Have I Been Bitten by a Were-Grognard?

[Weregrognard]

Unnecessary Disclaimer: Don’t make this an edition war. Also, don’t take anything I write about herein personally. Thanks!

I consider myself a pretty modern, up-to-date D&D gamer. I’ve played and DMd from D&D Basic to the current edition (running 4E now), and I love them all! Still some weird things have been happening to me lately:

- I’m reading, enjoying, and learning a lot from OSR blogs/sites.

- I’ve been hanging out on Dragonsfoot.org

- I’m interested in trying Castles & Crusades, and some retro clones.
Heck! Throw Pathfinder into the mix too! (re-started my AP subscription inactive since 08)

- I’ve been pouring over all my OD&D, 1E, and 2E stuff, and it feels good.

- I’ve been pouring over my collection of Savage Sword of Conan graphic novels.

- I’ve been gaining weight and growing a beard (ok, this one is false)

Am I becoming a were-grognard? Anyone else experiencing anything similar?

Possible explanation: I realized this year marks my 20th anniversary with this awesome hobby.

 

[Hussar]

Hey, there is absolutely nothing wrong with a lot of the OSR sites. They have some fantastic ideas in there and great stuff for mining even if I don't play. And, let's be honest here, SSOC rocks on toast.

 

[innerdude]

I don't know about were-grognardia as a disease.

I mean, like most forms of lycanthropy, don't you have to catch it by being bitten? Dude, getting bitten by a grognard must SUCK. I mean, the beard, the smell of grog, the endless litany of how much better things were in the "old days" . . . .

In all seriousness, it's not strange at all. I think as we age as gamers, we start to bring a level of sophistication to our tastes in gaming we didn't have before. Combine that with ever-decreasing amounts of time to actually PLAY our hobby of choice, and it's only natural to explore ways to maximize the fun and enjoyment of every minute we have to play.

If that means going back to simpler, more "freewheeling" styles of play inherent in older editions of D&D (or other systems entirely), that's okay.

Myself personally, I just wrapped up GM-ing a 4.5 month Pathfinder mini-campaign.......and to be honest, I could see myself easily not going back to ANY iteration of D&D for at least a couple of years, if not longer. For one, the next 2 GMs for our group are pretty committed to GURPS as a system (which I'm fine with playing, mostly, though I'd never, ever want to GM it).

But even more than that, I've got an entire shelf of games currently piquing my interest far more than D&D/Pathfinder:

1. Picked up a used copy of Mongoose Runequest Deluxe in hardcover for $12.
2. Also bought a used copy of Ars Magica 3rd edition for the same price.
3. Just bought Legends of Anglerre to try out a FATE-based system.
4. I'm DYING to try my brand spanking new copy of The One Ring, and will likely buy the 2 scheduled expansions for it.
5. I've only gotten a small taste of Savage Worlds, and would love to go farther with it.
6. And just lately, I've had a real hankering to do some more Star Wars gaming as well (either WEG d6 or Saga Edition).

To say nothing of other games that are on my radar, but probably won't get much attention in the near-term: Warhammer FRP, Dragon Age, Fantasy Craft, Dungeon Crawl Classics RPG, Traveller........

And it's not as if there aren't a fistful of free retroclones out there too, if I felt so inclined to try out OSRIC, Labyrinth Lord, or Dark Dungeons.

Bottom line: yeah, it's totally not just you.

 

[scruffygrognard]

Having played, and loved, 3.X for the first 5 years or so I started to tire of the system and its reliance on "rules for every situation." Over the last 6 years that we played 3.5 I grew to loathe it and started pitching other rules-lite systems to my group (Castles and Crusades, Traveller, Savage Worlds, etc).
At the same time I started stocking up on retroclones, classic RPGs (Gamma World, Flashing Blades, Villains & Vigilantes, etc) and classic D&D/AD&D materials.
I'm now running a C&C-based game set in classic Greyhawk and the players seem to be enjoying the freedom that a less rules-intensive game allows for. Now various characters in the group try, for example, to bluff or persuade others (whereas only those with high ranks in those skills would even attempt that in the past) and all characters are thinking more "outside of the box" when it comes to figuring out how to solve problems (rather than resorting to skill checks to do so).

 

[Bastard Child]

Depends, are you incapable of enjoying anything you're not emotionally invested in? I find a lot people who are labeled grognards refuse to accept the strengths of other games and grudgingly cling to the games they're invested in while coming up with new and bizarre reasons why everything else sucks.

I don't think you can be a grognard just because you like old stuff. It's much more like a Scrooge mentality about gaming.

 

[the Jester]

Hmm.

Have you grown a massive amount of disdain for new-skool elements (whatever those are)? Not that all grognards feel that; but in my experience, it comes with lycanthrogrognardopy.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I've gone through a similar pattern. Partly, I think, it's because my 3E Midwood campaign is approaching the levels where the amount of prep time has moved into the "this is way too much mechanical set-up for the pay-off" (everyone's level for that varies, obviously) and partly because the stuff I enjoy about D&D is molded in part by the fact that I played AD&D for most of my late elementary/middle school/early high school career, and 3E and 4E don't resemble that much.

Castles & Crusades (with adaptations from Tome of Horrors I and the forthcoming Classic Monsters book) is going to be how I run the second Midwood campaign next year. (At long last, we're two adventures from wrapping it up, defending both Freeport and Maidensbridge in simultaneous climaxes for each branch of the campaign).

 

[Weregrognard]

No Scrooge-like disdain here...more like a wistful "looking back", and learning new things about this hobby's rich history. For example: I had no idea about the awesomeness of the old Judges' Guild stuff.

Then again, just like lycanthropy changes alignment, I might suddenly find myself inexplicably disliking newer stuff

Sort of on topic: I just got a rare gem - The Willow Sourcebook. Sadly, it seems to have sold out on Paizo's store, so I'm glad I jumped on it. It's basically an official movie sourcebook w/ "gaming stats" that are familiar to anybody who's played D&D. At level 20, Madmartigan really IS the "greatest swordsman that ever lived"

 

[Gentlegamer]

You leveled up and gained a point of Wisdom.

 

[the Jester]

No Scrooge-like disdain here...more like a wistful "looking back", and learning new things about this hobby's rich history.

While that may be a case of grognardia, it does not match the known symptoms of lycanthrogrognardopy.