Why I Love Nu-Skool D&D
The cool thing about old versions of D&D is that's it's simple, random, and open to endless interpretation and tweaking. That's also one of it's greatest flaws. The reason many people make up their own house rules is because the rules, as written, don't make a heck of a lot of sense. And they're stupidly unfair. Sure, having a wizard with 2 hit points who gets killed by a stray cat is funny the first time, but after dying 8 times in two sessions, that shit gets old. Especially when a significant portion of those deaths were caused by the same f***ing cat.
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Three attacks per round. AC 5. This things' a low-level PC grinder. |
Structure, in many ways, promotes creativity. Having more rules forces you to think about how to get the most out of those rules, as well as how to get around them. Figuring out cool combinations of feats and powers can be great fun (albeit, by the definition of people who find algebra fun - and I know a lot of gamers that fall into that category). The mathematical precision is comforting because you can always calculate what will be better for you in a given situation. Part of the "game" is the puzzle of making the numbers work they way you want them to.
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Of course, if you don't like math, you can, also, you know, just play an elf cleric because the picture in the book is sexy. I know players who have picked characters exactly that way. |
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Random treasure can be fun, but really, how many Apparatuses of Kwalish do you really need? |
That's something else that's stressed in Nu Skool: You ARE a hero. In old versions of the game, you start out as just some dipshit with a sword, or a newb wizard who knows one spell. In 4E, even at low levels, you wield considerable power. You can pull off crazy moves called things like "Inevitable Shot" and "Unstoppable Ninja Killing Strike of Super Awesomeness" (I think I made that one up... I think). You can take huge amounts of punishment and get right back right back up and brush yourself off. Hell, even dying is only a temporary inconvenience, since get resurrected only imposes what, a -1 penalty to attack rolls? (I don't even remember, I've never actually had a character die). Can you imagine, years ago, if someone told you that your D&D fighter could have hundreds of hit points, crazy magical weapons and gear, and could roll FISTFULS of dice for damage? Fourth Edition is the game that hard-ass old schoolers dreamed about. Until they got it, of course, and then decided that they were too hip to play corporate-made games.
Whatever. Though it's a very different game, 4E has its own strengths and I love it for its own merits. I love older editions for the same reasons, B/X in particular. It's okay if you like something different than me. It's also okay to like both. There's way too much hate in the OGBloC. Can we all just get along, rather than argue about our games? Especially since there are enough people outside the hobby who look down upon or make fun of us for what we do? There's really no need for us to fight amongst ourselves.
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We should be focusing our fire on the boss monsters. |