Possibly dumb poll: Playing vs. Running D&D Editions

[S'mon]

Very interesting that 3e beats 4e on Play, and 4e beats 3e on Run. Sounds like WotC achieved their goal of making 4e easier to run, but did not achieve their goal of making everyone want to play 4e.

Edit: OD&D is the only game I'm interested in playing, but not running. I'll run or play both Classic (B/X-BECMI) and 3.5e - currently running a 3.5e/BECM mash-up.

 

[MerricB]

In any game that I knew someone was running a published adventure I knew that, whatever we run into, we could potentially handle it, and then all tension and excitement disappeared.

There's a big difference between "potentially" and "actually" in my book. Potentially, all the groups on this site could handle Irontooth in Keep. Why then are there so many TPK reports?

How else do you explain Minion monsters, a creature that, in spite of generally comparable abilities to similar level monsters of its type, only has 1 hp?

You haven't used Minions enough, then. Minions are dangerous. It's not coddling, it's presenting a fascinating option.

Or the passage where it talks about Falling Damage, not to put an encounter where a fall would mean instant death to a low-level PC.

That's coddling.

I guess I don't treat PCs as automatic heroes, they have to earn that honorific. I run a game of High Adventure. Conan, Raiders of the Lost Ark, that sort of thing, where death can come instantly if you don't think fast and move fast.

In my 4e campaigns, death isn't instant. However, based on the sessions I've run - with 3 PC deaths and many very, very close escapes - it is no less challenging. I'm not a fan of "one mistake and you're dead", but "many mistakes and you're dead"... yes, that I enjoy.

Cheers!

 

[Obryn]

4E, though, goes a few steps further than just tailoring your adventure for the PCs you intend to run for. You may say that 3.x did something similar, but it wasn't so blatantly "coddling" as 4E is. How else do you explain Minion monsters, a creature that, in spite of generally comparable abilities to similar level monsters of its type, only has 1 hp?

Because the designers were looking to have a certain kind of encounter that was difficult to get right under 3e - the one where you're facing over a dozen opponents who won't necessarily overpower you, but won't be completely worthless, either.

Or the passage where it talks about Falling Damage, not to put an encounter where a fall would mean instant death to a low-level PC.

Reading threads like these, it's almost enough to make me think, after every statement in the 4e DMG, they should have put an asterisk with the note

*Unless your group finds it fun!

That would have gotten repetitive, though.

The 4e DMG is mostly advice, not rules. The falling damage table is advice. The stuff about hitting PCs when they're down is advice. How to apply a template is rules. If you flip to page 7, way before any of that other stuff, it's pretty clear there's no single right way to run a D&D game - just do what's fun for your group.

I guess I don't treat PCs as automatic heroes, they have to earn that honorific. I run a game of High Adventure. Conan, Raiders of the Lost Ark, that sort of thing, where death can come instantly if you don't think fast and move fast.

I'd call those two cinematic, not "death can come instantly." But regardless...

I get what you're saying about the sudden death thing. 4e is not as lethal as 3.5 in that way, by default. 3.5, too, is much less lethal in that way than 1e was... It lacks save-or-die poison, nerfed disintegrate, nerfed Harm, has easier saving throws, weak level drain, and so on.

-O

 

[Jack Colby]

I would never play or run 3E/3.5E again. I would not run AD&D 1E because I tried within the past year and it was just too much trouble trying to find things I needed in those books, although I love the feel of the game. I'd play or run any of the rest, and sometimes do!

 

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

Very interesting that 3e beats 4e on Play, and 4e beats 3e on Run. Sounds like WotC achieved their goal of making 4e easier to run, but did not achieve their goal of making everyone want to play 4e.

Edit: OD&D is the only game I'm interested in playing, but not running. I'll run or play both Classic (B/X-BECMI) and 3.5e - currently running a 3.5e/BECM mash-up.

I suppose that's because most 4E fans might still be willing to play 3E. But running it gets out of the question once you have run 4E. (Well, of course not for everyone. ).

After reading all the posts on older D&D editions, I can see myself playing something like OD&D or BECMI, too, just for trying them out. And with the right DM and adventure, any game can be fun. But I can't seem myself running them. I am not the right DM.

Overall, I find way too much of the "anti 4E" and "anti 3E" stuff hyperbole (heck, sometimes including my own "ant-3E" stance. And I really hate that happening.)

 

[The_Gneech]

If someone offers to run 4E, I'll play it, but I'm not running it, no way.

I'm stealing the bits I like out of it for my Star Wars Saga Edition kitbash games, but that consists of ... hmm ... no negative racial stat mods, minion/solo/elite, and the encounter budget system. So yeah, I'm done with that part as a GM.

I'll gladly run 3.x up to around 10th level or so. I'll gladly play 3.x at any level. But as a GM, Saga Edition is my system of choice now.

-The Gneech

 

[Thanee]

PLAY - All, though clear preferance for 3rd and 4th Edition.
RUN - 3rd and 4th Edition, since those are the one's I'm most familiar with.

Bye
Thanee

 

[Thanee]

I am kind of surprised there aren't more people willing to play pre-3e games.

I think the #1 reason for that is, that many are voting what they prefer and not what they would be willing to play.

Bye
Thanee

 

[Dausuul]

I'll play pretty much any edition as long as there's a good DM. At this point, though, you'd have to twist my arm pretty hard to get me to run any edition other than 4E.

 

[timbannock]

I'd play or run 3.X and 4E. I ran and played a lot of 2e, and honestly, I'm okay with not playing that anymore. The older rulesets don't have enough options for me as a player (I like fiddling), nor do they give me the (perceived) balance that I like when running.

3.x doesn't either, but I know it well enough to wing it, and I've figured out how to port enough 4e DM-design decisions to make it easy and fun to run.