Are you a 3.5e grognard? Post here!

[Dannyalcatraz]

I'll judge 4Ed on its own merits.

However, its unlikely that I'll play it anytime in the near future- whether or not I like it. I have 90% of the 3.5Ed books from WotC & some of the better 3rd party publishers...but my primary game group is still playing 3Ed.

I mean, I see the the occasional 3.5 book show up in their collections, but they're definitely not in use.

My secondary group is using some 3.5, but by that I mean Core + Completes, no Psi, no base classes other than Core. And that group hasn't gathered in months.

So, even if 4Ed is the "best RPG EVAR!!!", there's no pressure on me to buy it on its release date...maybe not even its release year.

 

[Xyxox]

Oddly enough, there's a thread on Dragonsfoot discussing the new edition and whether or not that community should accept 3E and 3.5E players into their grognard community.

So far, the overwhelming opinion seems to be 3E and 3.5E players are not grognard enough to be considered grognard and the only TRUE GROGNARDS are TSR GROGNARDS.

Weirdness.

And when the going gets weird, the weird turn pro.

 

[RFisher]

What are the others? 2tee-fruity and 1derboy?

Well, "Zebheads" has been used for 2e fans. Which really isn't all that bad considering that, if you like 2e you pretty much are a Zeb fan.

 

[AWizardInDallas]

D&D is my game. I'll be playing it in whatever form pleases me. I have been through every edition of the game and the content of each has been both augmented and deflated. The new edition will be no different. My plan for today is to stay put and add things I like back into my 3E game from 2E/1E that people younger than me have stripped out.

We uses trees, painted miniatures, rocks, dungeon tiles, cast dungeon parts and other tangible, physical special effects so the virtual table top doesn't really impress or interest me. Other companies have already been doing it for quite sometime anyway and their products aren't nearly so dark and hard on the eyes so if I ever want to go that route I can.

My game is about telling a good story and I can do that with any edition of D&D.

That having been said I'm also not the age group that their market research is aimed at so what I do with the game really isn't much of a concern to the folks at Wizards of the Coast. They're in business to make money and please stockholders. It's a corporation. I work for one so I understand. The over-arching goal is profit, plain and simple.

I hate most of the dark, goth, pierced, tatooed eye-bashing 3E artwork. In that I am a grognard. Otherwise I'll do what pleases me with D&D...

AWizardInDallas.com

 

[The Levitator]

I started playing in 1981 with 1st Edition. I played most of my D&D in 2nd Edition from the mid 80's until 2003ish, when I switched to 3.5. 3.5 felt like a really solid system that just needed a few tweaks to suit our play style. I like the ease of making changes to the system. I like that it still feels like a roleplaying game and can be played like a roleplaying game and not a tabletop MMORPG, although it seems a lot of groups do enjoy playing it like one.

My first impression of what admittedly little I've read about 4E is that it seems to be going down a path of simplification and streamlining that looks like they are basically trying to add a little dialogue and advancement to the D&D miniatures game. I know that there are some great rules light systems out there that make for great roleplaying, but I've just found 3.5 to be the best D&D edition that suits my playstyle and DM style. To be more clear, the 3.5 I play is highly modified, so Core didn't work perfectly for me. I always get a kick out it when people make fun of those of us who modify Core and say "you aren't playing D&D anymore". Maybe those people weren't around for the earlier versions, but in the "old days" you had to make up tons of rules on the spot. For us, that was half the fun. It was like you had a part in creating the game that your group was playing. The amount of diddling I have done to 3.5 to make it right for our group pales in comparison to changes we made in earlier versions of D&D. The beauty I've always seen in D&D is its customizability. I love having a game system change and adapt to the group playing the game.


I admittedly don't have a ton of experience in other game systems. I think my attachment to D&D is primarily due to familiarity and sentimental reasons. I love our version of 3.5 so much that I can't imagine how they could have improved it enough to make me want to switch to a new system. I am hopeful that there may be elements of 4E that we may someday adopt to our game. We have elements of older editions in our game, so why not some new elements too?

Oh yeah, you can consider me a 3.5 grognard, at least for the next few years!

 

[Hjorimir]

All 3.X Grognards are being reported to the Central 4uthority. Or should I say Au4ity?

 

[Aus_Snow]

I have this fear I'll flip open a PH, and find Maneuvers, or Reserve feats. Should that be the case, I think that is the day I shall become a grognard.

Heee he he he.

Ah, that would be the day.

 

[Brennin Magalus]

3.5 is the one true game. All others are just imitations!

My hat of Fourventure know no limit!!

It fails in just about every aspect of a game!

 

[DM_Jeff]

I stand with you all, and raise my hand, resolved. I am a 3.5 grognard.

Reading the posts, I have nothing more to contribute as to why, as I have already read the answer over and over again in this very thread.

4e can be a great game, I wish them well, even as I look at the 40 years or so of 3.5 material I have yet to use and enjoy...and will.

 

[JediSoth]

SHARK pretty much summed it up for me: I just don't feel like 3.5 has outlived its usefulness. I have enough material left for at least 4-5 campaigns, and I haven't run across many rules that are so blatantly broken that they ruin the game (though the Orb spells come close for me...solution: ban those particular spells). The problems I have with 3.5 are not enough for me to declare it a system in need of a new edition at this point.

Not to mention the fact that I've been bombarded (prior to GenCon) with a lot of talk that 4E was still YEARS away and would definitely not be announced at GenCon in 2007.

I understand some people were under an NDA until the big announcement, but lying to cover it up just leaves a bad taste in a mouth that already tasted funky following the cancellation of Dragon and Dungeon.

So, I'll probably end up a 3.5 grognard (though AE is my game of choice these days), but one who'll probably buy 4E just to be familiar enough with it to play at GenCon. Who knows, maybe it'll be ultra-compatible with 3.5 and totally rock my socks. It's too early to tell. On the other hand, if enough people don't switch and there's still a market for 3.5 compatible stuff, someone will publish it.

JediSoth