by Malcadon » April 1st, 2014, 6:03 pm
Likes:
General Stuff:
First RPG I ever played, and it was the RPG that started it all! I like D&D in it's generic form -- a framework that allows you to make your own world, instead of being bound by the publishers. The rules -- classic and 3.x -- are so universal in the world of tabletop RPGs, you can find a group and start a game without the learning curve.
The Rules:
Basic/Expert Rules are easy to use and house rule. CharGen is lase quick and easy.
The Art:
I really like the classic art. It conveyed a mood and style you don't get in the newer art. The demons and devils looked like images you'll find in old occult books. They did not shy away form violence, nudity or occult imagery. Darksun had some great art.
The Settings:
I like the idea of Darksun, but not the final result. The psychic system used in Darksun makes a great spell system, if you hate the normal system of spellcasting. Darksun also has great rules with mustering armies and the lack of 0-level men. Masque of the Red Death had some good rule ideas that could have been good prototype 3e game, and it is a good setting. I really like the factions found in Planescape. Tékumel is a deep, beautifully crafted world.
Dislikes:
General:
For all the openendness of the game, the core rules cannot escape the Tolkienesque races, and usually offers little or no alternatives (unless its 4e, and they just give you crap). The censorship really nurtured the look and feel of the game. They used really stupid names to get around the content-control. TSR crackdown on third-party games also stagnated their own games. The 2e years was a glut of source books, and the 3e years was a glut of splat books. I really hate 3.x power-gamers! They see no potential in character development beyond how the rules can augment their powers and abilities.
Rules:
AD&D and 3.x are needlessly complex. With the old rules, I didn't care much for the THAC0 system, level caps, 18/XX STR, and the five forms of saving throws. With the 3.x rules, I hate the chunky skill system, the feats that boosts two skills by +2, needlessly complex grappling rules, all those stupid prestige classes, not making the Paladin a prestige classes, and how all the bower-builds bogs down the game at higher levels. 4e sucks balls!
The Art:
The art of 2nd and 3.x years was bland and uninspired. The art of Caldwell, Elmore, Easley, etc. look more like static poses that never really convey the dangers or otherworldliness of the settings. The art style of Wayne Reynolds sucks donkey balls! He makes everyone look loud and excessive, like an annoying '90s comic book anti-hero.
The Settings:
Grayhawk, Blackmoor, Forgotten Reams and Dragonlance are all bland, generic fantasy settings. Ravenloft is just D&D but with a Monster Mash theme. Masque of the Red Death (an offshoot of Ravenloft) was a better game and setting, but it was largely a rule supplement, but not a complete rule system. If they called NWPs "skills" and killed the levels (while making hit points larger and static, like in Gamma World), then MotRD would have been better. I like the idea of Darksun, executive meddling resulted in a lot of poor ideas. I hate all the Tolkienesque races, and the shoehorned psychic rules could vex the game with random ESPers. Spelljammer was a retarded idea! I hate Eberron for the same reason as the art of Wayne Reynolds -- loud, excessive and annoying! Eberron is not a pulp or noir in any way shape or form!
