To all my OSR comrades, I just wanted to share this bit of wisdom:
"...when dogma enters the brain, all intellectual activity ceases." —Robert Anton Wilson, Cosmic Trigger 1: Final Secret of the Illuminati
This statement can be applied to the game we play, as well as the scene we are actively, or for some, are inactively part of. Never allow anyone to tell you that you are doing it wrong! No company, group or individual has ownership of The Game, no matter what game that may be. Rules are written for the game table, not for style of play, or pattern of thought. Rules are created as guidelines, and they are made to be broken. Even those rules that somehow take shape, because some have convinced themselves that there is only 'one true way.' And as a reminder to myself, never allow anyone to get in the way of your fun. It is only a game, and that is the whole point! Stop playing if you ever decide it is no longer fun...
If the above quote did not move you, please consider another in relation to our game, as well as our community (supplant "D&D game" with "OSR" as needed to help make my point):
"the D&D game has no rules, only rule suggestions. No rule is inviolate, particularly if a new or altered rule will encourage creativity and imagination. The important thing is to enjoy the adventure." —Tom Moldvay, from the foreword of Dungeons & Dragons Fantasy Adventure Game Basic Rulebook
11 comments:
I use this philosophy in all of the games I play and run. And I include a variation of this in every game I attempt to write. Thanks for aticulating this so nicely.
Great quotes! Thanks.
Great points Shane! I never let the rules stand in the way of fun when it comes to my games. If it's not fun, why do it?
Heck yeah! Somebody needs to create a prestige class for a hobbit with non-weapon proficiencies and healing surges, stat!
Excellent Moldvay quotation. Amen!
I'm curious if any particular event inspired this post.
@trollsmyth - there just seems to be a lot of bluster in the community of late and this is just my way of reminding everyone, including myself, why we are here in the first place.
Very wise words, Shane.
Is there another bluster brewing? It has been a few months, hasn't it since the last debacle? This is why I just am me and not part of the OSR anymore, no time for controversy or fighting, just gaming and trying to get other things off the ground.
@ancientvaults - no kerfuffle or anything major. My post today is a result of a certain *something* that has been in the air of late, and my post is a way to put some perspective on it. It is something I have encountered both on forums and a few blogs. If nothing else, I wanted to make this post as a reminder to myself to reject dogma and have fun while I play the game I love.
Links of interest:
http://theresdungeonsdownunder.blogspot.com/2011/03/old-school-renaissance-is-dead-part-6.html
http://flamingtales.blogspot.com/2011/03/who-owns-d.html
http://cyclopeatron.blogspot.com/2011/03/fck-hasbro-i-am-d.html
If you have been playing as long as I have and still play some of the older games then you *are* part of the OSR, even if it is only guilt by association. It doesn't mean you have to be a cheerleader or anything. I normally choose to stay away from the banter. By nature I am a diplomat and have a way of seeing both sides of an issue. I just felt I wanted to share my way of looking at the whole thing. Maybe I just felt like blowing off some steam with a mini-rant today! :-)
Great post and a message we all need reminding of periodically.
One of my favorite R.A Wilson quotes! Great stuff!
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