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Rolling 3d6 in order for each ability score Playing AD&D (1e and 2e), my groups almost never did this. Other editions, however, we have. (And these days, I might be inclined to do it in AD&D as well.) The style of play in my groups, however, tends to favor player skill over mechanics. (Part of...

When trying to make a decision as DM, I’ll often pick up a die and pick a random chance of one alternative or the other and then roll. It’s only then—when faced with the die’s “choice”—that I really realize which makes the most sense to me. Seems silly even to me, but there it is. But this is...

Combat has lots of rolls, but it also has lots of decision points. The combat mechanics tend to make it that you need to have many unlucky rolls to undermine good decisions. In my experience, it’s more likely for an unlucky roll outside of combat to result in a significant failure. Though I...

Thanks for the stories so far! Keep ’em coming! For once, I’m going to heed what my metaphorical momma told me nigh two decades ago and avoid the meta-discussion. (At least within this thread.) Suggestion noted.

Tell me about your fighter (or fighting-man) character from a pre-2000 edition of D&D or AD&D. How was he different than other fighter PCs? What did he do besides just roll “to hit”?

Tell me about your magic-user from a pre-2000 edition of D&D or AD&D who was not useless after he’d cast his spell(s). (Bonus points for stories of first-level magic-users.)

That pretty much captures my experience with the game. Yep. At the time I excused it on the basis that Gygax was just following his lawyers’ advice. Once I saw LA, though, I knew at least part of it was just a Gygax idiosyncrasy. I have to admit, though, that I have some tendency for this...

I prefer homebrew, but I’m not sure why. Maybe it’s because I expect less so I’m less likely to be disappointed. ^_^ Probably not, since I’ve become cynical enough to not expect much from books of any stripe anymore. ^_^ One of my all-time favorite DMs used a mash-up of every published setting...

I suspect that if you found a change that would get more people into the hobby that the game would run faster, but that it would be a side-effect. I don’t think simply making the game run faster is the key you’re looking for. No! There are plenty of games I like to play when I enjoy time...

I’d further refine it thusly... What abilities are actually used by PCs on a regular basis?What abilities are actually fun to roll checks for?What abilities do you care whether PCs have varying ability in? e.g. YMMV, but I’ve seldom found climb checks to be fun. Most of the time I find it more...

Thanks! It’s nice to put another face to one of the founding names.

I don’t have to justify it. But taking the time to analyze why I like or dislike things has helped me to enjoy things even more. More importantly, trying to understand why other people like or dislike things has helped me enjoy group activities (like games) more. I dare to think I’ve helped to...

double-post

Sounds very interesting.

I’ve been sitting here trying to come up with an answer, but I’m drawing a blank. I’ll try to let it stew a day or two and see if I come up with anything.

I searched for it for many, many years. I no longer believe it exists. Variety is good. (Yet, I think a part of me is still trying to find the perfect game, even though I don’t believe it exists. u_u)

AD&D1e: Inspirational. Especially the DMG. AD&D2e: I liked the idea of specialty priests. I liked the idea of specialist wizards. I like that it can serve as a compromise between classic D&D and AD&D1e. D&D3e: I admire the engineering feat that it was. I like the idea of replacing restrictions...

Probably depends upon how you find your sample. If you find it through some method connected with retail, then I’d bet it would be in favor of Wizards too. If you found someway to actually find a representative sample of all RPG gamers, it might well go the other way. But I only play at...

The last thing I want is companies making up new rules just to try to be original. (Or for fear of lawsuits.) Especially when it is much more likely they’ll just reinvent something that was tried before and didn’t work that well. I want them to learn and build on the past. They should put all...

This is what I do when reading these sorts of “wars”... Read everything in the most positive way I can. Out of all the meanings and tone I can ascribe to a sentence, I choose the best rather than the worst. I assume everyone is employing rhetorical hyperbolé and don’t take outrageous...