I never played 1st, mind you, so I can't comment on that.
A lot of the rules in second edition were apparent fiats. I imagine that through countless hours of hands-on experience, they found what worked best and I just had to trust that they were right. And they largely worked, I have great memories of games I played in second edition. I think the complete insanity behind the system actually helped shape the way we played our games - if the DM didn't know how to adjudicate on something, he just pulled out a judgment relying solely on his best guess based on past experience. And that felt fairly natural, since I'm pretty sure every other rule in the book was made the same way.
With later editions, there was a far clearer, unifying mechanic to the game. Just understanding the d20 vs. difficulty check roll will allow you to resolve most situations in the d20 system, the DM just has to decide what variable best measure the conflict.
A lot of the rules in second edition were apparent fiats. I imagine that through countless hours of hands-on experience, they found what worked best and I just had to trust that they were right. And they largely worked, I have great memories of games I played in second edition. I think the complete insanity behind the system actually helped shape the way we played our games - if the DM didn't know how to adjudicate on something, he just pulled out a judgment relying solely on his best guess based on past experience. And that felt fairly natural, since I'm pretty sure every other rule in the book was made the same way.
With later editions, there was a far clearer, unifying mechanic to the game. Just understanding the d20 vs. difficulty check roll will allow you to resolve most situations in the d20 system, the DM just has to decide what variable best measure the conflict.
The first rule of being a ninja is "do no harm". Unless you intend to do harm, then do lots of harm.
~Master Splinter
Victorious in Bergioyn's legendary 'Reverse Mafia'. *MySmiley*
~Master Splinter
Victorious in Bergioyn's legendary 'Reverse Mafia'. *MySmiley*
This message last edited by Fanatic-Templar on 11/01/2012 at 11:00:28 PM
D&D 5th Edition... Hard to believe how many years this has been going.
09/01/2012 10:47:30 PM
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seriously? 4.0 hasn't even been out that long!
10/01/2012 12:28:09 AM
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4th Edition has been a commercial failure. 5th Edition wasn't originally due for several years yet.
10/01/2012 01:37:47 AM
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No, the future of D&D has resided with Pathfinder for a while.
*NM*
10/01/2012 05:24:10 PM
- 506 Views

Re: No, the future of D&D has resided with Pathfinder for a while.
10/01/2012 08:09:11 PM
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Re: D&D 5th Edition... Hard to believe how many years this has been going.
10/01/2012 08:23:59 AM
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I found this blog entry enlightening:
10/01/2012 01:41:12 PM
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Dunno about the "Old-School Revival," but Pathfinder is definitely pretty popular
10/01/2012 02:21:37 PM
- 962 Views
Re: Dunno about the "Old-School Revival," but Pathfinder is definitely pretty popular
10/01/2012 04:34:39 PM
- 981 Views
Re: Dunno about the "Old-School Revival," but Pathfinder is definitely pretty popular
11/01/2012 02:56:23 AM
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I can't wait to see the Edition Wars™ flare up again.
10/01/2012 02:55:27 PM
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True story:
10/01/2012 04:39:47 PM
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I felt like that was the whole goal of 4E...and I think that goal was accomplished.
10/01/2012 05:19:14 PM
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I think we'll probably see the pendulum swing back the other way a bit
11/01/2012 03:46:00 PM
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The last time I played an AD&D CRPG, it had THAC0.
10/01/2012 07:47:47 PM
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Baldur's Gate, woo!
11/01/2012 03:49:49 PM
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That was a Warrior trait, not a human one.
11/01/2012 07:18:09 PM
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That sounds insanely unintuitive. *NM*
11/01/2012 07:37:37 PM
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That's 2nd Edition.
11/01/2012 10:59:34 PM
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A fine example of a mechanic that seems lifted whole sale from GURPS 3rd ed.
25/01/2012 05:40:58 PM
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Incidentally, I am currently about halfway through replaying the BG series; great fun.
25/01/2012 06:41:53 PM
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Re: Incidentally, I am currently about halfway through replaying the BG series; great fun.
25/01/2012 07:52:29 PM
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Digging around online just now it looks that may have been a 1st ed. rule.
25/01/2012 08:40:13 PM
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AD&D represent! *throws up half-orc gang signs* *NM*
13/01/2012 01:50:06 AM
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Throwing up a half-eaten rat is not throwing up a gang sign... *NM*
13/01/2012 05:26:47 AM
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What about a half-eaten halfling?
13/01/2012 02:41:06 PM
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Been re-reading The Sleeping Dragon, have you?
25/01/2012 05:29:15 PM
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*hollas*
25/01/2012 05:30:45 PM
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GURPS is still in 4E.
25/01/2012 05:58:34 PM
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Thank God for small blessings; it is almost like those guys do not know HOW to milk a consumer base.
25/01/2012 07:02:44 PM
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They really don't, do they?
25/01/2012 09:12:07 PM
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They focused on rigorous rules that let people run games in the setting of their choice.
26/01/2012 08:59:59 AM
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I love Pathfinder and 4th edition. They're great, for different reasons. I'm excited to see 5th ed. *NM*
11/01/2012 04:58:28 PM
- 486 Views