Sunday, August 8, 2010

D&D Essentials and other musings

So what's the opinion on this new cost efficient version of D&D? Any of you Old School Gamers have any interest in it at all? After looking at a few examples it appears to be the very same ol 4th edition just presented in a different format. I still see many 4th edition "purist" especially the ones I know freaking and fuming about the whole thing. I kinda like the small 6 x 9 inch booklets idea.

Possibly (but unlikely due to life and time constraints) one day I will try to write my RPG that is a mix of the old and new school.

Old school simplicity with the new school options.

Let's face it some of the rule restrictions and such in the world of old school gaming is just stupid. Level Limits being the most and racial class restrictions as well.

In the new school it's monster stats that are as long and complicated as character stats, too many hit points, too much math, way too many rules.

Someone needs to mend these with a really cool game that mixes the old and new in a simple way.

It might just be me (or somebody else with time and a life).

6 comments:

  1. I'm not too eager for the Essential books as they won't remove the "one-hour-combat" that I've seen on 4th edition so far.

    About the old+new approach, I recommend you to check http://blog.retroroleplaying.com/, as Randall's Microlite OSS (Old School Style) may be what you are looking for. In my case, I'm loving Microlite75, but I'll let you check them by yourself.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I had some interest in the Essentials version until the recent revelation that the main product line would be updated to bring it in line with the essentials. This is a stealth half edition and I won't participate in such shenanigans.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I can't say I'm excited by Essentials at all. Probably because I tried 4e and got a resounding "meh" both from myself and my players.

    ReplyDelete
  4. My group has struggled with exactly this sort of thing for some time now. When we play 4E it drags, but when we play OSG the players get frustrated by the lack of options (and some of the really stupid rules).

    At one point I asked everyone to just tell me all the rules from 4E they thought we should adapt, but soon I had a list so long that we might as well be playing 4E.

    So now we are trying to do the reverse, and turn 4E into an OSG; not sure yet how that will work out.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Apparently "stupid" means "anything you personally don't like"? Perhaps you should strive to cultivate a bit of the maturity you were seeking in your fellow gamers. Otherwise, you come across as another man-boy venting his nerd-rage on the internet.

    ReplyDelete