Since this is one of the threads that inspired it, I thought I'd share this email I sent to my personal gaming community:
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I have been thinking about gaming a lot lately and D&D in particular, and I just wanted to share my thoughts and (hopefully) initiate some discussion.
For a while now I have been trying to figure out what my problem with D&D is (or has been) and, after a stream-of-consciouness style journey through message boards and conversations, I figured it out: D&D 3.x is *not* the D&D I gre up with.
I am not talking about the basic system. I like the streamlined mechanics and a lot of the tweaks to the sacred cows (wizards with spells! yay!) in 3.5. What I mean is that the D&D I grew up with -- the Red/Blue/Green/Black set, specifically -- was more focused, more specific in its emulation of the genre that is D&D than the new D&D is. Now, I like options and I think they can be useful in establishing tone and implied setting/genre. However, I don't like *all* the options. Moreover, I don't like that players tend to feel entitled to all those options and use them, regardless of campaign, setting or tone.
In addition, D&D has moved well out of the Dungeons and the Dragons. If you look at published scenarios for D&D, Dungeons are used as railroads to contain the players and push them toward the plot. "Old School" dungeons were different -- they were adventuring environments where the PCs could travel relatively freely and angage in exploration and discovery. Moreover, modern adventures and dungeons are too reliant on 'fair' challenges and 'acceptable risks'. Where are the save-or-die effects and the flee-or-die encounters?
Dragons, well -- because of players assuming every challenge is tailored just for them, get maligned for being "too tough".
And here's something else. I am finally willing to admit this to myself and to the world: I like an antagonist relationship between players and DM. I know that is anathema to 'good gaming' and will be construed as being
-ish, but I mean it. The players should challenge and be challenged by the DM. Now, the DM has a responsibility to be fair and not just overwhelm the PCs with killer traps and deadly monsters from which there is no escape. But, if done right, a competitive relationship between the players and the DM can make for a fun game. It isn't about stomping on the players, it is about engaging them and making them care about the outcome of events and feeling like they actually accomplished soemthing when they win a fight, overcome an obstacle or solve a puzzle.
This, inevitably, leads me to the subject of character death. Adventuring is dangerous business. Being a hero isn't easy. Going down into holes to smash evil and take its stuff is never garaunteed. Players who take character death as a personal affront aren't playing the same game I am. We aren't telling a story about your character -- we're creating one. And sometimes, that story ends with "...and he was laid low by a spear to the ribs."
Anyway -- just thinking with my fingers. Feel free to comment.
EDIT: Oops. Sorry about the cursing. Grandma caught it, so I guess it's okay?