First Generation Roleplay

[jdrakeh]

Most early roleplaying games were uneasy hybrids of miniature war games and improvisational acting. While the hobby has progressed quite a bit since those early years and roleplaying games are now recognized as their own medium, there is still a place of warmth reserved for those early games in the hearts of many hobbyists.

So, what is it that these early ‘hybrid’ games offer the hobbyist that the current generation of RPGs does not? Many people have asked this question over the years, but the truth is that there is no easy answer. There is undeniably a special quality unique to first generation roleplaying games, but pinning that quality down is a tricky endeavor.

Perhaps it is the often precise tactical combat resolution in such games that captures the interest of the hobbyist, or perhaps is the reliance on actual role immersion, rather than a large number of rules, to portray characters. Alternately, it may be the fusion of these two things that captures the imagination of many devout ‘old school’ adherents the world over.

If you're a fan of first generation roleplaying games, what are the positive qualities of said games that speak to you?

 

[Lorgrom]

Since the rules were often none existant. A lot more judgment was placed (and happly given by the players) on the DM. So the adventure (normaly killing to get the money, to buy or get better gear, so you can kill tougher monsters, so you can ...... you get the idea) were all that really mattered. Now with rules for many things and people always asking questions like "what are the rules for XXXXXX", "how about this variant on rule XXX". People have moved away from the earlier times, and its looking like for each person who wants to go back to that system. There are three to four others that keep asking for more rules. Go figure.

 

[PapersAndPaychecks]

I liked the fact that it didn't restrict the characters so much.

When there's no "Ride Horse" skill, everyone is assumed to be able to ride a horse well. When there's no "Swim" skill, all the characters can swim. Producing rules for all this stuff lessened the heroic aspect of the game.

 

[Glyfair]

Nostalgia. I remember back when there was a sense of wonder about the game itself. You weren't aware of 100 different simlilar games and how they handled it and could enjoy exploring the game. Every time a something came up systemically you weren't comparing it to how "system Y" handled that process differently.

If I sit down and shut that critical part of my mind off, I enjoy the games remembering the times I used to have. In fact, I find I enjoy current games I like more when I turn off that bit of critical comparison thinking (but they don't have the nostalgia factor).

 

[EricNoah]

Nostalgia for me too. There is nothing that can tickle certain parts of my brain like reading the 1E DMG or PHB or reading through B1 "In Search of the Unknown." Doesn't mean I would want to play that edition other than as a one-shot.

 

[xnosipjpqmhd]

My love for early systems is probably 75% nostalgia, but I also like the way that the were not weighed down by a lot of preconceived notions and expectations. You could make the game into whatever you wanted without too much trouble.

 

[Mycanid]

It's kinda hard to say - I would agree with the good thief Glyfair, but to a certain extent only, although perhaps not very important of a difference.

There were many games available by the early 80's (any other 1e V&V'ers in here, for example?) ... admittedly not as many as now, but DnD was not the only game. Lessee here ... Palladium stuff, Warhammer, I.C.E. stuff, Gurps stuff, all the TSR stuff, etc., etc. I did have friends who were comparing systems ("rule chewers") as we would play along and would borrow realistic application examples (as it seemed to them at least) from the other games outside of TSR logos a lot.

Like I said ... only a small qualification. It is also hard to say "nostalgia" in reference to what we were doing then. It is a word we apply now, of course. Others in here have tried to nail it down with the woefully inadequate words "sense of wonder" and such. This is fine as long as both people have the same content behind the words! (Ah ... the curse of language, eh?)

For me personally it is the reliance on role immersion as defining the characters that makes the game the game. And admittedly back then it was easier - in part because there were less rules, yes, but also in part because we were exploring the whole thing for the first time (and by exploring I mean over the course of several years). This essence of the thing is still quite capable of re-emerging in the game, but as time has gone by and we have become "used" to things it is not as easy for us to rely on "newness" as a source of what made those years so special.

The answer is, I feel, a return to the first loves. A re-visiting of those first loves (whether source material or what not).

But ... this is a big subject, and not everyone has had the same experience in these things as I have and no doubt I am beginning to bore others by now. All I can say is that this hastily sketched idea has worked for me.

 

[Bog97th]

I agree with everyone else. It's just a feeling I get in the first gen games and the love of what first pulled me into RPGs in the beginning.....

After all sometimes it's hard to teach an old dog new tricks

 

[librarius_arcana]

Most early roleplaying games were uneasy hybrids of miniature war games and improvisational acting.

Don't think so, Travaller, Runequest, etc,
I stopped playing D&D because I thought those games were better,
(Btw I started roleplaying with Basic D&D)

 

[ewalden]

Limits

The realy nice thing was that character development became exponentially harder. This meant that you could actually have a tough character. Now you can advance forever, going up one level for each 13.33 encounters. Worse yet, the monsters keep going up too. My 23rd level party can easily be defeated by a single kobold, if it's a 30 level character. In first edition, my 13th level fighter could face anything, for a while, he was tough. But now, he would be smashed by a CR 15 encounter, and when he gets to 15th level he would be smashed by a CR 17 encounter, and he would actually have them. Instead of fighting 12 trolls, he will fight one troll with fighter levels. He is no longer tougher than a troll, or a giant, or a kobold.

Being able to be objectivly tough is the thing that I liked most about 1st edition.