All this example is completely wrong. Gygax was history buff and hardcore Christian before he created D&D.
You've proved my point. No I don't remember the exact inspirations for every single thing in D&D. But wether Gygax and co based their decisions on Conan or Robin Hood, then the decision was not arbitrary. It was reasoned. And it was based on the designer's lives. Basing clerics off of Friar Tuck, a character they read about in childhood, is as far away from arbitrary as you can go.
Imagine engineer from car engines. Some ofengineer are good, some of them are bad. It's all depends on what kind of people they are. But how that fact change another fact, that there are rules how you projecting engines? Non. These rules come from nature and cultural regularities. So, as an engineer you are a person with particular personality who make arbitral choices, keeping in mind all rules connected with your subject.
Games works in similar games. There are less fully objective limitations, you can do even more than engender, but way remain same.
All this example is completely wrong. Gygax was history buff and hardcore Christian before he created D&D. He made clerics this way because he knows how they were presented in culture, like Turpin from "La Chanson de Roland" or even Brother Tuck from Robin Hood.
The cleric class originated in Dave Arneson's Blackmoor campaign, as a counterweight to the player-controlled villainous vampire Sir Fang, although it seems the prohibition against edged/piercing weapons came from Gary Gygax's interpretation of the class. See
Bishop Carr - First D&D Cleric.
Interesting. I didn't know that.
All this example is completely wrong. Gygax was history buff and hardcore Christian before he created D&D. He made clerics this way because he knows how they were presented in culture, like Turpin from "La Chanson de Roland" or even Brother Tuck from Robin Hood.
The cleric class originated in Dave Arneson's Blackmoor campaign, as a counterweight to the player-controlled villainous vampire Sir Fang, although it seems the prohibition against edged/piercing weapons came from Gary Gygax's interpretation of the class. See
Bishop Carr - First D&D Cleric.
Never really understood this dumb restriction on the weapons a Cleric can use.
Bashing someone's skull in or bludgeoning their heads to death is a-ok, but Pelor forbid you use a sword to slash your enemies with...
It's biblical, but same way it works on East. Cub is a compromise between religious rules and life needs (world is a dangerous place).
