"Black Dougal gasps 'Poison!' and falls to the floor. He looks dead."

Saturday, June 6, 2009

In Defense of Dogma

The word dogma (Gr. dogma from dokein) signifies, in the writings of the ancient classical authors, sometimes, an opinion or that which seems true to a person; sometimes, the philosophical doctrines or tenets, and especially the distinctive philosophical doctrines, of a particular school of philosophers, and sometimes, a public decree or ordinance.

Source: The Catholic Encyclopedia

The Northern Marches have been specifically designed to do 3 things:

1. Allow for easy scheduling and flexibility in attendance. - It uses Jeff Rients' Triple Secret Random Dungeon Fate Chart of Very Probable Doom to encourage everyone to get back to safety at the end of the session. This is important so that the entire roster of characters is available for the next session. Also, it has been an open game where anyone who is interested is welcome to play. There have been sessions at a local game store to put it in a neutral location.

2. Get back to a "beer 'n pretzel" game where fun is the key. Everyone is aware that it is a game and can enjoy as such. This is not high drama. It is busting down doors and taking monsters' stuff. It is puzzles and traps. The only person that should take it seriously in the least is me and that is because of reason #3.

3. Just as Dwimmermount is James' experiment Northern Marches is my experiment to look at my interpretations of the tenents of Moldvay and Cook's Basic and Expert Dungeons & Dragons. By reading my previous posts about why B/X is my favorite and the comments from the last couple of days I think one can get a pretty good idea of what I believe those tenets to be.

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