The most common house rule (surprisingly)
May 6, 2020 10:30:16 GMT -5
The Semi-Retired Gamer, The Perilous Dreamer, and 1 more like this
Post by ampleframework on May 6, 2020 10:30:16 GMT -5
I started playing D&D sometime in 1994, and my first DM gave us pre-generated characters, but in the years following that I played in and ran several games loosely based around the BECMI product line, and in almost every single case there the players rolled up their own characters and the rule book made it clear this was the way it was done.
However, I discovered something fascinating decades later when I first began studying the three original D&D booklets thanks to their renewed availability - in the original Men & Magic book, it's assumed the referee, not the players, rolls up the stats ahead of time! I wonder how many people actually went by that back in the seventies, or how many people continue to do so? The inverse, while it was codified as the de facto method in all the Basic and Advanced sets, was not what was recommended in Men & Magic at all.
Therefore, unbenownst perhaps to many, it would seem the most common house rule for OD&D is when players roll up their own character. A house rule indeed in that it is a departure from the booklet. Of course, most of us make several dozen major departures from the booklets when we run the game, I'm sure, but this one is almost universally overlooked it seems. It does change the tone and expectation of the campaign when you're given a character (or a small list of potential ones, as in the first game I played in. I chose a Dwarf because they're the best!) as opposed to conceiving one yourself. I'm not sure either way is objectively better or worse but it feels different, for sure.
I'll have to meditate on this a while during my project of outlining my custom Men & Magic booklets for my next campaign.
However, I discovered something fascinating decades later when I first began studying the three original D&D booklets thanks to their renewed availability - in the original Men & Magic book, it's assumed the referee, not the players, rolls up the stats ahead of time! I wonder how many people actually went by that back in the seventies, or how many people continue to do so? The inverse, while it was codified as the de facto method in all the Basic and Advanced sets, was not what was recommended in Men & Magic at all.
Therefore, unbenownst perhaps to many, it would seem the most common house rule for OD&D is when players roll up their own character. A house rule indeed in that it is a departure from the booklet. Of course, most of us make several dozen major departures from the booklets when we run the game, I'm sure, but this one is almost universally overlooked it seems. It does change the tone and expectation of the campaign when you're given a character (or a small list of potential ones, as in the first game I played in. I chose a Dwarf because they're the best!) as opposed to conceiving one yourself. I'm not sure either way is objectively better or worse but it feels different, for sure.
I'll have to meditate on this a while during my project of outlining my custom Men & Magic booklets for my next campaign.
