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Post by Yaleric on Oct 14, 2022 21:24:16 GMT -5
What mode of thought should a player have in OD&D? What is your take on that? How does it differ from the mode of thought that was starting to become the norm as OD&D was being replaced by AD&D and B/X/ BECMI; a mode of thought that became the standard under AD&D 2nd Ed and has been enshrined from 3E through the current 5E.
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Post by JMiskimen on Oct 15, 2022 9:29:35 GMT -5
Make allies and nurture those relationships in game; hirelings, henchmen, fences, trainers, and patrons alike. Thinking you can go it alone has fostered much player character power creep through the latter editions.
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Post by hengest on Oct 15, 2022 10:05:03 GMT -5
Make allies and nurture those relationships in game; hirelings, henchmen, fences, trainers, and patrons alike. Thinking you can go it alone has fostered much player character power creep through the latter editions. Very solid observation. I would not have thought of this. |
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Post by The Perilous Dreamer on Oct 15, 2022 12:06:03 GMT -5
Make allies and nurture those relationships in game; hirelings, henchmen, fences, trainers, and patrons alike. Thinking you can go it alone has fostered much player character power creep through the latter editions. Great advice, have an Exalt JMiskimen. |
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Post by The Perilous Dreamer on Oct 15, 2022 12:13:51 GMT -5
I would say think like an adventurer, think like you are really there in real life doing it and you want to survive and make it back with something to show for it. Be decisive and make decisions in real time, like you would have to do if you were really there in person. Over time several things happen, you learn and continually improve in making good decisions, you get really immersed in your character and in the game. You don't have to look at your character sheet, because you know your character inside and out, so you don't break the action to study the character sheet. If you and the other players do this, then you become a real team working together and your experience not just the personal immersion in the world, but there is a synergy between the players that is seldom experienced in life, outside of close-knit sports teams and it is rare even there.
Don't think like a rules lawyer, minmaxer, who is focused on the character sheet and the rules, focused on trying to make the "technically" optimal decision every time and as a consequence you forget to enjoy the game and you never experience immersion.
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Post by simrion on Oct 16, 2022 6:58:21 GMT -5
Some outstanding observations in a very few posts! I feel the early game was one of exploration and suspense not to run around and engage every little thing in combat as the later versions of the game seem to emphasize. The idea was to get into the dungeon, with either a specific or general goal (treasure acquisition, some form of quest maybe?) and get out alive. Otherwise you get no experience and, more often than not, you get dead. Not the end of the world seeing as characters are a breeze to roll up, but you then end up in a mixed party of different levels assuming no TPK. Combat is deadly and random encounters are rampant. ODS&D provides the most XPs for treasure and the least for combat successes. Combat is fun and exciting but so is the exploration, especially if, as PD states, you engage your imagination fully and play your character as if you are actually there. As I understand it Gary's early games you typically couldn't see him. He'd hide behind his file cabinet and dictate what the environment was like. Players were left to their own devices to describe their actions, to which he'd react. Not sure if Dave did something similar? I'll leave that to those here more in the know. IN any event I think it boils down to group embrace of theater of the mind.
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Post by The Perilous Dreamer on Oct 16, 2022 15:37:40 GMT -5
Some outstanding observations in a very few posts! I feel the early game was one of exploration and suspense not to run around and engage every little thing in combat as the later versions of the game seem to emphasize. The idea was to get into the dungeon, with either a specific or general goal (treasure acquisition, some form of quest maybe?) and get out alive. Otherwise you get no experience and, more often than not, you get dead. Not the end of the world seeing as characters are a breeze to roll up, but you then end up in a mixed party of different levels assuming no TPK. Combat is deadly and random encounters are rampant. ODS&D provides the most XPs for treasure and the least for combat successes. Combat is fun and exciting but so is the exploration, especially if, as PD states, you engage your imagination fully and play your character as if you are actually there. As I understand it Gary's early games you typically couldn't see him. He'd hide behind his file cabinet and dictate what the environment was like. Players were left to their own devices to describe their actions, to which he'd react. Not sure if Dave did something similar? I'll leave that to those here more in the know. IN any event I think it boils down to group embrace of theater of the mind. Great points simrion. I stopped giving any experience for combat very early on. As for theater of the mind, someone, I don't remember who, in an article I recently read or maybe it was a youtube video is out there preaching that theater of the mind was never a thing and that miniatures were universally used. I did not have miniatures, except one as a gift, so I never used them, I always played theater of the mind. I don't have anything against people using miniatures, but I did not, have not and am not likely to use miniatures. |
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Post by mao on Oct 16, 2022 15:44:00 GMT -5
For my player's the thought was "Be prepared at every second for something hostile". I even had Dream Warriors who attacked in your sleep. if you lost you would wake up at 1/2 HP. Several of my players later told me that playing in other games ,that combat was child's play.
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Post by simrion on Oct 16, 2022 16:28:58 GMT -5
For my player's the thought was "Be prepared at every second for something hostile". I even had Dream Warriors who attacked in your sleep. if you lost you would wake up at 1/2 HP. Several of my players later told me that playing in other games ,that combat was child's play. That's just mean...I like it! Did they only appear if the party decided to rest in the dungeon? |
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Post by mao on Oct 16, 2022 16:54:35 GMT -5
For my player's the thought was "Be prepared at every second for something hostile". I even had Dream Warriors who attacked in your sleep. if you lost you would wake up at 1/2 HP. Several of my players later told me that playing in other games ,that combat was child's play. That's just mean...I like it! Did they only appear if the party decided to rest in the dungeon? any time at all, they did have to be sent on purpose. |
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Post by Old Timer on Oct 17, 2022 16:31:52 GMT -5
A close knit team of adventurers who always have each others back. Exception, if a murder hobo (definition, someone who will kill women, infants and children the town market for a single XP) shows up, the entire team should immediately kill him.
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Post by arjen on Oct 17, 2022 16:42:34 GMT -5
Description first, rules second. Listen to the descriptions of the DM and incorporate them in describing what your characters action is going to be, you will hear whether it succeeds or fails fails or whether you need to roll a die.
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Post by Keyone1234 on Oct 17, 2022 17:43:20 GMT -5
Teamwork and cooperation. If two players just can't get along, then you and the group will have to decide who stays (if either) and who goes.
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