OD&D 4 me (April Fools)
- Thread starter Rel
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I'm A Banana
Potassium-Rich
You haven't noticed how slow and buggy the forums are recently? Especially after the 4e announcement, when new posters from all over the globe have flooded the server? This thing's held together by bubble gum, duct tape, and the idealistic dreams of little children. Spoony's a hero for keeping it up this long.
...come to think of it, wasn't OD&D held together by bubble gum, duct tape, and dreams?
Damn my circular thinking.
We're playing a game of OD&D right now, and all of the warts are showing.
The classes are all either over or underpowered, all task resolution systems are inconsistent. The house rule file is expanding at an exponential rate as we try to do anything other than whack the opponent with a stick. There's almost no way for one fighter to differentiate himself from another in combat.
There's a huge difference between "simple" and "easy".
If you really want a "simple" game, just roll a d20 and say if it was good enough to pass whatever test was put in front of the party.
The classes are all either over or underpowered, all task resolution systems are inconsistent. The house rule file is expanding at an exponential rate as we try to do anything other than whack the opponent with a stick. There's almost no way for one fighter to differentiate himself from another in combat.
There's a huge difference between "simple" and "easy".
If you really want a "simple" game, just roll a d20 and say if it was good enough to pass whatever test was put in front of the party.
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AntiStateQuixote
Enemy of the State
Improved Vacation? Man, I want that feat!Xath said:
Improved Vacation [General]
Prerequisite: a job with benefits
Your powers of vacationing are superior to those of normal people.
Benefit: When you take a vacation you experience double the amount of fun that a normal vacation would grant.
Normal: When on vacation you experience a level of fun directly related to the amount of time, cash and alcohol expended/consumed while on vacation.
Special: If you are an ENWorld moderator you can (apparently) impose this feat on any non-moderator ENWorld users.
Thulcondar
First Post
I really like OD&D. Even just with the 3 LBBs you can play endlessly. It gives you "rules as tools" and bascially expects you to put together your own game.
Each supplement, like Greyhawk or FFC/Blackmoor (or Arduin, etc.) is really the house rules of whichever DM we are discussing (Gygax, Arneson, etc.). Each DM essentially makes his own supplement when he decides how he will adjudicate things.
Everything is simple. Monsters are simple: in statting a dungeon recently, all I put down were AC x, HD x, Move x". That's all the statblock you need: 3 numbers.
Mike Mearls actually had an excellent observation about the rules-lightness: that it encourages players to treat encounters not in terms of game effects, but in terms of literary devices.
It isn't for everyone. It does not even run "right out of the box". But if you want to take a basic set of guidelines and make your own rules light fantasy game out of it (be it LOTR, Conan, Thundarr the Barbarian, Carter of Mars, etc.) it's a gem.
I don't want or need skills, feats, powers, maneuvers, etc. I can rule all that on the fly, or use the very simple rules provided (want to grapple? roll your hit dice versus his hit dice, higher score wins, etc.).
So, Rel, if you're still listening, I hope you enjoy OD&D. I know I will. Come by Finarvyn's board some time and hang out with the gang.
Each supplement, like Greyhawk or FFC/Blackmoor (or Arduin, etc.) is really the house rules of whichever DM we are discussing (Gygax, Arneson, etc.). Each DM essentially makes his own supplement when he decides how he will adjudicate things.
Everything is simple. Monsters are simple: in statting a dungeon recently, all I put down were AC x, HD x, Move x". That's all the statblock you need: 3 numbers.
Mike Mearls actually had an excellent observation about the rules-lightness: that it encourages players to treat encounters not in terms of game effects, but in terms of literary devices.
It isn't for everyone. It does not even run "right out of the box". But if you want to take a basic set of guidelines and make your own rules light fantasy game out of it (be it LOTR, Conan, Thundarr the Barbarian, Carter of Mars, etc.) it's a gem.
