Now that the home fantasy campaign has settled into playing through The Terror of Ettinmarsh, I’ve been taking some time to dig back into my gaming roots. This week has been dominated by a re-examination of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, often referred to as the 1st Edition.
While I’ve flipped through the pages of the Players Handbook and Monster Manual, my attention has been largely drawn to the role of the Dungeon Masters Guide.
A few reflections have given me pause for thought as I seek to emulate this approach to play, d100-style using Classic Fantasy.
Game vs Simulation
On page 9 of the Dungeon Masters Guide, Gygax writes:
“Of the two approaches to hobby games today, one is best defined as the realism-simulation school and the other as the game school. AD&D is assuredly an adherent of the latter school.” (emphasis his)
My previous criticisms of earlier versions of D&D have tended to arise from this distinction made by Gygax. That said, I found myself reflecting on the words that follow:
“In all cases, however, the reader should understand that AD&D is designed to be an amusing and diverting pastime… but in no case something to be taken too seriously. For fun, excitement, and captivating fantasy, AD&D is unsurpassed.”
Is a desire for simulation a bad thing? Taking things too seriously? Surely not. After all, as Perrin wrote in the introduction to RuneQuest (Classic 2nd Edition, 2016, page 3):
“We think you will find this system more realistic, and at the same time more playable, than any system you have seen before.”
More playable and an improved simulation. That was certainly the case for me when I first played RuneQuest back in the early 1980s.
But… so what?
Reflection on this dichotomy made me realise that the blending of styles is what has made Classic Fantasy such a strong offering.
Simply put, I get to enjoy the approach to swords-and-sorcery adventure gaming that Gygax proposes while using a game system that feels more consistent and easier to play. For example, whereas Gygax had to propose a clunky rule to take into account the hero without a helmet (DMG, p.28), Mythras Classic Fantasy has that detail baked right into its hit location and armour system. That is, frankly, simpler and easier to apply than randomly having 50% of hits from an intelligent creature aim for the AC10 unarmoured head.
Attitudes to Magical Treasures
I was somewhat taken aback by the strident words of Gygax on the placement of magical items in the game:
“Thoughtless placement of powerful magic items has been the ruination of many a campaign… This is in part the fault of this writer, who deeply regrets not taking the time and space in D&D to stress repeatedly the importance of moderation. Powerful magic items were shown, after all, on the tables, and a chance for random discovery of these items was given, so the uninitiated DM cannot be severely faulted for merely following what was set before him or her in the rules… The sad fact is, however, that this was not done, so many campaigns are little more than a joke…” (DMG, p.92, emphasis his)
One of the things I liked most in rediscovering Dungeons & Dragons Red Box in recent months has been the use of random tables. These were of greatest value in quickly determining the contents of rooms in dungeons, as well as the right amounts of treasure to accompany those encounters. It came as a surprise to see that Gygax is deeply suspicious of DMs who are overly dependent on those tables when it comes to magic items:
“Initial placement of magic items in dungeon and wilderness is a crucial beginning for the campaign. In all such places you must NEVER allow random determination to dictate the inclusion of ANY meaningful magic items. Where beginning/low-level player characters are concerned, this stricture also applies to the placement of any item of magic.” (DMG, p. 93)
Tough to swallow when I consider that my primary use of the Dungeon Masters Guide back in the day was for the random determination of magic items. Indeed, pages 119 to 125 are almost completely filled with random treasure tables. Given the advice on page 93, I can only conclude that the random tables were there to allow for some random inspiration only:
“…do not allow the dice to dictate a disaster for your campaign. If their result calls for some item of magic which is too powerful, one which you are not certain of, or one which you do not wish to include in the game at this time, you will be completely justified in ignoring it and rolling until a result you like comes up, or you can simply pick a suitable item…” (DMG, p. 93)
Is the moral simply that, while the table can speed play and generate some good results, you should never be hidebound to use them? Surely that didn’t require an almost full-page explanation from the author?
Setting Up a Campaign
I love the advice given by Gygax on the setting up of a campaign, running from page 86 of the Dungeon Masters Guide onwards. It echoes nicely the advice given by Brian Jamison in his seminal text Gamemastering.
The long and short of it is that you should start small and not worry too much. Recent discussions by Matt Colville that I featured in my advice for school teachers gives much the same kind of advice: create a small village and a small dungeon; stock the dungeon; get the players to make some characters… and have at it!
There are gems worthy of note here. I liked the section on pages 88-89 about social class and the forms of government because it draws the aspiring DM into thinking more deeply. The section on page 90 about “Duties, excises, fees, tariffs, taxes, tithes, and tolls” is coming to my campaign too.
But my favourite page from the Dungeon Masters Guide is that sample dungeon map on page 95, complete with three rooms keyed and stocked… and the words, “4. (Etc.)” on page 96. The map cries to be placed on my campaign map. The discussion on running your first dungeon adventure is fascinating.
Is this why so many old gamers hold this book in such high regard? No matter.
For me, flipping those old musty pages (and my copy is VERY musty) has been an enlightening experience that will surely help to better emulate the ‘classic fantasy’ I aspire to in my gaming.
Game on!
