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

[Squire James]

Regarding the RtToEE comment, well dwarves dig a lot. They were probably following that vein of mithril when they unearthed the (insert nasty uber-monster here). I don't think mineral veins normally run straight, so there was a profit motive for digging those strange passages.

Old dwarven mines make excellent Citadels of Evil (tm), especially depleted ones.

 

[trancejeremy]

FWIW, I think Fast Forward Games' stuff has more of a first edition feel, if only because some of the stuff is by Jim Ward.

Only a handful of Necromancer games stuff feels like 1e to me. They're not bad products, just not very 1e-ish.

 

[Pielorinho]

Regarding the RtToEE comment, well dwarves dig a lot.

They do, but not generally under moathouses.

Daniel

 

[Cullain]

This question has a very easy answer to it. If the book has badly drawn nude female figures in it, it has a first edition feel.

Was that so tough?

Cullain

 

[EricNoah]

First edition feel ... that's when you look at a new "adventure module" and say "ooh, I gotta get that" because, well, there are only two other "adventure modules" in print!

 

[Wulf Ratbane]

First edition feel is sitting on my bed reading and re-reading the books.

I don't think I played in a real group until college-- well into 2e. Up until then, never more than one player, one DM-- and sometimes they were both me.

Wulf

 

[ColonelHardisson]

Y'know, for those who keep complaining about how 1e had so little plot or story - you're missing an important point. Plot and story was provided by the DM then, and so could be dispensed with in the modules. Adventures of recent years have often been overwritten, spoon-feeding plot and story to the players and DM alike. 1e was more about individualization. That's what 1e "feel" is, not lack of logic or an element of goofiness. Those old modules, with their lack of fluff text, invited everyone to think for themselves, which often resulted in some completely memorable experiences as the imaginations of the gaming group was given free rein. Heavily plotted modules of more recent times seemed more confining, less adaptable to individual whim, less open to spontaneity - in short, less like 1e.

 

[Pielorinho]

Colonel, I think you're not understanding quite what I'm saying. It's not the lack of plot that makes them problematic for me -- it's their lack of plausibility.

I still have that problem with third edition modules. I'm currently running Speaker in Dreams, which is probably about as close as you'll find to a spoon-fed plot in any published module. And I find it so implausible, the actions of major NPCs so foolish and incomprehensible, that I've spent hours and hours completely rewriting it.

First edition, in my experience, was worse in this respect. Plausibility simply wasn't a major consideration; and with plausibility, generally a coherent narrative was tossed out the window.

Daniel

 

[ColonelHardisson]

No, I get what you're saying. The thing is, plausibility was another element the DM provided. 1e modules were so underwritten that a DM had to individualize them.

Show me a classic 1e module, and I'll bet every DM who ran them back in the day could tell you why those 5 orcs were in a 10x10 room - I know I could. Sometimes it would be implausible, but most times what came off the tops of our heads was ultimately the most logical explanation.

Were there bad 1e modules? Absolutely. But the classics more than made up for them, evoking a "feel" that still haunts many of us today beyond simple nostalgia.

 

[Son_of_Thunder]

1st edition feel!!

Greetings all!!!

1st edition feel is this to me. It's getting together with your friends on a friday night (because none of you have dates . You play a game that you don't worry about character background. You're just there to have fun, and by fun I mean, slaying monsters, getting the treasure and going up in levels. In an old Dragon magazine in Dragonmirth there was a cartoon of a man running into an inn shouting something like, "Run for your lives. There's a fighter who needs just one more experience point to reach next level." That was us!!! You could stay up all night playing D&D. Drunk tons of pop, eat alot of junk food and crash all day saturday. Ah the good times. To me, that's first edition feel.

Cheers,

Son_of_Thunder