Shades of Green
Explorer
A few more notes on pre-3E D&D:
Impartial (or adversarial) DM. In most cases the DM wasn't adversarial at all (though some groups had such attitudes back then), but was supposed to provide tough - if fair - challenges for both PCs and players. PCs weren't supposed to be saved or given a break because they were a story's heroes - if they did stupid things or failed to run from over-difficult combat, most DMs had no qualms about them dying. Back then, character death (irrecoverable at early levels) in fair battles/challenges or due to player's mistakes was considered as a fair part of the game.
Challenge was as important (if not more) than story or setting/adventure concept. Some traps, puzzles and monsters were there not because the overall plot (or general concept of the setting or adventure) mandated their existence, but simply to challenge both the PCs and their players. Sometimes that meant that a monster/trap/puzzle was somewhat out-of-place or even totally unrelated to the adventure's overall concept. In many cases this had no in-game explanation at all.
No "task system". There was no unifying game mechanic, but a plethora of mechanics for different things, sometimes even different parts of the system using contradictory mechanics. One of 3E's best additions to D&D was the unified d20 "task system" covering everything from attribute checks and skill rolls to saving-throws and to-hit rolls. That also included positive AC being better (THAC0 was a difficult concept for newbies to grasp in older editions) and the elimination of many unnecessarily complex tables.
Rarer high-level magic items. Making major magic items (and even simple ones such as scrolls and potions) was an expensive and difficult ordeal, and in almost all cases anything beyond the simplest potions/scrolls was unavailable for commercial purchase. You were supposed to find most magic items while adventuring - not make large amounts of them or buy them with money.
Cool campaign worlds, not always with a single overall concept. Some worlds were a mish-mash of areas representing various myths or pop-culture ideas without an over-arching concept, simply because the author (or DM of a homebrew) wanted to cram all these cool things into one setting. The same goes to many adventures.
Impartial (or adversarial) DM. In most cases the DM wasn't adversarial at all (though some groups had such attitudes back then), but was supposed to provide tough - if fair - challenges for both PCs and players. PCs weren't supposed to be saved or given a break because they were a story's heroes - if they did stupid things or failed to run from over-difficult combat, most DMs had no qualms about them dying. Back then, character death (irrecoverable at early levels) in fair battles/challenges or due to player's mistakes was considered as a fair part of the game.
Challenge was as important (if not more) than story or setting/adventure concept. Some traps, puzzles and monsters were there not because the overall plot (or general concept of the setting or adventure) mandated their existence, but simply to challenge both the PCs and their players. Sometimes that meant that a monster/trap/puzzle was somewhat out-of-place or even totally unrelated to the adventure's overall concept. In many cases this had no in-game explanation at all.
No "task system". There was no unifying game mechanic, but a plethora of mechanics for different things, sometimes even different parts of the system using contradictory mechanics. One of 3E's best additions to D&D was the unified d20 "task system" covering everything from attribute checks and skill rolls to saving-throws and to-hit rolls. That also included positive AC being better (THAC0 was a difficult concept for newbies to grasp in older editions) and the elimination of many unnecessarily complex tables.
Rarer high-level magic items. Making major magic items (and even simple ones such as scrolls and potions) was an expensive and difficult ordeal, and in almost all cases anything beyond the simplest potions/scrolls was unavailable for commercial purchase. You were supposed to find most magic items while adventuring - not make large amounts of them or buy them with money.
Cool campaign worlds, not always with a single overall concept. Some worlds were a mish-mash of areas representing various myths or pop-culture ideas without an over-arching concept, simply because the author (or DM of a homebrew) wanted to cram all these cool things into one setting. The same goes to many adventures.
