E.G.G. On Realism & Combat

[PaulofCthulhu]

I was browsing through some old White Dwarfs and found the following letter by Gary, which I'd missed back in the day. A bit of nostalgia, anyway!

Dear WD,

I read the article Combat and Armour Class by Roger Musson with considerable dismay. I t appears that the good gentleman does not know what D&D and is all about. Dungeons & Dragons is a fantasy game, of course, and this most reasonably indicates that statements regarding "realism" in a game must go out the window. (Quite frankly, there is no game with any true realism in it, or i t would be real and not a game. Folks seeking realism should go and participate in whatever the game is based on, if possible, viz. if they are looking for realism in wargames they should enlist in the military service.) I t got worse thereafter. D&D is a HEROIC fantasy game. Who can slit Conan's throat at a blow? The examples are too numerous to mention, but the point is that the game is aimed at allowing participants t o create a heroic character who is not subject to some fluke. Getting killed requires a lot of (mis-)play in most cases. How does the fighter escape the dragon's breath? The same way other superheroes do - bending a link of chain or slipping into an unnoticed crevass in the rock he was chained t o or whatever, i.e. the same way all other larger-than- life sword & sorcery heroes manage t o avoid certain death. In summation, most players find that the game of seeking and gaining, with the ensuing increase in character capability is the thing. Combat at best is something t o be done quickly so as t o get on with the fun, and I T MUST NOT BE LOADED SO AS TO GIVE PLAYERS NO CHANCE TO ESCAPE I F I T IS GOING AGAINST THEM. Neither, of course, must i t be a walkover. (And Conan is usually in a shirt of mail in battle!) Enough said.

Best Wishes, E. Gary Gygax, Lake Geneva,-USA.

 

[Vikarr]

Interesting, Can someone summarize the article this letter was a response to for me? To put help it in context?

 

[PaulofCthulhu]

Perhaps also of interest, a number of other letter writers in following issues took EGG to task (or at least disagreed with him).

The original article referenced appears in White Dwarf 6.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I loved those early issues of White Dwarf. They definitely favored a much more grim and gritty feel than The Dragon did back then, so it's no wonder they disagreed with EGG.

 

[Corathon]

I loved those early issues of White Wolf. They definitely favored a much more grim and gritty feel than The Dragon did back then, so it's no wonder they disagreed with EGG.

I expect that you mean White Dwarf - although I also liked the early issues of White Wolf

 

[Plane Sailing]

Roger Musson's article was great, and I remember it hugely influenced our games for the better. Gary's letter, unfortunately, seemed quite typical of his pronouncements at the time and made him sound ridiculous. His hyperbole is pointless and weakens the already weak argument he was making in the letter.

It was written at a time when he seemed as if he was trying to keep the genie in his own bottle, but it was well and truly out and being enjoyed in myriad different ways beyond the 'official' way he would have preferred.

A sad recollection for me, actually.

 

[BryonD]

A sad recollection for me, actually.

I agree. Gygax will forever be one of the giants and today's games stand on his shoulders. But that doesn't mean everything he said was great.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I expect that you mean White Dwarf - although I also liked the early issues of White Wolf

Er, yes. My brain is running down already, this week.

And yeah, the early issues of White Wolf were fun in a completely different way.

 

[TarionzCousin]

I expect that you mean White Dwarf - although I also liked the early issues of White Wolf

I fondly remember the old issues of Wight Worf - recounting the early years of the Federation's only undead Klingon. Ah, good times.

 

[pemerton]

Interesting, Can someone summarize the article this letter was a response to for me? To put help it in context?

I can't summarise that article - but Roger Musson was (as far as I'm aware) the first person to publish a vitality/wound system with hit points being easily lost and regained, while wounds were harder to take but when taken went directly to Constitution. This later article was called "How to lose hit points and survive".

So I wouldn't be surprised if the earlier article was doing something similar - perhaps armour as damage reduction, or dragon breath as an attack (a la Rolemaster or 4e) rather than something granting a saving throw.

Roger Musson's article was great

But what did it actually say?!