[Old Geezer]

There's a big, fat, juicy, stinking misconception hovering in the air here exactly the way watermelon-sized turds don't.

That is that D&D is somehow 'misdesigned' because some things are missing.

This is, quite simply, not true. OD&D, and AD&D Ist ed, its child on steriods, were deliberately designed with large amounts not covered.

That is because - wait for it - MAKING THINGS UP WAS CONSIDERED TO BE A MAJOR, PERHAPS EVEN *THE* MAJOR, FUN OF BEING A DM!!!!!

Damn, that's important enough to bear repeating. MAKING THINGS UP WAS CONSIDERED TO BE A MAJOR, PERHAPS EVEN *THE* MAJOR, FUN OF BEING A DM!!!!!

There are no rules for a half-succubus/half man-eating trout PC because MAKING UP THE RULES WOULD BE FUN!

This is also seen in a recent review here on RPG.net of the old, original Blackmoor. The reviewer complained that "there were no rules or suggestions on how to integrate Monks into your campaign."

The answer to that is, quite simply, "Why do you want someone else to take the fun away?"

Please note that this is not mere conjecture on my part -- I maintained a frequent correspondence with Gary Gygax, Rob Kuntz, Dave Arneson, and a few others at TSR until the early 80s. And this very sort of thing was a frequent subject of discussion -- why, we wondered, did people want questions answered when making up the answers was the fun part of the game? Why did people not want to have fun?

The answer, of course, is that it's a different hobby. Building a world and the rules to play in it is a very different experience from playing in someone else's fully developed world and rules.

And right here and now, the strawman of "the latter is more advanced gaming" DIES, and I take its stuff and set its body on fire.

Neither form of gaming is "more advanced". They are merely different.

Just like there are still model railroaders who enjoy building models from raw materials - bits of wood, sheet brass, and the like. The fact that I can buy a breathtakingly accurate model engine for $50 has nothing to do with the fact that someone else is building one from scratch BECAUSE HE HAS FUN DOING SO.

Not because he is in some way engaging in a "more primitve" or "incomplete" version of the model railroad hobby, or that his engine is "deficient" because he had to spend time working on it himself.

For him, the POINT is the time spent doing it himself. Just like for me -- and, I think, perhaps, for Lars - the POINT of D&D is the things I put into it.

Yes. OD&D does NOT have rules for succubus/aardvark Player Characters nor for integrating a Monk into your existing world.

That is precisely why I like it.

It's not for everyone, just like carving your own locomotive wheels on a lathe isn't for everyone.

But "I don't like this" does NOT equal "this is primitive/incomplete/badly designed".