Reply to thread

Message

<blockquote data-quote="Philotomy Jurament" data-source="post: 4409426" data-attributes="member: 20854">Reynard, a lot of your post resonated with me.&nbsp; I went down a very similar path.&nbsp; I liked what I saw in 3E, played it, and wrestled with it, always aiming for that &quot;old school&quot; experience.&nbsp; Eventually I realized that it gave me everything I always wanted in D&amp;D...but it wasn't what I wanted.&nbsp; I knew I was dissatisfied, but still didn't know exactly what I wanted.&nbsp; I experimented with some other systems: Savage Worlds, Lejendary Adventure, True20, Castles &amp; Crusades...Whoa!&nbsp; C&amp;C tickled my &quot;D&amp;D spot&quot; like nothing had in a long while.&nbsp; I became a C&amp;C enthusiast, dug out all my old B/X and AD&amp;D books to use with it, and started having a great time.Then something weird happened.&nbsp; The more I played C&amp;C, the more I ran across little things that didn't work like I wanted.&nbsp; I started house-ruling, and I noticed that my house rules were making C&amp;C more and more like the old editions.&nbsp; Eventually I realized that what I wanted *was* the old editions.&nbsp;&nbsp; When I returned to &quot;old school&quot; gaming and the old editions, I returned with a very different perspective than when I left them.&nbsp; I had learned a little about system design (those &quot;behind the curtain&quot; sidebars and such), and I started applying &quot;why is this designed this way&quot; to the old editions.&nbsp; With my new perspective, I found that many things that seemed weird to me, before, or that I'd considered wholly arbitrary or broken, now made sense.&nbsp; My &quot;philosophy&quot; of gaming had shifted, and I had a better handle on what worked and was fun, for me, and what didn't.&nbsp; In short, I realized that I like old school gaming, and that the rules mattered and contributed to that approach, in ways I hadn't realized, before.I revisited all the old editions.&nbsp; I originally thought I'd end up playing 1E, which was *the* edition of my youth.&nbsp; (I started in 77 or 78 with Holmes Basic, but pretty much immediately dove into AD&amp;D.)&nbsp; However, as it turns out, the edition that I ended up with is the one that I'd never played, back in the day: original (white box).&nbsp; It was traditional D&amp;D, obviously. Its approach and assumptions were congruent with my own. It lacked the buildup and additions of the later rules. It was also something like a toolkit, allowing me to house-rule and make the game my own, bringing all my years of experience to the table. (I'm not saying that you can't do that with other systems, but certain games seem to facilitate that approach more than others.) It let me easily use all my old TSR D&amp;D material. I started with the original three brown books, and built my own, personal old school D&amp;D from there. I've been having more fun with OD&amp;D than I've ever had with any edition, to date. I don't think I would've liked it, when I was younger, but I have a different attitude and perspective, these days. Anyway, it's very much &quot;my game,&quot; now, which I don't see changing.You may get some comments about nostalgia or <a href="http://www.philotomy.com/#glasses" target="_blank">rose colored glasses</a> or not being able to &quot;go back.&quot;&nbsp; That's crap.&nbsp; My advice is to follow the fun.&nbsp; If you have fun and like the experience you're having, then it stands on its own.&nbsp; Browse through my OD&amp;D site, too, even if you favor B/X or AD&amp;D or another older edition, some of it is applicable and might be useful to you (see link in sig).&nbsp; Especially check out the <a href="http://www.philotomy.com/#considering" target="_blank">&quot;considering?&quot;</a> musing.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Philotomy Jurament, post: 4409426, member: 20854"] Reynard, a lot of your post resonated with me. I went down a very similar path. I liked what I saw in 3E, played it, and wrestled with it, always aiming for that "old school" experience. Eventually I realized that it gave me everything I always wanted in D&D...but it wasn't what I wanted. I knew I was dissatisfied, but still didn't know exactly what I wanted. I experimented with some other systems: Savage Worlds, Lejendary Adventure, True20, Castles & Crusades...Whoa! C&C tickled my "D&D spot" like nothing had in a long while. I became a C&C enthusiast, dug out all my old B/X and AD&D books to use with it, and started having a great time. Then something weird happened. The more I played C&C, the more I ran across little things that didn't work like I wanted. I started house-ruling, and I noticed that my house rules were making C&C more and more like the old editions. Eventually I realized that what I wanted *was* the old editions. When I returned to "old school" gaming and the old editions, I returned with a very different perspective than when I left them. I had learned a little about system design (those "behind the curtain" sidebars and such), and I started applying "why is this designed this way" to the old editions. With my new perspective, I found that many things that seemed weird to me, before, or that I'd considered wholly arbitrary or broken, now made sense. My "philosophy" of gaming had shifted, and I had a better handle on what worked and was fun, for me, and what didn't. In short, I realized that I like old school gaming, and that the rules mattered and contributed to that approach, in ways I hadn't realized, before. I revisited all the old editions. I originally thought I'd end up playing 1E, which was *the* edition of my youth. (I started in 77 or 78 with Holmes Basic, but pretty much immediately dove into AD&D.) However, as it turns out, the edition that I ended up with is the one that I'd never played, back in the day: original (white box). It was traditional D&D, obviously. Its approach and assumptions were congruent with my own. It lacked the buildup and additions of the later rules. It was also something like a toolkit, allowing me to house-rule and make the game my own, bringing all my years of experience to the table. (I'm not saying that you can't do that with other systems, but certain games seem to facilitate that approach more than others.) It let me easily use all my old TSR D&D material. I started with the original three brown books, and built my own, personal old school D&D from there. I've been having more fun with OD&D than I've ever had with any edition, to date. I don't think I would've liked it, when I was younger, but I have a different attitude and perspective, these days. Anyway, it's very much "my game," now, which I don't see changing. You may get some comments about nostalgia or [url=http://www.philotomy.com/#glasses]rose colored glasses[/url] or not being able to "go back." That's crap. My advice is to follow the fun. If you have fun and like the experience you're having, then it stands on its own. Browse through my OD&D site, too, even if you favor B/X or AD&D or another older edition, some of it is applicable and might be useful to you (see link in sig). Especially check out the [url=http://www.philotomy.com/#considering]"considering?"[/url] musing. [/QUOTE]

Verification