Calico JesseMar 16

Poking around the AD&D GM’s Guide definitely has advice I feel is very counter to a lot of neo-old school thinking.

“The final word, then, is the game. Read how and why the system is as if is, follow the parameters, and then cut portions as needed to maintain excitement.”

1/4

#TTRPG #Gygax #ADND #OSR #DND

Show threadDave Dawkins (D. Harrigon)
@deinol It's amazing how many old-school gamers haven't actually read the book properly.
Mar 16 at 11:01pmWeb
Show threadCalico JesseMar 16

@golgaloth to be fair, a lot of the old school crowd focus is on B/X or OD&D. AD&D is kinda a minority of play. But it is a weird beast.

I’ve seen quotes from Gygax that says if you aren’t playing AD&D as written, you aren’t playing his game. But his own advice is cut what isn’t fun. 🤷🏼‍♂️

Show threadThinkaholic is 🐸 antifaMar 17
@deinol @golgaloth I mean, AD&D was developed purely as a cash grab to screw Arneson out of his royalties, and written by a man who couldn't organize his thoughts even on his best days (and I believe this was before he could blame that on his cocaine habit). So of course it's incoherent. 5/5 for inspiration, though. Reading that book won't tell you *how* to run a game, but it damn sure made me *want* to run one.
Show threadCalico JesseMar 17

@pooserville @golgaloth

I somehow stumbled through figuring out how to play. Although I quickly moved to Palladium Fantasy. It had skills! And ascending AC [AR] 19 years before D&D. 😅

I can see how a lot of people go back to B/X, written by someone who can make cohesive and comprehensive rules!

AD&D GM Guide is a mess organizationally.

Show threadThinkaholic is 🐸 antifaMar 17

@deinol @golgaloth I had played Basic before, and it was what taught me how to play.

What the DMG did was make me want to build worlds.

Show threadCalico JesseMar 17

@pooserville @golgaloth

I started in 1984 with 4 products. I was 7.

AD&D Player’s Handbook
AD&D DM’s Guide
B1-9 In Search of Adventure
Middle-Earth Role-Playing [MERP]

One of these things is not like the other, and even more incomprehensible than Gygax.

I think it was the B modules that really taught me how to run.

Show threadDave Dawkins (D. Harrigon)Mar 17
@deinol @pooserville I started with the old Red Box, which was an excellent distillation and sparked my imagination to the possibilities. Then Traveller because I like space stuff. I quickly moved onto my own homebrew world and my own homebrew system that worked off rolling competing D30s for everything and gave some really swingy and interesting results.
Show threadCalico JesseMar 17

@golgaloth @pooserville

Red Box did wonders. The “walk you through a mini adventure” section really helped teach people. It makes it a little weird as a reference, because the first half of the book isn’t as helpful once you’ve done it, but it’s still a remarkably good intro to gaming.