The mechanics of armor class, rolling to hit, and hit points have been part of Dungeons and Dragons and RPGs from the very beginning of the hobby. They were adapted to the game from rules for naval wargames, which might explain the terminology. It makes sense to think of hitting ships, their being able to sustain multiple hits before sinking, and the quality of their armour affecting how much they can withstand a barrage of hits before sinking.

Since I first started playing D&D I was never fully happy with the way that spells were divided between “Magic-Users” and “Clerics”. Why couldn’t a wizard cast many of the sorts of spells I’d expect they could from various books and movies? Over the years I came to accept the D&Dism of the Cleric, and now understand the reasons for why the Cleric was introduced to the game and the niche that it fit. Despite that, as I move further away from the standard D&D rules and add …

Earlier editions of Roleplaying Games like Dungeons & Dragons are sometimes referred to as Old School, Retro, or Original. These are fine terms, but things become a bit confused when more recent supplements or “Retro-Clones” are produced. Are these also “Retro” or “Old School” even if they were published last week?

I’d like to expand on a comment I left on Jeff’s post about how D&D magic items are sometimes presented in less than magical ways by the rules. What is presented in a fantasy literature or film as a wonderous sword often boils down to Sword +1 in many game sessions. An imaginative DM and players can work around that and act like the sword is more special than the system makes it – but the overt math in the system does have the affect of taking …

Reading other blogs talking about “old school” games and how the latest edition of D&D is/isn’t like an old school game really emphasizes something I’ve come to realize:  my approach to role-playing games is not the same as a lot of other people.
Before I had heard about Dungeons & Dragons, I was a big fan of Choose Your Own Adventure books.  Our school library had them and they were very popular with all my friends.  The Cave of Time, Third Planet from Altair, Who Killed Harlowe Thrombey? — stories that …