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<blockquote data-quote="Celebrim" data-source="post: 3765805" data-attributes="member: 4937">I don't think that there is any single 'real' or 'authentic' AD&amp;D experience.&nbsp; I think that quintisentially, AD&amp;D is a game that each individual DM made thier own and for thier players, that was a real and authentic AD&amp;D game.Not rolling dice?&nbsp; You can play through large tracts of 'Tomb of Horrors' without the rattle of dice.&nbsp; One of the most memorable sessions of AD&amp;D I ever had was pure amateur thespianism for 5 hours where the dice never hit the table once.&nbsp; Highly tactical combat?&nbsp; I played AD&amp;D for basically 48 hours straight without sleep where all we did was move cardboard chits around and through dice in one long enormous battle.&nbsp; Human-centric?&nbsp; I've played two different AD&amp;D campaigns where noone was allowed to take human as a race, and one of them none of the available races where in the core rules.Alot of the other suggestions debunk themselves.&nbsp; AD&amp;D can, as gentlegamer points out, packaged from the beginning with a non-Vancian magic system.&nbsp; It wouldn't be a stretch to suggest a campaign where all magic used a psionic-like system.&nbsp; It still would be AD&amp;D.Sad to say, alot of DMs ran 'monty haul' campaigns where PC's were allowed to just browse through the DMG and say 'I want to buy the Eye of Vecna'.&nbsp; I ran into dozens of such players at the time that thought that's how you were supposed to play.&nbsp; Did they IMO miss out on alot of the fun?&nbsp; IMO, definately yes, but I can't claim that they weren't playing AD&amp;D.&nbsp; I can just mock the way that they played AD&amp;D.&nbsp; Mercilessly. Have I met hidebound DM's and players that thought that anything not explicitly mentioned in the rules wasn't possible.&nbsp; Unfortunately, I've met a few of those two.&nbsp; I never met nearly as many of those as DM's and players who'd never actually read the rules, but I certainly met both types.The most obvious way to make it not AD&amp;D would be to change not merely 'core' rules, since I'm not sure any single feature can claim this status especially of AD&amp;D, but rather to change all the rules completely.&nbsp; For example, you could play GURPS.&nbsp; Then you wouldn't be playing AD&amp;D, though concievably you could play GURPS with something of an AD&amp;D feel.&nbsp; (Wouldn't be easy, but you could do it.)&nbsp; I've seen that happen.&nbsp; People will say, &quot;I'm tired of AD&amp;D.&nbsp; Let's play something else.&quot;As a matter of pure theory, another way to make it not AD&amp;D would be to remove the quality that makes AD&amp;D a game from the game in some fashion so that it ceased to be a game and became something else.&nbsp; I've never actually witnessed this happen, and the rumors I've heard of it I've never been sure I could trust.&nbsp; But I admit that its possible in theory, though it would involve far bigger changes to the concept of AD&amp;D than anyone has suggested here.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Celebrim, post: 3765805, member: 4937"] I don't think that there is any single 'real' or 'authentic' AD&D experience. I think that quintisentially, AD&D is a game that each individual DM made thier own and for thier players, that was a real and authentic AD&D game. Not rolling dice? You can play through large tracts of 'Tomb of Horrors' without the rattle of dice. One of the most memorable sessions of AD&D I ever had was pure amateur thespianism for 5 hours where the dice never hit the table once. Highly tactical combat? I played AD&D for basically 48 hours straight without sleep where all we did was move cardboard chits around and through dice in one long enormous battle. Human-centric? I've played two different AD&D campaigns where noone was allowed to take human as a race, and one of them none of the available races where in the core rules. Alot of the other suggestions debunk themselves. AD&D can, as gentlegamer points out, packaged from the beginning with a non-Vancian magic system. It wouldn't be a stretch to suggest a campaign where all magic used a psionic-like system. It still would be AD&D. Sad to say, alot of DMs ran 'monty haul' campaigns where PC's were allowed to just browse through the DMG and say 'I want to buy the Eye of Vecna'. I ran into dozens of such players at the time that thought that's how you were supposed to play. Did they IMO miss out on alot of the fun? IMO, definately yes, but I can't claim that they weren't playing AD&D. I can just mock the way that they played AD&D. Mercilessly. Have I met hidebound DM's and players that thought that anything not explicitly mentioned in the rules wasn't possible. Unfortunately, I've met a few of those two. I never met nearly as many of those as DM's and players who'd never actually read the rules, but I certainly met both types. The most obvious way to make it not AD&D would be to change not merely 'core' rules, since I'm not sure any single feature can claim this status especially of AD&D, but rather to change all the rules completely. For example, you could play GURPS. Then you wouldn't be playing AD&D, though concievably you could play GURPS with something of an AD&D feel. (Wouldn't be easy, but you could do it.) I've seen that happen. People will say, "I'm tired of AD&D. Let's play something else." As a matter of pure theory, another way to make it not AD&D would be to remove the quality that makes AD&D a game from the game in some fashion so that it ceased to be a game and became something else. I've never actually witnessed this happen, and the rumors I've heard of it I've never been sure I could trust. But I admit that its possible in theory, though it would involve far bigger changes to the concept of AD&D than anyone has suggested here. [/QUOTE]

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