Aging and Gaming

[Thomas Shey]

What? No. The crunchy stuff is a young person thing. The older I get, the less crunch I want in my games. I do not have time to deal with that mess. I want to sit down, play, have fun, and not get mired in useless crunch.

That's not universal, however. I'm 67 and I don't want an overly light game any more than I did 40 years ago.

 

[Belen]

That's not universal, however. I'm 67 and I don't want an overly light game any more than I did 40 years ago.

It need not be super light. I like 5.0 and it has crunch but anything like 3.5, 4e, or pf1e……no.

I want to game rather than just deal with crunch.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

I know it's not the same, but I found solace in playing RPGs solo. It has it's own rewards and you can play when ever you have time, be it for just one hour or three. I recommend either Ironsworn (fantasy), Hostile Solo (sci-fi) or Scarlet Heroes (old-school fantasy).

Well, I still get a thrill from buying/reading game books, designing PCs & campaigns , and helping others working out their own.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

If you played with one group for many years, the idea of putting a new one together (or finding an extent one) and getting used to all the socio-dynamic elements anew can be, I think, a little intimidating even if you don't realize it on a conscious level.

That’s definitely one thing I’ve considered. Not all groups are created equal, no question.

 

[Thomas Shey]

It need not be super light. I like 5.0 and it has crunch but anything like 3.5, 4e, or pf1e……no.

I want to game rather than just deal with crunch.

I guess I just don't see the difference in crunch between what I've seen of 5e and 3e to be particularly significant; the busiest parts of both systems are much the same.

 

[Thomas Shey]

That’s definitely one thing I’ve considered. Not all groups are created equal, no question.

And of course there's just the issue of getting one going/finding one you're going to be compatible with for any length of time.

I mean, I have one group it literally took decades to wear the edges off of, and had another that it took that long to figure out I just couldn't deal with anymore.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

There’s a two guys I gamed with regularly starting in the mid-80s. When we all went away for school, we’d alway play during the summer breaks.

In the mid-90s, one guy had gotten into a bigger group that he invited me to join, which I did. I don’t know if the other guy was invited, but he didn’t join. And one guy from the bigger group occasionally gamed with our triad.

That kind of changed the gaming & friendship dynamics. The triad/quartad didn’t game as often.

Right now, I’m not a member of the big group anymore, and the guy who never joined may be moving away for a job.

 

[Belen]

I guess I just don't see the difference in crunch between what I've seen of 5e and 3e to be particularly significant; the busiest parts of both systems are much the same.

The iterative attacks with -5 steps downs, the host of +bonuses, the reach, cleave, power attack…..

5e is so much less complex.

I remember having to force players to write conditional Statblocks so we did not take 30 mins to figure out conditional bonuses.

 

[Thomas Shey]

The iterative attacks with -5 steps downs, the host of +bonuses, the reach, cleave, power attack…..

5e is so much less complex.

I'll take your word for it, but I'll tell you the truth--the busiest parts of D&D have always been in the spell system to me, and that doesn't seem significantly simpler. I'll give you that adding another exception based design element in feats probably didn't help, but not having that just narrows the character definition to being allowed for spell casters and not others, so...

 

[Belen]

I'll take your word for it, but I'll tell you the truth--the busiest parts of D&D have always been in the spell system to me, and that doesn't seem significantly simpler. I'll give you that adding another exception based design element in feats probably didn't help, but not having that just narrows the character definition to being allowed for spell casters and not others, so...

Casters are easy in comparison to all the conditional rules and bonuses in 3.5/PF1e.

You can a spell and it has an effect. The spells are easier than 3.5 too with things like concentration although not as easy as 2e.