Reading Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, Part 41
That's right, folks; I'm back at it! It's been far, far, FAR too long. So let's not delay and get right back into it, shall we?
In case you forgot where we left off, check here.
If you're wondering what this is all about, start here.
MULTIPLE CHARACTERS FOR A SINGLE PLAYER
Here we see some more of Gygax's, "brook no fools" approach to DMing. Interestingly, the section is very clear that not only are multiple characters not discouraged, they can be actively encouraged in certain sitiations, with specific stipulations in play.
To be clear, he's not talking about one player at a table running three different PCs at the same time. Indeed, the stipulations in place would seem to discourage that--multiple characters played by the same player should not be associates with one other, communicate directly with one another, or be able to freely interchange items and articles. Remember that at the time when AD&D was written, "campaigns" involved a "mileu," or campaign setting, and a single DM would run games for hours at a time, several times a week, with multiple groups.
That seems to be what this section is discussiong--a player running different characters at different sessions in a campaign, or substituting one character for another when a given PC has to leave the group to pursue their own ends.
As a side note, I remember the heady days of junior high when we'd play games and half the people at the table would have 2 or 3 character sheets. And yes, we violated that "no exchanging items and gear" rule freely. If a character died, their "nephew," "niece," "son," "daughter," or whatever. Said character was inevitably a clone of the original, who "inherited" all their stuff.
We really didn't get the point back then. But we had fun.
In any case, Gygax ends this section by saying that if a player oversteps their bounds and abuses the privilege, "you must be prepared to step in and take the part of one such character.... Do so quickly and firmly, and the player will be likely to understand that youw ill brook no foolishness -- particularly if hte character you take the persona of becomes hostile and aggressive to demands from the other."
Ah, Gary.
Also, it's worth noting that on this page is one of my all-time favorite AD&D cartoon panels:
INTERVENTION BY DEITIES
This section is, to my mind, something of a mixed bag. It offers solid advice and rationale for why gods really don't get personally involved in the affairs of mortals. It talks about how busy gods would be if they even answered 1% of the desperate pleas for help they get all day, every day, and how they don't particularly enjoy engaging each other directly (after all, gods can kill one another).
It reminds me of a story from an old game of mine. It was a modern game, not a D&D game, but the story holds. The characters, in the last season, became embroiled in the events of an apocalypse, and the old gods were involved. One of the PCs demanded of Odin to know why if he was such a power god, he didn't just fix this. Odin's response was, "This is YOUR world, not ours. It was made for, and given to, you humans. Besides that, do you have any clue whatsoever, how many apocalypses are going on right this very minute? Handle your shit."
In any case, after it goes on awhile elaborating on exactly why, both mathematically and ethically, gods won't get involved...it gives numbers that to my mind result in a significant chance of actual divine intervention. To wit: characters of exemplary faithfulness have a full 10% chance of the god taking the time to actually send a powerful servant to aid them. Then, if you roll an 00 followed by rolling under your level on % dice, the deity themselves shows up. Certainly that's a less than 1% chance, but it still seems statistically significant, all things considered. Maybe it's just me.
Finally, this section closes with two interesting notes. The first ist hat a deity will NEVER intervene on a plane that'st he habitation of another deity, nor will they venture into the positive or negative planes.
Second is a mic-drop for those players who think that if it has stats, it can be killed and quest to kill gods. It expressly says that if a god or demi-god is "deprived of its material body by any means (including being 'killed' on the prime material plane," it is merely banished to its home plane of existence. In short, no, you cannot kill a god just because it has stats. You just send it home...and then you've really honked off a really powerful cosmic being. Good luck to you.
Okay, that's all for this installment. Feels good to be back on this! Next up, what promises to bea pretty in-depth breakdown: THE ONGOING CAMPAIGN, including the sections for Boot Hill, Gamma World, and Metamorphosis Alpha conversions guidelines!
Index
Previous Entry
In case you forgot where we left off, check here.
If you're wondering what this is all about, start here.
MULTIPLE CHARACTERS FOR A SINGLE PLAYER
Here we see some more of Gygax's, "brook no fools" approach to DMing. Interestingly, the section is very clear that not only are multiple characters not discouraged, they can be actively encouraged in certain sitiations, with specific stipulations in play.
To be clear, he's not talking about one player at a table running three different PCs at the same time. Indeed, the stipulations in place would seem to discourage that--multiple characters played by the same player should not be associates with one other, communicate directly with one another, or be able to freely interchange items and articles. Remember that at the time when AD&D was written, "campaigns" involved a "mileu," or campaign setting, and a single DM would run games for hours at a time, several times a week, with multiple groups.
That seems to be what this section is discussiong--a player running different characters at different sessions in a campaign, or substituting one character for another when a given PC has to leave the group to pursue their own ends.
As a side note, I remember the heady days of junior high when we'd play games and half the people at the table would have 2 or 3 character sheets. And yes, we violated that "no exchanging items and gear" rule freely. If a character died, their "nephew," "niece," "son," "daughter," or whatever. Said character was inevitably a clone of the original, who "inherited" all their stuff.
We really didn't get the point back then. But we had fun.
In any case, Gygax ends this section by saying that if a player oversteps their bounds and abuses the privilege, "you must be prepared to step in and take the part of one such character.... Do so quickly and firmly, and the player will be likely to understand that youw ill brook no foolishness -- particularly if hte character you take the persona of becomes hostile and aggressive to demands from the other."
Ah, Gary.
Also, it's worth noting that on this page is one of my all-time favorite AD&D cartoon panels:
INTERVENTION BY DEITIES
This section is, to my mind, something of a mixed bag. It offers solid advice and rationale for why gods really don't get personally involved in the affairs of mortals. It talks about how busy gods would be if they even answered 1% of the desperate pleas for help they get all day, every day, and how they don't particularly enjoy engaging each other directly (after all, gods can kill one another).
It reminds me of a story from an old game of mine. It was a modern game, not a D&D game, but the story holds. The characters, in the last season, became embroiled in the events of an apocalypse, and the old gods were involved. One of the PCs demanded of Odin to know why if he was such a power god, he didn't just fix this. Odin's response was, "This is YOUR world, not ours. It was made for, and given to, you humans. Besides that, do you have any clue whatsoever, how many apocalypses are going on right this very minute? Handle your shit."
In any case, after it goes on awhile elaborating on exactly why, both mathematically and ethically, gods won't get involved...it gives numbers that to my mind result in a significant chance of actual divine intervention. To wit: characters of exemplary faithfulness have a full 10% chance of the god taking the time to actually send a powerful servant to aid them. Then, if you roll an 00 followed by rolling under your level on % dice, the deity themselves shows up. Certainly that's a less than 1% chance, but it still seems statistically significant, all things considered. Maybe it's just me.
Finally, this section closes with two interesting notes. The first ist hat a deity will NEVER intervene on a plane that'st he habitation of another deity, nor will they venture into the positive or negative planes.
Second is a mic-drop for those players who think that if it has stats, it can be killed and quest to kill gods. It expressly says that if a god or demi-god is "deprived of its material body by any means (including being 'killed' on the prime material plane," it is merely banished to its home plane of existence. In short, no, you cannot kill a god just because it has stats. You just send it home...and then you've really honked off a really powerful cosmic being. Good luck to you.
Okay, that's all for this installment. Feels good to be back on this! Next up, what promises to bea pretty in-depth breakdown: THE ONGOING CAMPAIGN, including the sections for Boot Hill, Gamma World, and Metamorphosis Alpha conversions guidelines!
Index
Previous Entry
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