Rodger Thorm wrote:
It was clear from the outset that SPI intended for DragonQuest to expand beyond the base rules in whatwas initially published (the original game system). The twelve colleges of magic and the handful of skillsand abilities was the beginning, not the extent of what DragonQuest was meant to be. We can certainly take the narrow view that only things that came out with SPI's imprimatur are official DQ, and that nothing else matters. Personally, I *do* take Arcane Wisdom as part of the core DQ canon; the playtest photocopy that was circulated was a finishedproduct. It was ready to be printed. It was done.If we accept the view that there can be no new material for DQ, then there is no point to any of thediscussion boards or newsgroups or the Newsletter. Everything is set, and there is no point to creatinganything new. I don't accept that position or agree with it. The very existence of the dq-rules group is completely counter to that in principle. Now that the parent company is gone and the system is orphaned, I feel it is completely reasonable to maintain the system and to continue to develop the core of what is official DQ.
I've lurked here for some time and really come to respect the work that you've done preserving DQ. I think it's fabulous that you, and so many others, care so much about this game. However, I think that dedication perhaps blinds you to some of what was said in the previous posts. First, I think the question isn't one of "are house rules bad". The question was, "What's really official?" Well, you answered that yourself when you said the original publishers are no more. In effect, there can not be any new official material because the source of official material is no longer. Second, as to the question of Arcane Wisdom... Well, I think anyone who knows the publishing history of the game and Arcane Wisdom would accept that as official material that just didn't get released. Third, *any* role-playing game usually has rules that aren't used by actual players. That fact, however, does not make the officially published rules any less official or published. Nor does that make house rules any better or worse. Of course, in the case of a an orphaned RPG, house rules are the only thing active at all. The rest is quite set in stone by default.
In short, the idea of what is "official" and what isn't doesn't really matter in the case of DQ. Unless, of course, it's going to be published again, which, according to my last inquiries at Hasbro/Wizards of the Coast, it is not. And, they do still own the copyright to that, and anything else copyrighted (sp?) by TSR. That's just how the die rolls, as it were. I hope that none of that stops folks from making more house rules and playing this fabulous RPG.
Keep up the *great* work everyone! Jim Hoffman -- "The future isn't what it used to be." -Arthur C. Clarke