My earliest memories of table top role playing in a developed campaign world involved The World of Greyhawk, in particular the Kingdom of Celene. In our game in the mid-1980s, Celene was more open than canon probably allowed. The 1983 boxed edition of The World of Greyhawk describes the kingdom as a Rivendalian society that does not welcome strangers, but will still cooperate with the other nations around them for the greater good.
1992's From the Ashes, the reboot of the Greyhawk setting for 2nd Edition, turns the now Monarchy of Celene (perhaps in the years between the settings the Queen felt the term Kingdom was not gender-equitable enough. Friggin' liberal elves.) has grown increasingly isolationist, allowing the humanoid hordes of the nearby Pomarj wage war against the Kingd...Monarchy's former allies in the Ulek states. A fifth column has come out to secretly aid the Uleks, but are not yet in direct opposition to the Queen.
2000's 3rd Edition reboot D&D Gazetteer returns the title of the land to Kingdom (even though it's still Queen Yolande running it. Friggin' wishy-washy elves) and has them completely shut off from the outside without even a mention of the fifth column.
I don't have any kind of visibility on what WOTC did with it during the Living Greyhawk era. A lot of that information seems to have died with the campaign itself. (If anyone can help me out there, I'd love it) Celene is not one of more developed areas of the World of Greyhawk, and you can see how it had evolved in the twenty years of D&D. You can imagine how much the places of interest have changed.
I'm thinking because it was the Greyhawk that captured my attention 25 years ago, the original boxed set is still the Greyhawk that I love. The whole Greyhawk Wars storyline lacked something in my mind. I didn't like what TSR and WOTC did to my Greyhawk. James over at Grognardia has been talking about this a lot lately, everything from Archie comics to the Traveller universe. I started thinking about how many games get invalidated by updates. White Wolf only gave the inhabitants of Chicago a whopping two years before they rewrote Chicago by Night to reflect the events of Under a Blood Red Moon. Each edition of D&D spawns a dramatic rewrite of the Forgotten Realms (for certain) and then either the deletion or dramatic modification of the other settings. My beloved Greyhawk? Pieces of it were absorbed into canon, meaning the setting as a whole is pretty much dead to WOTC.
It's all understandable. For a business to continue growth, they either need to add players or somehow get the existing players to buy more books. The concept of One Rulebook to Rule Them All is fine if you have a day job and are running the business out of your home, but you can't make a living publishing role playing games unless you have a ton of product turnover and a large fan base. So you need to keep publishing. There was a time when all a player needed was a Player's Handbook and all a DM needed was a Dungeon Master's Guide and Monster Manual. Then came Monster Manual II. The Fiend Folio. Unearthed Arcana. The Dungeoneer's and Wilderness Survival Guides. And this was the relatively tame 1st Edition of D&D. Settings are no different. Authors want to make their mark on the game, so they want to cause an event that will be remembered. Hell, look at how often it happens in comics.
What are fans of a setting, be they DM or Player to do? Well, when you're playing StuffQuest, it's not really a big deal. Just modify the stats according to the newest splatbook. When you are a Role Playing Artiste? It gets trickier.
Ultimately, if you have a vision for a game, and believe in it, you will follow it. You will tweak the rules for a game (or find a better one) to achieve your ends. If the publisher puts something out that contradicts your vision, IGNORE IT! I've been out of the D&D 4e Loop for a few months now, but last time I checked, they never had a very satisfying range of options for Necromancy. If I wanted to run a game with heavy undead and necromancy as the focus of villainy, I'd use 3rd Edition or Warhammer Fantasy. It just works better.
Commerce and Art will always be at odds. It's the way things are. The publishers need to make money and rebooting franchises is a proven way of doing so. If you want your world to ignore the events the publisher's metaplot throws at you? Ignore it. If your players don't like it, that's a topic for another blog.
