D&D General A D&D Edition Grand Tour

[Thierry-Advent]

I absolutely would not do them out of order. And for all its flaws, I love 3E far more than 3.5 or Pathfinder.

Ok. I wasn’t taking a stance on 3e. Just force of habit typing.

 

[Reynard]

Wow the mythical 3.0 loyalist (ducks).

I like aspects of 3.0. Rereading them 3.0 and 3.5 may have got some things right.

I like its rawness. They were trying to do this new thing but also holding on to some isms.

 

[Byrd]

So assuming I stick with the portal fantasy where every 10 real world years or so the Earth PCs are dragged back to FantasyLand, should it be a regularly returning villain or a new threat every time/edition?

It's been 30+ years since I read the Narnia series.

You could do a hat-tip to it...Forest pond, walk-in closet, surreal painting, train accident (oops ).

Tag me if you decide to playtest them here in the PbP forum.

 

[Byrd]

Wow the mythical 3.0 loyalist (ducks).

I like aspects of 3.0. Rereading them 3.0 and 3.5 may have got some things right.

I'm mythic?
That's the nicest thing I've been called all week!

 

[Hriston]

For me personally, this is more about a tour through the rules systems rather than iconic worlds or adventures -- mainly because I have always been a homebrewer.

When you said "one adventure per edition" in your OP, my mind went straight to published adventures, probably because the concept had been discussed that way when it came up before and because "grand tour" is so similar to "grand campaign" which often gets used to mean a game that strings together published modules, but I prefer homebrew adventures myself so can fully relate to this sentiment. Thanks for the clarification.

 

[Reynard]

When you said "one adventure per edition" in your OP, my mind went straight to published adventures, probably because the concept had been discussed that way when it came up before and because "grand tour" is so similar to "grand campaign" which often gets used to mean a game that strings together published modules, but I prefer homebrew adventures myself so can fully relate to this sentiment. Thanks for the clarification.

To be clear, I'm just talking about me. Folks should feel free to discuss the idea from that (or any other) perspective.

 

[Byrd]

I am getting very close to doing this for my fall "con campaign" -- but that means a single 4 hour session per edition, and only 4 such editions. That latter bit sadly means I will cut 1E and 4E: B/X, 2E, 3E and 5E, at (i think) 3rd, 5th, 7th and 9th level respectively.

If your "con campaign" means pre-gen characters: a brief reminder that the 3.0 iconic characters are statted out at levels 5, 10, and 15 in Enemies and Allies (Appendix 2).

Stan: "Oh my god! They killed Kenny Regdar!"
Kyle: "You bastards!"

 

[Alas]

I have also thought about doing a multi-edition campaign! Maybe it's an idea that inevitably occurs to people with a complete enough library?

I would definitely frame it as a generational story. It'd be cool to see character longevity affect the campaign, as the elf and dwarf originals go adventuring with their human buddy's grandchildren. I don't feel a pressing need to explain why the rules of the universe change over time, as any players I could enlist for this experiment would be on board with it for the same reason (because we can, and it sounds fun). But if I had to explain why lightning bolts don't bounce now (5.5 ed) when they used to back in the day (AD&D), we could just chalk it up to the characters who remember the difference (the elven mage) being unreliable narrators. "No, really! I used to be able to charm an ogre for weeks!" "Sure, unca. Can you concentrate now, please?"

For plot/adversaries, I'd focus on dragons for both narrative and meta reasons. Narratively, dragons have the longevity, treasure hoarding, and grudges to suit a generational campaign. Meta-narratively, dragons offer solid data points to compare changes between editions. Start off with subduable dragons in the 40-80 hit point range, and end with wyrms with lair actions and environmental effects. Maybe tousling over the Orbs of Dragonkind or a similar artifact as the connecting thread? Each session, the goal is to see who holds onto the prize for the next 30-50 years...

 

[TheHand]

I have also thought about doing a multi-edition campaign! Maybe it's an idea that inevitably occurs to people with a complete enough library?

I would definitely frame it as a generational story.

Yes, while I’m excited to hear how the convention game goes, the concept seems ripe for a multi-session campaign where everyone can spend more time with each edition and really compare and contrast the features of each.

 

[Autumnal]

So assuming I stick with the portal fantasy where every 10 real world years or so the Earth PCs are dragged back to FantasyLand, should it be a regularly returning villain or a new threat every time/edition?

A recurring villain, possibly operating behind various front groups like a proper pulp/supers villain.