tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5377543525075660166.post1211090708976801710..comments2024-03-26T22:17:42.458-04:00Comments on Semper Initiativus Unum: The roots of the gameWayne Rossihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11347401495298367324noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5377543525075660166.post-80385485480141460732008-11-28T20:08:00.000-05:002008-11-28T20:08:00.000-05:00I don't understand the humanocentric view. I'm no...I don't understand the humanocentric view. I'm not saying it's wrong, just I don't understand why people have it.<BR/><BR/>What do you find boring about non-humans?<BR/><BR/>I can understand being tired of the various non-human cliches. But I believe those cliches are perpetuated by games that force a humanocentric view.Norman J. Harman Jr.https://www.blogger.com/profile/01319655075997712313noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5377543525075660166.post-20140787410397878192008-11-26T06:38:00.000-05:002008-11-26T06:38:00.000-05:00I think you're right on all counts. At least, ...I think you're right on all counts. At least, when I first saw and played the game (in white box form circa 1977), it was in a sort of halo of enthusiasm from having recently read The Hobbit and being in the middle of LotR.<BR/><BR/>In my case, though, when I started looking closely at how to structure a campaign, I somehow realized early on that D&D was more like a western in fantasy clothing. Not that I would have made the connection to pulps at the time, but for whatever reason I shied away from the "epic fight against a dark lord" type of epic, and somehow this also led to a general distaste for the surface trappings of same--elves & dwarves, etc. (Though I should add that "clerics" in RPGs also turned me off; while they don't fit well with pulp fantasy, they can't be laid at the feet of Tolkien.)<BR/><BR/>In reaching this conclusion I don't think I was very much influenced by literature or film--I hadn't read the Appendix N materials. I think it was more due to having been exposed to the structure of the game at an early date. It's also possible that approaching the game with wargaming experience was a factor. And finally the sense of the game as presented by Gygax, and by other writers in The Dragon (not to mention Fineous Fingers), had more of a rogue-like, picaresque feel than epic. In short, assuming I wasn't alone, there were multiple pathways for absorbing the pulp-ish ethos, but they tended to be overwhelmed by later cultural developments.Elliot Wilenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09100832825053274916noreply@blogger.com