An interview with Rob Kuntz

[Judging__Eagle]

Found this while looking up more sources on "underground cities" around the world; a series of interviews by an old school D&D blogger with Rob Kuntz.

Monday, August 15, 2011
No Borders: A Conversation With Rob Kuntz

I like how he describes that original D&D was about procedural generated content, or user generated content; and that pre-written adventures were a "wtf?" moment even for Gygax.

I tend to notice that most people on these boards aren't huge proponents of pre-written adventures. To be honest, to dated I've only used two Dungeon adventures so far from all of the modules and issues of Dungeon that I own physical copies of.

I like the fact that he feels that the notion that D&D, and RPGs, had a "golden age" in the past is disingenuous at best, and a lie at worst. Since it means that the RPG hobby can never improve or has remaining obstacles to overcome.

Also that the industry is flooded with "hot dogs"; which makes "steaks" harder to notice.

Finally, the emphasis that D&D is and was a fantasy based narrative project; not a sword & sorcery one; but actually a planet & sword one. Where Edgar Rice Burroughs is one of the inspirational authors for the material, not Tolkien.

Which sort of makes me glad that I'm aiming for a Science Fantasy end-goal running off of a Shadowrun based engine with opportunities to both sandbox, and procedurally generate content.