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An equally compelling, and possibly stronger, argument could be made for the opposite viewpoint. That we should use how the games were actually played, rather than intended. AD&D was rarely run 'as intended'. In 40 years, I have never run into a group that ran by the book initiative. Yet...

Not sure I agree with this. While I didn't have the broadest experience during the 1e/early 2e era, every table I played at was heavily house ruled. It was almost required given the complexity of the rules and relative lack of interaction with other gamers outside of conventions, college...

Fair enough. That was one reason I restricted my list to D&D though, it is always possible to find counter-examples if you broaden the scope enough. Perhaps 'rules heavy' and 'rules light' are not the best terms to use. In my experience, an OS DM would often make an on the fly ruling and the...

One thing the article did not do, which it should have, is to define what is meant by "Old School" and "New School". It is very difficult to carry on a conversation/debate when people take the terms to mean different things. All these comments relate to D&D. Including other games broadens the...

Personally, I agree with many of the points he is making. I find the tone offensive. He comes across as dismissive of NS style play. I am a firm believer that there is no correct way to play D&D (obviously I have my preferences, as do others, no denying that fact). Different play styles suit...

Drivel. That is my opinion of this article. His characterization of differing styles of play is wildly inaccurate and bordering on a rant. Presenting his personal opinion, which are not widely held and nonsensical, in an article format makes me question what contribution he is actually making...

I recall reading that the exact reason EGG put players in a dungeon was to limit their options and make the game more manageable. (I think it was mentioned in Playing at the World by Peterson). I think Sandbox v. Railroad is another false dichotomy. It is a continuum, not a binary choice...

I view it more evolution than dichotomy. Early RPG's stemmed from war gaming, and the play style reflected that. As time went on, the role play aspect became more dominant as both player's and DM's honed their craft. There is no wrong way to play D&D. I understand why certain styles appeal...

Most, if not all, of Lew's 'articles' have a "Get off my lawn!" feel to them. They do generate comments, but most tend to be in opposition to the point he is trying to make. I put 'article' in quotes because I generally expect a more non-biased viewpoint in this type of forum. IMHO, these...

Streets of Avalon looks pretty reasonable at $24 for pdf and print on demand. Never hurts having a fleshed out city in your toolbox that you can drop in when needed. Backed.

"Too much" is a phrase very relative to the campaign. I have DM'd, and played, in both magic rich and magic scarce D&D games and neither was a problem so long as it fit the campaign. The real problem only arises when characters have too many items in a magic scarce campaign. This is usually...

A 10 page guide I put together a while ago (offered for free) goes into a lot details making first time DM'ing easier https://www.dmsguild.com/product/212836/Dungeon-Master--Tips-and-Advice-for-New-DMs

Surprised no one has mentioned Rolemaster by Iron Crown Enterprises in terms of combat complexity. I never played RuneQuest, but my brief stint with Rolemaster made me feel like an accountant auditing the books for some corporation. So many tables that cross refer for every attack. It did...

It has been many years, but I seem to recall Heinlein stating that to remain science fiction you extrapolate current science and are allowed to violate once scientific law. For example, a story with FTL would still be science fiction so long as the other details were grounded in reality. Star...

Spoiler: It isn't. My LFGS has fewer tables in season 8 than in season 7. It is due to a lack of players, not DM's. For the last three weeks we have had to combine two tables to meet 3 player minimum requirements. Imagine being a new player and walking into an AL game: Point buy PHB+1 ok, we...

Spoiler: It isn't. My LFGS has fewer tables in season 8 than in season 7. It is due to a lack of players, not DM's. For the last three weeks we have had to combine two tables to meet 3 player minimum requirements. Imagine being a new player and walking into an AL game: Point buy PHB+1 ok, we...

Too bad AL is being horribly managed by WotC. The recent season 8 changes are not at all welcoming to new players and many veteran AL players are becoming disgruntled. Perhaps they need to start paying attention before it bites them in the a$$.

Too bad AL is being horribly managed by WotC. The recent season 8 changes are not at all welcoming to new players and many veteran AL players are becoming disgruntled. Perhaps they need to start paying attention before it bites them in the a$$.

Inexperienced 'celebrity' players, pregenerated characters, PvP... This is starting to sound like a D&D version of "Battle of the Network Stars". https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Network_Stars

That is a good point. It would be great for high level play to get some love.