Hi, all--
Just throwin' this out into the void:
I bought a WELL-used copy of the 1980 D&D Basic Rulebook at the FLGS for 2 bucks recently, just out of nostalgia.
Last Saturday night, one of my players called to say he couldn't make it, so we decided, on a whim, to play an 'old-school' session. Ten minutes later, I had created a dungeon-crawl, my players had created characters, and we were playing. No miniatures, no tiles, no four-plus page character sheets, no skills and feats, etc.; just one sheet of paper each (well, three for me) and some dice. A while later, the player who'd called came in (having been able to make it after all), and five minutes later, he had a character and was neck-deep in kobolds, along with the rest of them.
After two hours or so, when we stopped for a snack break, the youngest of my players (age 21, a recent gaming convert; she's never played anything but D&D 3.X and Microlite20) said, "You know, I really like this," and for some reason, everybody was quiet for a moment. It was an actual 'OMG' moment; we looked around, and everybody seemed to know what everyone else was thinking.
We never got back to the game. We started reminiscing about old campaigns, talking about what we liked and didn't like about various editions, and what each of us were looking for in a game. In the end, we decided to lay off the newer stuff for a bit.
I went to eBay, and bought a copy of the Expert Rulebook and the 'Keep on the Borderlands' module. They arrived in today's mail, and that's gonna be our game for the next little while. So now, after 30-ish years, I'm basically back where I started.
Just thought I'd throw it out there for perusal and/or comment.
Regards,
Darrell
Just throwin' this out into the void:
I bought a WELL-used copy of the 1980 D&D Basic Rulebook at the FLGS for 2 bucks recently, just out of nostalgia.
Last Saturday night, one of my players called to say he couldn't make it, so we decided, on a whim, to play an 'old-school' session. Ten minutes later, I had created a dungeon-crawl, my players had created characters, and we were playing. No miniatures, no tiles, no four-plus page character sheets, no skills and feats, etc.; just one sheet of paper each (well, three for me) and some dice. A while later, the player who'd called came in (having been able to make it after all), and five minutes later, he had a character and was neck-deep in kobolds, along with the rest of them.
After two hours or so, when we stopped for a snack break, the youngest of my players (age 21, a recent gaming convert; she's never played anything but D&D 3.X and Microlite20) said, "You know, I really like this," and for some reason, everybody was quiet for a moment. It was an actual 'OMG' moment; we looked around, and everybody seemed to know what everyone else was thinking.
We never got back to the game. We started reminiscing about old campaigns, talking about what we liked and didn't like about various editions, and what each of us were looking for in a game. In the end, we decided to lay off the newer stuff for a bit.
I went to eBay, and bought a copy of the Expert Rulebook and the 'Keep on the Borderlands' module. They arrived in today's mail, and that's gonna be our game for the next little while. So now, after 30-ish years, I'm basically back where I started.
Just thought I'd throw it out there for perusal and/or comment.
Regards,
Darrell
(as in laughing to death
) If you're having fun, whatever the system, then you're having fun. You're absolutely right that enjoyment is the key. I just find it ironic that saying a simpler ruleset can enhance enjoyment, and then in the next sentence say that adding some more rules might help
. Aahhh, sweet Irony.
