Chainmail rules were a separate supplement, if I remember right, and supported the movement from minutures wargaming scenarios to supporting single player fantasy combat.
Hello.
Personally, I think that "shift from miniature combat to fantasy combat" is the reason why combat is still a prominent factor in RPGs - in general. No-one seems to have ever thought of making an RPG without combat at all - too many people would consider it too dull, I expect. So I'm seemingly forced to the definition that an RPG without combat is no ("real") RPG, no matter how much I hate this definition.
Hack & Slay roots from this, I think. They are still megasellers, because they're action-based and don't require much thinking. Too much thinking = reduction of money income, the definition seems to go (at least for publishers). Well, and things seem to tend more and more towards action - that's my impression - so philosophers are a dying race now.
Weird thoughts from
Alrik. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/winkwink.gif" alt="" />
