Foreword (POSP)

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==Foreword==
When I first began playing the AD&D® game (more years ago than I care to remember), the system seemed to offer rules for every conceivable eventuality—indeed, the books contained more systems and procedures than any player or DM could possibly need.
It didn't take long to disabuse myself of that notion. As I recall, it was the first time the players asked me, the DM, if their characters could swim. How well? How fast, and for how long? And if their characters couldn't swim, could they float for awhile? And how many gold pieces could you carry before you sank like a stone?
Many of those questions have been subsequently answered in accessories and, most significantly, in the AD&D 2nd Edition game rules. However, for every situation defined by rules, and every new procedure introduced to the game, more questions were asked by creative (dare I say ‘devious'?) players, and more systems were improvised by every DM.
It would nice the say that the Player's Option™: Skills & Powers system will put all that to rest—but we'd all recognize that as an exaggeration, to say the least. Nor would that be a realistic objective. Part of adventure gaming is the discovery of the unknown and the unexpected, and we'll always need a referee to oversee this.
However, I believe that this book adds a lot to the game, and I hope you will agree that it does so without increasing the game's complexity. The word ‘option' is in the title for a very good reason: We have attempted to add to the number of choices available to players and DMs alike, without adding to the complications of resolving these choices.
I sincerely hope that you'll decide that we have succeeded.
Doug Niles, April 25, 1995
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All things in nature must evolve in order to keep pace with their surroundings. Organisms must adapt as their environment changes if they wish to thrive. This also is true in gaming. The AD&D game is one of the oldest role-playing rules systems around. And it's a great system; its longevity is proof enough of that. But in the time that the AD&D game has existed, gaming itself has evolved, and so has the game. The original AD&D game evolved from the D&D game in the late 1970s. Then, in the early ‘80s, the Unearthed Arcana book, the first major evolution of the AD&D game, was published. More evolutions followed, culminating in 1989 with the publication of the AD&D 2nd Edition game rules. Now, the Player's Option books (and the DM™ Option: High-level Handbook to be published later this year) represent the latest evolutions of the AD&D game.
The central concept behind the Player's Option books is player choice. We wanted to expand the AD&D game in ways that had never been explored before. We hoped to offer the players and DMs of the AD&D game more options (there's that word again) than they ever had. We wanted to give those who play the AD&D game more choices, more control over their game and their characters than was previously considered possible. We hope we've succeeded, but in truth, that decision is not in our hands. You, the DMs and players of the game will have the final say in this matter.
We hope you use these rules in your games. We also hope you'll give us your feedback on these rules and the AD&D games you play using them, thus insuring that the game will continue to evolve.
Me, I'm just happy to have had an impact on the game that has influenced my life for so many years.
Dale Donovan, April 26, 1995