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I absolutely love the Vancian system. It combines in-game concerns with a great style. Magic-users have to abide by strict limits, and mastering these limitations need player skills. It gives a player interesting strategic options. Does he memorise offensive spells? Spells for evasion and...

That, plus it is funny when they buy the farm in some random chaotic event they are responsible for. :D

I am flattered. :D

D&D is a flexible game accommodating various divergent styles, among them heroic ones. Baseline D&D is as heroic as murder and robbery can be - that is, not very much. Consider: even supposed do-gooders adventure for the basest motivations, namely treasure and experience points. If they didn't...

A degree of DM judgement is required to run a proper game. That's why D&D has a human moderator - to go beyond the dictates of the rulebooks.

On the average, I kill about one PC every four sessions or so. Sometimes multiples. It's a bit like a revolving door - characters come, characters go, but the door keeps on revolving. :D Since the PCs are usually nobodies trying to earn a living (and get rich) in a hostile world, it fits the...

Parties are "made" not only by the characters, but the players as well. The same PCs played by different players would likely create a radically different "story" than the original playing group. There should be less divergence with the same players but a revolving cast of characters.

I would let the player roll a new character - or, celebrating a thirty-years-old tradition, rejoin play with MyGuy #2, MyGuy's Cousin, MyGuy's Long-lost Twin Brother or such. And for the record, the very first time I played AD&D, my character was instantly killed in (I think) the second or...

Player characters already get more hit points, bonuses to hit and save, not to mention skill points and the occasional feat. If that isn't enough, I have no idea what would be.

It is, however, a fascinating glimpse into how a Wizards designer thinks about the game and where it should go. "Towards blandness" seems to be the prevailing though...

I give the player a new character sheet. Afterwards, the new character turns up as a prisoner, wanderer or through some other deus ex machina. The dictates of the game come before "story continuity". Given that new PCs in my campaigns always start with minimal equipment (one basic weapon, tools...

The primary difference in spirit I can put my hands on is how the game has become lost in mechanics. While 3e's rules are superior to older editions - although those were by no means so flawed as to seriously impact gameplay, as evident from D&D's enduring popularity - the sheer mindless focus...

That's an expensive inventory amangement mistake. I would certainly have bought an 1e rulebook in the mid 90s if I could... if, say, TSR sold them... which they didn't.

I would prefer a core-only game to one with all the options - both as a player and as a DM. Actually, I'd probably take the restrictions further than the core allows, especially in qualifying for PrCs and multiclassing. And maybe I'd reduce the racial options to human only. ;)

More extensive, probably. On the other hand, I believe "Appendix N" is a better selection - certainly better for capturing AD&D's "spirit".

Most definitely - I am in complete agreement. Whether they were consciously designed to be that way by Gygax & Co or just made up in a drunken stupor at 3 AM cca. 1972, hit points, Vancian magic, classes, levels, saving throws and a lot of the other "sacred cows" work very well in a game...

WayneLion: once again - why not just play something else, then?

I tend to start campaigns on third level - here, PCs are no longer as fragile as complete beginners, but have a lot to strive for. Granted, there is something to be said for brutal low level meat-grinding fun... it worked very well in my first 3e campaign.

The sacred cows are why D&D (various editions) is my game of choice. Hit points, Vancian magic, classes, levels, funky monsters, dungeons. If they are slaughtered, there is no longer a point in continuing. Aside from the player network, I don't even understand why others would like to get rid of...

Original D&D, selected stuff from the supplements and the 1e books.