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Sunday, August 25, 2013

Quotes From Gary Gygax's Role-playing Mastery - About Understanding the Rules

And now a word from the author of Role-Playing Mastery:
"Knowing the rules of the game is not nearly as simple as committing the relevant passages to memory, because memorization does not bring understanding. It is not only important to know what is written in the rules but to also perceive how the parts of the rules fit together and work in harmony with each other. This later task is certainly achievable, but it is not always easy." Gary Gygax, Role-Playing Mastery page 24
It's kinda funny to read the above, as I always thought I had mastered AD&D, but I did so by eliminating weapon speed and not always enforcing spell segments and the like. So long as the changes applied across the board, PCs and adversaries alike, it worked.

When I ran a few DCC RPG story arcs last summer and fall, I didn't realize how little I knew until I ran the first session with characters that actually reached 1st level. I ran a hodgepodge of AD&D and DCC, and it worked, but mostly because I kept the action moving so the players wouldn't readily notice the discrepancies.

This time around, I think my knowledge of the DCC RPG is stronger, but it still has a way to go. I'm one of those that learns better not so much by reading but doing.

I'm also learning how the various twists within the DCC game truly makes it unique, which weren't so obvious to me from reading alone.

In any case, as I (re)read Role-playing Mastery over the next week or so, I'm going to pull out quotes that I find interesting. Hopefully, you will too.

2 comments:

  1. I am glad you are doing this - I saw that book on Amazon.com but I never read it. As much as I groan about Gary Gygax's gaming advice in the DMG and Dragon, it's certainly fun to read. So I'm glad to hear more from this book.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Children learn by rote: "I will not draw on the wall" 1000 times.

    Adults learn best by teaching others . . . by doing.

    Glad you're having fun with it!

    ReplyDelete

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