D&D General D&D Editions: Anybody Else Feel Like They Don't Fit In?

[velkymx]

@JohnSnow I totally understand where you're coming from. It's tough finding a game that strikes the right balance between the simplicity and grounded feel of the old-school systems and the more modern mechanics that don't overcomplicate things. Your experiences and preferences really resonate with me.

If you're looking for an alternative that honors the roots of early D&D while offering flexible, crunchy rules to suit your play style, I highly recommend checking out Cresthaven RPG. It goes back to the basics of 1e, providing a streamlined yet robust system that allows for both deadly encounters and tactical depth. It might just be the perfect new home for your gaming adventures. You can find more details and resources at CresthavenRPG.com.

 

[Jaiken]

Mainly stick to DnD 5e 2014 because it is what I am most comfortable with and have all the modules for. Other modules I would need to learn and buy books for.

 

[Mekri]

So, this may feel like a strange thread, but I hope people will bear with me.

I have been playing and DM'ing "Dungeons & Dragons" since the early-80s, and I am feeling more and more like there is no place in the hobby where I truly "fit" anymore. I grew up with the mechanical simplicity of B/X D&D, starting with the 1980 B/X Boxed sets supplemented by an AD&D Monster Manual. We quickly abandoned "race as class" and cherry-picked rules from the hardcover books (I read them all, and still have my Dungeoneer and Wilderness Survival Guides, but that basic game continued. I had some enduring campaigns as 1st-Edition turned to 2nd, and I kept playing D&D, but I always longed for a better skill system; as the combination of "wing it" and Nonweapon Proficiencies never quite cut it for me.

When 3e dropped, I loved it at first, but the longer I played, the more something became clear to me. Dungeons & Dragons had become more "over-the-top fantastical" than I liked. Cook and Tweet basically had turned the default setting of Dungeons & Dragons into a high-magic Monty Haul campaign. The magic system still grated and the constant embrace of making characters MORE magical was taking it further from the kind of fantasy stories I want to tell.

I grew up on Arthurian legends, The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser, Conan, and a bunch of other "Sword & Sorcery" stuff. I didn't want my fantasy game to let me play the medieval equivalent of the X-Men, where every character has magical powers. I've thought about going back to the OSR, but the truth is that I want a game that has more rules guidance than those games offer. I just don't want one where every character can teleport, cast spells, and all of the other high-magic shenanigans that D&D embraces from the get-go.

The 5.24e embrace of this flavor has me turned off more than anything else. But I don't see a home for myself. Part of me wants to go backwards, but OSR type games are usually either too lethal (or grim-dark), too enamored of outdated game mechanics (OSE), or they're overly enamored with tables and whacky subsystems (looking at you DCC). I want there to be more fun combat options, but I don't want a lot of fiddly rules that will slow the game down. I see promise in something like DCC's "Mighty Deeds of Arms," or DMScotty's "Luck Dice" (or Professor DM's "Deathbringer Dice") or whatever you want to call them. I see some fun sub-systems in DC20, but I also see it getting way too fiddly.

Shadowdark speaks to my tastes a little (I love "roll to cast"), but I'd have to houserule some additions and alterations to it to really get the game I want. There's some other heavily house-ruled versions of OSR or "simplified 5e" that work for me, but they aren't there. But while I love the d20 resolution mechanic, I may need to walk away from a D&D that is becoming increasingly fantastical. And I don't know where to go.

Sorry for the wall of text, but is anybody else in this boat?

This may be a late reply, but olde sword reign uses the 5e base rule system, but with a power level and feel similar to bx/1e. It’s only 4 classes, but they have an optional feat system, and the only purpose of these feats is to allow you to morph into one of the other class types. Like turning a fighter in to a ranger or barbarian. But again, much lower power level and nothing magical. It’s also capped at level 12, so the power max is also lower.
It doesn’t use skills- it uses attribute rolls and your background to determine proficiency. It’s overall similar to shadowdark, but assumes you like characters to last more than a session or two. It also doesn’t have the torch gimmick or the billions of tables to randomly generate everything.
Another game to look into is castles and crusades. It’s basically a stripped down 3e made to feel like adnd1e.
It’s also perhaps the closest thing you would get to a gygaxian sequel to 1e.

 

[Mekri]

So, this may feel like a strange thread, but I hope people will bear with me.

I have been playing and DM'ing "Dungeons & Dragons" since the early-80s, and I am feeling more and more like there is no place in the hobby where I truly "fit" anymore. I grew up with the mechanical simplicity of B/X D&D, starting with the 1980 B/X Boxed sets supplemented by an AD&D Monster Manual. We quickly abandoned "race as class" and cherry-picked rules from the hardcover books (I read them all, and still have my Dungeoneer and Wilderness Survival Guides, but that basic game continued. I had some enduring campaigns as 1st-Edition turned to 2nd, and I kept playing D&D, but I always longed for a better skill system; as the combination of "wing it" and Nonweapon Proficiencies never quite cut it for me.

