Dungeons & Dragons for Dummies

[Evilhalfling]

So, would buying this and giving it to members of the boards be seen as insulting or a friendly gesture to help out?

Free book? Wah hoo!

hey crothian can I charge, make a full attack and then take a 5' step so my buddy can charge to the other side and flank?

 

[diaglo]

So, would buying this and giving it to members of the boards be seen as insulting or a friendly gesture to help out?

i'll leave that judgement up to them.

it is a gift.

 

[Crothian]

i'll leave that judgement up to them.

it is a gift.

Ya, but as a gift I'm implying something pretty severe.

 

[punkorange]

I'm with evilhalfling Crothian.

So am I allowed to cast two spells a round using haste, and still charge and attack?

 

[Zander]

I think it is a clever idea, really. Though it would have been much more useful back about 20 years ago when people had a lot of questions about the roots with devil worship and suicide.

There were at least 4 books about D&D/RPGs 20 years ago:
What is Dungeons & Dragons? by John Butterfield et al
Dicing with Dragons by Ian Livingstone
Through Dungeons Deep by Robert Plamondon
Fantasy Role Playing Games by J. Eric Holmes

The latter was written by a psychiatrist. It is mainly an intro to the hobby but also addresses the nonsense that D&D was dangerous that was peddled by certain groups and mindlessly repeated by the media. The book is long OOP but it's not too hard to find a used copy.

And you can bet that I'll be getting D&D for Dummies. Within certain criteria, I have every book about RPGs and gamers.

 

[diaglo]

There were at least 4 books about D&D/RPGs 20 years ago:
What is Dungeons & Dragons? by John Butterfield et al
Dicing with Dragons by Ian Livingstone
Through Dungeons Deep by Robert Plamondon
Fantasy Role Playing Games by J. Eric Holmes

The latter was written by a psychiatrist. It is mainly an intro to the hobby but also addresses the nonsense that D&D was dangerous that was peddled by certain groups and mindlessly repeated by the media. The book is long OOP but it's not too hard to find a used copy.

And you can bet that I'll be getting D&D for Dummies. Within certain criteria, I have every book about RPGs and gamers.

there are more books and articles too.

like Robin's Laws

and Gary's Game Mastery

 

[Zander]

there are more books and articles too.

like Robin's Laws

and Gary's Game Mastery

True. But not that many 20 years ago. There's a whole bunch now. Here are my criteria:

1. About tabletop role playing games (RPGs) in general and the people who play them. This excludes computer role playing games (CRPGs) and live action role playing games (LARPs).
2. In English.
3. At least 40% about RPGs. This excludes RPG rulebooks because they are not about RPGs and other books that have short sections devoted to RPGs.
4. Not a work of fiction.
5. Not an attack on RPGs. One could argue that such works are excluded anyway on the grounds that they are works of fiction, and therefore covered by (4) above.
6. Not humorous. This excludes books such as Steve Jackson Games’ guide to "munchkins".
7. Not art books.
8. Not micro press publications or academic theses.
9. Not periodicals.
10. Not booklets, pamphlets, web sites or other media.

These criteria may seem arbitrary but, apart from (2), (8) & (10), they're based on how the Library of Congress or the British Library would classify these books if the librarians there were RPG experts. Being excluded should not be taken as a value judgement. I have quite a few titles that don't meet the criteria for various reasons and some of them are top class.

 

[sircaren]

Great for the hobby

I think it will be a good thing for our little niche hobby. The pure popularity of the Dummies books will hopefully appeal to others who would otherwise not be interested.

 

[Zander]

I think it will be a good thing for our little niche hobby. The pure popularity of the Dummies books will hopefully appeal to others who would otherwise not be interested.

Quite right. The Dummies books aren't just popular, they're widespread. So there'll be an RPG advocacy book in stores where there was previously nothing about this great hobby of ours. Who knows, maybe years from now there'll be players saying "I saw this book called Dungeons & Dragons for Dummies and it all started from there."

 

[fanboy2000]

I don't have search. That thread was on page 2. Y'know - the Undiscovered Country?

I know not his "page 2" of which you speak. Everyone knows that all the good threads are on page 1. If it's dropped to page 2, then you have to start a new topic. I think it's even in the WWW bylaws published by W3C.