howandwhy99
Adventurer
I remember growing up when every role playing game was understood to be a puzzle. When modules where written with the understanding that they were mysteries to be explored. When settings were simply modules on a larger scope where cultures and landscapes would shape a module's placement within so it was perhaps no longer temperate medieval European plains, but equatorial Aztecan jungles. I remember when converting adventure modules was more than changing statblocks to one's rule set, but changing out monsters, traps, and even major NPCs. I remember when DMs were pressed to imagine how a Slavers module could be converted for the Scottish highlands or some gnomish caverns of marble or basalt. I remember when combats themselves were not about combating the DM, but deciphering monsters weaknesses and exploiting them, so the next time one faced them players would be building upon effective past strategies and tactics. I remember when magical meant attempting to figure out how magic worked as a player, testing potions, inspecting objects with magical auras, and discovering the underpinnings of different magics in the world. I remember when short descriptions of people, places and items printed in D&D rulebooks or modules grabbed readers interests as they understood there were rationales and connections for every element described. I remember when there was an allure to the game as every session revealed many new elements, while many more were only hinted at with their fullness only waiting behind the screen to be discovered. I remember when the game was about the eureka experience of learning how everything fit together into an all encompassing scheme of the multiverse, always just beyond one's sight at even the highest levels. I remember when when the game world itself had meaning and was infused with learning as each piece of its configuration bespoke of greater and more revelatory discoveries awaited around every corner. I remember when the dice were did not resolve conflicts, but expressed progressions built into the game itself. I remember when players choices mattered whether or not the players wanted them to or not. I remember when discussion in front of a NPC who shared the common tongue understood and remembered what the players said - regardless of whether the players spoke in first person or third. I remember when metagaming meant sharing information with another player whose character was not near enough yours to hear it. Or when a player whose character was gagged gave advice on what to do next. I remember when the rules were not rules, but guidelines for building the DM's code for the puzzle before the game. I remember when every DM or referee was also a game designer by default as the game rules themselves were the magical code ever sought to be uncovered by the players. I remember when class levels meant the player his or her self had to learn and grow by puzzling out how to reach such heights. I remember when everything in the world was a resource, when it all had value, and how that value changed depending on one's class-based point of view and one's prioritized objectives. I remember language was the game, how it increased our vocabulary, and how we increased the game by increasing our own vocabularies and ideas. I remember when our emotions swelled because we were swept up in our successes and failures rather than our choosing to care or not. I remember when the game was a cooperative puzzle game, hidden behind a screen, and refereed by another person as fairly as they could.
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