Expedition to Castle Ravenloft

[Treebore]

It seemed that every big, bad evil guy in old modules was a wizard of some kind, be it a lich, vamp, or just a plain ol' human.

I guess it could have seemed that way, depending on which modules you tended to use. Against the Giants was giants.

I guess if you did Castle D'Ambervile, or Lost Caverns of Tsojanth, Die, Vecna, Die!, Tomb of Horrors, etc... You would get that feel. But I also did Sabre River, The giants series, Gauntlet and Sentinel, Expedition, and enough others that I didn't get that opinion/feel for the time.

 

[Felon]

Probably was more of my DMs' bent than anything.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

ever heard of two way streets?

This still isn't a compelling argument. I'm not even sure what the argument even is, but I vote the word "realism" be stricken from the discussion.

 

[grimslade]

Styles of play

I guess it comes down to immersion in your character.
If your group plays with a certain level of detachment, where the rules and meta-game are part of the fun, you need to have palpable rules based effects to the character. Horror is achieved by both in-game and meta-game purposes, i.e. the old skool level drain. The harsh rules lend the immediacy to the event.

Now a group that is heavily immersed in their characters is going to get its chills by ambiance and storytelling. The actual threat isn't what is horrifying it is how the threat is portrayed. A level one Commoner poses little threat but if he is grilling up the last bits of the town's mayor on the BBQ, he becomes a little spooky. In the movie Se7en, Kevin Spacey isn't a real physical threat, even though he does trash Brad Pitt early on, but he is horrifying by his actions and the great unknown: what he will do next.

 

[Shrindi]

When I think of D&D, Van Helsing doesn't come to mind. I think of Aragorn, Fafrid, Sir Galahad, Conan, all of which ran away from an encounter or two. Helsing is better represented by the superhero genre.

Also, I've rarely had anyone "vote with their feet" in my game. And for what it's worth, I prefer the old level drain mechanic as a player as well as as a dm.

Regardless, I'll agree to disagree, as it seems we have way different ideas on what D&D should be. Otherwise this is just going to lead to hard feelings and bad tempers. At least on my part.

Sheesh.