Showing posts with label History. Show all posts
Showing posts with label History. Show all posts
Thursday, August 19, 2010
I Can't Quit You!: an On Again/Off Again Love Affair with Dungeons & Dragons
Prologue: Bob Johansen's Blue Box (1983-84)
I don't remember the exact day that I found Bob Johansen's copy of the old Blue Box edition of Dungeons and Dragons. It was some time when my father was stationed in Korea in 1983-84. Bob worked with my dad at Osan AFB and his wife would babysit me. I'm not sure what it was about the game, I know I didn't understand the vast majority of the concepts at the moment, but it hooked me. Maybe it was because I had gotten a copy of The Hobbit for my 8th birthday (to which my aunt countered with the entire Chronicles of Narnia), maybe it was because I was always a pretty imaginative kid (you have to be when you move around so much and don't have a steady group of friends), I don't know. Every time I'd be over at Bob's, I'd bust open his boxed set and try to wrap my brain around this game. Well, until Bob moved the box. I guess he didn't appreciate an eight year old rifling through his stuff.
Chapter One: The Only Game In Town (1984-1987)
We were staying in a hotel in Stroudsburg, PA on April 20th, 1984. It was my birthday and we were up visiting my grandparents in nearby Delaware Water Gap. I opened one of my presents and it was the Red Box edition of Dungeons & Dragons--Basic Rules: Set 1. All of those bits and pieces I had trouble understanding made sense now, thanks to the simpler and gradual way the game was presented in that edition. I don't even think I bothered to name my fighter that you make when you take on your first dungeons found in the Player's Guide. I took him to a cave where a goblin stood, guarding a chest in a 10x10 room, ready to be killed with one blow. He met Aleena, the friendly cleric and first ally who would die horribly at the hand of Bargle, the first villain I ever encountered in the game. I was hooked.
I quickly moved on to making my own character, an elf with the highly original name of Legolas. Initially my parents looked to play with me, but as they realized the game wasn't really to their tastes, they moved on to leave me to my obsession. My friends in Fort Meade, MD were quickly recruited to the cause. I've completely lost touch with all of them and I often wonder if any of them still play.
At some point, my gang was recruited by some older guy who offered to DM (Don't worry, my parents checked him out, he was legit-he was a friend of a friend's parents). It introduced me to the Advanced Dungeons and Dragons rule set. I made a cleric, her name was Aleena, continuing my highly imaginative character naming process. She eventually made her way to about 4th level before the game fell to the wayside. To this day, I still don't remember the DM's name. I think I only ever referred to him as DM.
Playing at DM's house opened my eyes to two things--The AD&D system, which offered a wealth of choices beyond what I had experienced, and the World of Greyhawk, still my gold standard for a fantasy role playing setting. It would be a few years before I'd end up with a copy of the original Greyhawk boxed set, although I was able to find the "big three" AD&D rulebooks.
Chapter Two: New Books, New Ideas, New Games (1987-1992)
My dad got out of the Air Force in 1987 and we moved back to Stroudsburg, PA. This was a great thing for a young gamer, because Stroudsburg was home to The Encounter, my first Friendly Local Gaming Store. I walked in, saw walls of comic books and shelves of role playing games. To a kid who only knew Toy Stores and AAFES Shoppettes as avenues for these items, it was Nirvana. Every cent I could spare went to not just D&D books, but OTHER GAMES! Heroes Unlimited and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles were the first distractions I had from D&D, but I was still loyal.
In early high school, I ran a D&D 2nd Edition game. The basis of the game was the Ruins of Adventure module based upon the classic Pool of Radiance computer RPG. When we completed that, I ran the party through the legendary I6: Ravenloft. Not long after that, my group grew apart. I got involved in Track & Field, some of them got in legal trouble, and some just went separate ways.
I played in a group in the middle of high school, where I had an elven fighter/magic-user named Aquilon Numari. I think I got him up to about 6th level before the game fell to the wayside. Also falling by the wayside was Dungeons and Dragons. By the early nineties, games like Call of Cthulhu, Shadowrun, and (I am embarrassed to say) Vampire: The Masquerade overtook D&D among my friends and I. It would be a LONG time before I'd play D&D again.
Chapter Three: A New Look and the Boredom of War (2000-2004)
Well, the bulk of the nineties had me giving most of my money to Chaosium, White Wolf, and Palladium. A dear, late, friend John, leaked to me the playtest edition of the new D&D 3rd Edition. It blew my mind. The new D&D took all of the things I had liked about other systems (particularly skills) and merged them with the consistency and (relative) balance of D&D. I never found a regular group to play with in Pennsylvania, but I would occasionally run a game for my little brother, who was a teenager by the 2000s.
