Kickin' it old school -- are you game?

[Sebastian Francis]

So my group is taking a break and there's this one guy who's die-hard 1e. I mean, he plays in our 3e group and enjoys it, but he's always going on about the "good old days" and "in my day we didn't have halfling paladins, we bitch-slapped halflings instead", etc.

So finally we challenged him to put his money where his mouth is. Run some AD&D 1e for us, buddy. Show us how great it is.

(FYI, most of us have played 2e, but only this one dude has played 1e.)

Long story short: he made us pregen characters and gave each of us a copy of the 1e Player's Handbook to leaf through. Our first session was last week.

All I can say is, "Cool!" It was a blast. I was surprised at how rules-lite the game is compared with the bloat of 3/3.5. Granted, it's a little weird to have a "Bend Bars/Lift Gates" stat but no skill system Still, it's a cool game. Really makes me think of Knights of the Dinner Table.

One funny thing: in 3/3.5 whenever our group interacts with NPCs we simply shrug and say, "I'll make a Diplomacy check." In AD&D 1e the DM is making us (gasp) role-play. It's been cool, very cool.

My question: do any of you play AD&D 1e and/or OD&D (ie Diaglo-edition )? If not, would you be open to it? Just curious.

 

[Crothian]

I haven't played in years, I'm always up for it though.

 

[Gronin]

I have played since the days of OD&D and have always moved along as the game evolved and while I have enjoyed each edition greatly I don't miss them.

That being said some of my favourite stories to tell come from OD&D and from 1st Ed., of course I played alot more back then so I guess that stands to reason.

 

[xnosipjpqmhd]

Good to hear you had a fun time! A good DM can make *any* rules set fun.

I played 1e for years and stopped buying stuff about the time 2e came out (though I played 2e for a while).

I haven't played any 3/3.5e. The amount of rules-crunch intrigues me from a realism/grognard point of view, since I like wargaming, too. In general my group prefers rules-lite RPing, though.

ironregime

 

[Threedub]

If the only game in town was 1E I'd be up for it, dust off a bunch of old modules and go to work.

However, I prefer 3rd edition. Character classes are more balanced and leveling is much, much faster which is important for me since the 36 hr game sessions are a thing of the past.

 

[MPA]

My question: do any of you play AD&D 1e and/or OD&D (ie Diaglo-edition )? If not, would you be open to it? Just curious.

Yes. I play three on-line AD&D games and one real life OD&D game (though we have played only once this entire year )

 

[Legildur]

Wow! Memories! I can remember my first introduction to D&D throgh OD&D. Although the DM was very much of the Monty Haul variety. Played a LOT of 1e and really enjoyed it - probably because it was all new and exciting back then. Still, Monks were notoriously underpowered at low levels and took forever to level, and talk about MAD (Multiple Ability Dependence)!! Still, great times.

Everyone thought that 2e was an improvement (and it was in most respects). Many years of that until the advent of 3.0.

I luved 3e - having a maths/stats background, the inherent logic in the system really appealed to me. Also, the free range character/race and multiclass combos were great. Mind you, took some adjusting when monsters hit like steam trains and triple figure hit points were whittled away in a round or so.

3.5e was also well received. But I have a friend who is a staunch 1e fan and laments the passing of any games he can join (although he does DM one for a few like minded friends).

In short, I thought each edition was great, but I like the more recent ones the best and I'm looking forward to 4e

Would I play OD&D or 1e again? Sure, as a one shot for old times sake, but not for a campaign. I like the current rules set.

 

[Ranes]

I don't play earlier editions any more and I like the new edition so much that I wouldn't be interested in playing a campaign based on older edition rules, unless it was that or nothing. Having said that, I've been buying 1e stuff on eBay recently, partly for the nostalgia, and having a good time re-reading it. I'd play a one-off of any edition but I wouldn't want to DM anything other than the current ruleset (keeping one ruleset in my head is enough, irrespective of which edition it is).

 

[der_kluge]

I tend to think that 3rd edition encourages more rolling of dice, and less narration. The trend has been to replace role-playing and just plain good story-telling with dice rolling. Your diplomacy scenario is a perfect example.

That doesn't mean I think that 1e edition is necessarily a better edition than 3rd edition, for the very reasons that you mentioned.

 

[The_Magician]

I would rather play the old versions, but I am stuck with 3.5e. I have been DMing and Playing mostly online, and after 3e came out, it was hard to find 2e games, or 2e players. Same shift happened from 3e to 3.5e. So, online, I am stuck with that.

Then I found a group of girls to DM to, but their only experience was with 3e... so I decided it would be best to DM the version they are used to, then to explain a new one. So I got stuck again with 3.5e.

Would I prefer playing old versions than the new one? Always.

BTW: Bend BArs/Lift Gate is part of AD&D2nd ed as well. ;P