I found my D&D passion again. 1E basic: White Plume Mountain

[kenjib]

I think that part of the feel that is missing is what Gary Gygax referred to as the move away from archetypes in 3e. Extensive multiclassing, vague prestige classes, diminishing of racial incentives to take certain roles, cyberpunk/manga artwork, class abilities that are more power-ups than role defining.

The move from rules light toward rules heavy, and the subsequent emphasis on game balance overriding freeform storytelling, is another factor that you've already pointed out.

It all has it's pros and cons. Perhaps 3e has edged the pendulum just a little too far?

 

[Squirrel Nutkin]

Doc, your post just brought a tear to my beady-little eye. Just last night I was flipping through my OD&D Rules Cyclopedia and thinking how much fun I used to have playing "basic" D&D... and now I'm thinking maybe it's time I started having fun again!

 

[Darrin Drader]

Bravo! Poor ~9~

 

[Crothian]

I found that using the old modules under the new rules really helped bridge the gab and was really fun for everyone.

 

[Psion]

I think that part of the feel that is missing is what Gary Gygax referred to as the move away from archetypes in 3e.

Funny, I thought that it was 3e that made single class characters desirable again, as opposted to impotently compensated multi and dual classing in 1&2e.

cyberpunk/manga artwork

The only artwork I miss from 1e is Jeff Dee. (The one of the vampire sneaking up on the party being a very cool example.) The rest was so much junk. IMO.

The move from rules light toward rules heavy, and the subsequent emphasis on game balance overriding freeform storytelling,

Another assertion I don't understand or agree with. In 1e and 2e, there were specific little rules for everything. In 3e, you actually have a flexible core system that you can apply to a wide variety of situations and wing easily, instead of hem-and-haw when you find that there is no specific niggly rule for it somewhere in the basement of the DMG.

 

[Dr Midnight]

The only artwork I miss from 1e is Jeff Dee. (The one of the vampire sneaking up on the party being a very cool example.) The rest was so much junk. IMO.

Nuh-nuh-NOOOOOOO! Madness! I mean, IMO and all that, but... but... Erol Otus...

...

...EROL m-effin' OTUS, MAN!

 

[Desdichado]

I really don't understand this post. I'm having much more fun in 3e than I ever had in any other version of D&D precisely because I left behind the style of gaming that you are talking about (not that we don't make quite a few silly comments during the game...)

And rules heavy? What are you talking about? The rules are (generally) so simple and intuitive in 3e that you don't even need to know them. Sure, combat and character creation are a little more complex, but for anything else the PCs want to do, you just eyeball the skill list, see what comes closest, assign a DC based on how difficult you think it should be and have 'em roll the d20. Rules for sneezing? C'mon. 3e is the best version yet as far as rules simplicity goes. If you get caught up in doing everything exactly as the book says, then sure, I can see you're problem. If you play as I described above, the system is the simplest one yet.

I've also never understood the concern about flavor in the games rules. None of the games rules had much flavor. That's for the DM and his setting to provide.

 

[Henry]

Doc, your post just brought a tear to my beady-little eye. Just last night I was flipping through my OD&D Rules Cyclopedia and thinking how much fun I used to have playing "basic" D&D... and now I'm thinking maybe it's time I started having fun again!

Note for anyone wishing to replay some of those old 1E memories and games - www.dragonsfoot.org is a great ground to:

(A) recapture some of those old memories

(B) find some great resources for 1E and OD&D games.

Doc Midnight, I'm happy to hear you get your gaming mojo back! Sometimes, a change of pace is what a person needs to reclaim some pure fun!

 

[Quickbeam]

I don't have many of my original dungeon modules lying around, but White Plume Mountain is among the ones I do still possess. Same goes for Tomb of Horrors, Expedition to the Barrier Peaks, Against the Giants, Queen of the Demonweb Pits, Vault of the Drow, and Descent into the Depths of the Earth. Maybe I have more of them lying around than I realize . In any event, they make great diversions from the 3E modules if you don't mind going through the conversion process.

 

[Henry]

I really don't understand this post.

Joshua, I think the lesson to be gained from Doc's sharing of his experience is that sometimes a change of pace can do a person good. (God, do I sound like a psychiatrist! ) Sometimes, fault is not found in a thing itself, but our perceptions and assumptions that are tied up in our interactions with that thing.

What Doc is talking about is sheer nostalgia - grabbing the "early teens" bull by the horns, and recahrging yourself with a blast from the past!

The same way you meet an old friend and talk with them for a few hours, reminiscing about old times, and suddenly realizing that it just made you feel better about your whole day; or, pulling out the old high school yearbooks, and it sparking memories of old times; or in this case, taking yourself back to the adolescent years of gaming all night, and pulling wacky stuff in a game that you are normally too "serious" to do otherwise!

I think that all of this can technically be had with 3E, but sometimes one is too close to the forest to see the trees, and taking a step back can make us realize why we love the whole forest in the first place, not just one particular tree.

Correct me if I'm off base, Doc.