I'll just delurk here for a moment to point out (as I'm sure others will also) that this is impossible - there is no such thing as "before the wargaming inspiration" for RPGs. If someone wants to discuss the evolution of RPG's from Chainmail to current, I'd be happy to chat about it off list.
Besided that, at the risk of offending the burgeoning masses of anti-combat
roleplayers I humbly but firmly place myself on the side of the combat lovers.
I mean, I've been playing a variety of RPGs since about 1979 (does that
make me an old timer? egad....) and I can recall many, many instances
where the action was hot & heavy, adrenaline pumping, and - if only for a
moment - RL disappeared and the game world was all consuming. Call me an
escapist, but those moments are what I play for. And, to be brutally
honest, I can't think of one circumstance where I felt that way haggling
with a merchant over the price of shoes, attending a wedding, or fishing.
Every single time it was combat.
Maybe I'm one dimensional, or particularly shallow but the visceral
significance of "putting it on the line" even if only en substitutio, is
where the thrill comes in.
My gaming group has played for years together - since at least '83 - and we are all pretty much the same way. We spend (or spent, before RL came to dominate our time and $$) a LOT of time on characterization, and I can say that by & large the characters we play are NOT simply 2D combat machines - far from it. But I play to get something out of the game that I CAN'T get in real life. If I want to haggle, hell, I'll short pay a vendor at work and then I'll have MORE than enough opportunity to "role play" the ensuing arguments! :)
I didn't start this to evangelize, but I will if only a bit. There have been a number of systems out there that have been "task based" as HW is vaguely sounding. I've played many and the more you abstractify (?) the events in which your character is participating, the more disconnected you are from your character, IMO. The reason I came to RuneQuest all those years ago was BECAUSE the concept of "Armor Class" was too damn contrived and "Levels" of experience just plain silly. Yet on a spectrum from Realistic (RQ2/3) to Abstract (HW?) AD&D is distinctly closer to the HW end.
I know I'm not going to change anyone's mind with this, nor especially will Chaosium go "Wups! Well, Steve doesn't like it - back to the drawing board!" so I suppose in that sense this is a pointless rant. But doesn't anyone else get tired of the phrase "Well, it's not exactly the same, but you can convert it pretty easily!" Sheesh! I've been converting RQ, RQ2, Warhammer, etc. for years. It was SO nice to pick up River of Cradles, or Strangers in Prax and NOT HAVE TO SPEND HOURS CONVERTING STATS, SPELLS, AND MAGIC ITEMS! Heck, I even bought DoD and that other non-Glorantha-non-Earth-AH-CRAP because moving a city from "Nanaland" or wherever the hell AH put it, into Glorantha was EASIER than writing one from scratch or converting another Warhammer adventure. Think how much those modules stunk, and you'll see how significant that is.
I'm *tired* of paradigm shifts. Just make a game, support it, and stick
with it. Sure I'll check out Hero Wars...I'm an unrepantant
Gloranthaphile. But from what I've seen, my expectations are pretty low.
If it's tremendously well supported I may change my mind. I hope the new
supplements are printed before the next 'trend' in RPGs hits, and requires
the creation of a Whole New Game (tm).....again.
- -Steve (styopa_at_iname.com)
or at work (Steve_at_lepmsp.com)
http://start.at/steveland
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