Original D&D

 When I first properly read OD&D, I was surprised to find a relatively complete game. I was mystified by certain things that seemed and it did seem slightly anachronistic at times, but I was mostly intrigued. I think what you come away with after reading the LBBs is perhaps influenced by what you believe they are. I think my preconception was that these little books obviously contained genius, something else could not be possible considering history. So if I didn't get it, it means I didn't get it - the fault must be with me. When reading accounts of people setting themselves to do the same thing, I have most frequently seen the opposite - the reader's presupposition from the get go is that this is dysfunctional, and considering the eccentric style and lack of editing makes it easy to take cheap-shots at the game and its author and the accounts become both infantile and arrogant.

I did come away with a feeling that is was something I didn't get. The reason, I think, is I didn't understand this was not an RPG and the intent was not role-playing as I have experienced it - it was a different game. Now that I write about it I find it hard to articulate what game I think OD&D is meant to be. 

Is OD&D a role playing game? 

I think it's primarily a form of wargame (funny, it even says so on the box!), not an RPG. Apart from a few sessions of Warhammer FB and 40k, I have no experience of wargames however so I've found it helpful to think of OD&D in terms of a complex board game. In a board game, persona or character is irrelevant, even if you play a figure with a name and abilities. Reality is rarely important either in most board games. It's a game board with rules for the common action you are able to do. The difference may be that in this game we are not limited to the game board and the player can have his figure do anything, and this is obviously a huge difference from any board game. But procedurally, it behaves like a board game. Example - the Movement Turn in the Underworld - you can move the figure 6 inches, have an encounter, determine surprise and reactions, negotiate or move into combat. In our 90s - present D&D games, the dungeon is just a backdrop (often to combat). There may be the occasional complication such as a trap or saving throw, but it has no procedures of its own, which to me indicates that it's not considered to be important. 

Characters in OD&D 

The other thing is that characters in OD&D are meant to be perceived more as board game characters, which I think means when you lose one, you cry because it means you lost the game, not because you were attached to the character. When we played Dungeonquest, we had no emotional bond to the figure, and I doubt the first players of D&D had much of that either. Of course, the D&D campaign may go on for years, and if lucky and clever, with the same character but I don't think player characters were as much a form of self expression, that seems to have become the norm. 

That said, OD&D can of course be played as a modern RPG, but that's where I think some things start to seem alien. 

My take-away 

Anyway, OD&D immediately started to make much more sense, and that different game seemed attractive to me and paired with the  mini-game structure, the perceived invitation to pulp, the wildness, originality and elegance of OD&D made me enamored.