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Message: <blockquote data-quote="DragonLancer" data-source="post: 9382866" data-attributes="member: 11868">Every group has always played RPGs differently to the majority of other groups out there. However, I would say that compared to how it used to be in the 80's and 90's, these are the differences that I've seen now.1. Session Zero. We never used to do this. Everyone turned up on the night, rolled their characters and got on with it, regardless of what the campaign or adventure might have been about. People rolled up what they wanted to play and that was largely it. It's only since the Daggerheart play test earlier this year that my group have decided that actually, having a session zero was a great idea and want to do this in future.2. Telling The Story.Everyone's experiences will be different, but my experiences have always been that the group rolled up and played whatever campaign the DM had written/purchased/prepared. Not in a railroad sense but very much it was about telling the story that was presented. These days it seems that the players dictate what they do regardless, although I'd like to assume that coupled with a session zero the players know something of what's coming and will still play it while doing their own thing.3. Player Agency.These days it seems that the players dominate the control/flow of the game rather than the Dungeon Master. This ranges from players wanting/expecting to play the race/class...etc they want even if it doesn't fit the game world or the campaign that the GM is presenting, to guiding the game in the direction they want rather than telling the story (see #2 above). These are extreme examples that I have seen to be fair and most groups balance this out nicely. Player Agency just wasn't such a dominant aspect back in the old days.4. Emphasis On Role-Playing.Role-Playing has always been a part of the game and it's a fun aspect. However, RP often meant that you were just playing a role.... Ragnar the Barbarian or Pardu the Holy Man. These days it feels like players want more RP in sessions over the classic exploring, dungeon crawling and fighting monsters. That's a solid difference in Old and New School in my opinion. Couple with that... I've noticed players of the current generation often take their role-playing to amateur dramatics levels. I think the older I've got, the more I prefer we just play the game and don't put on the silly accents. Of all these, I'd say that Player Agency has been the biggest difference in games played now compared to the 80's and 90s, especially where D&D is concerned. However I think that White Wolf's World of Darkness games and a few others really started that trend and the emphasis on role-playing from the 90s.</blockquote>

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