Version Territory

Our next venture with Moldvay's Basic Rulebook requires a delicate touch.  First, I cannot simply copy his material from page B5, since in the first place it's copywritten and in the second it's only one of nine possible versions of D&D.  Thirdly, my goal isn't to rewrite one of the game versions of D&D as a rulebook.  Remember that it was never my intention to rewrite Moldvay for Moldvay's sake, but to turn to attempts to write a basic game as source material for how to speak simply and directly to a would-be DM.  So ...

Contemplating this last night, I foresee an introduction that plainly describes the discrepancies between various editions, explaining to the reader that whatever version of the game they possess, the functionality of the dungeon master is the same.  This, I think, requires some teaching on how to interpret text rules ... which is a hill to climb in itself, about which I've had one day to think on.

Then comes the problem of discussing the DM overseeing the character creation process without the crutch of describing the process.  That is, when the character is being rolled, how is the DM involved?  What role does the DM play?  As far as I know, next to nothing has been written on this, though I described recently what I do when I'm introducing a new player to my game.  Even then, however, I spoke of my philosophy towards rolling up player characters and not my responsibility.

Additionally, none of this exempts us from dealing with the factual definitions of the terms, details and subject material surrounding the "game piece" that makes a character: the ability stats, character class, hit points, armour class, skills and so on, all of which can also confuse a DM and therefore needs clarification.

Thus we quickly find ourselves drifting in three directions.  The usual course is to smash all three into the same text, trying to force the reader up to speed by sheer force of will ... but as I've said, let's not do that.  Let's find the correct route through this mountainous terrain that leads onto a smooth path come the other side.

My best guess — and it is a guess, since I've had all of five days to contemplate any of this since JB's inspiring post — would be to take the two pieces of "what is" a DM and a Player from the last post and address the relationship between the two a bit further, thusly:

The Player-Character Relationship

Whatever version of D&D that's being played, the relationship between "player" and "character" is all important.  The DM, more than the player, must be expressly conscious of the difference between the two — because during the height of play, the player often becomes too passionate to distinguish one from the other.  The player is the person playing the game, who does all the thinking and bears all responsibility for the character's actions.  The character is a conduit through which the player interacts with the setting.  Often, as a dungeon master you may be confronted by a player who's ready to blame the character for "wanting this" or "failing that," as a means of avoidance.  Try to forestall such behaviour by patiently reminding the player that he or she chose their actionsand that they must now be ready to accept the consequences.  Understanding this relationship helps a great deal in coordinating the game's play.  We'll talk more about this when we discuss "controlling the game."

In making the character, we invest the game piece with attributes that both enhance and constrain the player's actions.  Characters are able to do many things the player cannot; in turn, the character may also be incapable of doing things the player does easily.

For example, the character may be capable of riding a horse, fighting effectively with a sword, casting magical spells and speaking directly to the gods.  However, as the character typically exists in a medieval culture, the character knows nothing about science, medicine, the true nature of the stars or even how disease happens.  The character may not be able to swim, even when the player does this easily.

Acting as a dungeon master, therefore, requires defining precisely what the character can do, no matter what the situation.  It asks the DM to readily say "No" when the player asks to do something the character clearly cannot do.  It's very difficult to countermand what a player wants ... but this is the most important part of DM-player relations.

As such, the making of the character is the process through which the player understands what he or she can do, according to the game's rules.  When making the character, it's the DM's role to ensure the player is made exactly aware of their capabilities — and that whatever the player decides to do, the rules are there to say whether or not that action is possible.

Okay, me again.  From here, the text should move into the "making of the character" more directly ... but since that depends greatly on what set of rules the DM plays by, this is a good time to pull back and examine that introduction I proposed earlier.

Once again, it's not my intent to propose a new set of rules for the game, so going through the character creation step-by-step is outside the proposed agenda.  The goal is to teach DMing.  So an introduction must include some understanding that the text isn't going to hold the DM's hand with regards to whatever set of rules the DM possesses.  If it's 2e, Basic, AD&D or 5th, the introduction has to hold up and work as a preliminary intended to explain what DMing is going to be, regardless.

Look at the problems that have been created on that front.  If I want to talk about ability stats, I'm confronted by multiple definitions in the versions themselves that conflict with one another, ability stats that exist in one book but not another, and rules associated with ability stats that also conflict hideously.  5th edition even destroyed the traditional 3-18 model.  If I want to talk about hit points, armour class and damage, which ought to be core concepts, again, these things have been muddied beyond repair.  If I want to outline races, classes or class abilities, again, the names of these things have been adjusted and the class structures themselves shifted and modified, with some classes and races appearing in some or multiple versions and not in others.  It's rough enough when there are four or five different versions of a spell, but when the role of mage has undergone so many changes and adjustments, it's difficult to write an over-arching account of these matters that's remotely universal.

And, of course, the folks at the company have made it clear since 2019 that they're prepared to go on changing and adjusting every existing rule in perpetuity, regardless of whether or not a new game version results.  It's quite a headache.

Very well; as with patients who are about to die, a direct approach is best:

Introduction

This is a book about learning how to be a dungeon master for Dungeons and Dragons.   To get anything from this book, the first thing you must know about the game is that there's no single game that anyone can play.  In it's long and fractured history, "D&D" has been turned, twisted and tortured into dozens of shapes, growing more and more incompatible with itself following each generation.  If you have already purchased a version of the game, having spent more money than you expected to spend, you should know from the outset that it's possible you don't have the best version that exists.  This may come as a shock to you.  It's surely the last thing you expected from someone telling you how to manage the game.  But it's the truth.  The game in your hands may not be the right game for you or for your friends.

There are officially eight versions of D&D that have been produced since the game was first published in 1974.  Most likely, you believe that the latest is the "fifth edition."  This isn't so.  Time won't be spent here discussing the various editions or what they individually offer.  Woe be to you, dear reader, but the responsibility for which version of D&D you've decided to play — and which versions exist that you don't know about — falls on your shoulders.  Therefore you are responsible for your version's rules and your version's ideosyncracies.

This book is about how to be a dungeon master.  Thankfully, the skills and methodology of dungeon mastering apply equally well regardless of the version.  Dungeon mastering is about controlling the game's play and the players.  It is about being ready with a great deal of information.  It is about knowing the rules — whatever they are — very, very well.

To help you master the game, you may rely on this book to discuss and define many aspects of D&D that have existed since the beginning.  You'll find many lessons within these covers intended to settle arguments and provide you with a philosophy that will strengthen your ability to handle other people positively and effectively.  You'll find these abilities apply as much to life as they do with dungeons and dragons, because the approaches described herein come from the real world.  Once you finish reading this book, you should know at least how to handle players, the game and what's called "worldbulding" — but this won't be enough.  This book that's bringing you and me together requires that the reader employ good sense and a great deal of self-investigation.

It's up to you to explore every rule in your version of the game, and then to set forth to discover what those other versions are.  It's up to you to apply yourself and make the many personal contributions that being a dungeon master requires.  It's up to you to stay up all night before a game.  It's up to you to believe in yourself, and trust your own decisions when confronting one of the game's players.  You will, and must, improve when you apply yourself to understanding the whole game, in all its versions, as best you can.

I can teach you how, but I can't do it for you.

Okay.  I'm spent.  I don't even know if this is good.  I'll need some distance from it.  I won't know what's wrong until I look at it tomorrow.