There was once a great essay by Ron Edwards of all people on the history of early D&D. The articles at the Forge seem to be down now though, sadly.
From what he reported, the early RPG rules - not just D&D but stuff like Ardiun Grimoire, Chainmail, and other rules, were not used or thought of as they are today. Roleplaying came about organically, and each group figured it out with what they had. There was this idea going around the wargaming circles about this 'roleplaying' thing. It was sort of like pornography - you know it when you see it. One group would have Chainmail and some Dragons - another the White Box and photocopies of some indie book. Another would run largely on houserules.
The rulebooks therefore, were not meant to tell you how to roleplay, but rather to describe how people were already roleplaying. They were descriptive, rather than proscsriptive.
From what he reported, the early RPG rules - not just D&D but stuff like Ardiun Grimoire, Chainmail, and other rules, were not used or thought of as they are today. Roleplaying came about organically, and each group figured it out with what they had. There was this idea going around the wargaming circles about this 'roleplaying' thing. It was sort of like pornography - you know it when you see it. One group would have Chainmail and some Dragons - another the White Box and photocopies of some indie book. Another would run largely on houserules.
The rulebooks therefore, were not meant to tell you how to roleplay, but rather to describe how people were already roleplaying. They were descriptive, rather than proscsriptive.
