DND stole my ability to adapt :)

[Voneth]

For a change of pace, I was planning on running a non d20 game this weekend, perhaps the first one I have done in more than a year.

I picked my particular non-d20 game because it's simplicity allowed me to create whole npc and monster on the fly whole cloth. Something I haven't been able to do in DND yet, since I haven't memorized all the spells, CRs and etc.

And yet, when I was looking through this book that is smaller than the PHB, I was lost. The special powers section, one had to read the entire power description to discover a "casting time" and duration. Nothing was summarized at the top. And then it struck me.

Before I went back to DND for 3rd ed., such things didn't bother me before. I could make monsters and rule decisions on the fly and no one questioned my rulings, most of all myself. Now suddenly, I had felt I had to have things spelled out or I was doubting myself. I suddenly understood why it had been so hard for years to get anyone to play anything other than DND.

This not to disparenge DND and the players who need this sort of detail, nor it is to applaud those who can improv a whole game.

But I've sort of come full circle and understand the other side of the equation and I have gained an insight. So what now?

I suppose this is a plea to two sides of the gaming public.

One plea is to those may look at something new and dislike it because it's just plain unfamilar. I ask you to try, I've learned quite a few tricks that I have carried back into DND. I had "action points" in my games long before D20 Modern, d20 Starwars and Spycraft. I am still waiting on "Dramatic Editing" to come along.

The other plea is the side that completely avoids structure. Take a moment to be a little more prepared and it never hurts to double check facts once in a while. Perhaps it wouldn't hurt to take that prep time to write down organized cheat sheets for powers or monsters so that people can feel more confident they are making decision based on solid fact.

 

[Zappo]

It's not that you've lost your ability to adapt... it's just that D&D 3e has set yourself to a higher standard of quality, and now you find unacceptable flaws that you would have tolerated years ago. I now expect publishers of non-d20 games to start learning how to make a book that is clear and easy to use.

 

[Numion]

No way!

WE ARE d20. YOU WILL BE ASSIMILATED!

 

[EOL]

I agree with Voneth to an extent. I've been playing 3E every week since it came out, and we still have to consult the books at least once or twice a session. Which slows play a little bit, breaks up the flow and sometimes feels confining to me as a DM, as if I don't have quite as much flexibility in how I decide things.

 

[Voneth]

"it's just that D&D 3e has set yourself to a higher standard of quality"

Funny enough all this level of detail was in 2nd ed. But the recycled art and unimaginative settings that turned me away.

While having a lot of detail is nice, and I don't begrudge it, but it can also become a security blanket. Personly, if I have to decide between making up detail and able to play foot loose, or be chained to details and play it safe. Then I'll be dangerous

The other game I mentioned in an earlier post has good organization and great graphics. Perhaps the main reason it doesn't have a "header" of info is because each power entry is only two or three paragraphs long.

 

[Hypersmurf]

I now expect publishers of non-d20 games to start learning how to make a book that is clear and easy to use.

Heh.

One of the most confusing things for me in the 3E PHB was having all the spells in one alphabetical order. I could find any spell in the 1E PHB in seconds, because I knew what level it was.

But now that I'm used to 3E, the 1E system seems over-complex... if I'm looking for "Raise Dead" and I open the 1e PHB on the "Prismatic Spray" page, I naturally go forward now instead of backward, before remembering how it's laid out...

However... I do find it takes me longer to decide what spells to prepare for a day if I'm not wholly familiar with a new spell level. instead of having all of the relevant spells in a two-page spread, I have to look each one up individually.

So there's merit to both layouts...

-Hyp.

 

[Crothian]

Once you play one game for a year and a half straight, it takes a bit of time to readjust to other games. This isn't a d20 thing. I've seen this happen for almost 20 years. But once you get into that other game and get used to it again, you'll be fine.

 

[mzsylver]

Heh.

One of the most confusing things for me in the 3E PHB was having all the spells in one alphabetical order. I could find any spell in the 1E PHB in seconds, because I knew what level it was.

But now that I'm used to 3E, the 1E system seems over-complex... if I'm looking for "Raise Dead" and I open the 1e PHB on the "Prismatic Spray" page, I naturally go forward now instead of backward, before remembering how it's laid out...

arrrrrrrrrrgh!!! the pain the pain!

i fear looking at 2e PHBs for this reason alone!

 

[Creamsteak]

I played 20 1st edition sessions when I first started, and the people had me DM, then we stepped into 3rd edition in one night. We gradually are adapting concepts, but it definitely seems that the rules are more plentiful, but more simple to me.

I do have the habit of looking at things in a stat-block eye though... a bad habit that happened to be incured when I missed out on reading up on anything other than the bland 3rd edition books and the very simple 1st edition players handbook.