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The mythical ideal of 1E?
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<blockquote data-quote="T. Foster" data-source="post: 4545541" data-attributes="member: 16574"><p>Ah, but Gary's intention was that the DM would rarely (ideally never) actually look at the rulebook during play, and just have a good enough understanding of the rules and the reasoning behind them and the feel of game they were intended to evoke that he'd be able to make spot-judgment calls consistent with that spirit. The handful of charts and tables that need to be used in actual play were all included on the 1E DM Screen (or in the front & back of the DM Adventure Log); everything else in the DMG is either explanation or for use between sessions. </p><p></p><p>That's one of the ironies of the DMG, one of those things Matt Finch's <a href="http://www.lulu.com/content/3019374" target="_blank">Quick Primer for Old School Gaming</a> calls a "Zen moment," towards understanding 1E AD&D -- Gygax presents a thick book chock full of very detailed rules, but he doesn't necessarily expect anyone to actually use them. The rules are there to help the DM grok the intended shape and feel of the game, but once he does he's <u>expected</u> to supplement or even supercede the written rules with his own judgment. That's the real meaning of the famous ALL CAPS afterword at the back of the DMG -- not that the DM should wantonly ignore and change the rules in the book to suit his fancy, but rather than once you "get" the feel and intent of the rules, that making a judgment call informed by those is just as good as, or better than, slavishly following the letter of the printed rules.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="T. Foster, post: 4545541, member: 16574"] Ah, but Gary's intention was that the DM would rarely (ideally never) actually look at the rulebook during play, and just have a good enough understanding of the rules and the reasoning behind them and the feel of game they were intended to evoke that he'd be able to make spot-judgment calls consistent with that spirit. The handful of charts and tables that need to be used in actual play were all included on the 1E DM Screen (or in the front & back of the DM Adventure Log); everything else in the DMG is either explanation or for use between sessions. That's one of the ironies of the DMG, one of those things Matt Finch's [url=http://www.lulu.com/content/3019374]Quick Primer for Old School Gaming[/url] calls a "Zen moment," towards understanding 1E AD&D -- Gygax presents a thick book chock full of very detailed rules, but he doesn't necessarily expect anyone to actually use them. The rules are there to help the DM grok the intended shape and feel of the game, but once he does he's [u]expected[/u] to supplement or even supercede the written rules with his own judgment. That's the real meaning of the famous ALL CAPS afterword at the back of the DMG -- not that the DM should wantonly ignore and change the rules in the book to suit his fancy, but rather than once you "get" the feel and intent of the rules, that making a judgment call informed by those is just as good as, or better than, slavishly following the letter of the printed rules. [/QUOTE]
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