We had three new players join in July, and there are two more who've expressed interest in joining as well. It seems like a good time for a refinement to the definition of how this group plays AD&D and why we play it that way. I'll start with my favorite quotation from the Dungeon Masters Guide, from the afterword in Gary's all caps emphasis:
BY ORDERING THINGS AS THEY SHOULD BE, THE GAME AS A WHOLE FIRST, YOUR CAMPAIGN NEXT, AND YOUR PARTICIPANTS THEREAFTER, YOU WILL BE PLAYING ADVANCED DUNGEONS & DRAGONS AS IT WAS MEANT TO BE.
Paraphrased: rules first, setting next, players and referees last.
Why Rules First?
1. Rules generate the campaign setting in which the characters operate.
The random encounter tables, for example, tell us if, when, and what the characters run into crossing a wilderness. The encumbrance and movement rules tell us how long it takes the characters to cross that wilderness, and terrain tells us how frequently there's a chance they might run into something, and what sorts of things they might run into.
The random encounter tables tell us all, referees included, what's actually in the world. They enable and require referee creativity, not stifle it. The referee is forced to make pieces he or she didn't expect to hold, fit together and conform to the rules and established precedent.
The rules allow the referee to be just as surprised as the players by what happens next. This allows all the participants explore the setting together instead of being led through places and events that the referee has already thoroughly explored.
2. Rules ensure fairness.
When everyone is following the rules to the best of their ability, the referee is just another participant in the game, with no more power than anyone else at the table.
Following the rules means that the referee can't simply decide that the characters will or will not win a fight. It means that players can evaluate the risk-reward tradeoff consistently. This allows players to improve their skill at the game, which improves their enjoyment of it. It means that the players' choices matter. It means that the referee is unable to manipulate the circumstances. It means that players can look for ways exploit the rules to their advantage and not worry that the referee will override them.
We all keep getting better at the game as we keep playing the same game as defined by those constant rules.
3. Rules deepen immersion in the world.
Time in the game world matters. The characters' upkeep expense, resource consumption, and hireling wages are all applying time pressure on the players to execute efficient plans, and adjust intelligently when those plans are thwarted by the dice.
Risks are real and calculable. All of the work and time put into one's characters is at risk in the session, and it could all be lost.
Learning more about the rules and the setting provides advantage, both cooperative and competitive.
How players use their characters' downtime between sessions builds more campaign setting and creates more disparity between who knows what.
Because the world persists between sessions, it becomes more solid and real.
The rules give structure to the activity, making it a game and not merely playing pretend.