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General Tabletop Discussion
D&D Older Editions
[COMPLETE] Looking back at the leatherette series: PHBR, DMGR, HR and more!
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<blockquote data-quote="wingsandsword" data-source="post: 8191080" data-attributes="member: 14159"><p>No, I <strong>don't </strong>see why they were there.</p><p></p><p>There was a HUGE gulf between the setting presumptions that were written into AD&D and what most D&D players wanted, which was a generic fantasy game where "anything goes". D&D was always treated by players as a toolkit to play out the fantasy worlds they imagined or the various historic or fantasy scenarios from books and movies. . .while it was written with a very specific genre of fantasy in mind that isn't shared if someone wasn't reading the same set of fantasy novels Gygax was. </p><p></p><p>D&D was picked up by players, and later writers, who saw it as a toolkit to build fantasy worlds. . .and didn't share the same unwritten assumptions about the game world that the early editions were written with, so hard-coded restrictions meant to enforce a specific genre that made sense if you were writing it to specifically mimic a certain style or genre become arbitrary to the vast majority of later players and authors.</p><p></p><p>I don't think I ever met a D&D player who seriously read Poul Anderson, Fritz Lieber, or Jack Vance, other than maybe reading them WELL after being a D&D player just out of curiosity to see where Gygax got his inspiration. They certainly didn't go into D&D wanting to make their games like those novels.</p><p></p><p>When AD&D is used to play everything from historical re-enactments, to gritty sword and sorcery, to a wild variety of fantasy settings, it's clear that the setting presumptions it was written with in the 1970's were not shared either by the player base, nor by the writers in later years. </p><p></p><p>So, placing arbitrary rules there to enforce genre restrictions of genres the players don't know or care about didn't make sense to later players. It certainly didn't make sense by the time 2nd edition rolled out and it was clear that there was a huge disconnect between those design presumptions and what players would actually do with the game.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="wingsandsword, post: 8191080, member: 14159"] No, I [B]don't [/B]see why they were there. There was a HUGE gulf between the setting presumptions that were written into AD&D and what most D&D players wanted, which was a generic fantasy game where "anything goes". D&D was always treated by players as a toolkit to play out the fantasy worlds they imagined or the various historic or fantasy scenarios from books and movies. . .while it was written with a very specific genre of fantasy in mind that isn't shared if someone wasn't reading the same set of fantasy novels Gygax was. D&D was picked up by players, and later writers, who saw it as a toolkit to build fantasy worlds. . .and didn't share the same unwritten assumptions about the game world that the early editions were written with, so hard-coded restrictions meant to enforce a specific genre that made sense if you were writing it to specifically mimic a certain style or genre become arbitrary to the vast majority of later players and authors. I don't think I ever met a D&D player who seriously read Poul Anderson, Fritz Lieber, or Jack Vance, other than maybe reading them WELL after being a D&D player just out of curiosity to see where Gygax got his inspiration. They certainly didn't go into D&D wanting to make their games like those novels. When AD&D is used to play everything from historical re-enactments, to gritty sword and sorcery, to a wild variety of fantasy settings, it's clear that the setting presumptions it was written with in the 1970's were not shared either by the player base, nor by the writers in later years. So, placing arbitrary rules there to enforce genre restrictions of genres the players don't know or care about didn't make sense to later players. It certainly didn't make sense by the time 2nd edition rolled out and it was clear that there was a huge disconnect between those design presumptions and what players would actually do with the game. [/QUOTE]
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[COMPLETE] Looking back at the leatherette series: PHBR, DMGR, HR and more!
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