Tag Archives: Traveller

How the Dungeon Powered the Success of D&D and the First Role-Playing Games

Posted on July 31, 2018 by David Hartlage

When home computers seemed like rare gadgets, a killer app was a program so compelling that people purchased the computer just to run the application. VisiCalc became the Apple II’s killer app, and then Lotus 1-2-3 drove customers to the … Continue reading →

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Ability Checks—From the Worst Mechanic in Role-Playing Game History to a Foundation Of D&D

Posted on May 30, 2017 by David Hartlage

Dungeons & Dragons makes ability checks a key part of play, but these checks took years to enter the game. How did ability checks advance from house rule, to optional rule, to a foundation of fifth-edition D&D? Before D&D added … Continue reading →

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Why Dungeons & Dragons (and Role Playing) Took Years to Leave the Dungeon

Posted on April 24, 2017 by David Hartlage

The Dungeons & Dragons game’s original 1974 version offered two types of adventure: dungeons and wilderness. In such site-based adventures, players’ decisions about where to go set the course of the adventure. These adventures revolve around on a map with a … Continue reading →

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From the brown books to next, D&D tries for elegance

Posted on January 10, 2014 by David Hartlage

An elegant role-playing game gains maximum play value out of a concise set of simple rules. Elegant rules… apply broadly so fewer rules can cover whatever happens in the game. play quickly with minimal math and little need to reference … Continue reading →

Posted in D&D fifth edition, Role-playing game design, Role-playing game history | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

How the dungeon crawl’s advantages propelled Dungeons & Dragons to success

Posted on July 1, 2013 by David Hartlage

You know about computers and the killer app—a program so compelling that people purchased the computer just to run the application. VisiCalc was the Apple II’s killer app; Lotus 1-2-3 drove customers to the IBM PC. Dungeons & Dragons came … Continue reading →

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How leaving the dungeon left a big void in role-playing games

Posted on May 19, 2013 by David Hartlage

Nowadays, designers of role-playing focus their game’s design around an answer to a central question: “What will characters in the game do?” Modern RPGs focus on some core activity and optimizing the system so players have as much fun as … Continue reading →

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