Explan DMG First Ed. to me!

[Akrasia]

... I'd say 1st ed is a lot more forceful about the rules being official than the vast majority of other rpgs ...

Again, I quote from the Afterword of the 1e DMG:

"It is the spirit of the game, not the letter of the rules, which is important. Never hold to the letter written, nor allow some barracks room lawyer to force quotations from the rule book upon you, if it goes against the obvious intent of the game. As you hew the line with respect to conformity to major systems and uniformity of play in general, also be certain the game is mastered by you and not by your players. Within the broad parameters given in the Advanced Dungeons and Dragons Volumes, you are creator and final arbiter."
(DMG, p. 230.)

So much for all this blather about the 1e DMG insisting that only the 'official' rules be used...

 

[Akrasia]

Of all of the 1e vs. 3e examples Quasqueton has posted in this thread, I invariably find the 1e examples more interesting (honestly!).

Indeed. The passages on the Mace of St. Cuthbert provide a perfect example.

 

[GMSkarka]

I enjoy intelligent and honest comparitive discussion on the various D&D editions. I find putting the actual evidence in the thread to help the discussion, prove points, and put invalid statements to the lie detector.

Congratulations, man: U have 1 teh 1ntarw3b.

 

[Doug McCrae]

So much for all this blather about the 1e DMG insisting that only the 'official' rules be used...

But what about this:

As you hew the line with respect to conformity to major systems and uniformity of play in general

And this:

Within the broad parameters given in the Advanced Dungeons and Dragons Volumes

All rpgs have a paragraph or two about the GM being final arbiter. 1st ed's permits less leeway than most.

 

[jasper]

I direct your attention to Forbidden Arcana: Potion Mixology.

http://www.rpgnow.com/product_info.php?products_id=2258&SRC=EnWorld

And I redirect you to the table which in the book instead of me having to buy another splat book or in this case a sheet or two

 

[S'mon]

I think the GM fiat/common-sense approach makes games with good GMs better, and games with bad GMs worse - for every good 1e GM there was likely a monty-hauler or killer-GM. 3e is the quality-control version; you don't have to be a talented GM to run an acceptable 3e game, but running a brilliant 3e game I think may be harder than in 1e.

 

[Akrasia]

... All rpgs have a paragraph or two about the GM being final arbiter. 1st ed's permits less leeway than most.

I remain completely unconvinced of this, given that the afterword specifically tells DMs to break/ignore the rules when appropriate.

How exactly does that permit 'less leeway' than most?
:\

 

[jasper]

To build on the St Cutbert line.
IMC
3 x I j,d, II
2 x II z,xx
1 x VI a
Which coverts to
CLw 7 x a week, Bless by touch, Sanctuary when held 1/day
Hold person 1/day, Word of Recall 1/day
Alignment change permanently to item.
Why am I posting this. To pt out even if all the dms in a group played the game with rules as written, the artifacts in each dmg would be unique. Now everyone's St Cutbert is the same.
In my first group we had 3 axe of dwavish lords. With the rule if you jump campaigns the axe was generally just +3 axe of sharpness.
Plus the fact that I spend at least 3 days over the summer thinking about artifacts their powers and whether to include them imc which help me get into the game.

 

[Silver Moon]

I had some problems with the 1e DMG.....Rules for using Boot Hill in AD&D.

Which I have been using very successfully for the past several years with two different campaigns. The first was a Boot Hill/1E AD&D hybrid campaign (which we're starting our 8th module of tonight). Gary Gygax has read the ENWorld "Story Hour" of that campaign and has enjoyed it. I also have a second campaign that uses hybrid Boot Hill/3E D&D rules.

Please don't knock something until you've tried it.

 

[Saeviomagy]

To build on the St Cutbert line.
IMC
3 x I j,d, II
2 x II z,xx
1 x VI a
Which coverts to
CLw 7 x a week, Bless by touch, Sanctuary when held 1/day
Hold person 1/day, Word of Recall 1/day
Alignment change permanently to item.
Why am I posting this. To pt out even if all the dms in a group played the game with rules as written, the artifacts in each dmg would be unique. Now everyone's St Cutbert is the same.

Assuming they don't change it. In the first version, a bad DM might assign "randomly destroys other peoples magical items", "creates undead" or "kills good creatures with a touch" as powers.

In the second version, a bad DM probably just uses it as is.

In either version, a good DM assigns appropriate powers.

What's the problem?