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Message: <blockquote data-quote="WizarDru" data-source="post: 47013" data-attributes="member: 151">1st Edition feel.  Hmmm.Well, I do think Nostalgia plays a large part, here.  Certainly, the phrase has different meanings to different folks.  Here are a few, I think:a)  The Wonder:  The joy I personally experienced the day I cracked open the DMG that I'd bought with money I'd saved for weeks of lawn-cutting.  The imagination that was sparked looking at the listings of magic items.  The anticipation of running a game after reading the 'sample of play', section.  The evil-grin of looking at the pictures in the 'Tomb of Horrors'.b) The Design Ethic:  The original modules were not adventures.  They were settings for adventures to take place in.  At their root level, they were even less than that...they were large, freeform puzzles that were more than a boardgame, but moderately faithful to D&D's wargame roots.  Logic often took a back seat to an interesting challenge or a clever logic puzzle.  Does 'Tomb of Horrors' or 'Hidden Shrine of Tamoachan' make much sense.  Nope.  But they're fun to run characters through, if that's the kind of game you enjoy.c)The Metagame:  Some folks liked 1e's wargame-like mechanics.  I'm not one of them, but that's not the issue.  Some people liked the AC system, the experience point tables, the unique spells, the various races and classes.  Some folks don't want to have to deal with some of the strictures that Role-playing imposes.  If they know that their 5th-level fighter needs 10 experience to level, then you damn well bet they'll just go find it, and role-playing reasons be damned.d) Look and Feel:  The artwork and layout of those old materials was far from the polished look of WOTC and other contempararies.  Compare the cover of Chainmail, the 1e DMG and 3e DMG.That said, I think that the nostalgia, as always, often confuses the issue.  For every good 1e module, there were tons of bad ones.  I found 2e so distasteful, I never played it, and dropped out of D&D entirely, until the advent of 3e.  'Back to the Dungeon', indeed.I think that to NG, the second and third descriptors are '1st edition feel'.  To me, it will always be the first....the thoughts of how to get my players to use a Deck of Many Things or a Rod of Wonders. <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" />  I loved 1e at the time, but as I grew, I wanted and needed more.  Even when I ran 1e games, I filled in the blanks.  The Colonel's point is not lost on me...but I soon came to the point where the 1e modules required enough work that I might as well make my own, which is what I did (and what I found more rewarding, anyhow).  1e's rules were not pristine and untouchable...quite the opposite, IMHO.  The RPG artform has grown from it, but it is primitive by today's standards.  Does that mean it was harder to have fun under 1e than 3e?  ABSOULTELY NOT.  I have had a blast under either edition.If you want my opinion of who is doing a good job on 1e feel, it depends on what you want.  For my money, Fiery Dragon is doing a great job, module-wise, of meeting that concept, but taking it to the next level with logical design.  The two are not necessarily mutually exclusive.  See 'NeMoren's Vault'.Kingdoms of Kalamar is also keeping it real, IMHO, but again, with an emphasis on logical design backing it up.  Rappan Athuk, at least the first one, was everything I didnt like in a 1e module.  Mimic Toilet monsters are just so far and away from the kind of game I want to run, I can't tell you.  Poorly edited, little guidance in the use of the module, and multiple mistakes make it difficult for me to even look at it.  Some folks like that, which is fine, but it's not for me.Ultimately, I think '1e feel' is to we older gamers what '3e feel' is to 12-year old DM somewhere out there right now, learning D&D for the first time.  And that's what it's really all about. <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f600.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":D" title="Big grin    :D"  data-smilie="8"data-shortname=":D" /></blockquote>

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