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Is a more OD&D feel game the natural evolutionary endpoint? Is OD&D actually AD&D?
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<blockquote data-quote="Orius" data-source="post: 4741518" data-attributes="member: 8863"><p>I feel the same way, it's the DM and flavor, not the rules that make it old school. And I'd say 3e didn't step back to old school, but rather it made old-school improvisation easier by having easy to assign DCs, and the "+/-2 when in doubt" modifier. Some players complain that 3e's skills take away from roleplaying; I feel the skill rules make it much easier to adjudicate a lot of non-class based actions that would have been rules on the fly in the old days. </p><p></p><p>It's part of why 3e is my system of choice. I find it relatively easy and smooth to run (though granted, I've never gone into the high or epic levels), and I feel comfortable DMing old school with it. But also my best DMing occured while using 3e rules, so maybe there's some nostalgia there.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>This was the structure of 1e, at least in the early days. It didn't have the campaign settings, you went through a series of modules. The modules of course didn't have the whole free form exploration of the original game because many of the memorable ones originated as tournament adventures that were played more or less one-shot. Perhaps Basic D&D played like this too. In any case, they were just a dungeon that a DM could drop anywhere in the world. And I agree with you that adventures were probably at their best when they were just that one dungeon with the plot hook that could go anywhere. </p><p></p><p>That changed with the rise of Dragonlance though. Granted, not all 1e modules were just a simple plug-and-play dungeon that could be dropped into a world, there were <a href="http://www.enworld.org/forum/general-rpg-discussion/148566-example-worst-tsr-adventure-module-s-ever-published.html" target="_blank">stinkers</a> as well. But after Dragonlance, I think TSR turned to making adventures with big epic storylines, sometimes in a way that players found unsatifying (i.e. the Time of Troubles). This continued through 2e. I rarely bought adventures myself since I preferred to make up my own stuff, and sometimes trying to integrate a mini-campaign into a world isn't easy. However, I usually try to make sure my campaign has a place for Night Below or Return to the Tomb of Horrors, as I'd like nothing better than to run those in their entirety someday (I have used pieces from the beginning of RttToH in old school module fashion though, as I mastered the art of cribbing from published adventures). </p><p></p><p>I haven't bought adventures in 10 years though, all before 3e, so I can't say how the 3e adventure paths compare to older adventures.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Orius, post: 4741518, member: 8863"] I feel the same way, it's the DM and flavor, not the rules that make it old school. And I'd say 3e didn't step back to old school, but rather it made old-school improvisation easier by having easy to assign DCs, and the "+/-2 when in doubt" modifier. Some players complain that 3e's skills take away from roleplaying; I feel the skill rules make it much easier to adjudicate a lot of non-class based actions that would have been rules on the fly in the old days. It's part of why 3e is my system of choice. I find it relatively easy and smooth to run (though granted, I've never gone into the high or epic levels), and I feel comfortable DMing old school with it. But also my best DMing occured while using 3e rules, so maybe there's some nostalgia there. This was the structure of 1e, at least in the early days. It didn't have the campaign settings, you went through a series of modules. The modules of course didn't have the whole free form exploration of the original game because many of the memorable ones originated as tournament adventures that were played more or less one-shot. Perhaps Basic D&D played like this too. In any case, they were just a dungeon that a DM could drop anywhere in the world. And I agree with you that adventures were probably at their best when they were just that one dungeon with the plot hook that could go anywhere. That changed with the rise of Dragonlance though. Granted, not all 1e modules were just a simple plug-and-play dungeon that could be dropped into a world, there were [url=http://www.enworld.org/forum/general-rpg-discussion/148566-example-worst-tsr-adventure-module-s-ever-published.html]stinkers[/url] as well. But after Dragonlance, I think TSR turned to making adventures with big epic storylines, sometimes in a way that players found unsatifying (i.e. the Time of Troubles). This continued through 2e. I rarely bought adventures myself since I preferred to make up my own stuff, and sometimes trying to integrate a mini-campaign into a world isn't easy. However, I usually try to make sure my campaign has a place for Night Below or Return to the Tomb of Horrors, as I'd like nothing better than to run those in their entirety someday (I have used pieces from the beginning of RttToH in old school module fashion though, as I mastered the art of cribbing from published adventures). I haven't bought adventures in 10 years though, all before 3e, so I can't say how the 3e adventure paths compare to older adventures. [/QUOTE]
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Is a more OD&D feel game the natural evolutionary endpoint? Is OD&D actually AD&D?
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