attracted to other men, for example. And besides: a woman at the table will make everyone call you a "nerd," and that has never happened before. This will undermine your authority at the table, which is totally a real thing that only you and your old friends deserve to have.
Panel 6: Enough people in the room will cause them to start drinking and smoking apparently. It will also cause you and your small group of old friends to start calling yourselves "the founding and core audience." And worst of all, you will have no choice but to make your game easier to understand. It will no longer be just you and your old friends, sitting alone at the same table, playing the same game, in the same manner, with rules that only you understand. And remember, this is bad. Very very bad.
Panel 7: Eventually you and your old friends will have to leave the group. Sure, you could have done this way back in Panel 2, or at any point really, but if you wait long enough you can be extra-sanctimonious and dramatic about your departure. On your way out the door, you should take a moment to point at everyone else at the table and mock them for having fun without you. Maybe they'll notice.
Yep, the comic really is this bad. It was written by a real person who really espouses these points of view. Worse still, these views and opinions are not uncommon in our hobby--if you play D&D long enough, you'll meet such a person (you might have even been such a person.) I wish I were exaggerating in my breakdown, but I'm not. This is the kind of elitism and hatred that we have to deal with in our hobby.
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Sacrosanct
Legend
Wait, BrOSR is a term they call themselves? I always though it was an insult others came up with to describe guys like in that comic? Granted, every time I've heard that term I skip right past whoever had said it.
Confusingly, BrOSR was, I believe, a term coined by the Brazilian OSR community (such as Diogo Nogueira, Felipe Faria, Lucas Rolim, and others), who are definitely on the progressive, indie edge of gaming. I'm not sure what name they're using to describe themselves; I think they may be producing stuff under the name "RPGLATAM", which is meant to embrace creators from all over South and Central America. Part of this shift was because the term BrOSR was applied to some fairly toxic elements.
Mannahnin
Scion of Murgen (He/Him)
Ah, yeah, that dipstick.
The OTHER Appendix N book, Peter Bebergal's story compilation, is quite good and I recommend it.
Mannahnin
Scion of Murgen (He/Him)
Yeah, I'm not sure if it's as much self-applied as a nickname for that particular antisocial wing of the OSR.
Oh no, it's very self applied.
jdrakeh
Front Range Warlock
I'd forgotten about these origins of the term. It's a shame that it has been coopted by absolute asshats.
GreyOne
Explorer
Yeah, put it in my cart. Just waiting for some other stuff to turn my fancy.
Out of curiosity, who was that? If you don’t want to name names, which page of which book?
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