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<blockquote data-quote="(Psi)SeveredHead" data-source="post: 6199992" data-attributes="member: 1165"><p>Edit: Didn't realize this was necro. I wonder if I posted the exact same thing last year <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite9" alt=":eek:" title="Eek! :eek:" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":eek:" /></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>This is pretty much identical to every version of D&D ever. The only difference is 3e onward gave specific figures about what is considered a balanced amount of treasure. (More powerful encounters, 3e and 4e both, results in more treasure.)</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Again, the same. In a 3e or 4e group where PCs want to "advance quickly", they should face more powerful encounters, and get more treasure. The rules include that (if you're following the treasure generation rules anyway).</p><p></p><p style="margin-left: 20px"></p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"></p> <p style="margin-left: 20px">Now we're seeing differences. Maybe. I've never played B/X, but I <em>believe</em> this is an edition where XP was granted as much (or more) by treasure than by killing monsters.</p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"></p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"></p><p></p><p>All the same as newer editions, but "random" encounters are used in a different context. (The ease of healing, plus the general dislike of random encounters, means that last piece of advice rarely needs to be used.)</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>By rich character development, do you mean RP? Or something else?</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>That has always been the case. When I was still running 3e, I've literally never had a player tell me they should have gotten "this" amount of XP. By 4e (because treasure generation is easier, among other things) I've simply leveled up PCs when I feel like it. Either every 3 sessions, or when an adventure path "says" I should.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Same. 3rd Edition and 4th Edition simply have more mechanical tools to help the DM determine the first. The tighter interweaving between expected treasure and expected XP makes determining advancement harder in later editions, especially 3rd, though.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Perhaps B/X built up an (undeserved) reputation for bypassing combat = XP? I don't believe I've read any B/X adventures (but it's hard to tell, as I've read a bunch of old D&D adventures, and to me, anything before 3rd Edition is "2e" whether that's accurate or not).</p><p></p><p>I would expect "unguarded" treasure to be guarded by traps, though, so there's still some challenge.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>No. DMing advice hasn't changed much over time. You could write and run (and play) a 4e adventure using B/X sensibilities. (Indeed, I have played through one such adventure that was specifically written for 4e that way, and a DM in my group has converted Cult of the Reptile God to 4e. The only part of CotRG that I didn't like that was a OD&D-ism is the dungeons that were complicated enough for PCs to easily get lost in. And even then, the dungeon still made logical sense. We just got bored of continually running into three choices every corner.)</p><p></p><p>Of course, rules make a big difference. Random encounters (with little to no treasure) were "punishment" (at least that's the way I viewed them), and you got less XP for them. From 3rd Edition onward, PCs could easily heal up the damage taken during a random encounter, and they got full XP and (often) treasure. "Random encounters", if they're even used any more, are "pacing" encounters, used when PCs get lost/bored/wrapped around red herrings/you only have twenty minutes left in a session and a boss fight would take too long, generally giving full XP and treasure and draining PC resources a lot less. (Healing changes also changed trap design, or rather it should have. I'm still seeing OD&D-style traps in newer adventures, and not in a good way.)</p><p></p><p>Without changing any rules, you could simply take most or all of the treasure that a group of monsters in a dungeon have and put it in the treasure room, so random encounters might give XP but not treasure. There's pressure on the DM not to do that though, since from 3e onward treasure is <em>required</em> for game balance and not just a reward,, and the PCs are invading the dungeon for plot reasons, not loot. (I'm pretty sure if you wiped out most of the gnolls in a dungeon but failed to find their treasure, you wouldn't have screams of rage in B/X. Well, maybe, if that's how you got most of your XP!) Of course, you could have the patrons pay more if the PCs don't find treasure, if you can finesse that somehow.</p><p></p><p>Cultural changes have removed "adventuring just for loot" in most groups, but it's possible that "adventuring just for loot" in older D&D is really an urban legend. Every adventure I've ever read or run ("2e" onward) has plot.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="(Psi)SeveredHead, post: 6199992, member: 1165"] Edit: Didn't realize this was necro. I wonder if I posted the exact same thing last year :o This is pretty much identical to every version of D&D ever. The only difference is 3e onward gave specific figures about what is considered a balanced amount of treasure. (More powerful encounters, 3e and 4e both, results in more treasure.) Again, the same. In a 3e or 4e group where PCs want to "advance quickly", they should face more powerful encounters, and get more treasure. The rules include that (if you're following the treasure generation rules anyway). [indent] Now we're seeing differences. Maybe. I've never played B/X, but I [i]believe[/i] this is an edition where XP was granted as much (or more) by treasure than by killing monsters. [/indent] All the same as newer editions, but "random" encounters are used in a different context. (The ease of healing, plus the general dislike of random encounters, means that last piece of advice rarely needs to be used.) By rich character development, do you mean RP? Or something else? That has always been the case. When I was still running 3e, I've literally never had a player tell me they should have gotten "this" amount of XP. By 4e (because treasure generation is easier, among other things) I've simply leveled up PCs when I feel like it. Either every 3 sessions, or when an adventure path "says" I should. Same. 3rd Edition and 4th Edition simply have more mechanical tools to help the DM determine the first. The tighter interweaving between expected treasure and expected XP makes determining advancement harder in later editions, especially 3rd, though. Perhaps B/X built up an (undeserved) reputation for bypassing combat = XP? I don't believe I've read any B/X adventures (but it's hard to tell, as I've read a bunch of old D&D adventures, and to me, anything before 3rd Edition is "2e" whether that's accurate or not). I would expect "unguarded" treasure to be guarded by traps, though, so there's still some challenge. No. DMing advice hasn't changed much over time. You could write and run (and play) a 4e adventure using B/X sensibilities. (Indeed, I have played through one such adventure that was specifically written for 4e that way, and a DM in my group has converted Cult of the Reptile God to 4e. The only part of CotRG that I didn't like that was a OD&D-ism is the dungeons that were complicated enough for PCs to easily get lost in. And even then, the dungeon still made logical sense. We just got bored of continually running into three choices every corner.) Of course, rules make a big difference. Random encounters (with little to no treasure) were "punishment" (at least that's the way I viewed them), and you got less XP for them. From 3rd Edition onward, PCs could easily heal up the damage taken during a random encounter, and they got full XP and (often) treasure. "Random encounters", if they're even used any more, are "pacing" encounters, used when PCs get lost/bored/wrapped around red herrings/you only have twenty minutes left in a session and a boss fight would take too long, generally giving full XP and treasure and draining PC resources a lot less. (Healing changes also changed trap design, or rather it should have. I'm still seeing OD&D-style traps in newer adventures, and not in a good way.) Without changing any rules, you could simply take most or all of the treasure that a group of monsters in a dungeon have and put it in the treasure room, so random encounters might give XP but not treasure. There's pressure on the DM not to do that though, since from 3e onward treasure is [i]required[/i] for game balance and not just a reward,, and the PCs are invading the dungeon for plot reasons, not loot. (I'm pretty sure if you wiped out most of the gnolls in a dungeon but failed to find their treasure, you wouldn't have screams of rage in B/X. Well, maybe, if that's how you got most of your XP!) Of course, you could have the patrons pay more if the PCs don't find treasure, if you can finesse that somehow. Cultural changes have removed "adventuring just for loot" in most groups, but it's possible that "adventuring just for loot" in older D&D is really an urban legend. Every adventure I've ever read or run ("2e" onward) has plot. [/QUOTE]
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