Questions tagged [history-of-gaming]
For questions about the entire history of role-playing games: the history of game companies, trends within the hobby, developments of new kinds of mechanics, and gaming's place in culture.
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Does OG DND actually have content where players kill Vishnu?
I am a DND fan and a Hindu, but Jason Tondro (a Senior Designer for Dungeons & Dragons) was quoted as saying:
Were players expected to fight Vishnu, one of the principal deities of
Hinduism, kill ...
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What's the history of Spell Slots in D&D?
I was thinking about how Final Fantasy 1's magic system is straight up Spell Slots (with no upcasting), but came out in 1987--at which point I'm pretty sure D&D still had Vancian magic.
The ...
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Why are we abbreviating Player's Handbook to PHB?
The official abbreviations for the rule books of fifth edition according to the Sage Advice Compendium are:
Player’s Handbook (abbreviated PH)
Monster Manual (abbreviated MM)
Dungeon Master’s Guide (...
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Parody of early D&D rules set, and specifically character creation, as part of a web novel of some kind
I'm looking (with no luck so far) for a story I read online at least a decade ago. It had some specific interpretations of early D&D rules that are, at best, controversial but I'd like to ...
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Is the Dungeon of the Unknown based on player characters?
We are playing through the Dungeon of the Unknown that goes by the weird name "Quasqueton" from the original D&D Basic Set introductory adventure In Search of the Unknown (updated and ...
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Conspiracy of Doors Adventure Origin
In 4th Edition's Dungeon Master Guide 2, in the back of the book it goes over details for Planescape's center piece City of Sigil, and some notes on how to incorporate it into 4e alternate cosmology. ...
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What is the origin of the Dancing Sword?
Most magical swords in the game either have a special name, like the frost brand, nine lives stealer, defender or holy avenger, or they follow a naming pattern of "Sword of X", for example ...
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What is the origin of the Deck of Many Things?
The Deck of Many Things has appeared in every edition of D&D so far, and while the exacting particulars have varied, the overall feel of the deck has remained consistent: the rules for how to draw ...
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Is there any explanation or discussion regarding the change in the Bard class from its AD&D1ed orignal implementation?
If I recall correctly, the Bard in AD&D1ed was a true dual (triple) class character who had to progress as a pure fighter, then a pure thief, and then finally could begin to progress as a bard. In ...
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What is "Vancian" magic in D&D?
In discussions of D&D, especially discussing older editions, the term Vancian sometimes comes up: "Vancian" spellcasting, "Vancian" magic system. But this word doesn't actually ...
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Did the stereotypical horniness of bards come up some time after development, or were they part of the original fantasy/intended design?
One argument I found in the internet was paladins being lawful good and bard being the only other charisma focused class at the time.
This could mean and emergent property based on the situation.
The ...
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What is the origin of the simulacrum spell?
Simulacrum is a peculiar wizard spell that is widely held to be broken when it comes to power level, and is the source of so many rules questions that it is one of the very few spells has its own tag, ...
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When and where was the first mention of Xanathar in any D&D publication?
I've been told the beholder monster first appeared in Greyhawk (1975), but what was the first appearance of Xanathar in particular?
Title and year would be nice.
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History of Tarrasque in RPGs
The tarrasque is one of the iconic monsters of Dungeons and Dragons, designed to be a creature that is nearly impossible for players to deal with - or at least challenging them to be creative.
But in ...
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Have different types of normal clothes ever done anything in DND?
In 5e there are common clothes, travellers clothes and fine clothes, but I don't think they actually have any rules around them.
I have found there isn't much in the way of clothing materials on older ...
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