T S. said: Old DM here (started with Chainmail myself)...started it up again upon retirement. For you folks that are used to the old games and not 5e...well...it is very different. I am DMing 2 groups right now and they are going well but there are some things you need to know about 5e... {old geezer} - 5e has been wimpified extremely. This was something I had real problems with when I started out again after retirement because I had too much of the old values/mentality. Old D&Ds were 'gritty fantasy'...5e is 'heroic fantasy'. This means PCs have been elevated to superhuman status. - Gone are the days of searching out magic items and treasure. in 5e, after a short bit, gold is worthless. You do not adventure to obtain gold as you will soon be richer than almost anyone in the world. The reason is there is nothing to really spend gold on. Players get all their abilities for free. Heck, even spells are free. Training? -- Free or mostly free. The DM (like me) will fight this somewhat but the spirit of the rules pushes campaigns to have gold essentially worthless. - in older games you needed to adventure to find magic items to give you significant power. Magic items really defined your power and were very important. in 5e, you get powerful abilities automatically and the DM guide even says DMs are supposed to be miserly giving out magic items because...the players are designed not to need them! (seriously, it says this). - So what do the players adventure for? Many of the old motivations don't work anymore...but it is Heroic Fantasy now so the main motivation is to be heroic for heroic sake. That's fine, I guess...but you might miss some of the old motivations. On DM sites, there is a common complaint of players wanting motivation...the trope of 'The adventurer who doesn't want to adventure'...which, IMO, is an effect of gold being worthless and magic items having to be constrained. - Back in older editions...would you have DMs complaining to other DMs that they CAN'T kill their players? Sounds nuts, right? However, the players are so powerful with so many options you would have to go to lengths to even try to do so. This makes DM encounter making less stress...just throw encounters at the players without worrying too much about balance because they can likely handle them. You are probably used to DMs having to be very careful as you could easily TPK if you weren't careful. - Everything seems to be about balance. Even now, having come to peace with Heroic Fantasy...I still do unbalanced encounters...but I can tell players are very used to defeating anything...so I have to start them out with unbalanced encounters so they get used to it early off...but some players just can't handle it. - There is an influx of a new (to us) type of player. The RPer. They don't really come from the same geeky background as us...but are more extroverted and like acting. They even tend to not like combat! Be aware of this as if you like combat/tactics/exploration you could find it boring. Ask the DM before you start or you could spend a 4 hour session preparing for and attending a concert where nothing happens. Seriously...was the most boring session (to me) of my life but the other PCs seemed to love it. {/old geezer} If you try 5e and find these attributes tiresome, there is a movement out there called OSR (Old School Renn.) not playing old games so much as they come out with new RPGs trying to get 'the grit' back. Check them out. 5e is still fun, don't get me wrong...my current 2 groups are moving along swimmingly. Just posting the above so you know. If you have any questions, don't hesitate to PM me :) TS - Totally understand everything you said, and yes, I can tell the huge difference between the old school and new school. What I like about the old school is you had to work like hell for anything. I can remember at 5th level a +1 Long Sword being a huge accomplishment, and XP being based on either gold, or monster kills, and it took a hell of a lot of kobolds to go from Level 1 to 2. That's when I created my 5e Characters I created them using the basics, no magic items, limited starting equipment, etc. I think the hardest thing for me in the new world, is that in the old world whatever you said, your character said, and that made you choose your words carefully. Now it seems like you can say something, see the impact, and "take it back". With that said, I think there are some elements of 5E I adore. An example, ARMOR Class. Let's face it, THACO was a nightmare compared to AC now. I also like ability checks, they keep the player engaged and needing to roll (out of combat) more often than in the old days. As for the "Heroic Fantasy", well, I prefer the old "Gritty" Fantasy, where you had to really earn every copper you had, vs. being handed bags of gold willy nilly. With that said, there was always something about money in DND, and Video Games, that bothered me. Here I am, trying to save the world from a source of evil that may kill you and all everyone you love, and you want to charge me for that shirt of mail? lol. But that's a tangent I'll skip for now. Really all I want, is to play. Old school, New School, or a mix of both, I'm willing to give it all a try and a fair shake. I think that old school can be done with the 5E ruleset, it's really up to the DM to make clear what to expect from the game play and world they choose to play it in. I do miss the simplicity and grit of things like The Keep on the Borderlands, or Tomb of Horrors (well, not simple), but like I said, I'm willing to give everything a try now. Hope to play with you sometime soon. Pinfold (Glenn)
