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Message: <blockquote data-quote="airwalkrr" data-source="post: 3786749" data-attributes="member: 12460">Consider the following.Albras, an average 10th-level human fighter in AD&D 1e knows how to use seven weapons and has 55 hit points. Every other round he can make an extra attack. He has a +2 defending two-handed sword, a +1 suit of plate mail, and a cloak that lets him hide in shadows like a thief.Meanwhile, Regdar, an average 10th-level human fighter in D&D 3e can wield well over 50 weapons with great proficiency, has 88 hit points, gains an extra +2 to hit and damage when wielding a greatsword, can take a -10 penalty to gain +20 damage, and is able to attack every opponent in reach with a single attack if he so chooses. He is also capable of improving his AC by 5 by taking a -5 penalty to his attack roll and he is loaded down with 49,000 gp in magic items, among them a +2 sword, +2 armor, a +2 shield, gauntlets of ogre power, an amulet of constitution +2, a ring of protection +2, two potions of haste, four potions of cure serious wounds, a cloak of resistance +3, and horseshoes of speed that he got when no one else wanted them; he doesn't even own a horse. And did I mention he can also move both before and after attacking? Albras couldn't even move and attack in the same round, unless of course he charged.The game has become more fantastical, and as it has done so, it has demanded more fantastical settings. If you take an "average" character in 1e and convert him to an "average" character in 3e, you can quickly see that there is a big disconnect in the style of game being played and the type of characters involved. AD&D 1e characters weren't heroes unless they acted like heroes. A paladin had to bravely step in front of a demon, knowing that he would probably die, in order for it to be cool. The 3e paladin bravely steps in front of a demon, knowing that he will probably kick the demon's ass because he has a +1 evil outsider bane sword, 3 uses of smite evil left today, and a min/maxed charisma modifier to ensure he can save against anything the demon throws at him.If you played AD&D, you know exactly what I am talking about. The new game is a much different style of game. The game mechanics are by their very definition more fantastical, more magical, more awe-inspiring, more heroic, more epic. AD&D wasn't about those things, at least not very often. Such things were certainly possible, but it was a result of actions, not a plethora of nifty abilities chosen by the player to maximize the character's potential. The most important character-building choice you made in AD&D was how to arrange your ability scores. In 3e, you face crucial decisions of the same magnitude at almost every level.I could go on and on, but the point is the style is different. And you can not tell me that playing Greyhawk in 3e feels the same as playing Greyhawk in 1e. Sure, you can have characters named Iuz and Mordenkainen and Zagyg in both settings, but Mordenkainen couldn't cast a spell that gave him a +20 armor bonus in one of them. If you wanted to play a video game about jumping on goombas and koopas, you wouldn't play Ninja Gaiden. You'd play Mario Bros. Sure, you could make a game that uses a Mario sprite in the Ninja Gaiden motif, but it wouldn't be a Mario game. Mario doesn't throw ninja stars and slash bad guys with a katanna. He throws fireballs and stomps on his enemies' heads. The same principle applies to campaign settings. AD&D 1e is a game of adventuring and exploration. D&D 3e is a game of heroic adventuring and epic exploration. Greyhawk (at least pre-FtA) fits much better with 1e than it does with 3e.</blockquote>

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