LostSoul said:
The Traditional Style: The PCs are adventurers by trade. The DM, who decides everything about the world save the actions of the PCs, drops a plot hook for them. This leads the party to a strange "dungeon" (that is, mapped) complex filled with monsters, traps, and treasures appropriate to thier power level.
Uh... Isn't this the style of basic D&D? I mean traditional style of RPG has been altered many times since the first edition of the boxed set. I see that it has returned with the 3E but call it traditional, is that politically correct? I know that games like Dungeon Siege, Diablo, and even many parts of D&D are like this but are they all? That sounds a bit repetive to me.
On to what I game myself... I never game "traditional" since I find it quite boring and anything but stimulating, as it is almost like playing Diablo over and over again, with no other rewards that getting gold and gaining levels. Not that I think that those who game in this way are wrong or even inferior, it is just not my cup of tea. To me RPGing is far more than this, and to my players as well. There are more rewards that stats and XPs to be gained. Goals for example that are finally realized are one great example.
I play Hârn exclusively these days, although I am to embark upon a 3E Kalamar campaign between my Hârn sessions. The thing is with Hârn that most of the gaming is centered around a world that is extremely non-"traditional". This means that the adventures are more widespread ranging from meddle between warring nobles, finding lost miners, guarding caravans, searching for lost cultures, getting involved in intrigues within guilds, solving murder mysteries, to name some adventuring. Not to say D&D can not be like this but since the original question was about "traditional" gaming I must have my say.
The key to my gaming is to make sure that the world around the players evolve without them being a major part of it all of the time. There is nothing worse than a static world such as those found in computer roleplaying games. Although I like to play those, having the same style in P&P would be disastrous for me and my gaming group. News, rumours and events are always a major part in our sessions because it creates a living world. I usually also do not let the players be more than smaller parts of the whole. I have read too many books where people save the world from the ultimate evil and so have my players. I do not want to game that way.
Another part is to stress family in gaming, and social responsibilities. In Hârn the traditional adventurers do not exist. There is no one who can say they make a living by adventuring. The latter comes through events that often shakes the foundation of the lives the PCs are built upon. A lost family member, a murdered person who was someone they knew, or having to guard a caravan to get enough money to go by. I know that this may sound boring to many of the "traditional" gaming but to me and my group, it is the best kind of roleplay. Remember that each to his own.
Other aspects that makes my gaming tick is the fact that the players have goals in their lives; getting enough money to buy a membership in the Innkeepers' Guild and eventually get their own inn, getting knighted for saving an important noble, or even getting a patch of land that will support their families. Don't worry, there is plenty of adventure as well with magic and beasts but these are awesome encounters and not an everyday event. As you can tell I really like low-ley gaming which of course is not the same as gritty. Although low-key and gritty is a fantastic combination.
I use maps all of the time, both regional, local, and floorplans. It adds spice to the game and since I freelance as a mapper I always have maps to show to the players. Other stuff that make our gaming different from "traditional" gaming includes the fact that we play with more realism than typical fantasy games, and players can die if they are not careful. Even the lowliest beggar is dangerous if he plunges a dagger in the back of a character.
Finally, and at the end of this rant, an important factor in our gaming is consistency and make-sense feel. There is nothing wrong with a dungeon as long as it makes sense why it is there. Having a 10 level deep dungeon for the sake of it without any explanation on what and who could have build such an awesome wonder is not for us. We want logical and constructive backgrounds because the world we game in is just like that. It has nothing to do with the rulesystem because you can with the right guide play D&D in Hârn and our campaign.
To get the difference between a "traditional" game (read: not D&D because it says so in the PHB) and my type of gaming here is an example:
A baron is executing peasants because he is bored and it amuses him. In a normal game the baron would be challenged by adventurers and heroes but within a fundamental feudal society those heroes either need to be of higher status or sent by the king to stop this madness (if the king even cares about serfs). Just walk up to the baron, by either attacking him and his cruel men, or threaten him will get the PCs either hanged or whipped from the gates. Our game is extremely medieval in style and of such it works in the same way as it did in the 12th century.
If you want more info (I doubt it) about my gaming style have a look at the link button below that reads Hârn Tales. It will quite take this rant further. Yeah I know, I am a boring Troll.
