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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Bodhiwolff" data-source="post: 4883105" data-attributes="member: 71196">I'm not going to say anything new or innovative here.  But I am going to add my support to a bunch of points already made. I started my gaming career with AD&D as well -- see below -- and I can definitely attest that 4E is a new animal.  And it is one which I vastly prefer, from a gamer standpoint. Honest, open communication is a core part of any gaming situation.  "Old School" AD&D relied upon a social contract between the DM and the players, in that the players knew that the DM had the best interests of the story at heart, and while the DM might fudge things a little, they never "cheated".  Roleplaying was light on rules, but heavy on social/verbal interaction, and relied completely upon the ability of the DM and players to communicate their wishes to each other.  Games fell apart when DMs had a hidden agenda (like, say, secretly enjoying kililng their players) or when these lines of communication broke down. Furthermore, the setup of the printed products themselves reinforced this mentality.  The original DMG was the big book of hidden rules, which the players weren't even supposed to crack open.  The DM knew how things ran behind the scenes, and the players trusted that the DM ran the game properly. This system had its flaws.  My first game of AD&D was with a DM who, in all honesty, had no idea how the game ran.  I played a 1st level wizard with "wish" spells at my disposal for 3 months before discovering that there were limits to the number and type of spells usable per day (boy, that was an adjustment!)  I eventually ran a "better" game using the real rules, and while it was difficult for us to make the adjustment, we were all the better for it, and never looked back. So, if your DM learned the original AD&D mentality, it takes a massive mindset shift to get over that.   Just take a look at Andy Collin's articles on Dragon, about game transparency.  Instead of the old-school mentality of "hidden information", game transparency assumes that players/characters know certain things about monsters, and that putting such information in the players' hands ultimately speeds things up, makes things easier, and eases tension.  Instead of hiding the AC, hit-points, status, and quality of monsters, instead 4E runs perfectly happily with the players having access to all of this information -- and in the case of my game, having the players track this for me, freeing up my brain for other tasks! So talk to your DM. Have them read some of the articles.  Have them re-read the DMG.  Have them physically explore the layout of the books, and see that the "rules" are now in the hands of the group as a whole, and not the DM.  The entire group plays on a level playing field, and the DM simply guides the flow of the storyline. It isn't about "blue bolts from heaven" anymore, or "forcing alignment shifts", or any of that sort of thing. If your DM simply refuses to be convinced, then run a game for him -- all the time showing him in the new DMG, or in Dragon articles, where your attitude and ideas are coming from.  Show him that losing a little bit of "control" is good for the game, and that things can be fun for everybody at the table. And if they're still unconvinced, then it is time to find a new game.</blockquote>

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