D&D 5E How Old-School is 5th Edition? Can it even do Old-School?

[darjr]

$600G and 5 thousand backers.

 

[Malmuria]

$600G and 5 thousand backers.
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Wow...just check now, the Advanced Fantasy kickstarter ended at $291,549 and 3,693 backers

 

[darjr]

And there is probably a good number of those folks staying out of this one. Which is wild to think.

 

[bloodtide]

The Rules of the game don't really matter at all. It's the oldschool methods and techniques. Really few people ever played a "pure" 0E or 1E D&D, if that was even possible. Nearly EVERY Old School D&D game was unique, as nearly every book said something like "make up your own stuff and make the game your own."

I find the big things:

*The modern mind set player is just so used to the Safe Space Game (that is the game will be a fun easy romp ). So when the character is deep underground and finds a room with a floating skull crackling with dark energy, the player will just stumble around the table and say "whatever DM, my character touches the skull." Then when the room seals and starts to fill with dark water.....the player just freaks out.

And

*Play by-the-book: That modern mind set player, with a character trapped in a deep room filling with water.....will look on their character sheet for some spam that says something like Daily Power: Watery Escape. When they don't find something like that, they just get mad or crazy or just give up....or worse. The player can't grasp the concept of trying "anything" to escape. If they don't have an offical printed power, they are lost.

 

[R_J_K75]

*Play by-the-book: That modern mind set player, with a character trapped in a deep room filling with water.....will look on their character sheet for some spam that says something like Daily Power: Watery Escape. When they don't find something like that, they just get mad or crazy or just give up....or worse. The player can't grasp the concept of trying "anything" to escape. If they don't have an offical printed power, they are lost.

I have a player like this at times who just gives up. Recently during a roleplaying/exploration situation they said "I don't know whats going on, theres nothing I can do". This really annoyed me because I asked what the problem was they didnt have an answer. I almost feel when I DM that younger/newer players want the answer given to them so I think there is something to be said about old school methods.

 

[overgeeked]

I have a player like this at times who just gives up. Recently during a roleplaying/exploration situation they said "I don't know whats going on, theres nothing I can do". This really annoyed me because I asked what the problem was they didnt have an answer. I almost feel when I DM that younger/newer players want the answer given to them so I think there is something to be said about old school methods.

It’s like the part of the epiphany was lost along the way. When most people learn about RPGs they have a moment when they realize they can try anything and manipulate the environment as if their character were a real person living in that world. Now people coming to RPGs mostly seem to think the breakable stuff should be different colors or the quest giver should have a question mark over their head or the map should have an arrow pointing the way. They don’t interact with the world, they interface with the rules.

 

[overgeeked]

The Rules of the game don't really matter at all. It's the oldschool methods and techniques.

Up to a point, yes. The rules can have a dramatic effect on play. See the difference between how D&D 4E and DCC play as an example.

 

[R_J_K75]

They don’t interact with the world, they interface with the rules.

Good way of putting it.

 

[R_J_K75]

The rules can have a dramatic effect on play. See the difference between how D&D 4E and DCC play as an example.

When talking about D&D I think this is a direct result of 3.x quantifying a rule for most situations. Even though the rules for 5E dont reflect this the mentality still remains.

 

[teitan]

The only issues I have with modern players are two fold:

1. Skyrimming: just plowing to the next quest. That each NPC is just a quest giver providing an assignment and then run off to that assignment rather than any actual interaction or trying to get more detail. Oh you need me to find the Sword of Nine Foxes in the Temple of Thulsa Doom? Ok, off we go, when there is actually a lot more and it's fine except it's every interaction with an NPC be it published module, homebrew etc. It's very video gamey.

2. Like others said, not thinking outside the box to solve the issues, every encounter is a fight to the last and every encounter must be perfectly balanced. How DARE you throw the PCs into an encounter at 3rd level with a Night Hag, CR 11 because she would kill them! Not every encounter is a combat encounter and if you treat every monster encounter as a combat encounter... maybe you deserve to die? Just saying. And before anyone comes in with a "but but but" kinda comment about that kind of encounter... never had a complaint and never underestimate your players. QUit looking at monsters as bags of HP to be whittled down to get XP and as challenging encounters of all types to experience, including roleplaying encounters, as XP. And IF you are doing milestone... why are you even worrying about it? Just play and calibrate.