DMG to include a "starter town".

[gizmo33]

I find your ideas most intriguing. I highly recommend you gather all your ideas together, write a nice letter of proposal and send it off to Wizards. Offer yourself up as a freelance writer for the project.

What project? This is a top-level design issue. The strategy of how to divide up the source material for the DnD rules in a way that suits the audience is not a task that I would think they would contract out. (Setting aside the possibility (edit: probability) that your post was completely sarcastic.)

 

[dmccoy1693]

What project? This is a top-level design issue. The strategy of how to divide up the source material for the DnD rules in a way that suits the audience is not a task that I would think they would contract out. (Setting aside the possibility that your post was completely sarcastic.)

I'm serious. If you feel that the d20 system as-is is to difficult perhaps you should propose the idea of a basic version thereof. If wizards won't go for it, propose it to several 3rd party companies. There are plenty of d20 variants out there and something that is near-completely compatable with other d20 products while being easier for noob players to learn, there'd be a market for it.

Give it a shot. What do you have to loose?

EDIT: I might not agree with you as to whether or not there should be a town in the DMG. But I read plenty of source material that I said, "I could write better then this." One day I decided to put my money where my mouth was and sent off some query letters. I'm currently working on my 2nd project and and assembling the proposal for my 3rd. Seriously, give it a try.

 

[Thunderfoot]

It's not particularly polite to refrain from saying something on a message board. Why not just talk about your ideas? I guess your brain is just so powerful that your merest thought is going to cause me some sort of pain? Have at it!



The Moathouse was part of the module. I actually own the monochrome version. It is obvious that reality here is taking place mostly in your imagination. My age will apparently always remain a mystery. Anyway, to reiterate the point about, it's not your participation that's rude as you seem to think. But if your participation in the thread habitually requires you to saying things are dumb then I can see why you would be used to thinking this way.



Was it really a great learning tool? What's a beginning DM do with a description of a tailor whose a 7th level fighter when using a crossbow? Compare it to keep on the borderlands where at least there's some effort made to explain some concepts, because KotB was intended to be a beginning module. The final words on the moathouse suggests that if the PCs defeat Lareth that they (1st to 3rd level characters, AFAICT) are pursued by a 10th level assassin! (Edit: Let me spell it out for you - Gygax is suggesting that the DM send an unstatted 10th level assassins after a 3rd level party, and you think this is advice for a beginning DM? Give me a break.) The righteous indignation that you are affecting this this post is completely unwarranted IMO.



I'm sorry you're not a better reader. I'm sorry that this is your posting habit, though I see now why you equate posting your ideas with being rude. I'm sorry I gathered nothing from your post other that a display of psychological peculiarities. It's probably too much to hope that you'll get much from mine. Doesn't your copy of Hommlet have the moathouse in it? Maybe it fell out with the staples?

Well you are right about one thing in your post....its your opinion...
BTW, comparing Basic D&D to AD&D is like comparing apples to oranges, both fruit that grow on trees, but otherwise completely different.

 

[AdmundfortGeographer]

This is like following computer geeks rail against the GUI that helps non-technical people navigate the system better.

 

[gizmo33]

So, you have trouble making sense of "I expect a book that has a section on generating towns to provide an example which can be used, as-is." because of what? I was lacking that comma before as-is in the original post?

I'm not sure. I meant what I said literally. I didn't want to ignore what you wrote simply because I didn't understand it. If you're saying what you meant above then I get what you're saying now.

Yeah, you've made it clear you don't want a generic example town that can be dropped into any setting or campaign to help a new DM because you don't need that sort of thing. We get it.

Cool.

Pretty interesting, given some of the most interesting adventures from the early days of D&D started small (a town and surrounding area) and grew into bigger things with later products. If you can't perceive of anyone having the ability to make a single town interesting without having to describe the entire campaign world to you, that's just a personal limitation.

"Personal limitation"? Seriously, have you guys spent so much time on the internet that you're forgotten how to be civil? Whether or not you can describe a town with no campaign world context is debateable, and I would say a quick "no". Whereas the long version of the answer would be better presented in a book in beginning DMing.

The fact is, that if you look at Hommlet the really distinctive elements of the setting, the persons allied and opposed to the cult, etc. are all based on the presence of a mostly undescribed Temple of Elemental Evil. Anyway, I think that there's more to this story than you're recognizing but this "personal limitation" thing is getting weird and I think it's time to go out and play in the sun.

 

[Imperialus]

well this thread is getting toasty. I still say I like the idea of a bit of hand holding. Even with several years experience I still like mining stuff like that for ideas. I really liked Saltmarsh in the DMGII even though it's never made a direct appearance in one of my games.

 

[Shortman McLeod]

This thread isn't a train wreck, but it's going way too quickly and it's starting to smoke.

 

[Wormwood]

Seriously, have you guys spent so much time on the internet that you're forgotten how to be civil?

You just blew out my Irony-Meter™

 

[Piratecat]

I'm sorry you're not a better reader. I'm sorry that this is your posting habit, though I see now why you equate posting your ideas with being rude. I'm sorry I gathered nothing from your post other that a display of psychological peculiarities. It's probably too much to hope that you'll get much from mine. Doesn't your copy of Hommlet have the moathouse in it? Maybe it fell out with the staples?

Get the thread back on track, please, folks.

 

[The Little Raven]

I'm not sure. I meant what I said literally. I didn't want to ignore what you wrote simply because I didn't understand it. If you're saying what you meant above then I get what you're saying now.

Exactly what I was saying.

"Personal limitation"? Seriously, have you guys spent so much time on the internet that you're forgotten how to be civil?

I'm much the same in real life. Most people are different on the internet than in real life, because it's entirely different when someone can put a fist in your eye. Me? I've been knocked out before, and it really wasn't that bad.

Whether or not you can describe a town with no campaign world context is debateable, and I would say a quick "no". Whereas the long version of the answer would be better presented in a book in beginning DMing.

I don't need to tell you all about California to describe San Diego to you.

The fact is, that if you look at Hommlet the really distinctive elements of the setting, the persons allied and opposed to the cult, etc. are all based on the presence of a mostly undescribed Temple of Elemental Evil.

The Village of Hommlett was created before the TOEE was attached to it.

Anyway, I think that there's more to this story than you're recognizing but this "personal limitation" thing is getting weird and I think it's time to go out and play in the sun.

You seem to think that in order to describe Venice to someone, you have to describe all of Italy, which strikes me as a personal limitation.