Taking Your Game Beyond RAW

Looking Back to the Future of our Hobby

In this the 50th anniversary year of the publishing of the world's first fantasy role-playing game I suppose it is only natural to look back on our personal history with the game at the center of our shared hobby. Each of us has a unique journey and every story has some merit, if only to those who personally lived it. A message board, a blog or video channel or podcast can be an outlet for those memories and hopefully share some insight.

I came to the hobby during a time when everyone added some personal customization to the game. The year 1977 saw the publication of the first "Basic" version of D&D in response to a perceived need for a version of the rules that would be more user friendly than the collection of little brown volumes that had been published up to that date. The original game had grown by leaps and bounds, both in terms of popularity and in terms of available support material. The original three volumes had grown to include five volumes, not to mention Chainmail on which the game mechanics were originally based. Various supplemental ideas were floated in the official TSR publications Strategic Review and Dragon Magazine often penned by co-creator Gygax himself, but even more frequently by one of a host of amateur hobby enthusiasts. In this way we in the hobby received new character classes, new monsters and new ways to implement rulings at our table. Some might describe this situation as a hodge-podge or miscellany. 

I found it much to my liking. As an enthusiast of games in all their varied forms, I found the idea that the rules to a game could be added to, modified or even rewritten by the players to be immensely empowering. Anything was possible - and wasn't that the point of fantasy? 

The essence of the hobby for me is imagining. To Imagine new worlds, new challenges, fictional characters, mysteries and yes, new ways to roll dice and to share stories is a delightful pastime. 

In the 1977 version of "Basic" there is reference to the "Advanced" game which was being developed alongside the introductory version product. The idea around which "Advanced" was being written was that the game rules needed a standardized version to facilitate tournament play involving players from all over who obviously could benefit from knowing how the rules were going to be applied at any given table. An obvious answer to a recognized challenge was for the "creator" of the game to give/sell the hobby an "official" version of the rules. This was an undertaking of some proportion and it understandably took time for this one person, who had other responsibilities running a company, and having a family. The volumes comprising the "Advanced" game were released over a number of years and ultimately all were necessary to complete the game. In the meanwhile, we gamers would continue to play the game we loved with whatever mix of officially published rules we had available or could improvise using other sources and our imaginations.

And of course the game's development didn't stop with publication of the "Advanced" rules.

For members of the tabletop role-playing hobby there are so many ways to play today. We are a hobby that is blessed (and cursed) to have games that reflect a variety of preferences, approaches, themes and sensibilities which we can choose from and sometimes argue about. 

If I think about it, this has always been the case. Arguments were frequent in the days before we were given the "Advanced" rules that were meant to standardize play. The publication of "Advanced" didn't settle all of the disputes and Sage Advice often gave conflicting interpretations on various rules questions. Of course the publication of "Advanced" didn't meet everyone's desires and various "homebrew heartbreaker" versions of the game were also published (should we also include "Basic/Expert"). Choices can lead to disagreement. 

 So what are some lessons of a half century of tabletop role-playing as a hobby?

The publishers of the game want to sell you a new book.

There is no "one game" that will appeal to everyone in this hobby.

Homebrewed rules and rulings can feel arbitrary and unfair to players.

Rules lawyering and attempts to game the system can be a frustration to the referee/GM.

Playing a game is about cooperation.

At the end of the day, it's just a game - one that we can hopefully play for fun and shared enjoyment.

1974 & Beyond

Fifty Years Ago...

A couple of middle-aged gamers and lifetime friends (named Kaye and Gygax) pooled their resources and self published the world's first fantasy role-playing game. The kernel of ideas which inspired Mr. Gygax to write said rules came from other gamers who traveled from Minnesota and shared their innovative style of game play with the Wisconsin group including Mr. Gygax.  About three years later I stumbled upon the game designed by Misters Gygax and Arneson and have played one version or another of said game right up to the present. Along the way, I rather fancy that I may have learned a few things about life, friendship and shared gaming. Some of those lessons find their way into this blog.

Creativity and imagination are the only absolutely necessary components of play. Mr. Gygax and Mr. Arneson gave us gamers a new way to play a game. We imagine fantastical worlds, can populate our shared fantasy with heroes, villains and various imaginary beings, and tell each other stories about what happens in this shared imaginary space, all while playing a game. It's all make-believe, but with some guidelines and mutual buy-in, it's also a game. The actual mechanics of our particular game are often less important than the game publisher would like us to believe.

What we bring to the game table in terms of experience, especially the books we have read including the stories that will inspire and focus our imagination, is  more important in many ways than the specific game we choose to play. Our individual imagination is what shapes the character of the setting we imagine, the action that takes place and the wonder of it all as we experience it. Without a point of reference, without examples we are limited in what we can imagine. Imagination is like so many other human capacities in that our ability to make use of it improves with practice. The more imaginings we take in, the more we have at our disposal when we start to create (borrow, steal from or be inspired by) and the more varied and interesting our creations are likely to be. The best advice I have heard (and I have sought lots of advice over the years) for improving our game is to read everything you can asking yourself all the while, "How can I use this in my game?"

As an exercise, let's imagine we are creating a story together. Let's agree that our story involves something we'll call "a goblin". What does our goblin look like? You tell me.

Most of you reading this blog have some concept of what a goblin is that is based on various sources you have encountered over your lifetime. Obviously, there is no real "goblin" to compare our version to or that can definitively establish what a goblin looks like. The only thing that really matters regarding our goblin's appearance is that we share certain assumptions regarding the nature of our goblin in order for us to develop our story. 

Let's agree that our goblin is a short, bestial and mischievous creature that otherwise resembles a human. Let's say, the goblin is threatening and waving a rusty sword at us. Slobber and spit runs down its sloping chin as it grins evilly and advances upon us. What do we do?

Imagine!

The game will likely involve us rolling some dice, it's a game after all. The outcome will contain some degree of doubt until the conflict is resolved and not knowing what may happen before is part of the fun. The result is our shared "story" we have just imagined together.

It's really that simple. Regardless of the particular rule mechanic we are using, the concept comes down to one person describing the situation, then perhaps another person deciding what action to attempt, then we insert some game mechanics and describe the outcome. 

So one may ask, does the game system really matter at all?

I would say, yes it does. We all have our unique preferences in game mechanics (etc.) and since it is a "game" we are playing, each of us will find certain mechanical aspects more or less appealing and this will certainly affect our enjoyment while playing our game. (In my opinion, some mechanics fit certain styles of play better than others and are more likely to deliver a specific experience while playing.) Some systems are specifically geared to work well with certain genres and feel more or less "real" when playing under those assumptions. This and other preferences likely accounts for why there are so many game systems available today.   

Ultimately, the rules of a game come down to what is mutually acceptable among the players.

In 1974 there was only one game and it wasn't even called "role-playing" because nobody at that time would know what a role-playing game was. Today, fifty years later, we have thousands of games marketed as "role-playing". If you have read this far it should be obvious that I tend to view them all as "variations on a common marvelous theme".