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I disagree with your contention that "playing with a high degree of system mastery" = "well played." There is a good deal more to the RPG experience, and what I regard as true skill is playing a character such that the players around you have more fun. That's a well-played wizard. It might be...

Yeah, but sometimes the spell *is* the clever and fun solution. Had a game of 3.5 where we were on a boat, and the boat hit a chain stretched across the river as a trap. The way the adventure was supposed to go, we would be ambushed and have to fight (the mundane solution). As it was, my...

I've been having a similar debate in my head. I'd go with your first reaction, stick to B/X and add the things you like from 1E. It's easier to add than to remove, and I think you do more adding with the B/X -> 1E approach. Some of 1E is much higher-powered, like the Ranger. +level in damage...

Actually, a casting time of "one round" is longer than a casting time of "one full-round action." The former is Summon Nature's Ally, the later is a spontaneously metamagic'ed standard-action spell. The former can be interrupted on the enemy's turn, the latter only by a readied action. Rapid...

What degree of awesomeness is open to the PCs and not to NPCs? If the PCs are inherently exceptional, I like that to be at least in part because of some things that people in the world can acknowledge. Like if all PCs have better stats, max HP at first level, and some aspect of "luck points"...

I really like this. If the game has the PCs be Heroes in the sense of "The Chosen of Fate," or whatever, then I really like it when there is at least some vague in-world acknowledgement of it. Midnight did this too, IIRC. On the other hand, it's also fine with me if the PCs are inherently...

B/X stat generation, power levels, rules-liteness, resource management considerations, magic item availability, hard limits (18 ability score, 9 HD, -10 AC, etc.) Change 3.5's DC formula to make saves more like B/X, where your odds of making it go up as you level. Ability scores improved by...

Take a level of Dread Pirate. In the errata, the 1st-level ability is "pwnzor teh_ninjas at will".

So make that archetype represented by the scout. Strongly encouraged to not wear heavy armor (by the proficiencies) and to move around a lot (by skirmish) which ties in to the major real-world reason for any combatant not wearing heavy armor (it in general tends to reduce your mobility, though...

WotC has an extremely valuable brand, and brand loyalty is a very powerful thing. If the exact same ruleset were released under a different brand, it would not sell 1/10 as many as 4E. Most groups probably wouldn't even have a discussion about switching if it were "That Mike Mearls guy...

I tend to agree. I feel that edition churn might be good for the business but it's bad for the hobby. The increasing profusion of editions just splinters a fan base that grows slowly, if at all. It's a business model that RPGs have chosen to embrace but it isn't the only way that games can be...

Jack Burton. I love the fact that he's the sidekick and doesn't know it.

No, he was saying that PCs would be careful about choosing when to enter combat. That didn't mean "Nova, rest, come back and nova again." It often meant "Be sneaky and think up other solutions to overcome the foes." Picking Clairvoyance over Fireball was often a very good choice -- it lasted a...

At least in B/X, attack rolls didn't scale as fast as they did in 3E. The fighter (and demihumans) gained 2/3 BAB after first (so +2 at 4th, 7th, etc), the cleric and thief 2/4 (+2 at 5th, 9th), and the wizard 2/5 (+2 at 6th, 11th, etc). Monsters gained 1 BAB every HD. A 9th level fighter (or...

Nobody has denied that. But the crucial differences from 3E are that a) it isn't assumed you get the optimal items that you want, and b) AC SCALES MUCH MORE SLOWLY. AC might improve by about two points between levels 1 and 8; monsters that used to hit you on a 16 now need an 18. In 3E, the...

HP are a mix of ability to withstand punishment and ability to dodge (or at least roll with) mundane attacks. The difference between escalating AC as the primary defensive mechanic, and escalating HP, is that HP can be worn down over time. An 8th-level fighter in B/X might take as many or only...

Fine, so your AC is 2 points better than it was at 1st level. Monsters that used to hit you on a 16+ now need an 18+, or something like that. It's nowhere near the AC advancement offered in 3E through the combination of stacking bonus types, buffing spells, class abilities, and getting to pick...

Based on what? 3E's useless gp values of treasure? AC-boosting items look pretty sparse to me in X9 (none) and X1 (1 item). If you finished X4 and X5, you could equip all your fighters with plate +1 and shield +1, for a whopping 2point increase over their first-level AC. MAYBE you'd get a...

With the PC able to choose his magic items as in 3E's ridiculous expectation, sure. But looking at the sample level 6-9 PCs in my Expert modules (X4 and X9), none of them had magic gear worth more than a 2-point improvement over 1st level, and X9's fighter-types are at AC 2, 2, and 4. These...

The Wraith Apocalypse is always thought-provoking. Perhaps non-magical counters exist (a line of salt across the doorway blocks them from entering a house), or they have some limits on how far they can travel from where they were spawned, or something else. But, yes, by RAW they will take over...