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A New Taxonomy for TSR-Era D&D
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<blockquote data-quote="Jack Daniel" data-source="post: 8346679" data-attributes="member: 694"><p>Big picture, if we take the text at face value and treat D&D and AD&D as two separate games, each can be broadly divided into two eras: AD&D obviously has its 1st Edition (or as the text of 2nd Edition was wont to call it instead, "Original Edition") and its 2nd Edition. While D&D has its own Original Edition (the LBBs, the supplements, the Holmes Basic Set), and its "2nd Edition," what's commonly called Classic D&D (the Moldvay/Cook, Mentzer, and Denning/Allston revisions).</p><p></p><p>I personally see no problem with treating D&D and AD&D as separate games, while at the same time recognizing that AD&D is little more than a clarification and reorganization of original (LBB + Supplements) D&D.</p><p></p><p>But it does highlight another way to look at the "eras" of the game, not as discrete blocks, but as overlapping trends on a grand (and, for a time, branching and reconverging) continuum. When we set aside editions and revisions as a marker of delineation, we can still see some general developments that cut across edition lines. I've argued in the past that there's an era devoted to challenge-based play (1974~1984), an era that sees the rise of focus on character and setting (1985~1994), an era that codifies character customization (1995~2003), an era that focuses on tactics and balance (2004~2010), and a modern era (since 2011, and mostly marked by D&D flailing about to find its identity again).</p><p></p><p>The half-editions and midpoint course-corrections, in other words, can often tell us something interesting about the culture of play at the time (while also demonstrating how new editions and revisions of the mainline, Advanced and Advanced-descended D&D game have <em>always</em> gone about overcorrecting for perceived mistakes of the past).</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Which is exactly why Holmes Basic hobbits have six-sided hit dice and Moldvay Basic describes the first three experience levels of play. <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite11" alt=":rolleyes:" title="Roll eyes :rolleyes:" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":rolleyes:" /></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>3rd edition shares some <em>actual verbatim text</em> with 2nd edition.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Jack Daniel, post: 8346679, member: 694"] Big picture, if we take the text at face value and treat D&D and AD&D as two separate games, each can be broadly divided into two eras: AD&D obviously has its 1st Edition (or as the text of 2nd Edition was wont to call it instead, "Original Edition") and its 2nd Edition. While D&D has its own Original Edition (the LBBs, the supplements, the Holmes Basic Set), and its "2nd Edition," what's commonly called Classic D&D (the Moldvay/Cook, Mentzer, and Denning/Allston revisions). I personally see no problem with treating D&D and AD&D as separate games, while at the same time recognizing that AD&D is little more than a clarification and reorganization of original (LBB + Supplements) D&D. But it does highlight another way to look at the "eras" of the game, not as discrete blocks, but as overlapping trends on a grand (and, for a time, branching and reconverging) continuum. When we set aside editions and revisions as a marker of delineation, we can still see some general developments that cut across edition lines. I've argued in the past that there's an era devoted to challenge-based play (1974~1984), an era that sees the rise of focus on character and setting (1985~1994), an era that codifies character customization (1995~2003), an era that focuses on tactics and balance (2004~2010), and a modern era (since 2011, and mostly marked by D&D flailing about to find its identity again). The half-editions and midpoint course-corrections, in other words, can often tell us something interesting about the culture of play at the time (while also demonstrating how new editions and revisions of the mainline, Advanced and Advanced-descended D&D game have [I]always[/I] gone about overcorrecting for perceived mistakes of the past). Which is exactly why Holmes Basic hobbits have six-sided hit dice and Moldvay Basic describes the first three experience levels of play. :rolleyes: 3rd edition shares some [I]actual verbatim text[/I] with 2nd edition. [/QUOTE]
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