Voros
Doomed Investigator
- Joined
- Sep 23, 2017
- Messages
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Does this one count?
A Quick Primer for Old-School Gaming
It's not comprehensive, and it doesn't really tell you how to GM, per se. It's more like a punk rock manifesto for RPGs. But it's short and free, and it can be revelatory, so I think every GM should read it.
There's lots of reasonable, good advice in the Primer but I think it is pretty narrowly focused on D&D, I'm not sure much of his advice tranfers to other kinds of games.
And much of the good sense is all mixed in with overstated assumptions about 3e D&D play and claims about 'old school play' that in no way reflect my experience of playing D&D throughout the 80s.
I think that it is a common mistake to argue in favour of something by taking potshots at something you don't like. I remember doing that myself when I wrote my first published music review in the university newspaper, where I felt the silly need to slam Kenny G in a jazz review, as if anyone reading a jazz review took Kenny G seriously. It pained me to see that lazy thinking in print and I vowed to never do it again.
I agree more with this and this critique of the Primer.
I much prefer Jason Cone's Philotomy's Musings. His ideas are much more distinctive and interesting to me and he never feels the need to caricature other editions or games.