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Post by kesher on Aug 10, 2010 9:50:52 GMT -6
Now that I have your attention, I'm just wondering if it could be done? Just imagine it's the late 70's and you inherited this book when someone left it under a table in your high school library---if this was all you had, obsessed with it as you've become, could you build an rpg out of just the info in the DM's guide? What would it look like? (and don't worry, Will---I'm not planning to change our system again...) I was inspired by this post on Jeff's Redoubtable Gameblog. |
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Post by giantbat on Aug 10, 2010 20:16:11 GMT -6
(and don't worry, Will---I'm not planning to change our system again...) I thought changing the system was the system.  |
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Post by Malcadon on Aug 11, 2010 0:08:19 GMT -6
Sound like me when I first gamed: a DMG, MM, Basic (Magenta) D&D rulebook, and the blessed ignorance to play them as one system...
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Post by kesher on Aug 11, 2010 8:52:12 GMT -6
(and don't worry, Will---I'm not planning to change our system again...) I thought changing the system was the system. Touche!  Malcadon: Yeah, that's what I'm getting at, but what would it look like if you ONLY had the DMG? |
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Post by Malcadon on Aug 11, 2010 9:57:49 GMT -6
I would have not gotten anywhere, as I was hard-pressed to make hands and tails out of the writing. That effort alone helped me deal with a major reading disability!
System wise, not much. It list a number of the game mechanics in the book, but everything is buried and scattered within the thick, heavily worded tome. Unless the uninitiated reader is familiar with wargaming rules - like Warhammer - he is not going to understand the how combat works. The book list a number of spells, but the player would have to make-up the effects without the hindrance of the game mechanics (casting time, durations, etc.). It list a long list of monster stats, but with little (you found the Adventures in the Air section) or no descriptions. All the random tables give the impression that you have to roll out EVERYTHING!
Gaming wise, it might not be all that bad. Before I stat playing on my own, I played with my step-father (who introduce the game to me) without really knowing the rules. He keeps track of the rules and asked what I wanted to do. Between that, I tried to play my own improvised game without any rulebooks (or rules for that matter) - following in the way I played it with my step. It mostly played like a choose-your-own-adventure, with multiple-chooses and items that triggered effects or helped defeat monsters. It was really fun at first, but it fell apart without a real system to deal with combat (although a simple game of rock-paper-scissors could have helped-out, but with my group that game never works out that well). So a creative reader might pick-up on the improvised nature of the game, and make unique and free-wheeling adventures without the encumbrance of the heavy mechanics.
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