It wasn't until, of all things, the first wave of Operation IRAQI FREEDOM, that I would find regular gaming. In that first year, there wasn't a whole lot going on in the way of entertainment. We didn't have AFN or Internet in the abundance we have it now. Nowhere near as many people had personal laptops. It was a situation perfect for roleplaying. I ran a pretty light-hearted and crunchy campaign for my teammates, which opened the door for a full-blown Living Greyhawk campaign throughout the bulk of 2004.
As enthusiastic about D&D as I was, when I moved to Arizona, I found Warhammer Fantasy Roleplaying and my D&D books started to gather dust once again.
Chapter Four: Desperation and Genuine Enjoyment (2008-present)
I was done with D&D. Wanted no part of it. Warhammer 2nd Edition was perfect for my needs. Even when I saw my brother's copies of D&D4e, I was skeptical. It looked like a video game. Not impressed.
I had been trying unsuccessfully to find games in Colorado Springs. I saw that the COS RPG Meetup Group had a very robust Living Forgotten Realms game going on. I decided to try it, if anything, just to play SOMETHING. A few games in, I was hooked. I was amazed by the balance, the speed, the tactics involved. The splatbookiness of it all kind of bugged me, but the ability to counter that with a relatively affordable D&D Insider membership made up for it.
D&D 4th Edition isn't the only game I ever want to play these days, but I do enjoy it. I've come to terms with the strengths and weaknesses of it all. I'll still be looking to run and play other games, but I love having D&D 4e as an option.
Epilogue: In Hindsight
I wonder sometimes if I'd still be as interested in D&D if I found a different box in Bob Johansen's house. I know I wouldn't have suddenly become a jock or a band kid if I didn't. I was on my way to geekdom, come hell or high water. I wonder if I would have found D&D regardless or if I would have found one of the other games out there (RuneQuest, Traveller, etc...) and had those become my love affair. The two games I have truly loved throughout my gaming life have been D&D and Call of Cthulhu. I never stopped with Call of Cthulhu, but that's because it never changed on me the way D&D did. D&D changed to stay relevant as the industry leader in role playing games, and that probably explains why I've had a much more tempestuous relationship with it. 26 years later, I'm still playing it. That says a lot.
I don't remember the exact day that I found Bob Johansen's copy of the old Blue Box edition of Dungeons and Dragons. It was some time when my father was stationed in Korea in 1983-84. Bob worked with my dad at Osan AFB and his wife would babysit me. I'm not sure what it was about the game, I know I didn't understand the vast majority of the concepts at the moment, but it hooked me. Maybe it was because I had gotten a copy of The Hobbit for my 8th birthday (to which my aunt countered with the entire Chronicles of Narnia), maybe it was because I was always a pretty imaginative kid (you have to be when you move around so much and don't have a steady group of friends), I don't know. Every time I'd be over at Bob's, I'd bust open his boxed set and try to wrap my brain around this game. Well, until Bob moved the box. I guess he didn't appreciate an eight year old rifling through his stuff.
Chapter One: The Only Game In Town (1984-1987)
We were staying in a hotel in Stroudsburg, PA on April 20th, 1984. It was my birthday and we were up visiting my grandparents in nearby Delaware Water Gap. I opened one of my presents and it was the Red Box edition of Dungeons & Dragons--Basic Rules: Set 1. All of those bits and pieces I had trouble understanding made sense now, thanks to the simpler and gradual way the game was presented in that edition. I don't even think I bothered to name my fighter that you make when you take on your first dungeons found in the Player's Guide. I took him to a cave where a goblin stood, guarding a chest in a 10x10 room, ready to be killed with one blow. He met Aleena, the friendly cleric and first ally who would die horribly at the hand of Bargle, the first villain I ever encountered in the game. I was hooked.
I quickly moved on to making my own character, an elf with the highly original name of Legolas. Initially my parents looked to play with me, but as they realized the game wasn't really to their tastes, they moved on to leave me to my obsession. My friends in Fort Meade, MD were quickly recruited to the cause. I've completely lost touch with all of them and I often wonder if any of them still play.
At some point, my gang was recruited by some older guy who offered to DM (Don't worry, my parents checked him out, he was legit-he was a friend of a friend's parents). It introduced me to the Advanced Dungeons and Dragons rule set. I made a cleric, her name was Aleena, continuing my highly imaginative character naming process. She eventually made her way to about 4th level before the game fell to the wayside. To this day, I still don't remember the DM's name. I think I only ever referred to him as DM.
