Getting that "old school" feel back

[Canaan]

I get nostalgic thinking about the days when I was 10 or 12 years old and playing this game with my buddies.

Heheh, I was so cheesy, I had a 20th level druid/20th level wizard named Allanon! Ring any bells? lol! He was in a party that later became gods....those were the days. We defeated Tiamat, who we found in a maze, just waiting for us to come kill her....lol!

Anyway, I'm not talking about the Monty Haul aspect of those early days of gaming, but the concept of the fluid, free-form flow to gaming back then. We never "planned" characters or worried about 5 foot squares and movement rates. Encumbrance? eck, who needed it!

It was about the adventure, the fun!

I miss those days with the advent of 3rd edition and 3.5. I'm really getting burned out on this system.

But nonetheless I will continue to plod along in the 3.5 ed world, because that is what the game is these days.

Anyway, I try to keep the old school feel in my own game, but it's hard, because the players have certain expectations.....

Anyway, just some musings for this glorious Friday......

 

[Moon-Lancer]

that’s really odd, because one of the dm’s i play with is really really anal about everything, and everything needs to be grounded in physics, and i think he played 1e but i know he played 2e. I thought old d&d made one super anal about the rules makeing sense. I guess everyone’s old days were different.

My old days i think involve legend of Zelda for the Nintendo. I know how it feels to be seduced by old games. I would just take what you really love about the old games and try to express them in your current games. Maybe find other players or dms that are similar to your old play style.

In 3.5, I make most of my characters elves or fey that are clothed in green. I am fascinated with legendary weapons, and the fey like magic creatures that make these for heroes to find. Cheesy, yeah, but that’s what really does it for me. I like playing games were magic items have more of a purpose to the story and are more then just loot. I like it when I can use the magic items provided to solve puzzles in dungeons or caves.

 

[KarinsDad]

We never "planned" characters

Planning characters is a direct result of Feats and Prestige Classes. Both of these have prerequisites and hence, one needs the prereq to qualify for the Feat or PrC.

In some ways, these are the two 3E game elements which really took it from a "pickup game" to a "structured character game". One practically has to be Lawful to even play the game anymore.

 

[Moon-Lancer]

nope, not me. But i will agree with you, too many players are lawfull X. Can this be attributed some how to alot of d&d players working as computer programers or people involved in math? Im more of the art side, and being chaotic comes way too naturaly.

 

[MithrasRahl]

I think the "old school" he is refering to is when you're too young to know how to play "properly", and just play for the fun/epicness of it. If that is the case, then I agree completely.

My friends and I used to play the L5R CCG, and we had decks of 100+ cards (for those that don't know, you wanna play with a 40/40 deck, not a 110/136 deck). Once we learned how to play "properly", it was fun in a different way, but it lost the same feel from when we had no idea how we were supposed to play according to the written law of the game, but we had a great time anyways.

 

[shurai]

A useful house rule

To capture that free-form feeling, why not allow characters to rewind advancements that are considered to be permanent and take something else instead?

That is, once every few sessions, allow a character to "undo" their most recent level and take something else. In-game, claim that they weren't happy and have been focusing on learning something new so much that they've lost their old knowledge -- the character level stays the same, but the class combination changes.

Ooh, another thought: If simplification would help, what about playing with the generic classes from Unearthed Arcana?

Check 'em out at:

http://www.systemreferencedocuments.org/35/sovelior_sage/unearthedNewClasses.html

 

[airwalkrr]

I miss those days with the advent of 3rd edition and 3.5. I'm really getting burned out on this system.

Maybe it's time to get a new system! I felt the same way so I developed my own hybrid 1e/3e system. It has all the feel of 1e, with many of the standardized, unified mechanics of 3e. Many of the details are scattered haphazardly on the House Rules forum here, but I plan to coalesce them soon on a website.

 

[Ramza]

Rather than look for a NEW system, if you feel nostalgic...

Why not play the system you (original poster) are sentimental for? I know folks that still play, for example, AD&D. You could easily play older systems and satisfy your desire. This is really easy if you are going to use it as something you mix in with your current game. Every few weeks everyone goes wild with playing their elf class character!

Later.
Ramza

 

[Infiniti2000]

Way back in the day I though Knight Rider was a cool show. I saw it again recently and man, oh, man, what nostalgia does to improve one's recollections.

 

[Canaan]

Some great suggestions! I look forward to seeing Air's system.