Today we celebrate the 46th Anniversary of the publication of Original Dungeons & Dragons. Created by Dave Arneson and Gary Gygax, this was the first published Fantasy Adventure Role Playing Game. It was and is a game of adventure, exploration and risk as players explore a OD&D world, a unique creation of the referee.
The game world created by the referee can cover the range of human imagination. It might be inspired by the world of the Hyborian Age (the world of Conan), it might be inspired by the world of Nehwon (the world of Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser) or any of the hundreds of great fictional worlds. It might be a inspired mashup of two or more of the great fictional worlds. Or it might strike off for new territory altogether inspired by, but very much its own thing.
It might be a gonzo world in the vein of Blackmoor or Arduin with a mixing of genres. Or it may stick to one genre without the gonzo element. Whatever it is, it is a unique creation reflecting the vision and imagination of the referee, a true sandbox living world, that is not static, but dynamic.
By dynamic I mean that things happen all the time whether the player characters are their or not. The world is full of cities, towns, village, hamlets and thorps, some areas of human habitation are isolated and some are closer to civilization. There are always those brave souls out on the frontier. There can vast wilderness areas, areas held solely by monsters, ruined cities, enormous dungeons, treasures and great wealth to be found with magic and mystery to those brave or foolish enough to venture forth and seize the day.
The village square abounds with rumors and stories of things from the outside world as do the town squares, and the great markets in the cities. The characters may hear of various things and they pursue one, later on they may hear stories of what happened regarding the roads they did not take. But new rumors and new opportunities for adventure abound.
This is a game where the referee (called a dungeon master in later versions of the game) were not only free to create new monsters, new treasures, new magic as part of this new world, it was expected by Arneson and Gygax that the referee would do so. As they looked at it as of January 26th of 1974, that was a major part of the fun for the referee was the creation of everything in your world from the pebbles on a beach to mighty magical artifacts and everything in between.
In fact they were so sure that everyone would follow their example that the first adventure modules did not come from TSR, but from a third party. As Gygax wrote at the close of Volume 3 - The Underworld & Wilderness Adventures:
IMO they did indeed furnish the essentials and an ample framework and the building was both easy and fun. I would like to emphasize something here that is IMO often overlooked: "the trimming will ofttimes have to be added by the referee and his players." I was a referee with initially 12 players, later to have 20 and more. I had English Literature majors, History majors, Science Majors, a Latin major and others and I drew liberally from their knowledge bases and we all read fantasy and science fiction. There was no shortage of ideas. I have always paid a lot of attention to the continuous talk between players and many ideas found and do find their seeds there.
So for me, I did not need nor desire to have TSR do my imagining for me. I started when I had the time and the desire to do it myself and I have never departed from that mold.
For me the road I chose, "I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference." By which I mean that for me, I made the far better choice between the roads and have never looked back.
The game world created by the referee can cover the range of human imagination. It might be inspired by the world of the Hyborian Age (the world of Conan), it might be inspired by the world of Nehwon (the world of Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser) or any of the hundreds of great fictional worlds. It might be a inspired mashup of two or more of the great fictional worlds. Or it might strike off for new territory altogether inspired by, but very much its own thing.
It might be a gonzo world in the vein of Blackmoor or Arduin with a mixing of genres. Or it may stick to one genre without the gonzo element. Whatever it is, it is a unique creation reflecting the vision and imagination of the referee, a true sandbox living world, that is not static, but dynamic.
By dynamic I mean that things happen all the time whether the player characters are their or not. The world is full of cities, towns, village, hamlets and thorps, some areas of human habitation are isolated and some are closer to civilization. There are always those brave souls out on the frontier. There can vast wilderness areas, areas held solely by monsters, ruined cities, enormous dungeons, treasures and great wealth to be found with magic and mystery to those brave or foolish enough to venture forth and seize the day.
The village square abounds with rumors and stories of things from the outside world as do the town squares, and the great markets in the cities. The characters may hear of various things and they pursue one, later on they may hear stories of what happened regarding the roads they did not take. But new rumors and new opportunities for adventure abound.
This is a game where the referee (called a dungeon master in later versions of the game) were not only free to create new monsters, new treasures, new magic as part of this new world, it was expected by Arneson and Gygax that the referee would do so. As they looked at it as of January 26th of 1974, that was a major part of the fun for the referee was the creation of everything in your world from the pebbles on a beach to mighty magical artifacts and everything in between.
In fact they were so sure that everyone would follow their example that the first adventure modules did not come from TSR, but from a third party. As Gygax wrote at the close of Volume 3 - The Underworld & Wilderness Adventures:
AFTERWARD:I have often heard the claim that OD&D is incomplete and unplayable without help. I and those I played with did not find that to true, we never did write to TSR with questions, not once in those four years at college. Not that there would have been anything wrong with writing with questions, but being college kids we liked the challenge of figuring it out for ourselves and unlike working adults with families we had more time available to do that.
There are unquestionably areas which have been glossed over. While we deeply regret the necessity, space requires that we put in the essentials only, and the trimming will ofttimes have to be added by the referee and his players. We have attempted to furnish an ample framework, and building should be both easy and fun. In this light, we urge you to refrain from writing for rule interpretations or the like unless you are absolutely at a loss, for everything herein is fantastic, and the best way is to decide how you would like it to be, and then make it just that way! On the other hand, we are not loath to answer your questions, but why have us do any more of your imagining for you? Write to us and tell about your additions, ideas, and what have you. We could always do with a bit of improvement in our refereeing.
IMO they did indeed furnish the essentials and an ample framework and the building was both easy and fun. I would like to emphasize something here that is IMO often overlooked: "the trimming will ofttimes have to be added by the referee and his players." I was a referee with initially 12 players, later to have 20 and more. I had English Literature majors, History majors, Science Majors, a Latin major and others and I drew liberally from their knowledge bases and we all read fantasy and science fiction. There was no shortage of ideas. I have always paid a lot of attention to the continuous talk between players and many ideas found and do find their seeds there.
So for me, I did not need nor desire to have TSR do my imagining for me. I started when I had the time and the desire to do it myself and I have never departed from that mold.
For me the road I chose, "I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference." By which I mean that for me, I made the far better choice between the roads and have never looked back.
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