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<blockquote data-quote="Philotomy Jurament" data-source="post: 3473571" data-attributes="member: 20854">Sounds really cool!I'd recommend:1.&nbsp; Trying to get the players (not just the PCs) out of their comfort zone.&nbsp; The spin and descrpition you're giving your monsters will help.&nbsp; You don't want the players thinking about the MM entry for orc and running its numbers in their head.&nbsp; You don't want them thinking about &quot;spot checks&quot; and bonuses and DCs, either.&nbsp; That leads me to...2.&nbsp; Emphasizing player descriptive action (not just DM description), rather than crunch + rolls.&nbsp; For example, have the players describe how they are searching for traps, and base their success (or lack of it) mainly on that, as much as possible.&nbsp; In OD&amp;D(1974) and Holmes Basic, even thieves didn't have a special ability to find traps (only to remove small ones).&nbsp; There's something to be said for that approach.3.&nbsp; If you're giving a cinematic description of combat, and the players are responding to your description, don't worry too much about rules limitations.&nbsp; For example, if you describe a PC's spear penetrating into the orc's bulging thigh, and the player says &quot;Great!&nbsp; Can I use the spear to shove him back against the wall, or lever him aside?&quot; you'll want to go with that.&nbsp; Above all, don't tell him &quot;no, because you don't have the right feat,&quot; and don't tell him &quot;yes,&quot; but make it so penalized that it's not worth trying (e.g. &quot;well, you don't have the feat, but you can still try it -- you'll just roll at a penalty and draw an attack of opportunity&quot;).&nbsp; You want to assign a difficulty and let him try it.&nbsp; Or, if you think he'd just be able to do it, then let him do it without a roll, as part of the narrative.&nbsp; (Have you considered running the game using an old-school system?&nbsp; I know there's some &quot;common wisdom&quot; that says the system doesn't really matter, but I disagree with it; I think the system has a big influence on the way the game plays and feels.&nbsp; I agree that you can play &quot;old school&quot; with modern rules, but I also think you get a better &quot;old school&quot; game when using old school rules. YMMV, as always.)</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Philotomy Jurament, post: 3473571, member: 20854"] Sounds really cool! I'd recommend: 1. Trying to get the players (not just the PCs) out of their comfort zone. The spin and descrpition you're giving your monsters will help. You don't want the players thinking about the MM entry for orc and running its numbers in their head. You don't want them thinking about "spot checks" and bonuses and DCs, either. That leads me to... 2. Emphasizing player descriptive action (not just DM description), rather than crunch + rolls. For example, have the players describe how they are searching for traps, and base their success (or lack of it) mainly on that, as much as possible. In OD&D(1974) and Holmes Basic, even thieves didn't have a special ability to find traps (only to remove small ones). There's something to be said for that approach. 3. If you're giving a cinematic description of combat, and the players are responding to your description, don't worry too much about rules limitations. For example, if you describe a PC's spear penetrating into the orc's bulging thigh, and the player says "Great! Can I use the spear to shove him back against the wall, or lever him aside?" you'll want to go with that. Above all, don't tell him "no, because you don't have the right feat," and don't tell him "yes," but make it so penalized that it's not worth trying (e.g. "well, you don't have the feat, but you can still try it -- you'll just roll at a penalty and draw an attack of opportunity"). You want to assign a difficulty and let him try it. Or, if you think he'd just be able to do it, then let him do it without a roll, as part of the narrative. (Have you considered running the game using an old-school system? I know there's some "common wisdom" that says the system doesn't really matter, but I disagree with it; I think the system has a big influence on the way the game plays and feels. I agree that you can play "old school" with modern rules, but I also think you get a better "old school" game when using old school rules. YMMV, as always.) [/QUOTE]

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