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<blockquote data-quote="Gentlegamer" data-source="post: 4894716" data-attributes="member: 2425">I don't have my copy handy to refresh my recollection, so I can't really do an enumeration, but I'll explain what I can from memory.list of magic &quot;that doesn't work&quot; - While &quot;old school&quot; play generally encourages and rewards creative use of magic, there is an undercurrent that &quot;bans&quot; certain magical effects from operation to stop certain &quot;shortcuts&quot; in some circumstances. This stems from the general emphasis on player ingenuity as the engine of success rather than mere character ability (i.e. using certain magical effects as &quot;trumps&quot;).exploration of wilderness &quot;hex-by-hex&quot; - &quot;Old school&quot; play is most associated with &quot;dungeon crawl&quot; game-play; however, wilderness exploration was an option from the beginning, based on the recommended materials in Dungeons &amp; Dragons that included Avalon Hill's &quot;Outdoor Survival&quot; boardgame, which was the genesis of the &quot;hex map&quot; as the &quot;playing field&quot; for wilderness adventure.&quot;Module of Attrition&quot; - both the previous points ties into this one; an element of &quot;old school&quot; play is how players deal with the adversity their characters face. In Isle of the Ape, Gary explicitly states that it is a &quot;module of attrition&quot; (effectively the antithesis of Tomb of Horrors). Characters in this adventure must avoid many, many combat encounters while exploring because of their high danger (20+ HD dinosaurs that are immune/effectively immune to many magics, poisons, and other &quot;trumps&quot;), even to high-level characters. This tests the players in their ability to creatively and effectively manage the wilderness exploration while maintaining their dwindeling resources in anticipation of the &quot;final encounter&quot; that is foreshadowed from the beginning.In broad strokes, I think I've hit upon the main elements of &quot;old school&quot; in that module. There are also elements of &quot;new school&quot; in the published version.In the designer notes, Gary remarks that the original players from the Greyhawk Campaign (Ernie Gygax, Rob Kuntz, and others) that found themselves in the Isle of the Ape fled as soon as they were able; no group of players ever &quot;completed&quot; the adventure. &quot;Running away&quot; in the face of seeming overwhelming adversity is very &quot;old school,&quot; in my opinion. There is no presumed assumption of character survival or balanced encounters.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Gentlegamer, post: 4894716, member: 2425"] I don't have my copy handy to refresh my recollection, so I can't really do an enumeration, but I'll explain what I can from memory. [B]list of magic "that doesn't work"[/B] - While "old school" play generally encourages and rewards creative use of magic, there is an undercurrent that "bans" certain magical effects from operation to stop certain "shortcuts" in some circumstances. This stems from the general emphasis on player ingenuity as the engine of success rather than mere character ability (i.e. using certain magical effects as "trumps"). [B]exploration of wilderness "hex-by-hex"[/B] - "Old school" play is most associated with "dungeon crawl" game-play; however, wilderness exploration was an option from the beginning, based on the recommended materials in [I]Dungeons & Dragons[/I] that included Avalon Hill's "Outdoor Survival" boardgame, which was the genesis of the "hex map" as the "playing field" for wilderness adventure. [B]"Module of Attrition"[/B] - both the previous points ties into this one; an element of "old school" play is how players deal with the adversity their characters face. In [I]Isle of the Ape[/I], Gary explicitly states that it is a "module of attrition" (effectively the antithesis of [I]Tomb of Horrors[/I]). Characters in this adventure must avoid many, many combat encounters while exploring because of their high danger (20+ HD dinosaurs that are immune/effectively immune to many magics, poisons, and other "trumps"), even to high-level characters. This tests the players in their ability to creatively and effectively manage the wilderness exploration while maintaining their dwindeling resources in anticipation of the "final encounter" that is foreshadowed from the beginning. In broad strokes, I think I've hit upon the main elements of "old school" in that module. There are also elements of "new school" in the published version. In the designer notes, Gary remarks that the original players from the Greyhawk Campaign (Ernie Gygax, Rob Kuntz, and others) that found themselves in the Isle of the Ape fled as soon as they were able; no group of players ever "completed" the adventure. "Running away" in the face of seeming overwhelming adversity is very "old school," in my opinion. There is no presumed assumption of character survival or balanced encounters. [/QUOTE]

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