Bullgrit said:
Mr. Gygax,
I'll get straight to some questions:
How did you decide/settle on using the 6 ability scores of D&D: Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma? [Any bets on how many people comment on the order I've listed them here compared to how they've been listed through the years/editions?]
The six attributes used seemed to cover the spectrum of what a human consisted of in general manner. They seem to have been on target, as there hasn't been a change in them for some years...
Especially with Charisma being almost universally regarded as a "dump stat" through all editions, did it have more relevance in your games (and how you envisioned everyone else's games)? Did your games stick to (or even use) the reaction adjustment and henchmen limitations given in the book rules? Or did you give Charisma more (unwritten) weight in character interaction?
We did indeed use the reaction adjustment for charisma as stated. That was used considerably when a PC was meeting and seeking negotiation with an NPC. No added rules were needed, only the DM's determination of what the PC's charisma would come into play. Persuation is pretty well a self-evident factor in interpersonal dealings.
[/QUOTE]In the 70's, how often did a given PC play in your campaign? For the rules as written, how often did you expect people to play the game? I've read where you've said you ran games nearly every day of the week. Was this for different PCs, or did the same PCs play multiple times a week. My underlying question is whether you expected PCs to rise X number of levels in a year. Did you set the xp tables (both for awarding and for leveling up) so the PCs would reach ~X level in ~52 game session, whether those 52 sessions came in one year (once a week) or in 3 months (thrice a week). I know you probably didn't work this up as a calculation, but I'm wondering what your general intent or expectation was. Did you consider a PC rising to 10th level in 52 game sessions fast or slow or about right?
Thanks.
Bullgrit[/QUOTE]
There were well over 60 different players that participated in in the game sessions that I ran, and that's one of the reasons that I had Rob Kuntz join me as co-DM. Many of them, the "regulars" numbering around a dozen, were there seeking daily adventure sessions, while the majority of the others showed up to play on weekends. sometimes there were over 20 D&D gamers ghathered in my basement.
I expected no particular number of game sessions from anyone. The "regulars," on the other hand, expected to play many times a week. Eventualy, the occasional players dropped out, or became regulars replacing others of that ilk that left the campaign, as the ones that played more frequently we of higher level and dominated the action.
The number of XPs given to rise a level was initially intuitive, later on based on th play of my campaign group. I think that 52 sessions to reach 10th level is about right if the time per session is about four hours. Longner sessions would reduce the number accordingly.
Merry Christmas,
Gary