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General Tabletop Discussion
D&D Older Editions
Edition Experience: Did/Do you Play 1E AD&D? How Was/Is It?
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<blockquote data-quote="CleverNickName" data-source="post: 7996157" data-attributes="member: 50987"><p>I know you weren't asking me, but I'll chime in and say "yes, in a lot of ways."</p><p></p><p>My biggest issue is with the battle mat. Having every turn of every round of every combat scene turn into a boardgame, and having players haggle with me and each other over board position is really immersion-breaking (and exhausting, besides). "No, see, if you stand over <em>here,</em> my fireball won't hit you." "Yes, but then I won't get the flanking bonus against this guy over here." "Oh yes, I see, well in that case how about I use a lightning bolt over <em>here </em>instead?" "But no, see, because the cleric is going to move over there on their initiative, so that they can caszzzz zzzz zzz...." All the effort I put into building tension and suspense goes right out the window so everyone can play Weird Chess for an hour.</p><p></p><p>I know that D&D grew from a tactical wargame, and the concept of a battle mat is not "new" to this hobby we all enjoy. But I cut my teeth on the BECMI edition of D&D, which did not have <em>any </em>rules for using a battle mat. Nothing was described in terms of "squares," and it often didn't matter if you were 55 feet vs. 60 feet from your opponent. Combat was a little less defined, which made it a little less complicated, a little more maleable, and a little more malleable. I wish that had carried through into later editions.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="CleverNickName, post: 7996157, member: 50987"] I know you weren't asking me, but I'll chime in and say "yes, in a lot of ways." My biggest issue is with the battle mat. Having every turn of every round of every combat scene turn into a boardgame, and having players haggle with me and each other over board position is really immersion-breaking (and exhausting, besides). "No, see, if you stand over [I]here,[/I] my fireball won't hit you." "Yes, but then I won't get the flanking bonus against this guy over here." "Oh yes, I see, well in that case how about I use a lightning bolt over [I]here [/I]instead?" "But no, see, because the cleric is going to move over there on their initiative, so that they can caszzzz zzzz zzz...." All the effort I put into building tension and suspense goes right out the window so everyone can play Weird Chess for an hour. I know that D&D grew from a tactical wargame, and the concept of a battle mat is not "new" to this hobby we all enjoy. But I cut my teeth on the BECMI edition of D&D, which did not have [I]any [/I]rules for using a battle mat. Nothing was described in terms of "squares," and it often didn't matter if you were 55 feet vs. 60 feet from your opponent. Combat was a little less defined, which made it a little less complicated, a little more maleable, and a little more malleable. I wish that had carried through into later editions. [/QUOTE]
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Edition Experience: Did/Do you Play 1E AD&D? How Was/Is It?
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