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The Uncanny Resurrection of Dungeons and Dragons

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Re: The Uncanny Resurrection of Dungeons and Dragons

#61

Post by jorvi »

nevster wrote: post #30

I think the main thing is 5th edition - it's really good. I briefly tried 4th edition and it just didn't feel right - way too combat heavy and video-gamey. Then 5th edition came out and it was immediately obvious that it had that 1st edition feel but with all the bugs worked out. I play it with my kids and it's awesome.

Would you care to share some 'bugs'? I'm always pretty interested in those things, despite never having had a.. session(?) myself. I know of one where you used a Spiked Chain, made yourself a giant(?) so you got a big boost in combat stats, and because of how the chain works you'd almost always succeed in tripping someone, and when they got up got a free counter attack that again could trip them. Another one I do not know the method of (except that it has to do with Simulacra and Wish) which let's you basically make infinite copies of yourself.

Re: The Uncanny Resurrection of Dungeons and Dragons

#63

Post by gglitch »

dmoy wrote: post #22
forapurpose wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why would someone who already knows AD&D 1e switch to the new one? What does that person gain? Imagine this hypothetical person wants to spend as little time as possible learning and on details, and as much as possible on creative experiences.

Not having to use THAC0 ever again would be one thing they would gain. I'd make a silly wager that the net time saved by using 5e rules would outweigh the cost of learning them.

I don’t know editions subsequent to 2e, but I kind of liked THAC0. Tough to explain, but flexible. A useful abstraction.

Re: The Uncanny Resurrection of Dungeons and Dragons

#65

Post by angersock »

squeaky-clean wrote: post #40
gerdesj wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What on earth are these edition things? I'll have to dig out my DMG, PH, MM, FF etc. Apparently, they might be cool. Then there is Traveller, Runequest, Tunnels and Trolls, Car Wars (with Truck Stop etc) and rather a lot more.

Every 8 or so years they revamp the rules and release it as a new edition. Aside from few exceptions, they're mostly incompatible with each other and offer different rules for combat, skill usage and training, etc, and quality-of-life improvements. 3e (more specifically 3.5e) was extremely popular. There's now a ruleset called Pathfinder made by another company, Paizo, that continues the style of 3.5e and is mostly c…

Note that the main benefit of Pathfinder was breaking compatibility with the huuuuge number of splatbooks for 3.x, and in cleaning up the skills system.

Unfortunately, as Paizo seeks to grow its business and publish more content, they tend to keep adding special rules and things that kinda distort that original accomplishment.

Re: The Uncanny Resurrection of Dungeons and Dragons

#66

Post by duncan_bayne »

I'll have to look into it again. Lost interest in AD&D at 3rd Edition; everything from the book artwork to the game mechanics made me feel like I was hand-executing a computer RPG game.

I still use my old 2nd Edition manuals for the rare social games I play these days.

Re: The Uncanny Resurrection of Dungeons and Dragons

#68

Post by thnmnt »

Poiesis wrote: post #60
nevster wrote: post #30

I think the main thing is 5th edition - it's really good. I briefly tried 4th edition and it just didn't feel right - way too combat heavy and video-gamey. Then 5th edition came out and it was immediately obvious that it had that 1st edition feel but with all the bugs worked out. I play it with my kids and it's awesome.

If you have any, I’d love tips for running a game for kids. (I’ve never DM’ed or played but am pretty familiar from many podcasts)

I’ll point to an article I wrote on my blog if I may. I started my game audio website after lots of trial and error gaming with my kids.

https://tabletopaudio.com/blog/2014/02/06/gaming-with-kids/

Re: The Uncanny Resurrection of Dungeons and Dragons

#69

Post by soapdog »

Poiesis wrote: post #60
nevster wrote: post #30

I think the main thing is 5th edition - it's really good. I briefly tried 4th edition and it just didn't feel right - way too combat heavy and video-gamey. Then 5th edition came out and it was immediately obvious that it had that 1st edition feel but with all the bugs worked out. I play it with my kids and it's awesome.

If you have any, I’d love tips for running a game for kids. (I’ve never DM’ed or played but am pretty familiar from many podcasts)

If you're not married to the idea of D&D you can check other systems that are more focused on a "pick up and play" style such as "Fate Accelerated" from Evil Hat.

Re: The Uncanny Resurrection of Dungeons and Dragons

#70

Post by angersock »

jorvi wrote: post #61
nevster wrote: post #30

I think the main thing is 5th edition - it's really good. I briefly tried 4th edition and it just didn't feel right - way too combat heavy and video-gamey. Then 5th edition came out and it was immediately obvious that it had that 1st edition feel but with all the bugs worked out. I play it with my kids and it's awesome.

Would you care to share some 'bugs'? I'm always pretty interested in those things, despite never having had a.. session(?) myself. I know of one where you used a Spiked Chain, made yourself a giant(?) so you got a big boost in combat stats, and because of how the chain works you'd almost always succeed in tripping someone, and when they got up got a free counter attack that again could trip them. Another one I do not…

In our Pathfinder campaign, we have a level 10 evocation (fireball, pew pew) halfing (I think?) wizard with a raven familiar. Said wizard has permanent Reduce person (so to be a tiny creature) and their familiar has permanent Enlarge Person to make it a small creature. The wizard sits in a backpack on the crow, and for roleplaying purposes (wizard lost a bet to familiar) the raven does all the talking and casting.

Before feats, the raven can fly 40' a round. Between that and items to allow for empowered and maximized fireball and scorching ray (I think?), our wizard regularly drops between 60 and 120 damage per round.

We basically have an Apache attack helicopter.

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