Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
The
VOIDRUNNER'S CODEX
is coming! Explore new worlds, fight oppressive empires, fend off fearsome aliens, and wield deadly psionics with this comprehensive boxed set expansion for 5E and A5E!
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
Is a more OD&D feel game the natural evolutionary endpoint? Is OD&D actually AD&D?
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="Mercurius" data-source="post: 4740485" data-attributes="member: 59082"><p>Nice post. I enjoy reading biographical material about other gamers--it is interesting to get a sense of everyone's "gaming career". </p><p></p><p>As I see it, "old school" is a feel, a vibe, an approach to playing. The essence of this "old school vibe" is not dependent upon what rules set one plays with but has more to do with <em>how</em> one uses the rules. This can be illustrated with a very simple example: Let's say the players try to do something that they and the DM don't readily know the proper rule for; the old school approach would be for the DM to just make up a rule on the fly; the new(er) school approach would be to scour through the rule books until the "right" rule is found. It could be argued that 3E took a big step back to old school when it formulated the core mechanic, with a Difficulty Class that could be assigned on the fly (although, again, it is more a matter of how you approach the rules).</p><p></p><p>So it is an approach to the rules and not the rules themselves; therefore, I would argue, <em>any </em>edition of Dungeons & Dragons can be "old school" in feel. </p><p></p><p>As for whether this represents an "evolutionary endpoint," I'm not so sure...in one sense I think there is truth to this in that the old school approach is more free-form and improvisational; it is less dependent upon rules and structure. On the other hand, it could be more a matter of typology, even personality type. The interesting implication of calling it an evolutionary endpoint is that we come full circle, an Eternal Return if you will.</p><p></p><p>I'd take a slightly different view, that old school is the acorn and D&D is a tree. The tree will continue to grow and change, with infinite possible variations of form. Yet "within" it is the acorn, the primal seed of life and possibility; the degree to which the "branches" hold that life-force is the degree to which it remains healthy; when it loses it, it dies. </p><p></p><p>I would think that this "old school renaissance" is less a matter of harking back to older rules sets and iterations of D&D (that may be happening but is secondary or rather, <em>symptomatic</em> of something deeper) but more having to do with rediscovering or reconnecting with the primal creativity of roleplaying: the free play of the imagination. This is the big difference between RPGs and computer games and why, I think, many of us that play RPGs don't find the same kind of deep satisfaction from computer games: there is no imagination, no inner exploration. But that's another, if related, subject.</p><p></p><p>So yeah, the rediscovery of the free play of imagination. That's what its all about, no?</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Mercurius, post: 4740485, member: 59082"] Nice post. I enjoy reading biographical material about other gamers--it is interesting to get a sense of everyone's "gaming career". As I see it, "old school" is a feel, a vibe, an approach to playing. The essence of this "old school vibe" is not dependent upon what rules set one plays with but has more to do with [I]how[/I] one uses the rules. This can be illustrated with a very simple example: Let's say the players try to do something that they and the DM don't readily know the proper rule for; the old school approach would be for the DM to just make up a rule on the fly; the new(er) school approach would be to scour through the rule books until the "right" rule is found. It could be argued that 3E took a big step back to old school when it formulated the core mechanic, with a Difficulty Class that could be assigned on the fly (although, again, it is more a matter of how you approach the rules). So it is an approach to the rules and not the rules themselves; therefore, I would argue, [I]any [/I]edition of Dungeons & Dragons can be "old school" in feel. As for whether this represents an "evolutionary endpoint," I'm not so sure...in one sense I think there is truth to this in that the old school approach is more free-form and improvisational; it is less dependent upon rules and structure. On the other hand, it could be more a matter of typology, even personality type. The interesting implication of calling it an evolutionary endpoint is that we come full circle, an Eternal Return if you will. I'd take a slightly different view, that old school is the acorn and D&D is a tree. The tree will continue to grow and change, with infinite possible variations of form. Yet "within" it is the acorn, the primal seed of life and possibility; the degree to which the "branches" hold that life-force is the degree to which it remains healthy; when it loses it, it dies. I would think that this "old school renaissance" is less a matter of harking back to older rules sets and iterations of D&D (that may be happening but is secondary or rather, [I]symptomatic[/I] of something deeper) but more having to do with rediscovering or reconnecting with the primal creativity of roleplaying: the free play of the imagination. This is the big difference between RPGs and computer games and why, I think, many of us that play RPGs don't find the same kind of deep satisfaction from computer games: there is no imagination, no inner exploration. But that's another, if related, subject. So yeah, the rediscovery of the free play of imagination. That's what its all about, no? [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
Is a more OD&D feel game the natural evolutionary endpoint? Is OD&D actually AD&D?
Top