Monday, August 10, 2009

Simple Comparison

Sometimes I think the simplest comparison can say volumes more than a lengthy essay. There are certainly a number of differences between "old-school" D&D and "new-school" D&D, and I think many of those differences in mechanics and play style can be summed up by the following:

Old-school D&D characters are adventurers

New-school D&D characters are "heroes"

10 comments:

James Maliszewski said...

Indeed.

Al said...

And even "newer" school as "super heroes". ;)

OlmanFeelyus said...

Nice.

Hey, not relevant, but I couldn't figure out how to contact you directly and I wanted to let you know that I guest-posted on chattDM's blog and did some pimpage of Mutant Future. He has a high-percentage of WotC-only readers, so I was hoping it would bring some wider exposure to that great game.
Check it out:

http://chattydm.net/2009/08/10/dude-you-gotta-try-mutant-future/

Dan of Earth said...

Hey man, thanks for the pimpage!

You can always reach me via this email:

goblinoidgames at yahoo dot com

Robert said...

Hmm. It does say a lot...to the initiated. To those familiar with the comparisons. To others, however, I fear it would be easily misunderstood or simply not understood at all.

OlmanFeelyus said...

It reminds me of another saying my climber friends have: "You can have fun when you're not having fun." An idea I think our society is slowly losing, sadly.

Kiltedyaksman said...

I agree,

But the most interesting part is that both "styles" speak equally well to gamers of different generations. The meanings may or may not be different, but there are messages hidden (what gamers want, value, are being sold) in the aesthetic of the hero and the adventurer.

Anonymous said...

I believe that this is a good analogy and speaks volumes in such simple phrases.
Oldschool D&D is like the Rockford Files: Angel will sell you out and some thugs will beat you up and then maybe you will scrape by for another day.

New D&D is like CSI: There is enough backup and gadgets to make things go smoothly and everyone will look like a rock star at the end of the day.

JDJarvis said...

Good observation.

Adventurers have something to gain and their own reasons for being somewhere. No telling when the adventure will end.

A heroes tale has a beginning a middle and an end.

Victor Raymond said...

Precisely.