Basic Fantasy RPG Forums

I was looking through an old copy of the 1st Edition AD&D Dungeon Master's Guide and came upon this Epilogue written by Gary Gygax:
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It is the spirit of the game, not the letter of the rules, which is important. Never hold to the letter written, or allow some barracks room lawyer to force quotations from the rule book upon you, if it goes against the obvious intent of the game. As you hew the line with respect to conformity to major systems and uniformity of play in general, also be certain the game is mastered by you and not by your players. Within the broad parameters given in the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons volumes, you are creator and final arbiter. By ordering things as they should be, the game as a whole first, your campaign next, and your participants thereafter, you will be playing Advanced Dungeons & Dragons as it was meant to be. May you find as much pleasure in doing so as the rest of us do!
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I'm sure as a kid I never paid any attention to these words...they were obvious to our style of play "back in the day". But they're superb guidance for the adults playing the editions of D&D and associated games that would follow. And obviously, I think the stuff produced by the Basic Fantasy Project are pretty consistent with Gary's advice.

Well said sir.

Just goes to show that rules lawyering was already a thing back in the 70s, even though the term wasn't as commonly used then as it became over the passing decades.

toddlyons wrote: ↑Fri Oct 30, 2020 9:01 am Just goes to show that rules lawyering was already a thing back in the 70s, even though the term wasn't as commonly used then as it became over the passing decades.

Exactly!

The rules are between the GM and the players, but having a common set of rules is what allows us to share material.

Also, back in the days, tournaments were a big thing.

I really like that being said from the book. I sometimes have a problem trying to have known everything by text and worrying that I won't remember anything from BF's rules. Though the thing I forget is that as long as everyone has fun, then there isn't anything wrong with making the final decision to how the game should flow and be taken for the sake of convenience. Which I haven't experienced much to see a rules lawyer that has done so in a game.

Like most humans, including and perhaps even especially creative types, Mr. Gygax seemed to be made up of contradictions. His view on any given subject varied widely from one source to the next and evolved over the years. AD&D 1e is a fascinating time capsule of his game design and game mastery philosophies of the late seventies. Much of it is timeless, other areas not so much, but his views on the relationship between the GM and the players still apply to games wishing to maintain that old school flavor to this day. And presumably always will.