IMHO, D&D needs a LOT more of this stuff!!! Otherwise, it can get tedious fairly quickly.....
I agree. I like how Basic and 1e are fun to play even if the DM and players don't care much about the story.
I am running the Temple of Elemental Evil right now as a pure dungeon bash and it's great. I as the DM didn't even know the backstory of the temple until the players were halfway through it, because it's poorly explained and I think poorly thought-out. But the encounters and treasures are excellent.
(I hate it when an adventure wants me to keep track of details I could do a better job making up on the spot)
I think you just sold me on the Moldvay Basic, Libramarian. It sounds like the game expects roleplaying, which is always nice.
Depends what you mean by roleplaying. I get plenty of
instrumental roleplaying but not a whole lot of dramatic roleplaying.
I think it encourages a certain type of character--the broadly competent, risk-seeking, itinerant, morally dubious pulp fantasy rogue. It discourages any debilitating character flaws and doesn't offer much support for characters who care about something bigger than their own bloody thrills.
Cugel the Clever and the Grey Mouser fit right in. Force-of-nature barbarians with gigantic melancholies and racial memories are OK in a secondary role, but don't work so well as the party face. If you use and have the heart to enforce the alignment rules, then you might get a character bound by a moral code that seems kind of bolted on and not very well-integrated into the rest of their personality, like Batman.
"Quests" are more like mercenary contracts and even your retainers/henchmen are more likely to be the Lando to your Han than a faithful life-indebted Wookiee (if you use the Loyalty rules. If you don't, they're like Chewbacca).
