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What is the essence of D&D
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<blockquote data-quote="Tony Vargas" data-source="post: 7824123" data-attributes="member: 996"><p>I always have to look up which basic set is which. At 13 I played the Holmes, I guess - blue cover, mentioned AD&D a few times - Basic Set with my friends for a while, we did not 'get it,' and they lost interest faster than I did. So I dived into AD&D (read cover to cover, repeatedly), and, with considerable effort to overcome innate shyness, started playing it at the local hobby shop, primarily with adults, because that's who was playing, then it was home games and conventions, and I was, for lack of a better term, mentored in how to be a DM by a remarkable young lady only 4 years my senior, who, at the time, with the technicality of minor/adult between us, seemed a huge difference. </p><p></p><p>I never left the hobby, I drifted from D&D in the mid 90s, to return with 3.0, but AD&D remained my favorite ed - and burned into my little brain where a good high school education should have been.</p><p></p><p>Even similar experiences can be quite different.</p><p></p><p>There is so much of anything Gygax wrote that was just... verbiage. <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite2" alt=";)" title="Wink ;)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=";)" /> I mean, I think I can be long-winded and wall-of-text in a forum context, but...</p><p></p><p>...what have you got for resolving a 'social scene?' Reaction adjustments for CHA & Race? Exploration? A few roll 1 on a d6 this or % for that thief skill, and a lot of cool ideas on how to befuddle your players, ruin their maps, and screw with their characters... and who does engage with the DM to resolve those scenes? Much as in 3e or 5e today, it's one player. In AD&D, he's even given a label the "Caller."</p><p></p><p>So why do we hear these varied impressions of D&D, that it was a wargame, all about combat, that it was exploration and combat was just something to get through quickly, that it was all about the RP and the character? Well, the nice way to put it is every DM ran it differently, everyone's experience was different.</p><p></p><p>But, I'm starting to suspect a component of it is /which/ kind of player were you, playing which kind of character?</p><p></p><p>Most worthwhile thing you've said in a reply to me in a while, it feels like.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Tony Vargas, post: 7824123, member: 996"] I always have to look up which basic set is which. At 13 I played the Holmes, I guess - blue cover, mentioned AD&D a few times - Basic Set with my friends for a while, we did not 'get it,' and they lost interest faster than I did. So I dived into AD&D (read cover to cover, repeatedly), and, with considerable effort to overcome innate shyness, started playing it at the local hobby shop, primarily with adults, because that's who was playing, then it was home games and conventions, and I was, for lack of a better term, mentored in how to be a DM by a remarkable young lady only 4 years my senior, who, at the time, with the technicality of minor/adult between us, seemed a huge difference. I never left the hobby, I drifted from D&D in the mid 90s, to return with 3.0, but AD&D remained my favorite ed - and burned into my little brain where a good high school education should have been. Even similar experiences can be quite different. There is so much of anything Gygax wrote that was just... verbiage. ;) I mean, I think I can be long-winded and wall-of-text in a forum context, but... ...what have you got for resolving a 'social scene?' Reaction adjustments for CHA & Race? Exploration? A few roll 1 on a d6 this or % for that thief skill, and a lot of cool ideas on how to befuddle your players, ruin their maps, and screw with their characters... and who does engage with the DM to resolve those scenes? Much as in 3e or 5e today, it's one player. In AD&D, he's even given a label the "Caller." So why do we hear these varied impressions of D&D, that it was a wargame, all about combat, that it was exploration and combat was just something to get through quickly, that it was all about the RP and the character? Well, the nice way to put it is every DM ran it differently, everyone's experience was different. But, I'm starting to suspect a component of it is /which/ kind of player were you, playing which kind of character? Most worthwhile thing you've said in a reply to me in a while, it feels like. [/QUOTE]
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