What are the characteristics of an "olde school game"?

[Sanguinemetaldawn]

...
2. Characters are disposable; it's easy to roll up a new one. All they've normally got in terms of personality, at level 1, is a name... it might be worth investing effort in some background if they live to higher level.
3. Some monster attacks are basically incurable. Undead drain levels and getting them back is a major problem (requiring the help of an 18th level cleric of a Greater God with 18 wisdom who ages several years, irrecoverably, each time he or she cases restoration).
4. Many of the things you meet are poisonous. Poison kills you two times out of three regardless of how many hp you have. Other things turn you to stone, rust your gear or otherwise seriously ruin your day.
...
8. Prudence gets you killed too, but, less often.
9. Traps kill you. Sometimes you get a save, sometimes not.
...

I am definitely an old school gamer myself, but these are aspects of old school gaming that I hated.

Poison and level drain especially felt just cheap, especially combined with no-save situations.

Creating an environment where player choice defined the story is probably the most important. Second is a dynamic, uncaring world where foolishness got you killed fast, and intelligent play got brought victory. Play included, and frequently, emphasized problem and puzzle solving.

The more sadistic, power-mongering style of DMing was an ugly part of old school, and I was fortunate to have a good DM back then who wasn't like that.

 

[Aus_Snow]

Essay Time!

[. . .] (---snip---)

Okay I'm done. Thanks to the three people who actually bother to read all the way through.

You're welcome. Though I'm probably not one of the first three, in fact.

That was an enjoyable and entertaining read, thanks. A number of "uh huh, yep"s and chuckles later, I finished reading, though at first I was unsure where you were headed.

A lot of it reminds me of how I've run 3e, myself. Not all, but yeah, a fair bit. So it must be good.

 

[(Psi)SeveredHead]

9) Make them explore hex by hex to find places, making a map as they go.

10) Require dungeon mapping, and make them tell you right-turn, left-turn, etc. to get out of the dungeon. Make this worthwhile with teleports and lots of things that can misdirect. This heightens the sense of exploring. Yes, it slows things down.

13) Screw realism, screw ecology, screw explanations, screw economies, screw physics. The explanation is out there for why an ogre is wandering the city without molesting anyone until he sees the party. The explanation isn't what the game's about. Killing an ogre in a cool city brawl is what the game's about. If they ask why, tell them to figure it out. They may try. Their line of inquiriy will give you good ideas.

I think I'd leave these parts out of 3e old school, actually. Number 9 and 10 don't seem fun at all.

 

[Treebore]

I think I'd leave these parts out of 3e old school, actually. Number 9 and 10 don't seem fun at all.

True, but try it some time and find out how hard it is for the players to get it right.

It does seriously slow down a game session though. So I wouldn't do it all the time. Just for the big ones where twists and turns can get you lost. Then find out how hard mapping can be.

 

[Mythmere1]

True, but try it some time and find out how hard it is for the players to get it right.

It does seriously slow down a game session though. So I wouldn't do it all the time. Just for the big ones where twists and turns can get you lost. Then find out how hard mapping can be.

It does slow down a game session, and 3e has less extra time to spare given that combats are generally longer to accomodate the use of (and the thinking about) more specific combat options. I think this is exactly why mapping has been abandoned by a lot of 3e DMs, and I'm not sure how exactly you could cram it in there. Nevertheless, I think you lose a whole lot by just giving the players the terrain. How to handle this time-allocation problem I do not know. But to lose mapping is to lose something that seriously reinforces the feeling of facing the unknown.

I'm not saying you'd have to do all these things, or that they'd fit cleanly into the 3e system. The system itself is geared toward different focuses than 1e, and it's a tight system that's dangerous to tweak too far. But to get more old school, I'd consider all the items on that menu pretty closely.

 

[Lanefan]

Brilliant essay, Mythmere1!

One thing you hit on, that others have already objected to but is important (so stick to your guns!) is: old-school games are in almost all respects slower. 3e is designed around a 1-2 year campaign life. 1e had no such ideas...it was completely open-ended; you just did whatever needed doing at the time and if it took all session to map out a tricky bit of maze, that's what the session consisted of; and neither the DM nor the players had any idea when or how the campaign would end* when it started...it just went on as long as the players and DM were willing. There was no "it's been 4 sessions or 13.5 encounters so I should have bumped, where's my new level?". There was no take-20 hand-waves for exploring, or bluff-intimidate-diplomacy rolls to speed things up and replace actual interaction. The players had to work harder, the DM had to be more patient, and a single adventure could take many sessions to finish.

Otherwise, you hit a lot of nails on their heads...good on ya!

* - excluding those cases where a DM was running a campaign consisting of a closed-ended story arc only.

Lanefan

 

[Mycanid]

Mythmere1 ... I just read through your essay.

You hit the nail ON THE HEAD! (Now I feel all nostalgic....)

Hoorah for you!

 

[Flynn]

This is definitely something I've been wrestling with myself of late. I want the Old School feel, but I don't game with people that can handle going back to an earlier edition. Mythmere1's post has a number of good things in it that I will keep in mind for my next campaign, and there's some other good feedback by other posters. Nice work all the way around, guys.

I look forward to reading more on this topic,
Flynn

 

[Mythmere1]

Thanks for the kudos, all. BTW, if anyone wants a simple, d20 style presentation of the 1e rules, click on OSRIC in my sig. It's a free pdf, easy to learn (or refresh) the nuts and bolts.

 

[Thunderfoot]

Essay Time!
<SNIP>
Okay I'm done. Thanks to the three people who actually bother to read all the way through.

THAT WAS BEAUTIFUL!!!!!!
I haven't wanted to die in a dungeon in so long that your essay was like a bath of cold water on a hot day. It reminds me of a poem I wrote <mumble mumble> years ago:

I am awake and death is calling.
My sword is standing in the corner begging for me.
The bed is soft but I ache for the cold ground and the rock for a pillow.
My heart yearns for the race as I stare death in the face,
I am ready, I gird my armor and strap on my arms;
to join the battle and find reward
or to lay in a grave garland with honor and glory;
or in the belly of the beast with no tears shed.

If you haven't read the post - DO IT!