So this dude JB from B/X Blackrazor writes about the D&D end game: Ancient Chinese Secrets. And he says:
The “secret” (if you want to call it that) is that extended play in a continuous “campaign world” with regular players can, over time, evolve into something greater than its original humble beginnings. That’s it, really (I think).
He also says a lot more. But apparently he thought it was all very obvious. And in fact, it is. It is, *now*.
All I can say that I learnt about the D&D endgame from blog posts in the last year or two – On the Loss of D&D's Endgame, for example, and that’s cool. But why didn’t anybody put it in the rule books I read? Why is it not in the Labyrinth Lord book I read? Why is it not in the Primer for Old School Gaming? (Or is it and I missed it?)
Here’s how I learnt to play. My mom introduced me to The Dark Eye, a German game apparently written by the first D&D translator who was unable to buy the D&D license. And my mom bought some modules. Then I designed similar games. We kept on playing different modules using the same characters, and then I moved, and a few years later we play AD&D 2nd edition with no bought modules but using the same style until we reach 12th level, and then I moved, and many years later we play D&D 3E with the odd bought module and an adventure path or two, and I’m frustrated with D&D 3.5 gameplay between levels 12 and 15. And I start looking for some rules light alternatives.
And suddenly I hear people talk about the end game, and a consistent world, and PCs turning into NPCs of said world, and players just switching characters and continuing to play, and I wonder: *Why did nobody ever tell me*!?
The tournament modules taught me the wrong game. (There’s some discussion of the effects tournaments may have had on the development of the game in the comments of The Ages of D&D.)
#RPG #Old School
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I think the end game, as you term it here, requires a certain continuity in players and GMs, and also requires that everyone want to continue playing in the same game world. In my experience, sometimes you just want to break out of the mold and do something different, even if it is still the same D&D rules.
On the other hand, if you have some decent campaign notes and some long-term players, you can always dust off an old game, and roll up new characters. I admit that has a certain allure to it. Unfortunately I’ve never run a game long enough for that to happen.
– Adrian 2009-07-28 12:13 UTC