I quit playing 4E for an undetermined time and other musings

Well I told my gaming group that I was just burnt out on 4th edition. Yep I know that is former post I said I was going to put away my OSR setting and embrace the 4th edition and just shut up and play!

AND play we did. I was playing a cleric. The battles were few but LONG. We had in the past discussed that the players need to know their characters and use strategy. Much strategy was used and many monsters fell. It still took too long and many battles just drug along.

Due to my job I had to give up the DM chair and we had some of the other members running games.

The system is fairly clunky. The monsters have a full page of stats. Why? Worst of all everything except minions has way too many hit points. Why would someone design a game in a way that purposefully makes battles last over 30 minutes?

I thought they play-tested it for over a year. How can there be so much errata? Then the Essentials are coming out which is a whole another version.

I remember one battle where a character did over 30 points of damage to a gnoll and this had just only bloodied it after 20 minutes of battle.

Slow. boardgamish, no story just battle, well I just stopped having fun or at least very much fun.

I had suggested many times for my group to try my LL mega-dungeon but I always got the blow off and the statement "I only like 4th". I always stated that we did not have to stop playing 4th but every so often try another system.

The standard answer was "I only like 4th" even though many of them have never played anything else or very little of anything else. In the past when anything else was going to be ran they would not show up that day.

So we were back to the every Saturday only playing 4th edition and it stopped being fun. I mean I love my group of friends but every weekend we were just playing a game and using per encounters, dailies, healing surges, too many hit point, too much math, too many rules, and it just got all the same. I asked my wife and my 14 year old what they thought. They too had not been having fun for a long time either. That settled it.

What about the fear of your character dieing? What about running out of spells and supplies? What about having to go back to town to heal up? What about it being a challenge?

A game where your character had fought and clawed his way for every XP he ever got.

SO..

I told my players for an undetermined time no 4th for me and soon I will be playing something else. The reaction was not surprising and I was not surprised by "I only like 4th and only want to play 4th" and one of the players said that if any other game was ran "he would not be attending".

I was even schooled on how I should have finished the 4th game that we were playing and then they would think about another game.

I did not recall asking them to stop playing 4th nor would I ever. I do not want this to end friendships but they seem to be taking the less than savory path. I will continue to be friendly and hope the best for them.

I only asked for them to try another style of gaming and was shot down for at least as long as I have had this blog save a few sessions.

OTHER MUSINGS

So the new Red Box is out? It only cover 2 levels. Gee sounds like a sample more than a game sight unseen. Gee I told WOTC to do that back on their forums during the first really crappy 3rd edition boxed set.

It's causing a stir and that is good and now the OSR Game Writers need to get off their asses and make a real basic set.

There needs to be a LL/AEC, OSRIC, BFRPG. and/or S&W (S&W is already kinda basic though) intro/basic set.

It should cover all the races and all the classes up to 5th level.

Have a selection of monsters and a guide on how to play as well as an adventure included.

Make it cheap. Get it out there!

A boxed set? Possibly but the OSR publishers need to get off their asses and take advantage of what is going on.

The OSR in me never died.

Well after a few more sessions of 4th Edition I decided to bring out my LL/AEC setting and work on it again. Not that the 4th edition sessions went "bad" per say it's just they didn't go "well". I had to give up the reigns of the DM as well as I have a LONG day that involves waking up a 3:25 in the morning and then getting to bed at 100:00 at four days a week and the fifth is an 8 hour shift but the 71.5 mile drive one way is the killed plus the 25 minute bus ride, plus the almost a mile walk. See very little time for rules intensive RPGs. Funny I can still create for the LL/AEC as all I think of is the story and then the rules just allow me to just write them down in minutes. The 4th has some good qualities and really good story ideas but it still does not offer that "certain magic" that the OSR does. I just recently reconnected with a few Old Schoolers in the area and may see if they want to play some RPGs old school style.

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).

Cracks Forming?

Wow the essentials has quite a few 4th edition players and DMs paranoid! More on this on a later post.

Once again another session of 4th edition that went well EXCEPT that more that half of the party got bored. Once again through no fault of anyone at the table the combat went WAY too long.

I once again asked about the S&W and LL game that we played in the past and was told by another memebr guilty of falling asleep during 4th edition games MORE that anyone else that she did not really like the old school gaming for no real clear reason other than not alot of stuff that I can do and not alot of hit points. It was too easy to die in the old school games.

What? Only one PC died and he replaced his character in about 5 minutes as that's all it took to roll one up?

Later on my wife said the same thing? What?!?!?!? her character made it to second level?

Cracks are forming as we level up and combat no matter what get's more and more boring even though we can do some really cool stuff the slower less gamer-centric players get left behind in the dust of the complication. They get to made to feel stupid and slow as the gamer-centric players get the rules.

In the old days only the DM needed to know the rules and the players just played. In fact it was not until the 90s that I learned the rules. I started in 81 or so.

The Players

PLAYERS:
Tony - Per'en Moonbeam - Elven Cleric of Corellon
Larry - Travok Ironfist, Nala - Dwarven Invoker of Moradin, Dragonborn Fighter
Amy - Darlet of Ashton - Human Fighter
Tabby - Shyla - Elven Seeker
Jade - Wynne - Elven Rogue
Machelle - Piper, Piper II - Shadar-kai Assassin, Shadar-kai Warden

The New Game

Well the last 4th edition D&D game was a success. Everyone had fun and using the old school techniques it really went well. I decided to use the Dungeon Tiles that I had acquired and I must say they are an excellent product. Most of all the players are having fun. I have decided to use my monsters in order and stove pipe the dungeon forgoing a premade map. I will go over the details of the story so far in a later post.

Time to give up on the Old School (well mostly)

Well it looks like my group has won.

They just don't dig the old stuff, or will even try it. They have had good times but the OSR type of gaming just don't have the features they like.


SO I just have started only writing adventures for the 4th edition only and will put my OSR stuff on the shelf to collect dust.


Most of all are they having fun? Do I push the OSR and not play at all or run the games they want? I would rather game then not.