D&D 5E Going from 1st to 5th Edition

[WayOfTheFourElements]

Most 5e DMs I see just run by the book word for word with little to no improvisation, and get all worked up if you stray from the one allowed path.

Which is what I found so surprising.

 

[DND_Reborn]

@Blue Orange , Welcome to "EASY" mode for D&D. Enjoy.

 

[Retreater]

My shock was going from 2e to 3rd. I couldn't even recognize the game anymore. My initial thought was to throw out the system and stay with 2e. It took years (literally) to wrap my head around the d20 system 3.x/PF, and it's still not perfect.
The shock was skill checks, movement, attacks of opportunity, measuring areas of effect, and just how game-y it all felt.

 

[Sacrosanct]

But people I knew didn't use them. Instead, we laughed at them. We saw them as something to ridicule, not to utilize.

That seems like a very odd and severe reaction to ridicule a pre made campaign setting.
No one says we had to use them, and many of us didn't, but we just ignored them. No one I knew felt the need to ridicule FR when it came out. Or Dark sun. Or whatever else.

Ridiculing something just because you don't like it seems rather...immature.

 

[DnD Warlord]

Most 5e DMs I see just run by the book word for word with little to no improvisation, and get all worked up if you stray from the one allowed path.

I have to say that has not been my experience at all... may I ask how many DMs you have seen do this???

 

[WayOfTheFourElements]

That seems like a very odd and severe reaction to ridicule a pre made campaign setting.
No one says we had to use them, and many of us didn't, but we just ignored them. No one I knew felt the need to ridicule FR when it came out. Or Dark sun. Or whatever else.

Ridiculing something just because you don't like it seems rather...immature.

I apologize. We ridiculed those who used them. Dark Sun and many of the adventures (UK1, for example) are masterpieces. But the idea of using someone else's setting and adventure felt more like plagiarism than art to us.

As for being immature. Yes. Kids do that.

Nowadays, I use bits a pieces of existing settings and adventures as inspiration for my own world.

 

[Bacon Bits]

I apologize. We ridiculed those who used them. Dark Sun and many of the adventures (UK1, for example) are masterpieces. But the idea of using someone else's setting and adventure felt more like plagiarism than art to us.

So it was okay to use the content in the Player's Handbook, Monster Manual, and Dungeon Master's Guide, but not the adventure modules?

I guess I don't understand why one is plagiarism and the other isn't.

 

[Oofta]

The default assumptions of 5E are that it is easier to survive. There's less "oops you're dead".

On the other hand, it's not that hard to kill PCs left and right if it's what the group wants. With my current group I find myself having to back off on a regular basis so I don't get a TPK. My previous group (we moved) that I DMed for was much more effective but even then there were times when it was touch and go.

But yes, there's less "fail a save and you suck" or the DM unintentionally killing everyone. The game lost the DM vs PC vibe that I always felt in older versions. I think that's a good thing.

 

[WayOfTheFourElements]

So it was okay to use the content in the Player's Handbook, Monster Manual, and Dungeon Master's Guide, but not the adventure modules?

I guess I don't understand why one is plagiarism and the other isn't.

I am not advocating that my teenage self was right.

Today, my opinion has softened. I am simply confused why someone would want to run a pre-made world or adventure. I'm sure there are reasons. They simply don't make sense to me.

 

[Charlaquin]

I am not advocating that my teenage self was right.

Today, my opinion has soften. I am simply confused why someone would want to run a pre-made world or adventure. I'm sure there are reasons. They simply don't make sense to me.

I mean... The desire to have a richly detailed and storied world to play in, and the lack of time, inclination, and/or writing ability to do it all one’s self.