Players and Old School Games

Of thieves, Gavin Norman reports, “Their range of unique skills makes them very handy companions in adventures.” He also describes shifty abilities like “back stab,” and “hide in shadows.” In a game of DnD, a third ingredient is becoming a creature of daring invention - player ability.

I’d call it the Cugel-effect. Cugel the thief, as in Jack Vance's Cugel's Saga. The writer Bill Ward said, “Cugel is practically the inspiration for the notion of a Player Character himself.” I think he’s right.

For example, to get rich quick, Cugel didn’t need to dive-in muck to find the buried (and valuable) scales of an ancient beast. Rather, he,

“...brought a bucket and a large wooden tub to shore…loaded the tub and bucket into his makeshift scow, climbed aboard…dropped the bucket deep into the pond...Six times he filled and emptied the bucket, then pulled the scow back to the shore.

[Back on the bank], he carried a bucket of slime to the stream, and using a large sieve, screened the stuff in the bucket.

...when the water flushed away the slime, two scales remained in the sieve: an ‘ordinary’ and a second scale of remarkable size, with elaborate radiating patterns and a dull read node at the center.”

He'd struck it rich. Playing solo or DMing with friends – I’m at my very best with Cugel’s inventiveness. He makes the rules. Matt Finch’s “Quick Primer” has a similar point. “In the game, a player can describe and attempt virtually anything he can think of. He doesn’t need any sort of game defined ability to do it...”

And I know a great thief; I’ve see the “Wanted” signs: