D&D General Why is "OSR style" D&D Fun For You?

[Lanefan]

No death saves

Good.

You can use HD on a rest to recover HP as normal (spells too) with healers kit

Ah. Were it me I'd have it that you can't recover normal hit points until you've got back all your BHP.

 

[Lanefan]

So the same in 5e and Oe/1e/B/X, light spells go out in null-magic areas and humans have no infravision/darkvision.

The difference is at will light cantrip at 1st in 5e versus continual light as a 3rd level cleric spell in 3e and older D&D.

If I wanted to make 5e feel old-school I think I'd ban not just the at-will Light cantrip but all the at-will cantrips.

For me as a DM I generally hand wave it as much regardless of edition, it has been pretty constant from 1e to 5e. A few narrative questions about light sources and occupied hands then not really sweat it thereafter with close tracking. 5e it has come up a bit more with automated line of sight in online fantasy grounds games.

Once they've got to the level where they can hard-cast Continual Light I don't often worry about it other than asking whether or not they're using a light source while trying to be stealthy in the dark. But before that point, light availability can be a big deal - torches and lanterns don't last forever, and oil put into lanterns is oil you're not using for something else such as Molotovs.

 

[Lanefan]

I do want to clarify that we get into the l logistics / strategic value of those things. We purchase / acquire the material and equipment we need for the adventure at hand.

Same here.

However, we don’t spend a lot of effort tracking what we have once we are adventuring. We generally assume we have what need unless some unexpected comes up that we didn’t prepare for

The main time I have to worry about people's mundane gear is if-when they get hit with AoE damage and fail the save, as that means everything carried also has to save; and while I don't really care if someone's beer mug or spare pair of dice saves or not I do make them roll for important gear e.g. backpacks, ropes, spare weapons, ammunition (and quivers), belt pouches, waterskins, rations, and so forth.

 

[Uni-the-Unicorn!]

Ah. Were it me I'd have it that you can't recover normal hit points until you've got back all your BHP.

We treat HP more like skill/exhaustion/luck/etc and less physical. The two are related they are somewhat separate as well. I can be physically damaged (loss of BHP) but still emotionally and mentally strong

 

[haakon1]

I do make them roll for important gear e.g. backpacks, ropes, spare weapons, ammunition (and quivers), belt pouches, waterskins, rations, and so forth.

I remember doing this for AD&D 1e.

Players don’t like losing gear. In 3.5e, I’ve had acidic oozes damage magic weapons, and a magic sword get destroyed hitting a Caryatid Column, and it was a bummer for at least one player (in the second incident, not the player whose character lost the sword, but the person who was temporarily playing the character as the player was elsewher).

 

[Micah Sweet]

If I wanted to make 5e feel old-school I think I'd ban not just the at-will Light cantrip but all the at-will cantrips.

Once they've got to the level where they can hard-cast Continual Light I don't often worry about it other than asking whether or not they're using a light source while trying to be stealthy in the dark. But before that point, light availability can be a big deal - torches and lanterns don't last forever, and oil put into lanterns is oil you're not using for something else such as Molotovs.

Its worth noting that in a lot of old school play level gain is slower to, so it could be quite a few sessions before the magic-user gets to 3rd level, and even then, getting Continual Light as a spell isn't a guarantee. In 5e the whole thing usually lasts no more than two sessions.

 

[Voadam]

Its worth noting that in a lot of old school play level gain is slower to, so it could be quite a few sessions before the magic-user gets to 3rd level, and even then, getting Continual Light as a spell isn't a guarantee. In 5e the whole thing usually lasts no more than two sessions.

For clerics it is a guaranteed spell at 5th level in AD&D.

 

[Micah Sweet]

For clerics it is a guaranteed spell at 5th level in AD&D.

Lot of XP for that in 1e.

 

[dave2008]

Its worth noting that in a lot of old school play level gain is slower to, so it could be quite a few sessions before the magic-user gets to 3rd level, and even then, getting Continual Light as a spell isn't a guarantee. In 5e the whole thing usually lasts no more than two sessions.

IIRC, it took my group 1 year in IRL game time to get to 3rd in 5e (about 25+/- sessions). But we don't use XP advancement. Nor do we guarantee spell selection at level up (it is part of our downtime process). So it feels very OSR in that respect (and others)

 

[Reynard]

Lot of XP for that in 1e.

I wonder what the survival rate to 5th level is in 1E.