Can someone explain what "1st ed feel" is?

[Flexor the Mighty!]

(I'm guessing your DM doesn't make you map the damn thing! )

Daniel

I'm DM'ing now and they map. But nobody even puts thought into how realistic the orc filled temple to the evil god is. It's just not what we focus on, they are more worried about a nasty monster that may be around the bend than a illogical corridor design.

 

[Flexor the Mighty!]

I'm guessing, though, that people would rather eat broken glass than admit that old-school dungeons weren't always plausible. So maybe I should let it drop, eh?

Daniel

It's just that we didn't care! That wasn't what we were playing the game for. It was for the feeling of adventure and danger and the wonder of magic and demons and the rest. I never looked at the map of Oerth and thought, "this isn't logical, the migration patterns should have put people here...", or questioned why the ancient builders of the Tomb we were exploring had so many crazy tunnels. 1e AD&D was an adventure game, not a sociatial and geopolitical simulator with perfectly accurate and logical dungeon construction. It was about fun and adventure, and that does not preclude roleplaying or having a history for a particular place or person.

 

[Pielorinho]

It's just that we didn't care!

Okay, and cool! I think you and I agree: plausibility isn't so important in a particular style of game. Heck, I enjoy playing Diablo, which is way less plausible than most 1E modules.

I've no problem with people who value adventure and fun over plausibility. Sometimes I can even let go enough to prioritize like that. Most of the time, though, I prefer games in which everything makes sense, and when I DM, I agonize over that, searching for plot holes and filling them. But hey -- some folks like quiche, some folks like pahd thai. What do I care?

Where I get a little flummoxed is where people deny what seems to me to be obvious: that 1E valued adventure and fun over plausibility. It seems a peculiar thing to deny, from where I stand, and a little pointless -- for the same people that deny 1E's occasional lack of plausibility are often the same folks that deride gamers who value plausibility. Do the folks that like quiche talk about how gross peanuts are, and then claim that quiche has just as many peanuts in it as pahd thai has?

I'm glad folks like 1E-style adventuring; it's just usually not for me.

Daniel

 

[Someguy]

1st edition feel...

it's that feeling between your toes when you finish running...
it's that feeling when you breathe really really fast
it's that feeling when you look at fluffy bunnies...

fluffy bunnies....



happy land...




weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

 

[Orcus]

"plausibility"

OK, you do realize we are talking about a game that has elves and dwarves and orcs and magic works and there are clerics of pagan gods and magic swords and that doest even begin to go into the oddities of any particular campaign world.

I guess I have always viewed it that if I can accept there are elves and dwarves and magic swords and spells called magic missile that work then a straight or curvy corridor isnt exactly the type of "plausibility" that is going to bother me. I think you are way too hung up on some sort of wierd plausibility problem. Should a dungeon make some degree of sense? Sure, it helps. But this is a fantasy world.

Clark

 

[Desdichado]

I guess I have always viewed it that if I can accept there are elves and dwarves and magic swords and spells called magic missile that work then a straight or curvy corridor isnt exactly the type of "plausibility" that is going to bother me. I think you are way too hung up on some sort of wierd plausibility problem. Should a dungeon make some degree of sense? Sure, it helps. But this is a fantasy world.

You do realize this exact point was covered in some detail earlier in the thread, right?

 

[hong]

1st ed feel is kicking the door in, killing monsters and taking their treasure, and not taking things too damned seriously. Sorta like this:

http://www.enworld.org/messageboards/showthread.php?s=&threadid=3856

 

[Fade]

Simple answer: The corridors are built that way for ritual signifigance. Help channel power for the Dark Ritual (tm).

 

[bushfire]

Simple answer: The corridors are built that way for ritual signifigance. Help channel power for the Dark Ritual (tm).

1st Edition is when the DM comes up with the above explaination on the fly if a player should question the corridors in the game, not devoting an entire page in the module to describing the personal lives of the builders.

 

[Simon Magalis]

Can't we all just get along?

I am going to have to join the frey and give in to the temptation (along with everyone else here) to write the definitive post that will settle this. My question is why can't you just take the good points of whatever system you happen to be playing and make the most of it? If you didn't like the settings offered in 2nd Ed. then you certainly could have ignored them; there were still plenty of stand-alone modules to plug into your custom world. If you didn't like the lack of settings in 1st Ed. you certainly could have come up with your own. Don't get me wrong, I see everyone's point and the point is... you are all right in a way. However, we all bring our own baggage to the gaming table and there is nothing you can do to change that. I like all three editions of the game for very different reasons, though 3rd Ed. is my favorite simply because of the system itself, not the perfume that goes along with it. When you get right down to it, at least in our group, the DM is 99% of the game, not the gaming company or the module. I have many types of gamers in my group and I try very hard to give them all something they can enjoy. To me, the one common factor in good gamers is that they don't want to be spoon-fed. I have never met a gamer that enjoys being forced down a particular path or "given" something they didn't earn. All other debates aside, I feel that if the DM creates a sense of the characters' actions being vital to WHATEVER is going on in the session, that players of all types will be content, if not overjoyed. The trick is to have SOMETHING in each session that intrigues each player, if possible. Anyhow, this is getting too long (especially for my first post). Imagine how long this thread will be in 30 years after another two editions or so!