GAHH!! Time to take a break from 3.5

[Meloncov]

I agree that D&D is basically fantasy supes (which personally doesn't bother me, but I understand why it's not for everyone) but I don't think it's hard to create threatening combats either within the existing rules (by threatening the source of healing/ressurection or by threatening something outside of the PCs) or through a few relatively minor house rules. For example, I personally made raise dead a ninth level spell and removed all other was raising the dead. As such, if the body is damaged too much or you don't have a high level cleric handy, your gone. It keeps the permanent death rate low enough that players have time to develop charecters, but keeps them afraid.

 

[TGryph]

Couldn't agree more..that's why I GM Gurps now.

Grim & Gritty is the way to go!

TGryph

 

[Spatula]

Well, I don't get it. Nothing you mention in your rant is specific to 3.5, they're all D&D-isms. Heck, 3.5 made raising the dead massively more expensive than it ever was previously.

 

[Aus_Snow]

I hear ya. And I agree with just about all of it. And more.

But yeah, Rolemaster can be hella fun.

Personally, I've gone down the "house-ruling d20 forever" (i.e., it's taken forever ) type road. Most of the time, anyway. Except when I also take a break, like in some of the regular and semi-regular non-d20 campaigns I'm involved in, in whatever way.

Best of luck, and much gaming goodness, on your rediscovered journey. I hope you and your players have the most fun ever.

 

[Simia Saturnalia]

In the interests of positivity I'll not discuss your perceptions of 3.5 save to say Rule 0 is part of the RAW too and the game does in fact require a little GM discretion to run if you don't like it gonzo. Not that it matters, since it seems you've got your own speed down:

I'm going to dig out the Rolemaster 2 books again and blow off the dust. I'm going to start my PCs again at first level and make then PLAN their battles. Because if they get it wrong - the dice will lop of limbs - kill characters and wreak havoc upon them.

I'm going to Flip to the Ram/ Butt/ Bash/ Knock Down/ Slug Attack Table and grin like a Rat Bastard GM.

I'm going to Lightning Bolt these bastards and HURT EM. With an "E" electricity and a "C" fire.

I'm going to look at them like they have snakes growing out of their heads when they "detect magic". I'm going to see them get EXCITED when they find a superior steel broadsword and act like the GODS have interfered when they find a weak magic blade.

I'm going to make them look at their food supply and worry about eating having to eat their horses.

I'm going to watch them apply a poultice of herbs to heal a wound, not search through the latest Heward's Handy Haversack for a Cure Light Wounds wand.

I'm going to watch my players look NERVOUS when they get in combat and the percentile dice start dropping in the open. I'm not going to fudge behind a screen. I'm going to run Rolemaster combat in the bloody open and let the dice fall where they may. I am going to kill some party members - and they aren't coming back.

There are going to be challenges - and there are going to be friggin' CONSEQUENCES again.

It's going to be Grim - and it's going to be Gritty. It's going to be Westeros just before the fall of Valyria.

And screw this "Man, Myth and Uber-Magic" stuff. Nah. There is going to be PP and I: Poverty, Pestilience and Inequality. With not a wizard in sight in living memory.

This 4 color superhero stuff might be fun to play - but by God - is it ever tedious as hell to run.

How do your players feel about the switch, anyway? Strikes me as odd no-one's asked.

 

[Shazman]

Take a look at the E6 thread in the house rules forum. It has all the answers you need to run 3.5 and have fun with it.

 

[bento]

How do your players feel about the switch, anyway? Strikes me as odd no-one's asked.

That was the first question I had!

Steel Wind, you may feel this way, but your players may like "super-hero" play, at least for a little while. It's not a phase of the game that lasts forever, but it might feed something the players don't get in lower-level adventures.

I find it interesting your comments about the AoWSP. I didn't pick it up, but I subscribed to Dungeon during Savage Tide SP, and found it something I'd like to play up through the 15th level adventure, "Serpents of Shuttlecove." After that it goes off the rails for me with the Abyssal adventuers. As you say, it just looks too much like a comic book. Granted I've never played (or GMed) an adventure at that high a level, but characters are moving around and interacting with god-like characters (Charon, demonlords) isn't D&D to me.

Good luck with going back to your old game rules. I think you'll have a lot of fun!

 

[Aus_Snow]

Take a look at the E6 thread in the house rules forum. It has all the answers you need to run 3.5 and have fun with it.

Blech.

Suffice to say, I don't like the idea of E6. Or the implementation. In all honesty, I wasn't sure it was a serious thing, when I first heard about it. OK, it is. Cool, but still. I can't really view it that way. :\

I'm glad it works out for those who derive enjoyment and/or satisfaction from it, but hm. It's just not something I would ever consider using, let alone recommend to anyone else. Not when there are. . . some far better options out there, let's just say. IMNSHO, and all that.

 

[PapersAndPaychecks]

RM2's a fantastic game. I still love it.

 

[JoeGKushner]

A Game of Thrones
Grim Tales
Black Company
Thieves World

All of those pretty much have variants in them that take away a lot of the 'super heroism' of D&D.