Players don’t need to know
all the rules
by Ed Greenwood
| Dragon | - | Best of Dragon, Vol. V | - | Dragon 49 |
(This is the version from Dragon #49. The version in Best of Dragon, Vol. V contains slight differences.)
Anyone who has undertaken the task
of introducing non-gamers to the AD&D™
or D&D®
games (in a high school or
community program, for example) has
endured the “fun” of explaining totally
foreign concepts (saving throw, alignment,
armor class, levels — four kinds!,
ongoing adventure vs. “the object of the
game is to win by...”) to completely mystified
beginners. Conversely, almost
everyone who now plays either game
has fond memories of those earliest,
most exciting adventures where you didn’t
really understand what was going on,
but it was fascinating...
So why not leave the players in the
dark? (I’m assuming here that the reader
is a thoughtful, prepared, infallible,
impassionately fair DM — as, of course, all
Dungeon Masters are.) Why clutter play
with the game mechanics, when the
play’s the thing? This approach frees
much more time for actual play, and
avoids a lot of needless confusion. As
a
first-aid instructor of mine once said,
“A
kiss is the best greeting: KISS — Keep
It
Simple, Stupid.”
The question arises: How can one play
a game without knowing the rules? The
answer, as D&D players know, is roleplay.
As a player, state what you (the
character) are trying to do, and the referee
(who knows the rules) will tell you
what is actually happening. This approach,
used by a careful referee, works
admirably. It is by no means a new idea.
In 1876, Colonel
von Verdy du Vernois,
a prominent German military instructor,
advocated the simplification of existing wargames used in training German
officers. This simplification consisted,
in
general terms, of removing dice and
most of the rules from the game and
replacing them with an umpire (a battle-
experienced officer). As Stephen B. Patrick
puts it in The History of Wargaming
(Wargame Design, New York, Simulations
Publications Incorporated, 1977).
p. 4: "In effect, then, the umpire would
make up the rules and apply them as he
went along, and the players would have
the freedom to attempt things that might
or might not be allowed by the umpire...
the players were separated and given
only the information they could legitimately
possess." This game was termed
"free" Kriegspiel (German for "war
game"), in contrast to the traditional
"hard rules" wargame "rigid" Kriegspiel).
Criticism of arbitrariness and problems
of complexity resulted in an eventual
combination of the two types of games,
in which the referee used charts and
tables as an aid in play. This was dubbed
"semi-free" Kriegspiel.
"Free" Kriegspiel sounds
something
like the D&D game, and "semi-free"
Kriegspiel sounds somewhat similar to
the AD&D game, but the approach is
different. If we apply this approach to
those games, play is as follows:
Players know only that
information
which is possessed by their character
as
a result of upbringing, observation of
surroundings, and adventuring. The DM
provides this, initially in the form of
a
booklet or sheaf of written information
-- information carefully tailored to reflect
each character's background and native
intelligence and wisdom. Such information,
as in "real life," is often incorrect,
oversimplified, or biased. Experience
then takes on a real meaning for the
player character, as acquired knowledge
(hopefully) leads to a better performance.
Players know their character's
abilities
only approximately ("Well," saith
the DM, "you're fairly good-looking, if
not sexy... you inspire confidence, people
look to you..."), and this includes hit
points ("You bleed easily") and damage
taken in combat ("You're pretty badly
hurt... it's painful -- you feel weak
and
sick, and it'll hamper your fighting").
Players know nothing of charts and
tables, and have (at first) only a vague
idea of the effectiveness of one weapon
over another in a given situation. Battling
monsters truly becomes a dangerous
business when their characteristics
are unknown and it is a trial-and-error
affair ("You can't seem to hit this thing
with your blades ... it's turning towards
you..."). This is not to say that every
monster will be an unknown horror whose
weakness the party must find immediately,
or perish. Many monsters (e.g. the
goblin races) will be familiar, and even
more reclusive races such as dwarves,
gnomes, and sprites will be readily recognizable
to human characters who have
never seen such creatures before, through
legends and "fairy tales."
Much of this latter
sort of information
is of course incorrect; there are often
many wild and contradictory tales and
beliefs concerning such legendary creatures
(two "real life" examples: the vampire
and the dragon). The players must
learn the truth themselves, listening
attentively
as the DM graphically describes
combat effects and think "on their feet"
while they fight, as true adventurers
must to survive and achieve success.
Since each player has
only one character,
he or she knows nothing of the
background of other characters except
from observation and as they trade (or
volunteer) information, and knows initially
nothing of the specialized abilities of
other character classes. (This may lead
to, for example, a quite proper fear and
distrust of magic on the part of fighters!)
