I do and I don't know why the OGL thing made fans turn against corporate D&D in numbers big enough to cost them money.
On the one hand it makes the owners of Dungeons and Dragons look not just greedy, but clumsily so--on the other hand, so does nearly everything else they've ever done.
I mean, this is a company that could have--with the snap of a finger--vastly improved the community for everyone--including themselves and their most important employees--by pointing out all the worst actors online spread a right-wing conspiracy theory about Mike Mearls and didn't lift a finger, presumably because they were scared of Streisanding the situation in the press.
They'll take steps to protect their IP, but not their community, their employees, or their own reputation. Always and forever.
For example:
What have we here?
This gelatinous cube, this dragon? So precise, so assured, so elegant, so finicky, sensual yet controlled, one might even say... continental?
It's 1982.
You know who really wants to play D&D?
The French.
A woman named Mathilde Maraninchi--arguably the author of the first retroclone--says fuck it and makes French D&D:
...the rules are a simplification and mash-up of the various TSR versions of the rules by that time.
I'm told it's a little chaotic--but that was pretty normal back then--and hard to play--also pretty normal for a circa 1982 RPG--and the illustrations by Joël Bordier are kinky as fuck:
It is arguably not just the first French RPG but the first retroclone ever, and one of the earliest works by a female RPG author.
TSR killed it of course.
Thanks to French gamers Peggy and Arnaud for bringing this to my attention, here are some more details...
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| click to enlarge |
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| click to enlarge |
And
some more here courtesy of
Google Translate and French gameblogger Dvergguden.
Thanks to all of them for their help with this article!
Vive la resistance.
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| "Apparence d'un Rubik's cube" |
The art is charming.
ReplyDeleteWe would live in a different world (and probably play different, better games) if they smashed the bad actors with the same power that they used against early French retroclones.
I feel like I had an old ral Partha miniature that looked like that magician...some really cool drawings...
ReplyDeleteYou lost.
ReplyDelete@Mandy
ReplyDeleteNot in court.
Thank you for sharing this interesting piece of RPG history.
ReplyDeleteI would like to mention, for those interested, the blog linked above does provide a completely restored PDF version of the game at the end of the article.
The layout reminds me of AD&D 2nd edition, which came out seven years later.
It's even printed in two colors, black and greenish, where 2nd edition uses black and blue.
The illustrations are very cool, on par with some of the best in that era in my opinion.
I only wish I knew French.
25+ years of internet has taught a strict lesson of energy management summarised by the phrase “do not feed the trolls”
ReplyDelete@snakeappletree
ReplyDeleteThe trolls love that advice: It allows them to lie unchecked.
It's wonderful advice if "energy management" is your priority over, say, the trolls' victims.
It's a bit like saying the best way to manage a shark that is eating your child is to not help the child. You sure do conserve your energy by doing that.
You should address that.
Antagonistic trolls attempting to lure people into energy drains are one type of entity.
DeleteChild-eating trolls are another matter. They necessitate re-education in a language they understand until they learn the error of their ways.
Quite often simple karma deals with that issue.
@snakeappletree
ReplyDeleteAll trolls are child-eating because the standard you walk past is the standard you accept.
As soon as you go "I will _select_ which lies to check" you are opening th edoor to a discussion of which children are important enough to save.
No:
No sharks on your beach, ever. Not for a second.
Were it or for sharks we would have had no incentive to leave the ocean.
ReplyDeleteI am in absolute agreement we cannot and should not ever tolerate deciding which children are worth saving. They all are.
Having said that, let me tell you about Daryl Bateman…
@snakeappletree
ReplyDeleteWhatever your point is, hurry.
@anonymous
ReplyDelete1. No anonymous comments allowed
2. Stay on topic
This was really very interesting; I had no idea there was ever an effort to make their own D&D in France, or that so much fun art was associated with it. Thanks for taking the time to highlight this little piece of history.
ReplyDeleteDeplatforming someone is not abuse.
ReplyDelete@YLZ
ReplyDeleteIt is if they did nothing wrong.
Do you understand?
@YLZ
ReplyDeleteErased.
Misinformation is not allowed in the comments.
But anyway, to address your false claim:
Legality is not morality. Just because something is legal doesn't mean its not abusive.
@YLZ
ReplyDeleteIf you believe a false statement you made was not a fact-claim but merely an opinion claim, email zakzsmith AT hawtmayle dawt calm
@Der Oger
ReplyDeleteYou refused to fully engage and answer questions so your comments have been deleted.
I will point out, because it's really silly that your defense of "I have the right to remain silent" makes no sense here:
Just because you have the _legal right_ to do something doesn't make it morally correct or fair to the other person.
You have the legal right to right-wing idiots and have 45 children and name them all "ShitForBrains" --it doesn't make it ok.
@Der Oger
ReplyDeletePlease do screenshot
The screenshots can only show you lying and dodging after pretending to care.
@Der Oger
ReplyDeleteYour comments won't be read or published until you engage and answer questions.