Aluvial
Explorer
If you have read my thread about excessive table talk in the last week you know my story.
If not, here's a little bit more. I have a big group with 8 players, all in their late 30's to early 40's and have been playing DnD since its conception. They love the game, but balk at change. Here is a little story you may already know from your own experiences.
Basically you should have seen the fuss when I brought home the new 2nd edition Monster Manual (I waited for the hardback instead of the binder idea...). You would have thought that communism had taken hold in the U.S.
The outrage, the audacity! "Switch from 1st edition, are you mad!" But I remained steadfast, they layout was better, I liked the art, and I really liked the new stats, especially for my favorites. So I used it for at least three or four years before I introduced anything else new. I slowly introduced the non-weapon proficiencies. They threatened to quit.
Eventually the change happened though, mainly because all of the new suppliments were in the "NEW" edition. They realized it wasn't the end of the world (at least until the players option was released and the brown class/race books) and there were some pretty cool (DM: overpowerful) things. But the game is give and take, and I gave and they took but eventually we switched.
When 3rd edition was announced they SWORE that they wouldn't buy, but I bought the book and slowly worked in the initiative system. Then came the big change. Without telling them why, I shook the whole damn thing up and adopted the AC system that went up from 10, not down!
I know you all are following along wtih hopefully similar memories.
My 10 year campaign at the time nearly disintegrated. Players threatened to quit again... and a couple actually did for a while why the rest of us "just tried out the rules."
Thing is, it caught on and we now play. The quitters returned after a month or two and adopted the new rules and in this case, a brand new campaign. I think that is what hooked them (and the new multiclass rules). At this point, we've been at it for nearly two years and doing realtively great.
The players are still stinging about the naming conventions though ("Whadda you mean it isn't called Light anymore?!") and still are having trouble adjusting. After all, who can blame them, the game changes, the world changes, and they are still listening to classic rock (I admit, I still like Boston and the Dead.) and have been unable to fully adopt the rules.
All of a sudden (was it a full year now?) here comes the new books and like a good DM I bought them, didn't even bother to wait for the SRD and all of the whining to start up. I just went got the books and of-course, I like what I see. The game is revised, the old errata is cleared up, they fixed grapple (I never got it right the first time) and of course changed their beloved player classes and spells. Some of their feats don't convert well (like TWF and Ambidexterity).
For the most part I like the changes and want to start incorporating them into the game. Hell, the SRD is free and they can print copies of the portions they need at home. They don't even need to buy the book (even though I hope they will; only 1 of the 8 has so far).
Ok, story over. What do I say to these guys to get them to accept the new rules? Any suggestions? Questions?
Aluvial
If not, here's a little bit more. I have a big group with 8 players, all in their late 30's to early 40's and have been playing DnD since its conception. They love the game, but balk at change. Here is a little story you may already know from your own experiences.
Basically you should have seen the fuss when I brought home the new 2nd edition Monster Manual (I waited for the hardback instead of the binder idea...). You would have thought that communism had taken hold in the U.S.
The outrage, the audacity! "Switch from 1st edition, are you mad!" But I remained steadfast, they layout was better, I liked the art, and I really liked the new stats, especially for my favorites. So I used it for at least three or four years before I introduced anything else new. I slowly introduced the non-weapon proficiencies. They threatened to quit.
Eventually the change happened though, mainly because all of the new suppliments were in the "NEW" edition. They realized it wasn't the end of the world (at least until the players option was released and the brown class/race books) and there were some pretty cool (DM: overpowerful) things. But the game is give and take, and I gave and they took but eventually we switched.
When 3rd edition was announced they SWORE that they wouldn't buy, but I bought the book and slowly worked in the initiative system. Then came the big change. Without telling them why, I shook the whole damn thing up and adopted the AC system that went up from 10, not down!
I know you all are following along wtih hopefully similar memories.
My 10 year campaign at the time nearly disintegrated. Players threatened to quit again... and a couple actually did for a while why the rest of us "just tried out the rules."
Thing is, it caught on and we now play. The quitters returned after a month or two and adopted the new rules and in this case, a brand new campaign. I think that is what hooked them (and the new multiclass rules). At this point, we've been at it for nearly two years and doing realtively great.
The players are still stinging about the naming conventions though ("Whadda you mean it isn't called Light anymore?!") and still are having trouble adjusting. After all, who can blame them, the game changes, the world changes, and they are still listening to classic rock (I admit, I still like Boston and the Dead.) and have been unable to fully adopt the rules.
All of a sudden (was it a full year now?) here comes the new books and like a good DM I bought them, didn't even bother to wait for the SRD and all of the whining to start up. I just went got the books and of-course, I like what I see. The game is revised, the old errata is cleared up, they fixed grapple (I never got it right the first time) and of course changed their beloved player classes and spells. Some of their feats don't convert well (like TWF and Ambidexterity).
For the most part I like the changes and want to start incorporating them into the game. Hell, the SRD is free and they can print copies of the portions they need at home. They don't even need to buy the book (even though I hope they will; only 1 of the 8 has so far).
Ok, story over. What do I say to these guys to get them to accept the new rules? Any suggestions? Questions?
Aluvial
