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  1. #1
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    I think NWN is a remarkable game. I think it`s one of the best things,
    along with 3e D&D to happen to roll-playing. I like NWN and I like
    Baldur`s Gate - they`re probably my fave computer games.

    I used to play Tunnels and Trolls. It was a fantasy dice-rolling game
    which came out of the Steve Jackson group many many years ago. It made
    no pretense at role-playing. NWN is a far more complex version of the
    same game and just as much fun.

    Make no mistake - NWN does not allow for the development of a game
    personae!

    And make not the other mistake - 3e D&D is EXACTLY the same! It`s focus
    is on combat and power - on the development not of the personae but on
    the development of the character to a more powerful and more capable
    entity. This is not roleplaying! Can you roleplay ? yes, you can -- but
    it`s very very hard to do so when the rules are focused against it.

    I challenge some of you out there to sit down one night with your best
    DM and a plot-line, without any dice, without any pieces of paper, with
    just your imaginations, and play. No numbers, nothing to make random
    decisions for you - the DM decides everything by his decision alone
    without aids of any kind, purely arbitrary. That is raw primal
    roleplaying.

    ===
    These comments were made in April 1979, when there was a push to add new
    rules to the AD&D combat system. An impassioned plea is made by the
    original author to cease and desist from focusing on combat - yes,
    Veronica - the munchkins ignored it then too.


    There can be no question as to the central theme of the game. It is
    the creation and development of the game personae, the fantastic
    player-character who is to interact with his or her environment -
    hopefully to develop into a commanding figure in the milieu.

    Hacking and sleying should not be the first refuge of the
    beleaguered player, let alone his initial resort when confronted
    with a problem situation.

    If in fact the D&D game was a simulation of hand-to-hand combat
    ....[list of initiative and other combat details] .., such detail
    would be highly desirable. Obviously much of the excitement and
    action is not found in melee, and even shortening the process by
    adding in death strokes and the like causes an undue emphasis on
    such combat.

    My advice is to leave well enough alone and accept the game for what
    it is [role-playing not hack-n-slay roll-play]. If you must have
    more detail in melee switch to another game.

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  2. #2
    Administrator Green Knight's Avatar
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    >I challenge some of you out there to sit down one night with your best
    DM >and a plot-line, without any dice, without any pieces of paper, with
    just >your imaginations, and play. No numbers, nothing to make random
    decisions >for you - the DM decides everything by his decision alone
    without aids of >any kind, purely arbitrary. That is raw primal
    roleplaying.

    Some have already tried it. Some liked it, others didn`t. While
    certainly an interesting style of play (I worked extremely well with the
    Amber setting for those who know it), I find that a little randomness
    enhances the experience both for the DM and players. Still, letting dice
    decide evryting, or simply rolling too many of them, will ruin the
    roleplaying part of the gaming experience.

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    Cheers
    Bjørn
    DM of Ruins of Empire II PbeM

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