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D&D Older Editions
Listening to old-timers describe RP in the 70s and 80s
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<blockquote data-quote="James Gasik" data-source="post: 8969986" data-attributes="member: 6877472"><p>Honestly, when I started playing D&D, it never occurred to anyone that you could start at higher level. You made a character at first, and that's how it was. Now on occasion, you might be allowed to take a precon in an adventure, if you have no characters available to play, and I do recall once or twice how those characters became full time PC's, so it happened on occasion, but I don't recall anyone getting bent out of shape about it.</p><p></p><p>But over time, it became apparent that there was nothing sacred about level 1. Dark Sun, for example, even suggested starting at level 3, with grossly inflated ability scores, just because of how ruthless it's setting was!</p><p></p><p>And for me, I found my games ran much more smoothly when players started at level 2, and I didn't have to place "2 orcs and a chest" in a room, hoping we could get a Fighter to last long enough to level, lol.</p><p></p><p>There was only one time I remember anyone being upset about a character whose power wasn't earned; over the course of a summer, the DM didn't have a car, and needed rides to and from work. One of the guys in our group basically became his taxi driver, because he lived nearby and his schedule worked well for this purpose. They began to play a lot of D&D outside of our regular sessions, with the player even being allowed to create an entire adventuring party for a solo adventure!</p><p></p><p>Which came to a head that fall, when the DM said we should all bring multiple characters to fight off a demon invasion of the campaign world. We opened up our character record books, fielding a few high level characters, and several low level characters who really couldn't do much to participate.</p><p></p><p>Then the one guy shows up with several 10th level characters we'd never even heard of, all equipped with magic items! Eyebrows were raised, but it wasn't like we didn't need the help.</p><p></p><p>But then, after the battle, the 10th level Fighter decided to get in the face of what had previously been the strongest PC, a 9th level Fighter with the Berserker Kit, who wielded the mighty <em>Blackrazor</em>!</p><p></p><p>Battle lines were drawn quickly, and when the dust settled, most of the player characters in the game were dead, including all the level 10 bozos, and the Berserker stood supreme, bloated with temporary levels from his kills!</p><p></p><p>The guy with the level 10 characters stormed out of the room in absolute rage, and some of the players' trust in the DM was forever shattered.</p><p></p><p>We never had another session where all the players were together in one room, and while the campaign continued (and has until this very day), the idea of us being a band of ne'er-do-wells going on adventures together was pretty much dead. Every PC was now off doing their own thing, for the most part, with their own goals, and team ups became rare.</p><p></p><p>I can honestly say my most powerful characters in the campaign haven't seen any of the others in at least 15 years.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="James Gasik, post: 8969986, member: 6877472"] Honestly, when I started playing D&D, it never occurred to anyone that you could start at higher level. You made a character at first, and that's how it was. Now on occasion, you might be allowed to take a precon in an adventure, if you have no characters available to play, and I do recall once or twice how those characters became full time PC's, so it happened on occasion, but I don't recall anyone getting bent out of shape about it. But over time, it became apparent that there was nothing sacred about level 1. Dark Sun, for example, even suggested starting at level 3, with grossly inflated ability scores, just because of how ruthless it's setting was! And for me, I found my games ran much more smoothly when players started at level 2, and I didn't have to place "2 orcs and a chest" in a room, hoping we could get a Fighter to last long enough to level, lol. There was only one time I remember anyone being upset about a character whose power wasn't earned; over the course of a summer, the DM didn't have a car, and needed rides to and from work. One of the guys in our group basically became his taxi driver, because he lived nearby and his schedule worked well for this purpose. They began to play a lot of D&D outside of our regular sessions, with the player even being allowed to create an entire adventuring party for a solo adventure! Which came to a head that fall, when the DM said we should all bring multiple characters to fight off a demon invasion of the campaign world. We opened up our character record books, fielding a few high level characters, and several low level characters who really couldn't do much to participate. Then the one guy shows up with several 10th level characters we'd never even heard of, all equipped with magic items! Eyebrows were raised, but it wasn't like we didn't need the help. But then, after the battle, the 10th level Fighter decided to get in the face of what had previously been the strongest PC, a 9th level Fighter with the Berserker Kit, who wielded the mighty [I]Blackrazor[/I]! Battle lines were drawn quickly, and when the dust settled, most of the player characters in the game were dead, including all the level 10 bozos, and the Berserker stood supreme, bloated with temporary levels from his kills! The guy with the level 10 characters stormed out of the room in absolute rage, and some of the players' trust in the DM was forever shattered. We never had another session where all the players were together in one room, and while the campaign continued (and has until this very day), the idea of us being a band of ne'er-do-wells going on adventures together was pretty much dead. Every PC was now off doing their own thing, for the most part, with their own goals, and team ups became rare. I can honestly say my most powerful characters in the campaign haven't seen any of the others in at least 15 years. [/QUOTE]
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