Role-Playing Mastery

[1] In the December 1987 edition of Dragon (Issue #128), John Bunnell (co-founder of Dragon Con) pointed out an immediate dichotomy: Gygax wrote in his preface that his focus would be on educating inexperienced players, but two pages later that his audience was "role-playing enthusiasts".

Bunnell found the rest of the book was similarly thematically divided, and called Gygax's approach "schizophrenic".

Bunnell also found that although Gygax states several times the need to broaden the appeal of RPGs to newcomers, "his real thrust is almost precisely the opposite...

Gamers who read it carefully will be able to appreciate some of that wisdom, and novices may be able to glean some as well, if provided with sufficient cautions against treating the tome as gospel.

"[1] In a retrospective review of Role-Playing Mastery in Black Gate, Bob Byrne said "If you played Dungeons and Dragons before third edition, I think you should really give this book a read.