28 July 2026: DM's Guide--Magic pgs. 38-47

    Magic. Meh. There, I've said it. Never a huge fan, and have seldom played pure spell casters when given the opportunity in D&D. Sure, throw a spell here or there. Have some cool magic items. Monsters can do this or that. Fine. But when I started playing 5e in 2019, I learned very quickly that magic can be, and is, a game shaker. It became--for me as a 2e DM thrust into a 5e ruleset--a great source of frustration. I simply could not get over how powerful the characters, especially the spellcasters, were. Turns out that's the overall vibe of modern D&D, but spells were my first indication that things had gone very, very wrong in the game.

    If I have ever read this part of the DMG before, I don't remember, but it was eye-opening for me. There is a passage that opened up a whole train of thought about role playing and clerics:

Lesser clerics, then, draw only upon their education, training, and experience to gain spells, just as higher clerics do when they renew their first and second level spells. In order to gain third, fourth, and fifth level spells, however, higher clerics must reach intermediaries of their respective deities in order to have these powers bestowed upon them from the plane of their deity. When clerics become very great, they must petition their deity personally in order to receive the powerful words which enable the casting of sixth and seventh level cleric spells. It is obvious, therefore, that clerics wishing to use third or higher level spells must be in good standing (pg. 38). 

    I mean, that's awesome! It opens up tremendous opportunities for great gaming. I wish I had thought of it!

    With regard to wizards, I have speculated over the years about just what in the fuck magic is. Like...why, though? Where does it come from? What does it do? What, at its essence, is it? I sort of concocted this idea that magic was a force like gravity that was created by the planes of existence, and that wizards could tap into this force through arcane words and gestures. Imagine my joy when I read the following: 

All magic and cleric spells are similar in that the word sounds, when combined into whatever patterns are applicable, are charged with energy from the Positive or Negative Material Plane. When uttered, these sounds cause the release of this energy, which in turn triggers a set reaction. The release of the energy contained in these words is what causes the spell to be forgotten or the writing to disappear from the surface upon which it is written...The triggering action draws power from some plane of the multiverse...The energy flow is not from the caster per se, it is from the utterance of the sounds, each of which is charged with energy which is loosed when the proper formula and/or ritual is completed with their utterance... When spell energy is released, it usually flows to the Prime Material from the Positive or Negative Material Plane. To replace it, something must flow back in reverse. The dissolution and destruction of material components provides the energy that balances out this flow, through the principle of similarity (pg. 40).

    That literally explains it to me. That's why a caster needs spell components! That's where magical energy comes from!  45 frigging years, man, and I never read that page? Shame on me.

    Gygax then goes on to offer some commentary and clarity on a number of cleric, wizard, illusionist, and druid spells. I imagine these explanations arose from issues at the tables he played at. I skimmed a bit. 

    I can see a little bit of DNA from this book in the Dungeon Crawl Classics rules as I think about it. Not only is there a brief section on character backgrounds (secondary skills table on pg. 12), but there is a longer section about spells, spell books, and spell acquisition that makes wizards even harder to play. So that's a brake on the power, too. Being a wizard is really, really hard, but the payoff is enormous if you can survive long enough to become seasoned. All of this is new to me, or I read it so long ago that I've forgotten it. Much to think about. 

 

27 July 2026: DM's Guide--Pages 9-38 Characters, Dice, and Parasites (plus diseases, gems, and wereboars)

    There is a lot going on in the first 38 pages of this book. Gygax begins with an overview of who this book is for (Dungeon Masters), how the dice work (distributions) where to buy miniatures (from TSR), how to generate ability scores (various methods), character aging...and then the chances of parasitic infestation. I was reminded of J.R.R. Tolkien beginning his 1,000+ page fantasy epic with a detailed breakdown of the types of pipe weed one would find in the Shire. Holy shit. People have suggested that the DM's Guide of 1979 is poorly organized...and they are 100% correct! 

    Nonetheless, I have not read this thing since I was a kid, so I'm making my way through it. By page 14, we are into a detailed table about diseases with descriptions of each kind (connective system, joints, urinary system). EGG uses the term 'milieu' so frequently that I had to look it up to make sure I understood the definition (the social and physical setting in which people live).  Next up: descriptions of abilities, then followers per class, then right back into the depths with warhorses, spying, and ways for thieves to set traps and climb walls. 

    Monsters as player characters? Not encouraged. Alignments and alignment languages (which is so fucking odd), the cost of changing alignments, then money, the value of gems, and types of armor with descriptions. Squeeze in dexterity armor class bonus and weapon types 'to hit' adjustment notes, followed quickly by rules for hirelings, a long part about sages, and henchmen. 

    I've written before  about EGG's thoughts on time in a campaign--something the author says (in all caps) "YOU CAN NOT HAVE A MEANINGFUL CAMPAIGN IF STRICT TIME RECORDS ARE NOT KEPT," before transitioning with no segue to character spells. 

    I am not making this up. It's like he just...wrote whatever popped into his head at the time and put it in without rhyme or reason. It is amazing.

Quotes of Note:

"In a well planned and well judged campaign this is not too likely to happen, for the superior DM will have just enough treasure to whet the appetite of players, while keeping them lean and hungry still, and always after that carrot iust ahead" (pg. 12).

"To adventure amongst the weird is fantasy enough without becoming that too" (pg. 21).

26 July 2026: DM's Guide--Preface

 

    In 2012, Wizards of the Coast released a copy of the 1979 Dungeon Masters Guide. This premium version was a way of fundraising for the Gygax Memorial, and is a complete facsimile of the original. I have my own OG book, of course, but it is old and wrinkly and showing its age, so I picked up this copy from Noble Knight Games in order to re-read it while taking notes, underlining, highlighting, etc. I am not going to read (and in many cases, re-read) every jot and tittle of this classic, but I am going to go through each page slowly and mindfully, learning what I can from this source of wisdom. 

    In the preface, Gygax (who really does write in what others have called 'High Gygaxian') talks about the importance of having a common set of rules in order to allow people from all over to play the same game together. In other words, because there is an agreed upon framework, player A could use his characters in a campaign being run by anyone, anywhere. Sounds like common sense, but I imagine there were a lot of variances at tables early on...just as there are today. Everybody house rules! That's just part of the game. When this was written, I don't think (?) there were many other TTRPGs out there (maybe Runequest and Traveller?) so Gygax's advice makes sense since the majority of people playing were playing his game (AD&D). The Holmes basic set--slightly different, and simpler rules--would turn into the Moldvay line (BECMI), neither of which used the exact AD&D rules. 

    I don't think I've ever played AD&D RAW (that is, rules as written). We certainly played a lot of 1st and 2nd edition D&D, but we never used all of the rules, and would often play a bastardized mash-up of Basic and Advanced. The thing about D&D back in the olden days was, you couldn't really learn how to play the game from the books! Someone had to teach you, then you sort of figured it out yourself as you went. It's little wonder that we were playing is wrong all those years (wrong meaning 'not using all of the rules'). Not that it mattered. We still had a blast!