Re: (TFT) D&D Heroscape

[Denis DesHarnais <denisdesharnais@gmail.com>]

Consider "Magic Fist" and "Bigby's Clenched Fist."  To me (as an 11
year old who read both spells descriptions within a few months of each
other) "Magic Fist" seemed kind of bland, whereas "Bigby's Clenched
Fist" A) made we wonder "Who is this Bigby?", "why the obsession with
hands?" and B) the rather more elaborate description of the spell's
effects made it feel more thought out.  I am not questioning the
game-balance or the usefullness of the two - the melee version is
superior in both aspects.  It's really a matter of why, as a kid, I
found the latter to be more engaging.

I think that Gygax et al were aware of this, which is why they churned
out novels and cartoons marketed to pubescent kids, and that became
their biggest market for quite some time (at least, that's the way it
seemed).  As the kids got older and explored new, more balanced and
better thought out games, they moved on, but I think the initial
"what's this all about?" reaction is why DnD is still considered a
"gateway" RPG.

On Mon, Aug 17, 2009 at 3:57 PM, <pvk@oz.net> wrote:
> Hum. Immense work and dedication to something crummy seems rather like
> a wasteful pity to me. Though much of the content in D&D seemed as bad
> as the system, to me.
>
> I wonder what it would've been like if tons and tons of TFT content
> had been made. I think I still would've preferred to play player-made
> campaigns, though we might possibly have done less of that if there was
> tons available on sale. I can imagine that the same group of players
> who ended up having great campaigns they made themselves, might instead
> have played lame bought modules and not have created their own nor had
> such a good time. Just a thought, though.
>
> --- denisdesharnais@gmail.com wrote:
>
>> ...  Now that I'm middle-aged and appreciate well-constructed war
> games, I realize the rules are godawful and the potential for abuse is
> remarkable.  Still, G1-3, D1-3 and Q1, World of Greyhawk etc, are
> pretty remarkable in scope.  It's like reading Burroughs - you can
> question the artistry, but the sheer dedication of the creators to
> their strange framework is hard to impeach.
>
> ...
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