Re: WG, Iggwilv, FAQ, and Arneson

Date sent: Thu, 25 Sep 1997 22:10:15 -0700
Send reply to: The GREYtalk Discussion List GREYTALK@MITMVA.MIT.EDU
From: Keith Smith KeithASmith@WORLDNET.ATT.NET
Subject: Re: [GREYTALK] WG, Iggwilv, FAQ, and Arneson
To: GREYTALK@MITVMA.MIT.EDU

Maybe the reason mage’s can use wands is so that in the thick of battle it’s usually easier to discharge a wand then cast a spell. Plus allowing the mage to cast many more of them then he can memorize. Depending on the charges, of course!

Keith

>From: SCOTT CASPER casper@EMAIL.DOM.EDU
>To: GREYTALK@MITVMA.MIT.EDU
>Subject: [GREYTALK] WG, Iggwilv, FAQ, and Arneson
>Date: Thursday, September 25, 1997 3:40 PM
>
>I’ve got a few quickies this time.
>
>The Village of Hommlett may never have carried the WG1 label, but it
>certainly deserved to. No other of those early modules gave you such
>a glimpse of everyday life in the campaign world. Of course, we
>didn’t all appreciate it when we were kids. I can recall a certain
>player giving the game a poor review because “there’s nothing but
>farmers in it to kill.”
>
>Paul J. Stromberg has enlightened us to GREYHAWK’s most carefully
>guarded secret, only hinted at in the 1978 printing of Lost Caverns.
>Iggwilv is a CROSS-DRESSER! Now that’s something Forgotten Realms
>doesn’t have yet. Still, was that really worth $142? Hmm…
>
>I don’t care for the FAQ, or at least the biased criticism that
>Gargoyles and Child’s Play receive there. They are fun adventures,
>and maybe some people should try playing them instead of flaming
>them. Anyway, I just feel the FAQ should be more objective.
>
>Gary Gygax wrote that firearms and wands for fighters were added
>to the old Chainmail and Greyhawk supplements because Dave Arneson
>insisted on them. I’d say Arneson was right on the money. I’ve
>always argued for firearms in previous posts, but it also never made
>a lot of sense to me that only magic-users could use most wands.
>Wands are just “magic batteries” that discharge an effect on command;
>it shouldn’t require years of training to do that. Plus, magic-users
>are the least likely to need them, because they can already memorize
>the spells. I can kind of see a game balance reason behind the wand
>restriction, but does anyone have a “logical” reasoning for this?
>
>Scott “Volstagg” Casper
>
>Currently revising the Monster Manual. Got as far as C.