When did 4d6-drop-lowest first appear?

[Bullgrit]

I remember that was the method we used (per DM direction) in 1981 when I started playing. So it was either around then [as clearly noted by Plane Sailing] or my DM was ahead of the curve.

I get no love :-(

so many old school gamers would lead one to believe that such is new fangled powercreep.

And they'd never admit that power creep is as old school as Supplement I: Greyhawk.

It gets asked about, and most of all mistaken as a more recent phenomenon, a lot.

There's a lot of stuff that gets blamed on recent editions, and forgotten about earlier editions.

Bullgrit
Total Bullgrit

 

[cougent]

OH CRAP! I was fully thinking about you Bullgrit, and somewhere between brain and fingers the mention of your post got lost... I will go stand in the corner now.

 

[Bullgrit]

It's interesting to note that so many (around half) of the voters are wrong. If so many people can be wrong about something so easily checked about older editions of D&D, how much else are they wrong about?

Remember this the next time some "old schooler" tells you a "fact" about old D&D. There's a good chance they are flat-out wrong. (Ask for quotes and page references.

Bullgrit

 

[Delta]

Word.

 

[Crothian]

It's interesting to note that so many (around half) of the voters are wrong. If so many people can be wrong about something so easily checked about older editions of D&D, how much else are they wrong about?

To be fair the poll asks for people to use their best recollection, not cheat and look it up

Also, what makes you think all these voters happen to have a copy of all the editions sitting around ready for reference? It would be interesting to see a poll asking what editions of the game people currently own.

 

[StreamOfTheSky]

It's interesting to note that so many (around half) of the voters are wrong. If so many people can be wrong about something so easily checked about older editions of D&D, how much else are they wrong about?

Remember this the next time some "old schooler" tells you a "fact" about old D&D. There's a good chance they are flat-out wrong. (Ask for quotes and page references.

Bullgrit

Well, I played for like two sessions of 2E and then didn't play again till 3E, so I was basically just guessing blindly (2E).

 

[sjmiller]

I'm one of those scary people who not only knew the correct answer from memory, but if I thought hard enough I could probably have given the page number. I know I could grab my book off the shelf and flip to the page quickly enough.

 

[Bullgrit]

To be fair the poll asks for people to use their best recollection

And so many recollections were wrong :-D

Also, what makes you think all these voters happen to have a copy of all the editions sitting around ready for reference?

That's irrelevant. Whether this was an open-book or closed-book test, many people got it wrong.

I'm just saying folks should keep this in mind when they read a "fact" about old D&D rules/books thrown out around here.

Bullgrit

 

[jmucchiello]

I was pretty sure it was 1E although if pressed I might have said UA instead of the DMG. All I remember is reading it in that teeny tiny font used throughout most of 1E.

Of course I'm sure the first time it happen someone was supposed to roll 3d6 in order and on the first roll he picked up 4 dice by "mistake" and rolled them. Then, he innocently asked the DM if he could keep the best 3.

 

[Crothian]

That's irrelevant. Whether this was an open-book or closed-book test, many people got it wrong.

It is very relevant. You are assuming that people answering this poll wrong think they know what the answer is. However as we see from some of the responses people are just guessing because they have no idea. No one is stating that thier wrong answer here is fact. One little poll here is really no way to judge what people post about older games on a forum.