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Message: <blockquote data-quote="chaochou" data-source="post: 5537205" data-attributes="member: 99817">I think it's important to remember the context in which the word 'realism' is being used here, back in White Dwarf 6 in the late 70s or early 80s.D&D was (and is) a game of goblins and devils and wizards, so clearly in one sense 'realism' - in the sense of matching our real world - is a nonsense, and that's what Gary seems to be saying.And it's probably fair to say that the comparison is being made with historical wargames where often the aim of the rules is to produce historically plausible results with plausible casualty levels in a plausible timescale.But in another sense, D&D was very, very keen on 'realism' because it stressed internal consistency. The original DMG makes a claim that it is not attempting to 'simulate' anything, then gives endless charts on how much different castle sections cost, how long they take to build, the precise ranges and effects and pirces of magic items, the cost of retainers. It instructs the DM to keep an accurate track of the passage of time... the list of things it details in an attempt to simulate goes on and on.So I'd say that in-game realism, as in consistent simulation in the game world, has always been a big deal in D&D and was the de facto norm for RPGS for a long time, but this isn't what EGG means by 'realism' in his letter.</blockquote>