The Worldbuilding Monster Statistics

Some people think that there are several statistics in the 1st Edition Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Monster Manual that are not needed to play the game.

To that, I respond, "Yes, they are not needed to play the game, but they serve the purpose of building the world in which the game is played." These are the Worldbuilding Monster Statistics. Statistics such as Frequency, No. Appearing, % in Lair, Treasure Type, Intelligence, Alignment, and Size have primarily a world-building goal. Sure, there are bits and bobs of these statistics that can be interpreted as "game related," but they're primarily there to inform the GM about the world in which the game is played. Changing these statistics changes the game very little, but can drastically change the game world.

And a very interesting thing about rpgs is that, over time, the world around the game eventually *becomes* the game, because rpgs are about "what if" and how we react to different "what ifs."