D&D and Gamism, continued

[Andrew Norris]

I don't have much to say, except that I do agree with the main premise that D&D 3rd edition makes character creation and advancement much more Gamist. On D&D boards you'll often hear discussion of character creation monopolized by what additional books of rules the DM will let the players bring to the table. In the old days, if you wanted to do something unique and interesting with your character, you had to work with the DM within the confines of the game world. Obviously a player can still do that, but the typical mode of play today instead seems to be 'hey, in X book there is Y ability that I can have when I meet Z prerequisites. Okay?'

Certainly in all the D&D books there's lip-service paid to the idea that any of these prestige classes or special feats must be approved by the DM, and that he is allowed to restrict them in Sim fashion (e.g. if you want to take the "Order of the Silver Bow" prestige class, you must find the Order of the Silver Bow and petition to be made a member to learn their secrets.) In actual play, this sort of thing often falls by the wayside, especially considering a character is expected to gain a level once every 13 challenges or so.

It's not that you have to handle character creation and advancement from a heavy Gamist stance, but all the tools that are put out there help you do so, and if you want to handle it a different way, you're on your own.