D&D 5E Vestiges of the old!

[Warpiglet-7]

What parts of earlier editions have flavored or shaped your 5e?

we were 1e to 3e to 5e. Dabbled shortly with 4e…

but our group's sensibilities are no doubt 1e in a lot of respects. We accept death as very possible, we keep track of ammunition and expensive/rare spell components, we lean into alignment as a force (good and evil are real/tangible things).

we also play with a survivalist mindset too. The story we want might happen but we don’t expect it. Heck we might not live much less vanquish our nemesis!

i think we also hew pretty closely to dungeon delving quite a bit…though we did some hexcrawls way back then too.

orcs, drow and goblins are almost always evil. We have had a few good drow back when but we play as if the under dark is a nasty place…if we even know what it is!

what are some things you do that newer players might not? What are some vestigial? Parts of your older gaming that effect our 5e?

 

[MatthewJHanson]

Bloodied from 4e is the biggest one that comes to mind. My group includes players I played 4e with, and we'll announce when NPCs and PCs are bloodied. When we've added new players, they've always stared at us in confusion.

 

[Warpiglet-7]

Bloodied from 4e is the biggest one that comes to mind. My group includes players I played 4e with, and we'll announce when NPCs and PCs are bloodied. When we've added new players, they've always stared at us in confusion.

I will have to read about it! We played so little 4e that I cannot recall it!

 

[overgeeked]

I started with B/X, moved to AD&D, skipped 2E but obsessively collected setting material, skipped 3X, played 4E from start to the Next playtest, played 5E since the playtest. Though I still play AD&D and B/X. The latter mostly in the form of Old-School Essentials.

I maintain the old-school frame of mind in that PCs start as zeros and advance to heroes through hard fought victories, or die ignobly without reward. The cool stuff your character gets to do is earned through actual play, not handed to you at character creation, nor automatically received simply by leveling up. I also run games mostly in the old-school style. Tracking encumbrance, tracking food & water, torches, etc. Light sources really matter. I'm one of the few 5E DMs that actually uses darkvision as written, apparently as every single one of my players over the last 10-ish years have all been taken aback when I tell them that darkvision doesn't mean they just see perfectly in the dark.

Use the 2E setting stuff as much as I can. And the Known World. I absolutely loved Nentir Vale and the points-of-light setting from 4E, so I keep using that either directly or as a template for homebrew settings. Monster design from 4E was amazing, so still use that. Still use B/X dungeon and wilderness turns basically as written. I push players to actually describe what they're actually doing in the world instead of just shouting a skill name, throwing dice, and declaring a result.

So what do I use from older editions? Everything I can.

 

[overgeeked]

I will have to read about it! We played so little 4e that I cannot recall it!

It means half hit points. Mostly used as an in-fiction reflection of the monster's state of being. But can also mean it triggers some action, reaction, or ability recharge on the part of the monsters.

 

[Warpiglet-7]

I started with B/X, moved to AD&D, skipped 2E but obsessively collected setting material, skipped 3X, played 4E from start to the Next playtest, played 5E since the playtest. Though I still play AD&D and B/X. The latter mostly in the form of Old-School Essentials.

I maintain the old-school frame of mind in that PCs start as zeros and advance to heroes through hard fought victories, or die ignobly without reward. The cool stuff your character gets to do is earned through actual play, not handed to you at character creation, nor automatically received simply by leveling up. I also run games mostly in the old-school style. Tracking encumbrance, tracking food & water, torches, etc. Light sources really matter. I'm one of the few 5E DMs that actually uses darkvision as written, apparently as every single one of my players over the last 10-ish years have all been taken aback when I tell them that darkvision doesn't mean they just see perfectly in the dark.

Use the 2E setting stuff as much as I can. And the Known World. I absolutely loved Nentir Vale and the points-of-light setting from 4E, so I keep using that either directly or as a template for homebrew settings. Monster design from 4E was amazing, so still use that. Still use B/X dungeon and wilderness turns basically as written. I push players to actually describe what they're actually doing in the world instead of just shouting a skill name, throwing dice, and declaring a result.

So what do I use from older editions? Everything I can.

I like keeping track of torches too though cantrips have almost obviated them.

I also like the idea of being a newbie when new. I also think limiting darkvision to what is written makes sense and is cool. Light still has its place for nonhumans!

 

[overgeeked]

I like keeping track of torches too though cantrips have almost obviated them.

I also like the idea of being a newbie when new. I also think limiting darkvision to what is written makes sense and is cool. Light still has its place for nonhumans!

Right. Which is why I've banned the light cantrip. Dancing lights is still in because it only provides dim light, thus disadvantage to perception checks.

 

[Micah Sweet]

I spent most of my formative years playing 1st ed, and collecting/reading/obsessing over 2nd ed setting material. Most of the lore since then doesn't grab me, and my personal gaming philosophy is shaped by 1st ed. PCs often die, and its not a big deal.

 

[BookTenTiger]

I wonder if it's possible for this thread to move forward without folks dumping on "modern playstyles!"

...

3rd Edition was the one I got really into in high school and college. I loved how it felt like a big toolbox I could play around with, making my own races and monsters, creating house rules... I've definitely carried that aspect forward into now I run 5e. I still love to make little tweaks and house rules and explore how that changes gameplay!

We also really enjoyed how tactical 3rd Edition could be... Finding all those ways to add up +1's and +2's in combat, flanking and higher ground... I find the players I still play with from those days look for strategic advantages in combat.

 

[Micah Sweet]

I wonder if it's possible for this thread to move forward without folks dumping on "modern playstyles!"

...

3rd Edition was the one I got really into in high school and college. I loved how it felt like a big toolbox I could play around with, making my own races and monsters, creating house rules... I've definitely carried that aspect forward into now I run 5e. I still love to make little tweaks and house rules and explore how that changes gameplay!

We also really enjoyed how tactical 3rd Edition could be... Finding all those ways to add up +1's and +2's in combat, flanking and higher ground... I find the players I still play with from those days look for strategic advantages in combat.

I played a lot of 3rd ed, and enjoyed it. 3rd and most of 5th was still written in a way that didn't fight against the way I enjoy D&D, so I just kept going with the new ruleset. There were also a lot of cool 3rd party products made for 3rd. My favorites were probably the Green Ronin stuff, and a great gear book called From Stone to Steel. I still have those.