The glory of OD&D

[Llaurenela]

Like many of you I've been reading Diaglo's posts for years. I never gave him much attention and just read over his posts in amusement. But this past weekend I had the honor and privledge of talking to him directly about od&d and I can't believe how wrong I have been. I'm now a convert, I'm killing my current game and starting a new one. We are getting the old books and we are playing like Diaglo intended, 3d6 in order straight down.

I'll also be starting a massive convertion of taking all my d20 stuff and making it work for oD&D. It is the one true game and I am thankful that Diaglo was there to show me the light.

Cheers to you Crothian, I discovered OD&D a bit over a year ago and came to the same conclusion myself, it is the one true game.

 

[Llaurenela]

Drat...I thought you go hang out with all the other Grognards at Dragonsfoot. As they cant eveen stand to hear the words 3.x. Which is why they call it TETSNBN. Oh well, it looks like I will have to go back to the drawing board.

That is not where the Grognards hang out, but there are a few other sites where they do hang out. Dragonsfoot is mainly 1e and 2e, with a touch of Classic D&D and a few other things. The OD&D crowd hang out elsewhere, a lot of them hang out here, part of the time.

(Classic is Holmes, BX and BECMI and the Rules Cycolpedia)

 

[Ghendar]

The OD&D crowd hang out elsewhere, a lot of them hang out here, part of the time.

And where might that be? Link please?

 

[Melan]

Ghendar: I assume Llaurenela was thinking about this site - a genuine grognard hangout!

 

[Llaurenela]

So, basicaly, you're going to bail out on your players and the current campaign and force them to play in a very limited system that is no longer being made, supported, or played by the vast majority of role-players out there.

Might be fun for a one-off. If you're serious about switching to OD&D as your main system, and I were your player, I'd be dropping out of your game ASAP. That's just... chaotic. But, then again, you've always struck me (from your posts) as a very chaotic and ad-hoc type DM, so it just might be the right thing for you and those players who don't mind.

It is a mistaken belief that OD&D is a very limited sytem, it is the the least limited system to play there is. You can do anything within its rules. You have complete freedom to play the game anyway that you and your players want to. While I only came to the system a little over a year ago myself, I have become aware of a number of campaigns that are in the 30-32 year range and counting. The guy that introduced it to me has a campaign that has been running since early in 1974 and has maintained an average of 10-12 consistent players over that time frame. He currently has 16 players ranging in age from 6 to 75. The fact that it is not being made, supported or played by the majority is irrelevant to him and to me as well. My own campaign has 12 adults and 9 children. It is an enormous amount of fun, easy to learn and easy to referee (to use the original term for a DM). It lends itself easily to larger groups of players and easily accomodates a simple dungeon, a mega-dungeon or a complex fully designed world, whatever you want to play in.

 

[PapersAndPaychecks]

As a RPG system, OD&D is only slightly more limited than "let's pretend."

 

[Ghendar]

It is a mistaken belief that OD&D is a very limited sytem, it is the the least limited system to play there is. You can do anything within its rules. You have complete freedom to play the game anyway that you and your players want to. While I only came to the system a little over a year ago myself, I have become aware of a number of campaigns that are in the 30-32 year range and counting. The guy that introduced it to me has a campaign that has been running since early in 1974 and has maintained an average of 10-12 consistent players over that time frame. He currently has 16 players ranging in age from 6 to 75. The fact that it is not being made, supported or played by the majority is irrelevant to him and to me as well. My own campaign has 12 adults and 9 children. It is an enormous amount of fun, easy to learn and easy to referee (to use the original term for a DM). It lends itself easily to larger groups of players and easily accomodates a simple dungeon, a mega-dungeon or a complex fully designed world, whatever you want to play in.

I totally agree but for those who have only known 3rd ed, it can be a tough sell to try to convince them to even try an older edition.

 

[Llaurenela]

The only problems occur when people want to start throwing words like "true," "perfect," "good vs. bad," and seek to somehow convince everyone else that their way of playing is the "right" way and everything else should end.

No one is advocating that everything else should end. And referring to OD&D as the "One True Game" is simply giving it its due, it was first after all, and thousands of imitators later it is still there, alive and kicking even though is has not been supported since about 1978 or 1979. As for perfect, nothing is perfect and it is not an issue of good vs. bad.

 

[Kanegrundar]

Holy crap! Diaglo finally created that female clone he's always wanted!

 

[Llaurenela]

Ghendar: I assume Llaurenela was thinking about this site - a genuine grognard hangout!

That is a great site and I have spent a fair amount of time there. I would also recommend:

• Knights & Knaves @ www.knights-n-knaves.com/phpbb/index.php
• The Delver's Dungeon @ thedelversdungeon.com/forums/index.php
• The Grognards Tavern @ http://grognardstavern.proboards29.com/index.cgi

just to mention a few. I believe grodog already mentioned some of these.