Legends & Lore - Get out the vote

[redwullf]

My personal favorite "version" of D&D is actually Castles & Crusades. It's a stunningly simple hybrid of AD&D and 3.xe. It was also one of the last projects EGG consulted on before his departure...which means it has the Original Dungeon Master's stamp of approval.

[YHWH]

I keep hammering away at this, but it seems absolutely insane that they don't put out a D&D Classic edition w/ some version of 0E or B/X.

I'm with you 1000% on that. Out of print masterworks make baby Jesus cry.

You know, I kind of suspect someone tried with the red box, but the project got committeed.

Guy 1> Hey, we should reprint BECMI!
Guy 2> yeah, but with Fourth Edition rules!
Guy 1> Yeah!... Wait, what?
Guy 2> We'll rewrite it to tie in with blah blah blah. Synergy and so forth.
Boss> Great idea number 2.

Either that or it went the other way: they were going to put out a boxed set then decided to put old art on it. I like to think it went the first way, because then at least they're trying.

Classic D&D in its many forms is just as good a game as Monopoly...

Monopoly is bad even for a mundane board game. I can't figure out how it still sells! Saying D&D is "just as good as" it is quite an understatement.

[tumblingdice]

This might not be the place for such a discussion, and my arguments might oversimplify the case, but I'll chance it.

Is it just me, or is it almost impossible to compare the different editions of the game?

Each edition has introduced different game mechanics, different combat mechanics, new races and classes--or the removal of races and classes--and different styles of writing, layout, and artwork. These elements influence not only play at the table, or online, but our experience reading the books on our own and imagining the world set out in them, and the character we will create to play in that world.

These elements don't really depend on the other, but you're stuck taking them in one lump sum, kind of like the platform of a political party.

Does that make sense?

[Eldrad]

My Opinion is from 3E on they really overcomplicated it for the DM.

From 3rd on the full page monster stats bog the play down.

It takes a really long time to make characters and NPCs in 3E and 4E unless you just gimp them and then they don't fit in the rules.

Combats really take a long time in 4E. After 7th level or so they bog down to a hellish slow boring nightmare. We had a table of 8 players at the time and that made combats go on for hours. One night the group bragged wow we got through three encounters. That's when I decided to quit playing 4E.

Now when I actually got the players to try out a S&W/LL hybrid they had 4 PCs and over 12 NPCs fighting 20 goblins and the combat never slowed.
The Initiative system in LL is by far the best initiative system for handling huge combats. Magic, Missiles, and then Melee.

Of course many of these players looked at the lack of powers and feats with contempt. I guess that's why we ain't playing much anymore. I told them to play it without me but I dunno.