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tumblingdice wrote:There's always room for B/X, no matter what system one uses.

I'm not a big fan of Dragonborn and Tieflings, however. They seem so outside the realm of traditional D&D. Besides, there's something unsettling about PCs with tails.

Im the same way. I did notice that Dwarves don't have a bonus vs magic saves any more. So I guess there can be Dwarf Wizards & such in this edition. They do get "advantage" vs. poison, I was just hoping to see the same vs magic too. The Warlock is new to me. Has a otherworld patron, some minor magic & perks.

Everyone makes their own choices & can play their own game- but I prefer to do without Dwarf Wizards, Halfling Barbarians, etc, etc.

I'll be honest, the reason I got excited about 3e was Halfling Barbarians.

Dyson Logos wrote:I'll be honest, the reason I got excited about 3e was Halfling Barbarians.

If its fun for you, use it. Just not my thing.

Its interesting that 5E had the Caves of Chaos as a playtest adventure. I have a pdf. Its pretty true to the original. It even uses the old map. The one by Weems is much better , but I guess they didn't feel like updating the map. A neat part of the adventure is they have " Light, Noise, Smell" listed at the top of each room , before the room description.
So outside the Orc Common room (where several Orcs are living) is Light: Dim (smoldering fire), Noise: several harsh voices, Smell: smoke, body odor, rot. Then room description for the players. After that the DM info.

That kind of hand-holding is not my thing, as a DM. I'm not even that keen on the boxed descriptions of rooms "for the players" even though those appeared relatively early on in the modules TSR pumped out. Give me a description well enough so I know what and where things are, and let me let 'er rip. I'm not saying that my descriptions are better, but they tend to be more specific to the party's circumstances or mood I'm trying to create as a DM.

greyarea wrote:That kind of hand-holding is not my thing, as a DM. I'm not even that keen on the boxed descriptions of rooms "for the players" even though those appeared relatively early on in the modules TSR pumped out. Give me a description well enough so I know what and where things are, and let me let 'er rip. I'm not saying that my descriptions are better, but they tend to be more specific to the party's circumstances or mood I'm trying to create as a DM.

Not everyone is an awesome DM like you. It could help newer players. I remember when I first started playing- the DM's idea of an adventure was a corridor of endless doors, then flipping to a random page in the Monster Manual. That's what you ended up fighting. Crazy stuff.

Good point, it could help newer DMs.

That said, I started out with the corridor of endless doors and the nearly random page in the Monster Manual. Nearly random because there was almost always skewing to the monsters we preferred. *roll dice* "Fifty, fifty," flip, flip, "Here we go. Hmm, Griffon? Groaning Spirit? Halfling? F that." flip flip "Ahh, Hydra. That'll do."

greyarea wrote:Good point, it could help newer DMs.

That said, I started out with the corridor of endless doors and the nearly random page in the Monster Manual. Nearly random because there was almost always skewing to the monsters we preferred. *roll dice* "Fifty, fifty," flip, flip, "Here we go. Hmm, Griffon? Groaning Spirit? Halfling? F that." flip flip "Ahh, Hydra. That'll do."

As foreign as the idea may be to old grognards like us, there are some out there with absolutely no clue on how to play a RPG. Hard to believe, but true!!

Blood axe wrote:

greyarea wrote:Good point, it could help newer DMs.

That said, I started out with the corridor of endless doors and the nearly random page in the Monster Manual. Nearly random because there was almost always skewing to the monsters we preferred. *roll dice* "Fifty, fifty," flip, flip, "Here we go. Hmm, Griffon? Groaning Spirit? Halfling? F that." flip flip "Ahh, Hydra. That'll do."

As foreign as the idea may be to old grognards like us, there are some out there with absolutely no clue on how to play a RPG. Hard to believe, but true!!

Kids are a great example of both not knowing how to play and the random dungeon. My son made this dungeon:

http://smolderingwizard.com/2014/01/12/found-kids-whitebox-adventure/

They do have the advantage of an unfettered imagination, however.

It's intruiging to think that circa 1974, no one had any clue how to play fantasy RPGs, since they did not really exist - they just made this stuff up. We have the benefit of 40 years of hindsight.

merias wrote:Kids are a great example of both not knowing how to play and the random dungeon. My son made this dungeon:

http://smolderingwizard.com/2014/01/12/found-kids-whitebox-adventure/

They do have the advantage of an unfettered imagination, however.

It's intruiging to think that circa 1974, no one had any clue how to play fantasy RPGs, since they did not really exist - they just made this stuff up. We have the benefit of 40 years of hindsight.

I see nothing wrong with that dungeon, I'd be glad to be an adventurer in it.

The old Dungeon board game was an excellent first step for us back in the day. I don't know if it's still being played (or even being made) but it had the hallmarks of a simple design, an easily understood goal, and randomness. I recall using it as a crutch/learning tool in my early DMing days.