Playing at DM's house opened my eyes to two things--The AD&D system, which offered a wealth of choices beyond what I had experienced, and the World of Greyhawk, still my gold standard for a fantasy role playing setting. It would be a few years before I'd end up with a copy of the original Greyhawk boxed set, although I was able to find the "big three" AD&D rulebooks.
Chapter Two: New Books, New Ideas, New Games (1987-1992)
My dad got out of the Air Force in 1987 and we moved back to Stroudsburg, PA. This was a great thing for a young gamer, because Stroudsburg was home to The Encounter, my first Friendly Local Gaming Store. I walked in, saw walls of comic books and shelves of role playing games. To a kid who only knew Toy Stores and AAFES Shoppettes as avenues for these items, it was Nirvana. Every cent I could spare went to not just D&D books, but OTHER GAMES! Heroes Unlimited and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles were the first distractions I had from D&D, but I was still loyal.
In early high school, I ran a D&D 2nd Edition game. The basis of the game was the Ruins of Adventure module based upon the classic Pool of Radiance computer RPG. When we completed that, I ran the party through the legendary I6: Ravenloft. Not long after that, my group grew apart. I got involved in Track & Field, some of them got in legal trouble, and some just went separate ways.
I played in a group in the middle of high school, where I had an elven fighter/magic-user named Aquilon Numari. I think I got him up to about 6th level before the game fell to the wayside. Also falling by the wayside was Dungeons and Dragons. By the early nineties, games like Call of Cthulhu, Shadowrun, and (I am embarrassed to say) Vampire: The Masquerade overtook D&D among my friends and I. It would be a LONG time before I'd play D&D again.
Chapter Three: A New Look and the Boredom of War (2000-2004)
Well, the bulk of the nineties had me giving most of my money to Chaosium, White Wolf, and Palladium. A dear, late, friend John, leaked to me the playtest edition of the new D&D 3rd Edition. It blew my mind. The new D&D took all of the things I had liked about other systems (particularly skills) and merged them with the consistency and (relative) balance of D&D. I never found a regular group to play with in Pennsylvania, but I would occasionally run a game for my little brother, who was a teenager by the 2000s.
It wasn't until, of all things, the first wave of Operation IRAQI FREEDOM, that I would find regular gaming. In that first year, there wasn't a whole lot going on in the way of entertainment. We didn't have AFN or Internet in the abundance we have it now. Nowhere near as many people had personal laptops. It was a situation perfect for roleplaying. I ran a pretty light-hearted and crunchy campaign for my teammates, which opened the door for a full-blown Living Greyhawk campaign throughout the bulk of 2004.
As enthusiastic about D&D as I was, when I moved to Arizona, I found Warhammer Fantasy Roleplaying and my D&D books started to gather dust once again.
Chapter Four: Desperation and Genuine Enjoyment (2008-present)
I was done with D&D. Wanted no part of it. Warhammer 2nd Edition was perfect for my needs. Even when I saw my brother's copies of D&D4e, I was skeptical. It looked like a video game. Not impressed.
I had been trying unsuccessfully to find games in Colorado Springs. I saw that the COS RPG Meetup Group had a very robust Living Forgotten Realms game going on. I decided to try it, if anything, just to play SOMETHING. A few games in, I was hooked. I was amazed by the balance, the speed, the tactics involved. The splatbookiness of it all kind of bugged me, but the ability to counter that with a relatively affordable D&D Insider membership made up for it.
D&D 4th Edition isn't the only game I ever want to play these days, but I do enjoy it. I've come to terms with the strengths and weaknesses of it all. I'll still be looking to run and play other games, but I love having D&D 4e as an option.
Epilogue: In Hindsight
I wonder sometimes if I'd still be as interested in D&D if I found a different box in Bob Johansen's house. I know I wouldn't have suddenly become a jock or a band kid if I didn't. I was on my way to geekdom, come hell or high water. I wonder if I would have found D&D regardless or if I would have found one of the other games out there (RuneQuest, Traveller, etc...) and had those become my love affair. The two games I have truly loved throughout my gaming life have been D&D and Call of Cthulhu. I never stopped with Call of Cthulhu, but that's because it never changed on me the way D&D did. D&D changed to stay relevant as the industry leader in role playing games, and that probably explains why I've had a much more tempestuous relationship with it. 26 years later, I'm still playing it. That says a lot.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)