In 1977 I acquired my first copy of a game that would in time refer to itself as "The Original Fantasy Role-Playing Game" (looking at the cover of Mentzer Basic/BECMI). The Original game had been released in 1974 and by the time I got my hands on the box pictured above containing 3 little brown-cover volumes, it was already in its 5th printing. I was the first, so there was nobody in my gaming group to teach me how to play this game that was so unlike any that we had seen before, as it was simply "The Original" and foundational product in the new hobby. So together with my closest gaming friends, we started to teach ourselves the mysteries of this wonderful new game which we called "adventure gaming" or simply "playing fantasy"!
Entering the discovery process later than some earlier adventurers had, there were several supplements at my disposal to aid me in unraveling said rule mysteries. Greyhawk was especially helpful when it came to filling in some of the blanks and tying up a few loose ends in the rules, but at the end of the gaming day, we had to make a lot of stuff up, or more likely, we borrowed ideas from our experience with previous, but dissimilar games with somewhat dubious success. As our interest in, and enthusiasm for the new game grew, we sought input from others at the local hobby shop who knew something of the game, we thumbed through hobby magazines and finally, my attendance at GenCon the next year, picking up a little D&D craft at each step of the way.
Wow! We quickly found we were not the only ones to "make up" a few things when it came to playing the Original game. Then we discovered that this "making it up" was the whole idea! Yes, we were supposed to make the game our own by adding to what was published. The Original game is more like what we might today call a "tool kit", than it is a comprehensive set of rules to be strictly adhered to and which covers every aspect of play. Too many written rules would have been to miss the mark. As even the later Advanced game presented it, many aspects the game's rules are "suggested guidelines" and may be changed to suit the players, especially the referee/gamemaster.
So I came into a hobby where each referee, each world builder - gamemaster was expected to make certain customizing adjustments in order to come to a game that they and their players would be satisfied with. Everyone's game was a little (or a lot) different from everyone else's. So much so, that it quickly became common parlance for one inquire about the nature of the fantasy game being run by any particular group of players when first encountered. Not because there were hundreds or even dozens of alternative games, but because everyone's gaming group played the Original game somewhat differently than every other group.
For me the idea stuck - it was a big part of the appeal of this new hobby that I get to co-design the game. Being both modular in concept and lacking a universal mechanic the Original game is easily modified. Many of us did just that, replacing whole rule sections with ideas of our own, or with products marketed to work with our favorite fantasy game.
Tinkering with rules, building my own setting/world, and coming up with my own scenario ideas are essential elements of the hobby - at least as far as I am concerned. These are the aspects of play I enjoy thinking about, discussing with others, and that keep the game ever new and alive for me. I also enjoy sitting down at another's table and discovering just how they will interpret their version of each of these elements in their game as well.
"How do you handle initiative or turn order?" It's mentioned, but not explained in the Original Edition one had to decide how to handle this aspect of play.
"Do you use morale in your game and if so, how do you handle it?" This is yet another concept that is mentioned, but left to the referee to handle in their own way.
"How do you create characters in your world? Shall we roll 3d6 in order? What classes can I choose? How many hit points do we start with?" These are yet more of the variables to consider when designing "your game".
"Do you have a list of deities my Cleric should choose from?" Ah yes, world building. There is more to a game milieu than just player characters and a nasty hole in the ground filled with critters and treasure.
A lot has changed since 1974, but the "fantasy game" is still whatever you can imagine it to be.