I don't want or need skills, feats, powers, maneuvers, etc. I can rule all that on the fly, or use the very simple rules provided (want to grapple? roll your hit dice versus his hit dice, higher score wins, etc.).
So, Rel, if you're still listening, I hope you enjoy OD&D. I know I will. Come by Finarvyn's board some time and hang out with the gang.
Plane Sailing
Astral Admin - Mwahahaha!
el-remmen said:
Let me put it this way Nemm.
Look at your title. It says moderator.
Look at my title. It says Admin. ADMIN.
So I outrank you and more importantly I've got access to the Admin control panel and you don't.
Say goodbye to your moderator status. If you give us any more crap you'll be saying goodbye to your boring so-called storyhours too, so if you fancy giving us any trouble, make sure you have a backup.
For goodness sake.
CleverNickName
Limit Break Dancing
Wow...I go down to Neuberger Hall to get a book loan and a parking permit, and look at all that I miss while I was away.
FWIW, I still play Basic D&D. Granted, the red-box rules are still a more recent edition than OD&D, but the heart and soul of the game is still very much intact if you ask me. I also play 3.5E, and will continue to do so for at least a couple more years. A new edition being released does not diminish the years of fun and enjoyment I have experienced under older rules systems.
About the other thing:
I love this site, regardless of what version of D&D I happen to be playing at the time. When I'm not lurking around in the many different forums, I am posting ideas and asking questions and taking polls just so I can learn more about this wonderful hobby that we all share. There is truly no other place like it, and you (all of you) know it.
If this was all an elaborate April Fools joke, consider me duped.
FWIW, I still play Basic D&D. Granted, the red-box rules are still a more recent edition than OD&D, but the heart and soul of the game is still very much intact if you ask me. I also play 3.5E, and will continue to do so for at least a couple more years. A new edition being released does not diminish the years of fun and enjoyment I have experienced under older rules systems.
About the other thing:
I love this site, regardless of what version of D&D I happen to be playing at the time. When I'm not lurking around in the many different forums, I am posting ideas and asking questions and taking polls just so I can learn more about this wonderful hobby that we all share. There is truly no other place like it, and you (all of you) know it.
If this was all an elaborate April Fools joke, consider me duped.
WhatGravitas
Explorer
But isn't Morris more Admin-y than you?Plane Sailing said:
Cheers, LT.
Plane Sailing
Astral Admin - Mwahahaha!
Lord Tirian said:
Actually no, but I don't anticipate that creating any problems. I was made an Admin for my technical skills rather than my good looks (but I don't want to drag this off topic)
Cheers
Michael Morris
First Post
One of these days people will stop mixing up Morri (me) with Morrus (Russ).
This thread has no business being in general by the way - and since everyone else is being catty and misbehaving I guess it falls to me - the worst behaved admin on staff - to move this to off topic where it belongs. Grow up people - geez..
This thread has no business being in general by the way - and since everyone else is being catty and misbehaving I guess it falls to me - the worst behaved admin on staff - to move this to off topic where it belongs. Grow up people - geez..
Irda Ranger
First Post
And as It was Foretold, the Rain Washed the Mountaintops, and the Truth Was Spoken from the Mouth of an Osprey:
And the Enemies of the Fun Were Smited.
Been there. It's ugly. It's also hard, and I'm lazy. For this reason I have hired a few guys up in Seattle to do this for me and to have the house rules document delivered to my door in a nice, neat package. They don't respond to my emails often, but I expect to receive "the big fix" some time in June or so.Sashi said:
der_kluge
Adventurer
Korgoth said:
But even that's not entirely true, is it? I mean, it's one that to put that as a stat block for an Orc, but quite a different thing for a troll - which regenerates (how much? How often) or a skeleton (takes half damage from slashing weapons) - so some monsters have *other* things that can complicate the stat block.
I can appreciate a simpler ruleset, but the player in me finds the lack of options and diversification woefully lacking from such a system. Such was my major complaint with C&C.
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