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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Aurumvorax" data-source="post: 5331691" data-attributes="member: 87266">I'm growing tired of this back and forth circle pattern.  My argument derives entirely from my belief that an RPG's style is influenced by its rules (or lack thereof).  You don't need rules to role play but if this were an adequate argument the role playing business would've died before it started.  Rules aren't tantamount to the game but to me, they're paramount.  They keep the game on track, they ensure players or referee don't take advantage of each other, and they ensure everything works consistently within itself.Everyone can have fun roleplaying whatever they want but you picked up D&D because you want to explore dungeons and kill dragons.  When the roleplaying ends and it's time to do the latter, the rules determine how that's accomplished and how efficiently.  The style is more than just role playing assumptions like whether your hero is actually a half-demon minotaur; the style is also partially influenced by the gameplay like whether your minotaur's eyes are seared out the sockets by a priest or his eyes are burned, suffer 2d6+6 damage and you're blinded (save ends).Since the topic's "1st edition feel" differs for everyone, this is my personal list that I expect from an AD&D game and return to play whenever I can.1- <a href="http://i49.tinypic.com/es3p1k.jpg" target="_blank">This picture.</a>  Just... just that picture.2- Races are limited by classes and level.  The reason being is that humans dominate the world, the races get good abilities anyways and it keeps players from picking whatever race is most beneficial for the class they want.  You should play a race because it would be fun to role play a creature alien in the world of humans, not because it gives you a +2 intelligence and magic resistance.  The Players Option books made me hate D&D races because they all turned into humans in Halloween costumes and funny accents.3- Encounters leave permanent scars.  I should walk away from a vampire with a little bit less of my soul than I began with.  Demanding answers from an extraplanar creature should leave me skirting closer to the edge of madness.  4- Magic should be weighed on a risk vs. reward measure.  I summon a fire elemental because it gives me an edge in battle but I have to deal with the beast turning on me if my mind can't temper its rage.  I could try to save time by teleporting to the Ancient Domain of Mystery but who knows where I could end up instead.  Raising the dead should leave them feeling slightly incomplete.The party wizard should be just as dangerous to the monsters as he is the party.  He flirts with arcane forces perverted and unknown.  The payoff is someone can kill an entire town with a poisoned cloud or can bind demons to his service.  The ends justify the accidental lightning bolt that rebounded and struck the warrior in the face.5- Magic should also be powerful.  I earned 7th level, dammit, now let me turn my arch-nemesis into a kitten so I can keep him around the house!6- Mundane equipment should be anyone's saving grace.  The 10' pole should be a thief-less party's greatest ally, more so than the cleric.  Flaming oil should be more powerful than any spell you get until the 5th level and even then it continues being useful as a last minute damage dealer.  My grappling hook can help me climb and it creates a makeshift trip wire at the last minute.  My clunky wooden shield can protect from attacks and be used as a flotation device.   7- No skills or very, very few ones.  Adventurers are proficient in 2 things; killing and looting.  If there is a skill system, by the time they reach level 20 they should be masters of maybe 4-5 or novices in 9-10.  There's no time inbetween looking for the next thing to kill/loot to learn how to become a master blacksmith, diplomat, master debater, orator, boatswains mate, fletcher, wainwright, taste tester, park ranger, flutist, flautist, florist, and anthropologist.  If you can't do something, find someone else to help you out.  This could be an entire adventure in itself as you have to find your contact ("The old hedge wizard Azamramathastishire?  Yeah, he lives at the top of Mt. Fire Giant McTrolltown"), you have to safely escort your client ("My morale is only 5 so I warn you not to stray too far for an ant could scare me!"), or you have to find your client whatever item he needs ("Bring me the tail feather of a female cockatrice in heat during the full moon of the seventh month at the ninth hour.  Shoo, shoo!").  8- Continuing off from 7, even if you keep skills I don't want any mechanics that govern role play.  If I bluff someone, it's because I did it in character.  Cut out search completely.  I find a trap because I say "My character carefully slides his hands down the wall" followed by the DM saying "There are several indentions small enough for a dart to fire from... unfortunately you're no thief and your clumsiness caused one to prick you."  I find the false bottom of the chest because I say "I knock on the chest" followed by the DM saying "You hear a hollow sound.  There's a false bottom filled with loot!"9- Want to know what that magic item does?  Either poison yourself with identify to find out, find a sage/bard, or point it at your friend and say "Simsalabim bamba saladu saladim!"  10- Give me back my entourage.  I want my shoeshine boy, pooper scooper, banner holder, bugler, watch dogs, trained owlbear, hipogriff, and 10d6 level 0 footsoldiers who will soften up the hill giants while I sneak around back to snatch their loot!Those 10 things are, to me, the "first edition feel."  Without all 10 of them, I don't feel like I'm playing first edition.  That's my opinion.</blockquote>

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