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Message: <blockquote data-quote="MerricB" data-source="post: 5167262" data-attributes="member: 3586">Wow. That's one of the worst comparisons I've seen.It's so astonishingly bad. It requires a misunderstanding of the differences between the editions, as well as not knowing what a Campbellian Hero is as well as assuming that a Comic Superhero isn't part of the Campbellian type as well.Consider <a href="http://www.calstatela.edu/faculty/sfischo/ClassicalHeroes.html" target="_blank">this article</a>, which discusses in part how Spiderman fits the Cambellian Monomyth, also Superman.Campbell isn't concerned with whether or not a character begins weak or not. He's concerned with story structure. The character leaves an "ordinary" existence for a life of adventure. This is something most games of D&D pass over; by the time the game begins, the ordinary life has been left behind. It doesn't say anything or not about whether the character was ordinary beforehand. Superman can hardly ever be considered to be "weak"! However, he has to make the decision to cross into the world of heroes and villains, rather than staying as Clark Kent and ignoring it all.From here, many D&D campaigns don't really progress much further. The hero has left the ordinary world, and faces challenge after challenge... but there's really no resolution. In AD&D, there's no structure dictating that the story progress further. Conversely, both BECM D&D and 4E D&D give a structure that, if the game progresses to its utmost, the hero accomplishes a great deed and passes into immortality, legend, or some such. Both of those editions have a structure that facilitates the monomyth.Does this mean that AD&D is incapable of following the monomyth? By no means. One of my favourite AD&D PCs left home, had a lot of fantastic adventures (including defeating Zuggtmoy and Vecna) and eventually returned home with great power to guard his homeland and his family. I'm pretty happy with that hero's journey.Does that mean that a 1st level AD&D character and a 1st level 4E D&D character play the same way? By no means. But using the term "Campbellian" to describe AD&D characters is misleading at best.</blockquote>

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