tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7817710432110712270.post2816384596442926001..comments2024-03-28T15:32:19.036-04:00Comments on Dungeon Fantastic: Why do RPGs have to give permission for changes?Peter Dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14246000382321978462noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7817710432110712270.post-64493028202143975832015-11-12T22:11:54.710-05:002015-11-12T22:11:54.710-05:00This comment has been removed by the author.driptonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01800295180326776163noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7817710432110712270.post-77791258523525357852015-11-12T22:06:31.839-05:002015-11-12T22:06:31.839-05:00This comment has been removed by the author.driptonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01800295180326776163noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7817710432110712270.post-69128100279936295752015-11-11T14:44:21.048-05:002015-11-11T14:44:21.048-05:00It probably stems from the fact that D&D start...It probably stems from the fact that D&D started life off as a mutation of war games where everyone having their own variation of the rules would end up making making the games and thus the players unable to play together. I imagine there was a heavily ingrained stigma against changing the rules and still calling it "Wargame X" since futzing with rules would make it so Bob from NYC with house rule 1 can't play against Jon from LA with houserule 2. So if you houseruled you weren't playing the "real game". Permission to house rule was probably something that had to be spelled out for a lot of the types of people Gygax imagined playing his and Arneson's new D&D thing, wargamers like him and his buddies whose knee jerk reactions to house rules were probably admonishments and arguments.<br /><br />As to why we're still including that permission? It's probably habit. You put it in right after the explanation on what roleplaying is and and what those funny dice are. Why? I dunno, just always have. *shrugs* Like those other two things we probably don't need them in the majority of gaming books anymore but there they are right after (or as part of) the introduction.Nostrihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00768178696239135304noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7817710432110712270.post-68970086956506591182015-11-11T10:08:55.565-05:002015-11-11T10:08:55.565-05:00I think you mean "Heart" not "Heat&...I think you mean "Heart" not "Heat" in the first sentence, although the typoed title works fine.<br /><br />As for requiring folks to stick to the written rules, didn't Gygax say: "The secret we should never let the gamemasters know is that they don't need any rules." Might be apocryphal, but there's a strong business case for making the official rules the only acceptable way to do things. martinlhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14046036634336503492noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7817710432110712270.post-84986017624450995122015-11-11T09:33:42.904-05:002015-11-11T09:33:42.904-05:00It just seems to me that it's not necessary to...It just seems to me that it's not necessary to even state this, because people do it anyway with RPGs and everything else. It seems like an almost automatic statement at this point, rather than actual new & useful information. A kid who mods video games and plays board games with house rules is going to balk at making house rules for RPGs unless we say it's okay?Peter Dhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14246000382321978462noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7817710432110712270.post-63963726686566637002015-11-11T09:31:02.258-05:002015-11-11T09:31:02.258-05:00Sure, and I understand the context. But 2015 isn&#...Sure, and I understand the context. But 2015 isn't 1979. Why do we need to repeat this stuff?Peter Dhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14246000382321978462noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7817710432110712270.post-44395492166782140892015-11-11T09:30:12.561-05:002015-11-11T09:30:12.561-05:00The first thing in the Preface in the DMG is a lin...The first thing in the Preface in the DMG is a line about how the DMG sets the boundaries for "all of the 'worlds' devised by referees everywhere." And later says if you vary too far from what's there it isn't AD&D anymore.<br /><br />I'm not imagining that.<br /><br />And I'm saying, why do we need that? And why do we need people to say, no, you can do what you want? Why do we need permission <i>at all</i>?Peter Dhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14246000382321978462noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7817710432110712270.post-70921566262093108822015-11-11T09:25:40.232-05:002015-11-11T09:25:40.232-05:00Historical context is helpful.
D&D split off ...Historical context is helpful.<br /><br />D&D split off into all sorts of directions as soon as it came out: people invented their own things all over the place. One of the reasons for the existence of AD&D was Gary's love of <i>tournament</i> gaming, where it was necessary for people from different local groups to be playing by the same rules. And that I think is why the DMG takes the approach it does: it was trying to downplay independent creation so as to raise groups of players who could play in each other's games, move characters from one campaign to another, etc., without major rules changes.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7817710432110712270.post-79486050879567530952015-11-11T08:53:21.720-05:002015-11-11T08:53:21.720-05:00I don't think that's a completely accurate...I don't think that's a completely accurate reading of the 1e DMG. Yes, Gygax did say that if you strayed too far from the system presented, the resulting game would not be D&D. He also suggested understanding the reason the rules existed as they did before modifying them. But he was also clear that no two D&D games would be exactly the same...each DM would modify the game to suit his needs. Any two games would have enough in common to allow a player from one DM to play in the game of another, but what was common between any two games need not be the same.<br />ravencrowkinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09315630554847698555noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7817710432110712270.post-57347193117071924662015-11-11T06:24:54.470-05:002015-11-11T06:24:54.470-05:00Well, one tip in presentations is to repeat the im...Well, one tip in presentations is to repeat the important point over and over again so the audience remembers it. Not constantly, but every few minutes.<br /><br />It is probably the same here. "You can change things to fit your own style/campaign" is one of the most important concepts in RPG books. The material can very well be used for a lot of other different things. <br />Which is something that is easily forgotten, especially when it is your first time picking up a module book.Evaniidaehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13621800313489157831noreply@blogger.com