Nostalgia Attack

[Reynard]

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So, the other weekend my mother swung through the state to visit. My parents are moving to the west coast soon, so in addition to saying hi, she dropped off a box of my old junk with which she had no idea what to do. Inside, I found a bunch of old Dragon magazines from the late-late 80s and early 90s. And suddenly, I am 15 to 18 again and it is *weird*.

In addition to all the giggly fun of seeing ads for games long dead or at least d20-ized, I found myself feelinga deep sense of nostalgia for pre-3e D&D. I know, i should quash it, pull out my 3.5 PHB and banish all those old ghosts. instead, i went downstairs and dug up all my 2nd Edition (2nd printing -- the black ones) AD&D books -- well, some of them anyway -- and have been flipping through them. And I find myself saying to myself -- you know, it wasn't perfect but damn it was fun.

And I want to play it again.

Ugh. I am sure the feeling will pass and I will come to my senses. Nostalgia is, after all, a notorioulsy innaccurate way to judge good and bad. But man, right now, this very moment, I could go for some 2e.

(No real point. Just sayin'.)

 

[Akrasia]

I never got into 2e (stopped playing AD&D before then), but I still have my 1st edition AD&D books, my B/X box sets (with the Erol Otus covers), my copy of the D&D RC, and tonnes of original modules (including most of the UK series -- my favourite module of all time is probably UK4). Since this stuff never really disappeared from my collection, I don't really feel 'nostalgic' for it -- it's always been part of my 'in use' gaming library.

I recently ran some old basic modules (B1 and B2) for my last C&C campaign. They were great! If I hadn't moved, I would have run L1, L2, and UK4. Maybe more.

 

[tetsujin28]

I sometimes look at my old, battered copy of Greyhawk and smile.

 

[BiggusGeekus]

Here's a fun thing to do for a session or two:

Pull out Keep on the Borderlands (B2) and play D&D straight up. Roll 3d6 and play all abilty scores as they lay. It's surprisingly fun. When I did this, I let my players use all metagame knowledge that they could remember. One guy managed to navigate Cave B strictly by memory. Very impressive.

Letting them use the game knowledge is very important. There's a lot of parts of B2 where you can have a total party kill if the players take so much as a wrong turn.

 

[Dragonhelm]

In addition to all the giggly fun of seeing ads for games long dead or at least d20-ized, I found myself feelinga deep sense of nostalgia for pre-3e D&D. I know, i should quash it, pull out my 3.5 PHB and banish all those old ghosts.

No, you shouldn't quash it! You should embrace it. Whether it is where you are now or not, it was a part of you and part of your evolution as a gamer. Do not be ashamed of roads once traveled.

And I find myself saying to myself -- you know, it wasn't perfect but damn it was fun.

Exactly. I've played quite a bit of AD&D in my time, and I don't regret it one bit. It was fun, and I remember old characters with a certain fondness.

And I want to play it again.

Ugh. I am sure the feeling will pass and I will come to my senses. Nostalgia is, after all, a notorioulsy innaccurate way to judge good and bad. But man, right now, this very moment, I could go for some 2e.

So play some 2e, just for the fun of it. So what if it's not perfect? That's okay. Heck, maybe try some Hackmaster or some Castles and Crusades as well. Old style, but offering something different at the same time.

Here's a little secret that the gaming companies don't want you to know. The rules don't matter. You can play with any edition that you want. Heck, you could flip a coin to determine all random rolls.

The key thing with gaming is that you should have fun. Use the rules that work for you. And if you are feeling a little old school and want to give 2e a shot again, go for it! The rules may not be perfect, but so what? As long as you have fun playing the game, that's all that matters.

 

[Shemeska]

I never played 2e but I have nostalgia for it anyways, having gone back and found just how well written and simply fun to read some of the more fluffy 2e material was.

 

[diaglo]

i have no nostalgia.

all i have are active games.

visit the gamers seeking gamers forum. join an OD&D(1974) campaign in Stoned Mountain, GA.

 

[JoeBlank]

Here's a fun thing to do for a session or two:

Pull out Keep on the Borderlands (B2) and play D&D straight up. Roll 3d6 and play all abilty scores as they lay. It's surprisingly fun. When I did this, I let my players use all metagame knowledge that they could remember. One guy managed to navigate Cave B strictly by memory. Very impressive.

Letting them use the game knowledge is very important. There's a lot of parts of B2 where you can have a total party kill if the players take so much as a wrong turn.

As diaglo said, how about a session or 24? His campaign has is going strong, for a over a year now. And it is everything you descibe, but without the metagame knowledge. Most of us are familiar with the modules being used, but we avoid metagaming. Wouldn't help anyway, since diaglo changes things around a good bit. In fact, we are now exploring a ruined moathouse that I barely recognize. And then we will head back to the Caves of Chaos.

Joe "torn up because I have to go on a hiatus from the game during my sons' fall baseball season" Blank

 

[Keeper of Secrets]

I never got into 2nd ed, either. I liked 1e so much better and took a hiatus from D&D over my displeasure. Well, I ended up actually playing in a few games and tried running it but it seemed to be bogged down with a bunch of rules I hated (like weapon speed) and bogged down with a lot of extras that semeed like they were not reigned in very well. The 2e days for me will filled with lots of Cthulhu, Champions and Shadowrun.

That said, I can certainly appreciate the nostalgia involved.

 

[rogueattorney]

It's surprisingly fun.

Why is it "surprisingly fun"? It's what the hobby was built on. Why should it be surprising that it's fun? It's not like D&D created the industry that it did because it wasn't fun.