Target Markets

We put Basic D&D on such a pedestal today.

It is funny that in the 1980s, Basic D&D was the "kid's game," we all played AD&D to be with the older "cool kids" crowd. Even Gary Gygax and TSR positioned Basic D&D as the version for younger players. AD&D skewed to an older audience, and the math and complexity of the game reflected that age group.

This was back when one reasonably assumed the average adult was educated to a certain level of math, reading, and logical comprehension. The 1980s had a higher level of basic education and high school completion than today. Being in the "adult target market" in the 1980s also included an assumption of knowledge of classic, popular, and fantasy literature.

We did not have the Internet or cell phones. We had the library and Tolkien and Tor fantasy novels in paperbacks. If you wanted anything outside the three main networks without cable TV, you read books for your escapism or followed comic books.

Reading unlocked worlds.

We had different educational expectations back then. As a kid, I remember having to memorize historical dates, know how the government works, and read the classics. We had full slates of classes and no computers or Internet to help us. I also had to be able to do algebra and geometry. We had to use libraries and books to look things up. Calculators were our only electronics and could not be used for tests. I hauled a dictionary and thesaurus around to classes, which were my "spell and grammar checkers." High school was like college prep.

I saw a video in which a college student (in 2025) was asked to define a basic word everyone should know. They had to read the definition off their phone. They could not "think" without reading it from a screen and substituting a website for what should have been basic learned knowledge.

These days, I see reports that specific demographics have stopped reading as entertainment, and kids are coming out of high school unable to read or perform basic math. A family member in education confirms this and tells me it worsens yearly. The bottom has dropped out of education; thus, games like classic AD&D are not even in today's players' target market and expectations. I doubt that D&D 5.5E is even in the "popular gaming" comprehension level of the younger market these days.

We tend to see simplification and streamlining as "good game design" when that is not always true. Yes, if your goal is to ensure that "everyone can play your game," then lowering the barriers to entry is a good thing. But there were games in the 1980s that we did not want to be simplified and made for kids.

We didn't play B/X back then; it was too simplistic for us.

Nowadays, people swear by B/X as if it were a pinnacle in design.

Time has a strange way of changing perceptions.

In a way, Shadowdark hits that modern target market far better than 1,000 pages of D&D 5.5E. This is not to denigrate Shadowdark; it is an S-Tier game for me. The design of the game and books is far easier for anyone to grasp and understand, regardless of their background, than the collector's market website-required, mobile-game-influenced monolith that D&D has become.

The fact that I can play Shadowdark with anyone and the game is so easy to grasp and lock into, even for those with minimal education, should strike fear into Wizards if they were paying attention. They are still assuming that the 2014 levels of education will remain constant when their target audience of the future loses the ability to understand and play the game.

This isn't you, your group, us, or even the current audience of D&D. This is the general trend of the next generation, and it is dropping standards and reducing comprehension to the lowest common denominator. Blame phones, the government, and/or the lack of standards, but this is where we are heading.

I look back at the games of the 1980s and the level of reading, math, and logical comprehension we needed to play them, and my mind is blown. Even the knowledge of the "Appendix N" classics was where we needed to be educated. And "the need to simplify" games was a thing back then, too. We had simple games, but the older audiences preferred the games that demanded more of us.

We loved the Aftermath game, and the fact that math was in the title was appropriate. This was our home system during most of the 1980s. It was crunchy, obscure in parts, d20-based, and glorious when the combat critical hits happened, and body parts flew.

Speaking of body parts flying...

Some of us played Rolemaster back in the day because if someone did not have the patience or smarts to figure out character creation, they were probably not worth playing with. This was not gatekeeping; it was like the role-playing equivalent of the SAT and college placement. We had many highly intelligent players of every race, color, and sexual orientation in our group; they were all hyper-intelligent nerds like me, but they were cool.

Some were better at math and science than I was, and I miss that group. I am proud I had a chance to play with them, too. We played GURPS, too, and it was awesome. Yes, there is a lot of math, but math is fun. The equation is your character, and optimizing the character for the best performance is a challenge we took on.

The game wasn't for you if you didn't want to learn and put in the time. People had more popular games, and there were many D&D games with other groups, so nothing was "gatekept"—it was just what we liked, and whoever joined our group was expected to put in more effort. This is the same sort of "filtering" any community has, and the game's complexity determines who stays around to master it. This sort of "skill filtering" makes games compelling, and even chess has it at the higher levels of play.

I don't buy the argument that "simple and easier is better" today. If the depth is there and requires some crunch, then I am there. We played Space Master by the book. if a game had math and crunch, it held our interest. Many games were considered too simple for us.

We also played Champions and a D&D version of this game. We converted monsters, magic items, and spells and designed them using the rules. This game will give your calculator a workout. This is another game we loved, and it plays fantasy games well.

These days, going through all the advanced rules and additions of a game like ADAD is a joy for me, bringing back memories of those days. I like "getting into the weeds" and seeing how the designer finally made weapon speed matter.

Level Up A5E is my version of 5E. I prefer to play this "fixed version" over every other version of Open 5E. I keep this game tight and focused on the core rules, and it is an enjoyable game. While sometimes I get forced back into 5E, my home system always provides sanity and fixed math.

Tales of the Valiant is worthy, too, as a drop-in replacement for the 2014 books.

The games I'm finding that are staying on my "most played" shelves are ADAD, GURPS, Rolemaster, and the others with a bit of crunch and a lot of math. Shadowdark is the exception.