Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
The
VOIDRUNNER'S CODEX
is coming! Explore new worlds, fight oppressive empires, fend off fearsome aliens, and wield deadly psionics with this comprehensive boxed set expansion for 5E and A5E!
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
D&D Older Editions
Edition Experience: Did/Do you Play 1E AD&D? How Was/Is It?
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="GreyLord" data-source="post: 7944169" data-attributes="member: 4348"><p>What I liked about it in part were BECAUSE of the restrictions. Because of Restrictions it focused a more Humanocentric game which reflected more of the sword and sorcery feel of that and earlier eras (1920s-1980s).</p><p></p><p>In the pulp fantasy/fiction era of sword and sorcery it normally was not about an elf, or a dwarf, or some other fantasy creature adventuring, it was about humans encountering the strange, the unexplained, the malevolent, and the evil. The humans themselves were not necessarily good, but what they were facing were worse.</p><p></p><p>Conan or Tarzan or Allen Quartermain all exemplify this era of adventurers and sword and sorcery, Lovecraft exemplifies the unknown and weird, and other pulp heroes place the human experience of the adventuring lifestyle.</p><p></p><p>Things were not all equal per se. A trained gunman was going to hit his target a LOT more often. It was NOT because your ability scores, but because you actually trained and WERE a better shot and due to who you were and what you did. That mysterious wizard or scientist from the Lab had no proficiency in weapons and couldn't hit the broadside of a barn, but they had gadgets or knowledge or spells that could enchant the most stolid out there. Van Helsing wasn't the greatest swordsman in the world, but his faith and ability to outmaneuver Vampires and their spawn gave him an edge that even the most able soldier would lack.</p><p></p><p>The restrictions were not about equality or fairness because the world they were based upon was not about equality or fairness. The World was NOT fair and at times was set against you. Unready adventurers died by the dozens.</p><p></p><p>It was about the adventure.</p><p></p><p>And that's why level limits, class restrictions, and everything else hits the right nerve with me...because at that time the world wasn't seen as fair, and neither were the worlds of sword and sorcery. In fact at times it was inherently UNFAIR. However, even as it was injust to those who were not prepared to face such a thing, it was inherently equal in the ability to be a human and face the odds of the unknown, to become that hero like you read about in the pulps and triumph to be the rugged warrior kings like Conan and the others of his ilk.</p><p></p><p>However, many weren't of the sword and sorcery kingdom and came from the Tolkien arrangements where Elves were ancient heroes and Dwarves journeyed as the main characters alongside non-human halflings. They didn't like these restrictions on being something other than human. They disliked the humanocentric ideals of AD&D...and as they gained influence we see changes to the system and the lessening of restrictions. First via AD&D 2e, and then almost completely gone in D&D 3e.</p><p></p><p>As such, they got away from the era of human protagonist (good or ill) facing the unknown wilderness, and more into high fantasy fare where instead of you playing the mad max worlds where all odds were against you, you were instead the fantasy creatures/races of fairy tales that went on adventures with each other and normally were the good guys facing off against evil. It took more on the face of epic fantasy with good vs. evil rather than the sword and sorcery feel where you may not be good, but you were probably not quite as bad as what you were facing.</p><p></p><p>It's hard to put in words, but those restrictions recreated a feel of an era which is hard to find today. In a world where D&D (4e/5e) has it that ALL proficiency bonuses with weapons advance at the same rate, where equality is seen as what all things should be based upon as balance is the key to the game (rather than inequality as the way things just are), and luck is minimized by the stats rather than choices and strategies of the players, games are much harder to make to replicate that feel of the long lost era of the 20th century.</p><p></p><p>AD&D was the game that recreated that feel, but then, that was last century...this is the 21st century and a new crop of gamers playing today want a game to replicate the feel of their century (the 21st century) rather than the eons of past ages. Thus, we have 4e and 5e which cater more to their desires than the games of the bygone days which I still play.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="GreyLord, post: 7944169, member: 4348"] What I liked about it in part were BECAUSE of the restrictions. Because of Restrictions it focused a more Humanocentric game which reflected more of the sword and sorcery feel of that and earlier eras (1920s-1980s). In the pulp fantasy/fiction era of sword and sorcery it normally was not about an elf, or a dwarf, or some other fantasy creature adventuring, it was about humans encountering the strange, the unexplained, the malevolent, and the evil. The humans themselves were not necessarily good, but what they were facing were worse. Conan or Tarzan or Allen Quartermain all exemplify this era of adventurers and sword and sorcery, Lovecraft exemplifies the unknown and weird, and other pulp heroes place the human experience of the adventuring lifestyle. Things were not all equal per se. A trained gunman was going to hit his target a LOT more often. It was NOT because your ability scores, but because you actually trained and WERE a better shot and due to who you were and what you did. That mysterious wizard or scientist from the Lab had no proficiency in weapons and couldn't hit the broadside of a barn, but they had gadgets or knowledge or spells that could enchant the most stolid out there. Van Helsing wasn't the greatest swordsman in the world, but his faith and ability to outmaneuver Vampires and their spawn gave him an edge that even the most able soldier would lack. The restrictions were not about equality or fairness because the world they were based upon was not about equality or fairness. The World was NOT fair and at times was set against you. Unready adventurers died by the dozens. It was about the adventure. And that's why level limits, class restrictions, and everything else hits the right nerve with me...because at that time the world wasn't seen as fair, and neither were the worlds of sword and sorcery. In fact at times it was inherently UNFAIR. However, even as it was injust to those who were not prepared to face such a thing, it was inherently equal in the ability to be a human and face the odds of the unknown, to become that hero like you read about in the pulps and triumph to be the rugged warrior kings like Conan and the others of his ilk. However, many weren't of the sword and sorcery kingdom and came from the Tolkien arrangements where Elves were ancient heroes and Dwarves journeyed as the main characters alongside non-human halflings. They didn't like these restrictions on being something other than human. They disliked the humanocentric ideals of AD&D...and as they gained influence we see changes to the system and the lessening of restrictions. First via AD&D 2e, and then almost completely gone in D&D 3e. As such, they got away from the era of human protagonist (good or ill) facing the unknown wilderness, and more into high fantasy fare where instead of you playing the mad max worlds where all odds were against you, you were instead the fantasy creatures/races of fairy tales that went on adventures with each other and normally were the good guys facing off against evil. It took more on the face of epic fantasy with good vs. evil rather than the sword and sorcery feel where you may not be good, but you were probably not quite as bad as what you were facing. It's hard to put in words, but those restrictions recreated a feel of an era which is hard to find today. In a world where D&D (4e/5e) has it that ALL proficiency bonuses with weapons advance at the same rate, where equality is seen as what all things should be based upon as balance is the key to the game (rather than inequality as the way things just are), and luck is minimized by the stats rather than choices and strategies of the players, games are much harder to make to replicate that feel of the long lost era of the 20th century. AD&D was the game that recreated that feel, but then, that was last century...this is the 21st century and a new crop of gamers playing today want a game to replicate the feel of their century (the 21st century) rather than the eons of past ages. Thus, we have 4e and 5e which cater more to their desires than the games of the bygone days which I still play. [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
D&D Older Editions
Edition Experience: Did/Do you Play 1E AD&D? How Was/Is It?
Top