What do you miss about AD&D 1e?

[DMScott]

What I'm hankering for is a good jug of GROG. By the elder gods, that stuff is hard to find around here.

Unless you're referring to some specific company's product, grog shouldn't be hard to find. Here's a little history, along with the ingredients:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grog

Finding the optimal mix is left as an exercise for your liver.

 

[Incenjucar]

in looking at the data on which this sweeping assertion is based.

You seem to be under the impression that the majority of groups are of the legal age (or technically criminals) and drinkers, AND drink beer rather than, say, wine or ale or any of the other wide variety of rotten produce beverages. (Last I heard, most early drinkers tend to get in to wine coolers, for instance)

Now, while MANY groups are of that nature, I can assure you, there are a rather large group of D&Ders who are not of the legal age (and aren't in to breaking the law for the sake of ingesting rotten rice water), are but don't drink at games (or at all), or whom don't drink beer, specifically, at games.

Hence, beer is not THE drink of choice for D&Ders. -A- drink of choice, certainly, bo so is Mt. Dew and Shasta and Pepsi and Yugoloths know what else.

Now, amoungst 1e or, Bytopia forbid, Oe players, I'm willing to accept that large amounts of alcohol are being consumed in every game.

--

And yes, Mt. Dew without caffeine should be illegal. Just call it "Dew Drops" as is. Or "Brominated Juice"

--

CR is useful in its own way, but they really need to make something of a list of CR-altering conditions, if just for those unused to the game.

 

[Mouseferatu]

On the issue of CRs and the "Culture of Balance", I have to disagree. I'm a firm believer in status quo encounters, and CRs are there as a tool for the GM to work out what is an appropriate challenge for a party, to avoid mistakes and TPKing on the first encounter.

Different strokes and all that, I guess, but I can't imagine running or playing in a game where every encounter was precisely balanced without getting bored.

Some fights should be exactly even, using "roughly 1/4 of the party's resources," sure. Some fights should be easy. Some fights should be a lot harder. And on occasion, some fights should be impossible, forcing the party to find some means other than violence to solve their problems.

As a DM, I usually have only one or two fights per sessions (and I'm known to have the occasional session with no combat at all). If I stuck to the CR of the party, they'd walk through the battles no problem. I think that, on average, I use creatures (or combinations) anywhere from 2 to 4 levels above the party's level. That makes for a challenging fight and with real danger, but the odds are still with the PCs.

As a player, I like the sense of danger, of knowing that my character could actually die. The only thing I want from the DM is that he made certain the fight wasn't so high, in terms of EL or CR, that we have no chance of victory--and even if it is, if he's allowed us room to escape and come back from a different angle of approach later on, I'm okay with that, too.

AFAIAC, challenge rating, more than anything else in the book, is a very general guideline, not a hard and fast rule.

 

[hexgrid]

Mt. Dew... without... caffeine?!?!

I... I feel faint. What the hell kinda country are you folks running up there?!?!

Well, drinking Mt. Dew for it's caffeine content doesn't make much sense anyway- 12 oz. can of Mt. Dew has just 55 mg of caffeine, while an 8 oz. serving of Starbucks coffee has about 200 mg.

Coffee is my gaming drink of choice...

(Though I admit that coffee is my drink of choice for just about any activity.)

 

[AdmundfortGeographer]

It's a fairly retarded rule, I'll admit.

You know what though, it's about as retarded as the many states in the US that have regulations that require beer to be 32 alcohol content. One of the regular traditions around here was for folks who were heading to Canada to bring back Canadian versions of the same brands of beer because they were more intoxicating. One of the benefits of being a border state.

Plus, you can get real Cuban cigars in Canada.


Regards,
Eric Anondson

 

[Testament]

Different strokes and all that, I guess, but I can't imagine running or playing in a game where every encounter was precisely balanced without getting bored.

Some fights should be exactly even, using "roughly 1/4 of the party's resources," sure. Some fights should be easy. Some fights should be a lot harder. And on occasion, some fights should be impossible, forcing the party to find some means other than violence to solve their problems.

As a DM, I usually have only one or two fights per sessions (and I'm known to have the occasional session with no combat at all). If I stuck to the CR of the party, they'd walk through the battles no problem. I think that, on average, I use creatures (or combinations) anywhere from 2 to 4 levels above the party's level. That makes for a challenging fight and with real danger, but the odds are still with the PCs.

As a player, I like the sense of danger, of knowing that my character could actually die. The only thing I want from the DM is that he made certain the fight wasn't so high, in terms of EL or CR, that we have no chance of victory--and even if it is, if he's allowed us room to escape and come back from a different angle of approach later on, I'm okay with that, too.

AFAIAC, challenge rating, more than anything else in the book, is a very general guideline, not a hard and fast rule.

GAH! I don't think I made myself clear. CR is nothing more than a tool for me, and by status quo encounters I mean that if you go to X place, you will face Y monster, character levels be damned. CR just helps you work out what to launch at the players so they can win, and what will have them pushing it uphill. I have thrown some insane encounters at the players, like a pair of manticores, one of which was a 6th level sorc and the other advanced to the nines. The party level? 4th.

The culture of balance on CRs is with DMs and players. Not the rules.

 

[Mouseferatu]

GAH! I don't think I made myself clear. CR is nothing more than a tool for me, and by status quo encounters I mean that if you go to X place, you will face Y monster, character levels be damned. CR just helps you work out what to launch at the players so they can win, and what will have them pushing it uphill. I have thrown some insane encounters at the players, like a pair of manticores, one of which was a 6th level sorc and the other advanced to the nines. The party level? 4th.

The culture of balance on CRs is with DMs and players. Not the rules.

Ah. Makes much more sense to me now.

Sorry for the misunderstanding.

 

[Akrasia]

You seem to be under the impression that the majority of groups are of the legal age (or technically criminals) and drinkers, AND drink beer rather than, say, wine or ale or any of the other wide variety of rotten produce beverages. (Last I heard, most early drinkers tend to get in to wine coolers, for instance)

....

Rubbish. I was simply objecting to your sweeping generalization.

 

[Akrasia]

... wide variety of rotten produce beverages.
... the sake of ingesting rotten rice water ...

You seem unusually bothered by the fermentation process.

Rest assured: the alcohol takes care of any troublesome wee-beasties.

Now, amoungst 1e or, Bytopia forbid, Oe players, I'm willing to accept that large amounts of alcohol are being consumed in every game.

Um ... whatever. :\

 

[Akrasia]

Um.. I hate to disappoint you, but I take it you don't know that grog is just watered-down rum? It was the standard daily rum rationing of Her Majesty's Royal Navy, until "black tot day" (July 30, 1970) when the tradition came to an end.
...

Wow -- that is disappointing! (And I feel shame for not knowing this before now.)