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Is D&D "about" combat?
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<blockquote data-quote="Philotomy Jurament" data-source="post: 5637636" data-attributes="member: 20854"><p>When original D&D came out, it was still considered an outgrowth of wargaming, although it's apparent that they were kind of casting about for a proper way of describing it. In the forward to <em>Men & Magic</em>, Gygax described Arneson's <em>Chainmail</em> variant as a "medieval fantasy campaign game." He also said "<em>Dungeons & Dragons's</em> possibilities go far beyond any previous offerings anywhere!"</p><p></p><p>He went on to point out that (unlike a straight wargame like <em>Chainmail</em>), "…it is the campaign for which these rules are designed. It is relatively simple to set up a fantasy campaign, and better still, it will cost almost nothing. In fact you will not even need miniature figures…" And he said that "There should be no want of players, for there is unquestionably a fascination in this fantasy game -- evidenced even by those who could not by any stretch of the imagination be termed ardent wargamers.</p><p></p><p>It seems to me that original D&D was still tied to wargaming in the minds of its creators, but that they also saw it as a step away from a pure wargame, with a focus on an ongoing campaign and with individual characters and (especially) "measured progression" over time (for more on that, see Gary's article "On Dungeons & Dragons" in <em>Best of the Dragon, Vol. 1</em>), an appeal to non-wargamers, and possibilities that had not been seen before.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Philotomy Jurament, post: 5637636, member: 20854"] When original D&D came out, it was still considered an outgrowth of wargaming, although it's apparent that they were kind of casting about for a proper way of describing it. In the forward to [i]Men & Magic[/i], Gygax described Arneson's [i]Chainmail[/i] variant as a "medieval fantasy campaign game." He also said "[i]Dungeons & Dragons's[/i] possibilities go far beyond any previous offerings anywhere!" He went on to point out that (unlike a straight wargame like [i]Chainmail[/i]), "…it is the campaign for which these rules are designed. It is relatively simple to set up a fantasy campaign, and better still, it will cost almost nothing. In fact you will not even need miniature figures…" And he said that "There should be no want of players, for there is unquestionably a fascination in this fantasy game -- evidenced even by those who could not by any stretch of the imagination be termed ardent wargamers. It seems to me that original D&D was still tied to wargaming in the minds of its creators, but that they also saw it as a step away from a pure wargame, with a focus on an ongoing campaign and with individual characters and (especially) "measured progression" over time (for more on that, see Gary's article "On Dungeons & Dragons" in [i]Best of the Dragon, Vol. 1[/i]), an appeal to non-wargamers, and possibilities that had not been seen before. [/QUOTE]
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