Inevitably players will
learn something
of the rules as play progresses (for
instance, the number of times the DM
tells a player his or her character must
seek out a tutor to further advance
the character's skills will tell the player
the level of the character), and this
information should by no means jealously
guarded. Perhaps players could
be individually introduced to the mechanics
of the game one concept at a
time, each time their characters achieve
a higher experience level. This gradual
process, by the way, should produce
some good DMs -- players who have
been through it all "rising from the ranks"
and know what to avoid as a referee.
There are drawbacks
to this system.
DMs must do a lot of preparation;
all the
individual character information must
be written out in advance. Players are
deprived of some of the fun of planning
which a full knowledge of character abilities,
weapon damage, and so on would
allow them, and some of the fun of rolling
dice to hit a monster ... but the advantages
of such a system (for novices,
at least) outweigh the disadvantages.
These advantages are
as follows: Magic
retains its mystery. None of this "A +1
sword? (yawn) Put it in the bag, Fredolf."
Or worse, the lost uncertainty of: "A
censer, eh? Well, it either controls air
elementals or summons hostile ones,
and either way, it’s worth 25,000 gp to
us... let Hopeless the Henchman there
have it. Either his experience’ll go up
4,000, or he’ll be killed, in which case
that’s one less way we have to split the
treasure.” This problem of players who
know too much ruins the fun of play like
nothing else can, and extends even to
“ignorant barbarians” (as characters)
who can quote chapter and verse from
the Monster
Manual (or worse, the Dungeon Masters
Guide!). It is more than a
“realism” problem; it is a problem of
game balance. These “expert” players
not only gain an unfair advantage over
monsters as well as less experienced
players, but also yawn their way through
encounters that should be mysterious,
and therefore both dangerous and exciting.
The DM's usual solution
to the monster
(and magic item) "blahs" is to invent
new ones. Good new ideas, however,
don't grow on trees, and the best sources
(such as this magazine) are often
perused by the players also.
Players with Magic-user
characters
can keep actual spell books, writing
down whatever information the DM gives
them (obtained as a result of their
discoveries or research). Mages can actually
trade information to get more. Fittingly,
much of their time and effort will actually
be spent in research, locating reliable
sources of magical information, piercing
together clues, and experimenting. They
will know many spells only through legends
or by seeing the effects, and can
choose to follow up on those in which
they are interested. The DM can give
them a spell
right out of the Players
Handbook, twist it a bit for campaign
purposes, or delete it altogether without
anyone feeling cheated.
As a hidden advantage,
the heavy prepatory
workload for the DM will tend
to lead to starting scenarios resembling
this: "Characters are the youngest sons
of
local smith, farmer, lord, priest, etc.
in a
small rural valley, who are setting forth
to make their fortune." This keeps things
at the outset on a scale that everyone
can handle. It provides the characters
with relevant secondary skills, and allows
the DM to let them get their feet wet
with
relatively weak opponents -- local bandits
and the like. TSR Hobbies, Inc., has
prepared an excellent "rural village"
module, T1, The
Village of Hommlet.
This is an admirable model for the DM.
This approach is advanced
for DMs
starting new campaigns, and for argument's
sake. Doubtless it will be of use in
the latter manner; hopefully it will be
as
useful in the former.
KEEP 'EM GUESSING
(source: Chivalry & Sorcery, 2e, Book 1)
STRENGTH
04 = Disabled
05 = Puny
06 = Feeble
07 = Weak
08 = Unfit
09-12 = Average
13 = Muscular
14 = Strong
15 = Powerful
16 = Mighty
17 = Puissant
18 = Lordly
19 = Herculean
20 = Superhuman
WISDOM
04 = Witless
05-06 = Foolish
07 = Simple
08 = Unwise
09 = Naive
10-12 = Average
13-14 = Discerning
15 = Penetrating
16 = Astute
17 = Wise
18 = Inspired <(BUDDHA)>
19 = Profound
20+ = Visionary
DEXTERITY
04 = All Thumbs
05 = Uncoordinated
06 = Clumsy
07 = Awkward
08 = Unhandy
09-12 = Average
13 = Skillful
14 = Deft
15 = Dexterous
16 = Nimble
17 = Adroit
18 = Agile
19 = Quick
20-25 = Masterful
CONSTITUTION
04 = Scrawny
05 = Puny
06 = Feeble
07 = Weak
08-12 = Average
13 = Fit
14 = Healthy
15 = Sturdy
16 = Hardy
17 = Robust
18 = Vigorous (RASPUTIN)
19 = Vital
20+ = Weatherproof
CHARISMA
- = Insignificant
01-06 = Unimpressive
07-12 = Average
13-16 = Influential
17 = Commanding
18 = (HITLER, NAPOLEON, CAESAR)
CHARISMA (BARDIC VOICE)
04 = Inarticulate
05-06 = Halting
07 = Colorless
09-12 = Average
13-14 = Fluent
15-16 = Eloquent
17 = Elegant
18-19 = Poetic
20 = Bardic
21+ = Orphic