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Post by Crimhthan The Great on Mar 5, 2018 15:38:48 GMT -5
Welcome back, you are always an interesting read and thought provoking.
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Post by The Archivist on Mar 31, 2018 15:54:15 GMT -5
I am a fan of these legends and love to see what creative people can do with it and love to see new life breathed into old things.
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Post by Mr Darke on Sept 29, 2018 12:56:40 GMT -5
Thoughts on BEMCI and the RCI always saw 'Classic' D&D (I feel 'Basic' is a misnomer) as the continuation of OD&D. If you draw a line from Holmes to Menzter you can see a natural evolution of the game over time. Certain issues were fixed like the confusion over how and elf actually works, the incompleteness of the original rules, and the game was trimmed down to archetypes. Added in were, what I feel, natural and logical expansions to the game. By the time the RC came you have a very complete version of the game that shows what OD&D may have turned into had the lines not been split. Sadly, this would be the last version of the game that was worth buying. What came after (Called 'The Classic D&D Game') was a very poor statement of the game that showed TSR had no interest in keeping D&D alive. Unfortunately D&D's swan song was a lackluster product line that was nearly an insult to it's legacy. Others have seen CD&D as an evolution of D&D. Arneson had this to say about the RC and Mentzer gives his thoughts on the design of BECMI. So the theory of CD&D being a successor to the legacy of D&D is sound and I feel the RC was its fullest expression. One could see this final form as a synthesis of Arneson, Gygax and Mentzer built from Holmes, Modlvay and Cook's work. I think they would all be proud of this especially Dr. Holmes who was working to make the game more understandable(1). In the end I would actually call BECMI/RC D&D (and by extension B/X) a continuation of OD&D. You could see it like this Holmes as 1.5 D&D (second edition D&D if the whole of the game was revised), B/X as 3rd edition D&D and BECMI/RC as 4th edition and 4th edition revised D&D(2). So in a way D&D had 4 very well done editions and a proud legacy. I think all these men should be proud of what they accomplished especially given the later attitudes towards D&D in the shadow of AD&D. (3) 1. I feel Dr. Holmes has actually made a larger revision to his version but it was cut into 3 levels. While no evidence of this exists I think that someday a larger Holmes revision will be found that covers a good majority of D&D as a whole. 2A. Close attention paid to the 2nd edition AD&D rules shows that there was also a 'basic' or D&D style game hidden in it. Turning some optional rules off and turning others on brings this game forth. I never played it this way but may try this at some time. 2B. The later Classic D&D Game line is really a non edition as it is a gimped version of BECMI. If you want it would be 4td edition but in a very basic form. I wonder if TSR was actually going to begin a new line that would be a restatement or 5th edition but I cannot find anything that suggest this. Of course WOTC takes over by this point and AD&D becomes D&D and Classic D&D dies. (3) A handful of people were keeping D&D alive through the Gazetteer series and a few products but the overall quality of the supplements were hit or miss. The Known World setting (Appearing by 2e D&D) was a boon for D&D and shaped many games. While you could create your own worlds, or use existing ones, the game had a sense of completeness that AD&D did not.
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Post by Hexenritter Verlag on Sept 29, 2018 19:41:38 GMT -5
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