When 3e dropped, I loved it at first, but the longer I played, the more something became clear to me. Dungeons & Dragons had become more "over-the-top fantastical" than I liked. Cook and Tweet basically had turned the default setting of Dungeons & Dragons into a high-magic Monty Haul campaign. The magic system still grated and the constant embrace of making characters MORE magical was taking it further from the kind of fantasy stories I want to tell.

I grew up on Arthurian legends, The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser, Conan, and a bunch of other "Sword & Sorcery" stuff. I didn't want my fantasy game to let me play the medieval equivalent of the X-Men, where every character has magical powers. I've thought about going back to the OSR, but the truth is that I want a game that has more rules guidance than those games offer. I just don't want one where every character can teleport, cast spells, and all of the other high-magic shenanigans that D&D embraces from the get-go.

The 5.24e embrace of this flavor has me turned off more than anything else. But I don't see a home for myself. Part of me wants to go backwards, but OSR type games are usually either too lethal (or grim-dark), too enamored of outdated game mechanics (OSE), or they're overly enamored with tables and whacky subsystems (looking at you DCC). I want there to be more fun combat options, but I don't want a lot of fiddly rules that will slow the game down. I see promise in something like DCC's "Mighty Deeds of Arms," or DMScotty's "Luck Dice" (or Professor DM's "Deathbringer Dice") or whatever you want to call them. I see some fun sub-systems in DC20, but I also see it getting way too fiddly.

Shadowdark speaks to my tastes a little (I love "roll to cast"), but I'd have to houserule some additions and alterations to it to really get the game I want. There's some other heavily house-ruled versions of OSR or "simplified 5e" that work for me, but they aren't there. But while I love the d20 resolution mechanic, I may need to walk away from a D&D that is becoming increasingly fantastical. And I don't know where to go.

Sorry for the wall of text, but is anybody else in this boat?

Also, if you apply world of xoth world mods to 5e you get a pretty decent sword and sorcery game.

 

[Remathilis]

You're clearly not alone as most of the people on this messageboard have an apparently low opinion of D&D these days. You're story is so typical that it's almost a cliche. Veteran player goes though several editions and each revision takes him further from what he fell in love with. Eventually realizes that he no longer likes where the game is and wants to recapture the gaming of his youth. Tale as old as time.

36 pages in, you've been told every retroclone that promises that B/X feeling with cleaned up rules and better presentation. You've been told to brew your own, use all manner house rules to make the game play like you want. I can't offer any new advice that hasn't been said here or the countless threads that came before that asked the exact same question. Go find your bliss. Play what makes you happy. Don't grow jaded and sit here complaining how D&D has left you by like a crazy ex still stalking her Facebook. Do what makes you happy.

 

[Umbran]

Eventually realizes that he no longer likes where the game is and wants to recapture the gaming of his youth. Tale as old as time.

I haven't read the 36 pages, and it is an old thread now. But I have a different take on it...

You can't go home again.

Really, you can't. Even if you played the exact same game, it would no longer be the same experience for you, because you change over time - for every "you" around here. Trying to recapture an RPG experience from your youth is like trying to recapture your first solo ride on a bicycle, or your first kiss. It cannot be done.

And that should be okay. If the world has only one, sole awesome experience... that's a very sad world indeed. There are other awesome experiences - hunt them down and embrace them.

 

[payn]

I haven't read the 36 pages, and it is an old thread now. But I have a different take on it...

You can't go home again.

Really, you can't. Even if you played the exact same game, it would no longer be the same experience for you, because you change over time - for every "you" around here. Trying to recapture an RPG experience from your youth is like trying to recapture your first solo ride on a bicycle, or your first kiss. It cannot be done.

And that should be okay. If the world has only one, sole awesome experience... that's a very sad world indeed. There are other awesome experiences - hunt them down and embrace them.

Chasing the Dragon.

 

[Zardnaar]

I'm playing old D&D side b side with 5E. Without nostalgia goggles you can still have fun BUT.

Group dynamics are the most important factor. Ascending AC is great THAC0 not so much. AD&D engine isn't good the playstyle can be fun. B/X is a lot better. Ymmv of course.

I'm starting a new 2E campaign Thursday. One gp=1xp is a lot of fun these days short term the allure wore off around level 7.

Modern D&D objectively is more complicated. Older D&D the presentation isn't good but it's easier to play and run onve you grok it. It's a lot harder to grok in some ways easier for others.

A modern 2E would be sweet.

 

[MGibster]

Really, you can't. Even if you played the exact same game, it would no longer be the same experience for you, because you change over time - for every "you" around here. Trying to recapture an RPG experience from your youth is like trying to recapture your first solo ride on a bicycle, or your first kiss. It cannot be done.

Oh, man. This is just good life advice in general. The closest I can come to recapturing that old feeling is to run games for new players. Just last year I ran a Call of Cthulhu game for folks who had never played it and it was a great experience. They didn't know every little detail about the setting, so running into a ghoul was an experience for them not just another Tuesday. Gaming with new players helps keep things fresh, you get to see things through their eyes. I get to be their first kiss! (Maybe I shouldn't post that last sentence on my GM profile.)

 

[Seramus]

I get to be their first kiss! (Maybe I shouldn't post that last sentence on my GM profile.)

Not with an avatar like that!