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Message: <blockquote data-quote="riprock" data-source="post: 2965688" data-attributes="member: 42506">Having recently been told that I overemphasized the importance of killing and conquest in D&D, I've been looking at some old texts relevant to D&D.  I couldn't find anything to substantiate the notion that treasure was supposed to be much more important than battle.First, Gygax's Role Playing Mastery, p.26 -36:If I had to sum up John Carter, Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser, Elric, Conan, etc., I would definitely say that they faced down danger in exotic places, and they generally put danger to the sword.  The text cited above puts a great deal of emphasis on getting action and excitement into the game.Thus I'd say that the first goal of D&D is to battle against strange, mysterious dangers.Next, White Box D&D, Vol. I, p.18:Treasure is mentioned, but battle seems central.  I would submit that the White Box OD&D was still following the goals of a wargame, although it was adding the atmosphere of a "weird tale."  The responsibility of the PCs is to battle much like pulp heroes would battle -- Elric would be "Chaotic Evil" whereas John Carter would probably be "Lawful Good."  The battle must be exotic, weird, inspiring, and if possible chivalrous.  Elric's battles tended to be exotic and baroque;  Conan's were weird but chivalrous;  John Carter was chivalrous to a fault, overshadowing the exotic backdrop of Mars.  The goal of the game is daring battle in exotic settings.Conversely, the game also seeks to keep the player characters alive, which means that although they must take risks, they must also calculate carefully and stay alive.Role Playing Mastery:So Gygax advises that the DM must defend the campaign of the players from the short-term ambitions of the players themselves, so that they don't spoil the fun.  The battles must be testing grounds.In all of the above, the emphasis seems to be on danger;  I haven't found anything in the early D&D texts to suggest that treasure was nearly as important.  I tend to think that treasure was an afterthought at first and then early excesses caused TSR to moderate treasure.Gygax in the AD&D DMG (p.92):The above leads me to suspect that the original intent was to emphasize battle.  Treasure was thrown in without much concern for the effect it might have on distracting players from glorious fights.  The ten-to-one gold to kill ratio in the "White Box" text might suggest that stealing is ten times more important than battle, but that strikes me as contrary to the "spirit."  I'm not terribly familiar with the "White Box," so if anyone can offer guidance on issues like experience given for wandering monsters with no treasure, I'd be much obliged.</blockquote>

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