Will the complexity pendulum swing back?

[Maxperson]

I remain pretty relentlessy non-VTT. I don't hate it, but I don't love it either and with a lot of games I think it can take away more than it adds.

I avoid VTT whenever possible. That said, I'm about to start a VTT game in a few weeks. The reason for that is the DM for the game is a guy who I played D&D with back in the 1980s and haven't played with him since(he was career army) lives in Oregon, one of my players just moved to Seattle and also played with us back in the 80's, another guy in the game was our DM back in the 80's, and then the last of us is one of my other players who wanted to join the game.

It takes having 4 of the 5 of us having played in junior high school 40 years ago and are spread across three states to get me to agree to VTT.

 

[Eric V]

Because time spent discussing rules options and tactical complexity is time that you aren't speaking in character.

I was addressing the specific example of "Thespianism vs. Roll Ability check." That's a false dichotomy; it's thespianism resulting in bonus to ability check.

 

[Agamon]

The 1e DMG is literally one of my top five favorite RPG books.

Fun read, not the best reference manual. Then again, most good GM guides are the same...

 

[Neonchameleon]

What other kinds of complexity are there?

Depth. Or Complex Choices. Cases where you have to make a choice in character and there is not necessarily a right answer. PbtA "success with consequences" are often examples here as are risk-reward balances. Things where there is no clear answer so the choice reveals things about the character.

 

[Neonchameleon]

Somewhat, honestly don't find a few different formulas to be all that much, each is coherent in itself. 3E is more of a headache overall, nothing in AD,D equals the pain of grappling in 3E.

I think grappling's easier in GURPS than 3.X. They cleaned up the core of 3.X then weighed it down with as much as they thought it would carry.

Meanwhile almost any system feels easy and intuitive if it's what you are used to. Multiple subsystems make things more complex with minimal payoff.

 

[kermit4karate]

I think grappling's easier in GURPS than 3.X. They cleaned up the core of 3.X then weighed it down with as much as they thought it would carry.

Meanwhile almost any system feels easy and intuitive if it's what you are used to. Multiple subsystems make things more complex with minimal payoff.

"Meanwhile almost any system feels easy and intuitive if it's what you are used to."

Ain't that the truth. That's one reason D&D variants always start out with an unfair advantage.