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Please forgive me for starting a thread without the slighest idea of  exactly 
how many other TFT fans are subscribed to this list.  If I am  posting out of 
turn, please allow my ignorance to pass just this once.  I  promise to learn 
quickly!
 
I am reasonably excited to find a set of peers who still enjoy TFT  gaming.  
I began playing with the Advanced Melee rules in 1986, and the  friends I 
played with that first night, 20 years ago, are still good friends and  we still 
rally for a couple games a year.  
 
TFT is such a great game.  It is simple, and yet it's rules are  complex 
enough to allow thousands of debatable senarios.  And, for me, it  is the 
resolution of the fine details within the context of a rigorous debate  that really 
tempers the game into a modern masterpiece.  There is always a  rule or detail 
somewhere in the books that applies to each debate.  
 
Just today, I phoned a friend to tell him about finding this list and we  
started talking about the Codex and it's expanded ruleset, talents and  spells.  
In our discussion my mind, now heavily compromised by MMOG's,  second guesses 
the game wondering at how a healing spell could have been omitted  at the 
game's creation.  It seems so basic to have added a spell that would  allow 
players to assume the role of priest or shaman.  For example, imagine  a spell that 
cost four strength and heal only one strength point.  Seems  plausible.
 
But, after talking it over with my friend, Melee would not have been what  it 
was and is if a healing spell had exisited.  Think about it.   Without the 
healing items, potions, smokes, salves, poltices (you name it and it  has been 
made into a healing item); would Melee have maintained balance and a  culture 
of sharing?  With Physicker characters only being able to heal up  to 3 if they 
master the talent, that leaves a set of adventurers scanning their  character 
sheets for anything that might help get the group through the next  battle.  
And the need for people to share their stash of magical healing  divides up 
this godlike power evenly and builds bridges of friendship.   And, of course, 
watching someone hoarde a stash of healing items can create some  great tention 
as well.  
 
Anyway, this is just one very small conversation I thought I would briefly  
share it as an example.  Maybe I'm saying with my example that this is  what I 
hoped to find in this list.   I have been looking for people who  love to 
discuss the nuiances of the game.  It is the "why" behind the house  rules that 
everyone always wants to know.  I've read a few sets  of rules, but so rarely is 
there a description of the event that brought about  the creation of the 
rule.  That's the flavor.  That's the spice that I  think we all might be seeking. 
 I know that it is what I always want to  know.  I'd hate to think that 
someone just ivory tower changed the  rules.  The rules can bend, without doubt, 
but to me there should always be  a lively debate surrounding every step outside 
of bounds.
 
Good Fortune,
Rick Walters, 
Orlando, Florida
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