OD&D The OA Theory- When OD&D Became Second Edition

lowkey13 · Sep 20, 2019

*Deleted by user*

Tony Vargas · Sep 20, 2019

lowkey13 said:
Wait, why do I think that this marks the end? It's a stylistic thing. (the beginning of the "splat books" we would see in 2e).

I think OA qualifies as a "splat book" - it offers a ton of new player-facing crunch clustered around a flimsy theme (in it's case, as the title implies, blatant orientalism). It revels in power inflation in lieu of interesting design (every OA class was a Classic D&D class, ratchetted up a bit in power, and with a Ki Power slapped on it like a hello kitty decal).

That aside, I think we can point to the general cross-compatibility of all TSR editions, variations, and legal subterfuges, and judge them all part of a single era of D&D, a quarter-century in which D&D experienced the equivalent of several years worth of advancement, development and refinement - a Golden Age, if you will.
A feat no WotC version of the game was ever even in a position to duplicate, until 5e - which has 20 years to go...

Shadow Demon · Sep 20, 2019

I would agree that starting with UA that there were a lot of poorly thought ideas for options. Gary Gygax had reached his nadir in game design. He was never going to be able to make anything better that what had come before. The game wasn't going to move forward without the involvement of others.

Of course, I also consider D&D from 1974-2000 to be the same game. There are just more options I don't like as it goes along.

not-so-newguy · Sep 20, 2019

lowkey13 said:
*1985 was also New Coke, and Classic Coke. Coincidence, or CONSPIRACY?

Not for nothing, but It’s also when Marty McFly drove away in that dolorian. Just sayin’

lowkey13 · Sep 20, 2019

*Deleted by user*

Tony Vargas · Sep 20, 2019

lowkey13 said:
UA was a massive optional expansion of the classes and core mechanics with severely unbalanced effects throughout. And, as Shadow Demon just noted in agreement, it was bad game design. Other than the Pole Arm section, it needed to be burnt.

Wouldn't disagree with any of that. But, frankly, OA was just as bad, just a more focused bad that you could ignore by lopping off any eastern-themed section you'd already placed in your campaign world. Possibly with a large comet or an enormous mutant star-goat. Because that wouldn't be any sillier than adopting OA.

Shadow Demon · Sep 20, 2019

I never liked OA. It was actually written by David "Zeb" Cook with Gary's name on the cover. Dave did a much better job with 2e core. In hindsight, I think it is best of AD&D minus all of the splat before and after its release.