Miniatures and Madness - Legends and Lore by Mike Mearls

[Dausuul]

I'd be really interested to see what Mearls would come up with if he was given free reign to design his ideal version of D&D - without having to take into account the market, WotC, other designers, etc. Just starting with a blank sheet of paper and creating the game that he'd want to play. I'd be really curious to see the result.

You might want to have a look at "Iron Heroes," which Mearls did most (possibly all, I'm not sure) of the design work on. I'm not saying it's his ideal D&D, and I'm sure his ideas have evolved a lot since then, but it offers some interesting insights into his approach to gaming. There's some definite Iron Heroes influence in 4E... though not as much as I'd like, to be honest.

 

[Piratecat]

Shaman, Mercurius - cut the bickering, please. You both know better. Either discuss the issue without being jerks to one another, put each other on ignore, or leave the thread. It doesn't matter to me which you do, but we expect you to be able to communicate like the adults you are.

(Dausuul, I had you mentioned there for a few minutes as well. Sorry about that; I misread the post #40 multi-quote. My thanks to the folks who pointed this out to me.)

 

[rogueattorney]

Until or unless I can turn up those posts, you can acquaint yourself with Mr Mearls' tenuous grasp of old-school gaming by reading his essays on the rust monster and wandering monsters, among others.

I would also point out his infamous review of B2 Keep on the Borderlands...

The Inside Scoop on Gaming - RPGnet

Of course, that review is about 12 years old...

 

[Keefe the Thief]

What we need is an impartial panel of D&D experts that tests all questionable personalitites who want to write any kind of editorial about D&D. I am sure it will be not that hard to find a group of like-minded, unbiased DMs with overlapping opinions about D&D who can adjudicate these upstarts in a professional manner.

This should curb deviant opinions about fundamental cornerstones of D&D like the rustmonster, any modules from the B series, levers with instakill traps, lasers in D&D, dragonboobs, golden wyverns, dwarven beards, xp from treasure, training costs, the creation of holy water, buying and selling magic weapons, spells for fighters, vancian magic, halflings riding on dinosaurs, robots in D&D, the Dragonlance series, the Gord novels, influences from S&S or high fantasy on the game, rolling (or not rolling) stats, rolling (or not rolling) hp, attack matrix vs. Thac0 vs. Bab vs. level bonus, taking the paladin's powers away, do castles make sense in a world of magic, why was the complete book of elves so overpowered, why Dragonborn and not Lizardmen, was skills & powers 2.5, why 3.5, is Essentials 4.5 and most importantly, can my fellow players touch my dice without jinxing my luck?

But what would we talk about here on ENworld once order has been restored in the opinionverse?

 

[Maggan]

What we need is an impartial panel of D&D experts

I think it'd be easier to aim for a single "Mad Tyrant of Fun" who would be chosen from the thousands of gamers who would claim the title.

A single point of opinion that we all must heed.

That, and Badwrongfun Ninjas under his command should settle things nicely.

/M

 

[delericho]

I would also point out his infamous review of B2 Keep on the Borderlands...

The Inside Scoop on Gaming - RPGnet

Of course, that review is about 12 years old...

Wow. Is that a serious review?

 

[Imaro]

I would also point out his infamous review of B2 Keep on the Borderlands...

The Inside Scoop on Gaming - RPGnet

Of course, that review is about 12 years old...

Wow... this review is actually kinda ironic when you look at the early module releases from WotC... just saying

 

[M.L. Martin]

Wow. Is that a serious review?

From what I was able to find in discussions here, it's over the top with a grain of truth (sort of like my characterizations of Old School )--Mearls really does think B2 is lacking compared to other D&D modules that were around at the same time, and was a poor choice for including in the introductory set.

 

[Aberzanzorax]

The DM is the difference between D&D being a boardgame and it being a role-playing game. <snip>

I think I know basically what you meant with your post and I agree with you. I would be very worried about D&D done without a DM, especially given the combat, combat, combat style of WotC adventures (not a slam against 4e...the Open Design 4e adventures I own are rife with roleplaying).

Could it be done well without a DM? Sure! Would WotC do it in a way that engaged roleplaying, plot, adventure, and story as thoroughly as combat? I doubt it.

So, yeah, I agree with you there.



However, I don't agree that the difference between a boardgame and an RPG is the DM. There are a number of really great rpgs out there that don't require a DM or GM at all. These (might) include:
Universalis
Polaris
Shab Al-Hiri Roach
Fiasco

I say might because it could be argued that for some of these there is a DM, but one who rotates across the players, or that these are not RPGs, but rather "story games".


But, yeah, overall, if you're going to make an RPG that doesn't require a DM it requires a lot more than "figuring out ways to eliminate the DM". The much more important part is developing rules to facilitate story and roleplaying that take the place of the DM.

 

[Aberzanzorax]

Interesting thread from 2008 (right when the DMG came out) talking about "DM-less" D&D.

There is mention of it on page 195 of the 4e DMG.


Also interesting is that the OP predicted board games upon 4e's release.

http://www.enworld.org/forum/general-rpg-discussion/229904-dm-less-d-d-welcome-board-games.html