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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Man in the Funny Hat" data-source="post: 4977532" data-attributes="member: 32740">Regarding prep time; I used to run 1E and 2E almost entirely ad lib. Almost everything invented whole cloth on the fly. I did that a lot because I loved running the game but hated the tedium of prep. I did spend time on it occasionally when I wanted to be sure I had something substantial to fill a specific need for an upcoming session, but otherwise I’d often fill game time with random monster encounters just so I wouldn’t have to “work” at DMing. For 3E I began to rely more frequently on modules which I’d adapt on the fly. 3E was the system being used when I ran my most successful campaign ever, and the first that I’d started with a definitively anticipated end. (I had no idea WHAT the end would be but by the time PC’s were 20th level I had no intention of carrying that campaign a moment further.) A system that supports that kind of approach to DMing will naturally find a certain amount of favor with me. <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /> It’s the old Mr. Spock quote: “After a time, you may find that having is not so pleasing a thing, after all, as wanting. It is not logical, but it is often true.” In days of yore we wanted all those options and abilities, but after getting them many of us found after a time that we were satisfied with our boring, staid, unchanging, limiting class abilities. Exactly so. True – but 3E was designed around the concept of "System Mastery". It was decided by its creators that this is where the fun was for the players and therefore you ostensibly should be using it that way – endless fiddling with picky details. It was fun for a time but the new wears off after a while. Recently I was speaking with the two players I’m most likely to start a new game with (when I can finally pry them away from the damned computer MMORPG’s) about what system I might use and surprisingly they stated that they’d prefer 2E over 3E. One in particular stated that all the options were interesting but when it came down to it they didn’t want to face fussing over things. 2E, by their recollection, relieved them of the burden of fiddling with the mechanical details of a characters ongoing improvement. Actually, I believe that’s not the case. Oly one or two 2E products were produced with that assumption but not a single setting or module was written detailing such optional abilities for NPC's or monsters. That is, they might have listed new NWP's or kits for those who might want to include them, but none of the data throughout would factor those NWP's and kits into things. The practicality however was that they WERE extensively used and therein an additional annoyance – nothing WAS ever statted with the optional stuff. You had to add/modify it all yourself. I agree, just for a different reason as noted. Also, once you start to use those options IME it’s danged hard to voluntarily drop them until you really, REALLY get sick of dealing with them. No it isn’t. But, if you can explain to me then why it DOES take so long despite the fact that it SHOULDN’T then I’ll have learned something useful. <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /></blockquote>

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