02/09 - More absolutes

[thedungeondelver]

- There is no old school. There is no new school. There are rules that work for the players, and there are rules that work in the stead of the players. Original D&D and offshoots, and AD&D 1e work for the players. Most other games don't.

- Corollary: No matter how hard you shake an AD&D book, "fun" will not fall out of it in any quantifiable amount. The fun starts when you game. The fun is in how you and your players get your game on.

- The bad guys have swords, arrows, spells, laser guns, grenades and machine guns for a reason. Don't be afraid to employ them against the characters to their maximum effect.

- Half the fun is getting there.

- The world will probably never see all of "Gary's Greyhawk". Likewise the world will probably never see all of your home-grown campaign, nor mine. Appreciate the glimpses we did get, and move on.

- The worst thing you can do to a player at your table is tell them to the letter what their character is doing, when by rights that character is still under the player's full control. Don't do it.

- It's OK to not like old D&D artwork. Just understand that so-called good art isn't the hallmark of a good RPG, either.

- (A)D&D does not break down at high levels. Quit throwing waves of goblins and orcs at 16th level magic-users and come up with something more cunning!

- No game is dead as long as you're still playing. Player or DM.

- Gamemastery is key.

- Modules were never meant to open and play. Using a module requires as much careful preparation, planning and attention to detail as does creating your own worlds.

- Specific to AD&D, encumbrance and weight are not the same thing.

- The double-edged blade cuts both ways, but the 100-edged Swordball cuts the shit out of everything (courtesy Oglaf.com)

- Never let your adventure override good, solid play on the players' behalf.

- Six enthusiastic new players are worth more than one jaded rules lawyer.

- Don't short-change your players by under-planning!

- If you fall into the category of having never over the course of your gaming ever used miniatures, give it a try. They're fun.

- It's okay to tell players "no".

- Be leery of movements and groups (beyond your table) and so forth; you'll wind up talking more about gaming than actually doing it.

- Above all, have fun.

...

all the people who died, died

[grodog]

These look like a good start for your own "All I Needed To Know In Life I Learned from Old School D&D" t-shirt, Bill: I'd buy one!

[Irda Ranger]

- Don't short-change your players by under-planning!

Got a checklist? Seriously.

I know some DMs who insist they "wing it" most days, but I feel like (a) maybe they're better at making shit up than I am, or (more likely, b) they've simply internalized all the rules by this point.

[Abacus Ape]

Cool list. That's really true about modules, anytime I just try to run one cold (as a one-off spur of the moment type thing) it kinda falls flat, but if I put out some effort to really work into the campaign it seems to go much better. I also dig the "does not break down at high levels" point, you see that all over the place.

[Falconer]

If you’re using a module and you haven’t read through it in advance, you risk the danger of really bogging down the game by pausing to read or look stuff up. Of course, some really simple modules like B1 and B2 you don’t even have that problem. Although I may just have that impression because I am already familiar with them.

[thedungeondelver]

Modules absolutely need to be read through. Period. This is what slays me about people who jump around saying Gary's adventures were bad (and yes, I've met them). Modules were to be expanded on by the DM, they were frameworks.

[Abacus Ape]

I never tried to run a module that I haven't read through, but I have tried to run a module "as written", as in playing it without my own spin on it. It seems to me you have to do more than just be familiar with it. You have to make it modular, and fit it in to your campaign. At least that's is how I seem to have had the most luck with adventures other folks have written.