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<blockquote data-quote="Retreater" data-source="post: 8645641" data-attributes="member: 42040">I guess my disconnect comes from what &quot;OSR&quot; and &quot;classic gaming&quot; means to me. I did not come of age in the Gygax era. My first D&amp;D rulebook was the AD&amp;D 2nd edition PHB, and I didn't really get deep into the hobby until the mid-90s. In my group during that era, a character death was something that impacted the story. Those of you who know me from these boards might be surprised that I haven't always been a Killer DM - in my earlier games it was very rare for a PC to die. We didn't play a style of game where mutation, mutilation, or death was done for laughs. In a board game like HeroQuest where your character was just a nameless token on a board, it was okay. But in a roleplaying game, where really the only thing you had was your character, their personality, and interaction with the campaign world, it was something to be avoided. In a game when a DM can roll a 1d6, count around a table to pick out Player #x (where x=the number of the player he rolled randomly) and then a roll a 1d4 to pick out Character #y (where y=the number of your character he rolled randomly) and you just die - that isn't my kind of game.Same thing at higher levels in DCC. You roll on a random chart and you accidently lop off your own head or get pulled into the Nine Hells. I don't like that kind of stuff being left up to chance. If dying is the result of a random chart roll, then what use is there in skilled play, good tactics, cooperation, or any of the other things we admire about this hobby? When the very things that we celebrate about the hobby don't matter, the feel turns into a parody of the game.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Retreater, post: 8645641, member: 42040"] I guess my disconnect comes from what "OSR" and "classic gaming" means to me. I did not come of age in the Gygax era. My first D&D rulebook was the AD&D 2nd edition PHB, and I didn't really get deep into the hobby until the mid-90s. In my group during that era, a character death was something that impacted the story. Those of you who know me from these boards might be surprised that I haven't always been a Killer DM - in my earlier games it was very rare for a PC to die. We didn't play a style of game where mutation, mutilation, or death was done for laughs. In a board game like HeroQuest where your character was just a nameless token on a board, it was okay. But in a roleplaying game, where really the only thing you had was your character, their personality, and interaction with the campaign world, it was something to be avoided. In a game when a DM can roll a 1d6, count around a table to pick out Player #x (where x=the number of the player he rolled randomly) and then a roll a 1d4 to pick out Character #y (where y=the number of your character he rolled randomly) and you just die - that isn't my kind of game. Same thing at higher levels in DCC. You roll on a random chart and you accidently lop off your own head or get pulled into the Nine Hells. I don't like that kind of stuff being left up to chance. If dying is the result of a random chart roll, then what use is there in skilled play, good tactics, cooperation, or any of the other things we admire about this hobby? When the very things that we celebrate about the hobby don't matter, the feel turns into a parody of the game. [/QUOTE]

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