The word of the day for Day 29 of #RPGaDay2019 is "Evolve."
Yeah, this one is going to come directly from last year's list:
[Here's] another deep introspective look for a old-timer (Silver Age Grognard?) like me:
"How has my play evolved?"
My original play style was forged from the classic fires of D&D. What I consider standard D&D tactics I've nicknamed "SWAT-Style Tactics" for the younger, newer gamer. In a game with no listen checks and thieves with a 20% chance at a skill, it was important to go down the dungeoneering checklist to make sure we had the upper hand opening a door, killing the things inside, and searching the room inside. Lather, Rinse, Repeat.
Of course this was back when the DM was an adversary. They didn't play with you or directly against you, they simply created the obstacles for your story. Outside of random encounters or complete FUBAR situations by the characters, the obstacles could be overcome, but not without some blood, sweat, and tears. Playing together, and efficiently at that, the characters could succeed. Failure, even TPK failure, was always an option if you didn't play smart.
With a reliance on die rolls in the newer editions, the SWAT-Style doesn't diminish, it guarantees better base information even before a success/failure is rolled. It can certainly speed up play in 4e and 5e.
Alright, the evolution of my play:
High School: AD&D - Palladium (including RECON... still love RECON) and lots of GURPS
College, Part One: As much as the overall quality of gaming books began to improve, my focus continued to stay with AD&D, but my intense look at games with system simplification had begun. Games like TWERPS (a little tactical, a little bit simple, and a whole lotta fun) crossed my path.
Game Store Employment: Not a lot of RPGs (lots of Magic: The Gathering keeping the lights on). Enough time to read a lot of stock about a lot of games.
The Masterbook that wasn't: After returning to college, earning a degree and entering the ranks of the real world, I pondered another return to my World of Georic homebrew fantasy campaign, with two important changes: (a) Move the world into the Dangerous Journeys Epic of Aerth Setting and (b) get into a lighter, plot-driven game using West End Game's Masterbook (Generic TORG for those who have never heard of it.) I simply didn't want to run the new d20 at the time.
In the end, Hackmaster came out and we made the swerve back to a cumbersome but comfortable system.
Move out of the area... I purged a good portion of my collection and moved up to Wellsboro... and discovered Risus. That investment in light-hearted play kept me going until...
I Moved Back, Got Married, Had Kids: Raising two little ones meant limited play sessions and evolve into the long play session model I used for Call of Cthulhu. The kids started gaming through wargames and a homebrew game that in the end looked like a stripped down version of Savage Worlds.
NOW, or "The Future is these here computer games": Outside of games with the kids and convention games, all of my other gaming has been done online. Cthulhu is still on hiatus, but now I've reserved Monday nights for a Roll20/Skype extravaganza. D&D 5e, Call of Cthulhu, and RISUS-based games.
I've also learned to better appreciate the narrative based games in the Powered by the Apocalypse wheelhouse. The same can be said for Fantasy Flight's Genesys Engine used in their Star Wars RPGs. Any system that allows players to work out stories and actions from the "Yes, but" school, or the even rarer "No, but... " field of study. Anyway, players are usually more harsh to their characters fates would be with me behind the screen.
[Here's] another deep introspective look for a old-timer (Silver Age Grognard?) like me:
"How has my play evolved?"
My original play style was forged from the classic fires of D&D. What I consider standard D&D tactics I've nicknamed "SWAT-Style Tactics" for the younger, newer gamer. In a game with no listen checks and thieves with a 20% chance at a skill, it was important to go down the dungeoneering checklist to make sure we had the upper hand opening a door, killing the things inside, and searching the room inside. Lather, Rinse, Repeat.
Of course this was back when the DM was an adversary. They didn't play with you or directly against you, they simply created the obstacles for your story. Outside of random encounters or complete FUBAR situations by the characters, the obstacles could be overcome, but not without some blood, sweat, and tears. Playing together, and efficiently at that, the characters could succeed. Failure, even TPK failure, was always an option if you didn't play smart.
With a reliance on die rolls in the newer editions, the SWAT-Style doesn't diminish, it guarantees better base information even before a success/failure is rolled. It can certainly speed up play in 4e and 5e.
Alright, the evolution of my play:
High School: AD&D - Palladium (including RECON... still love RECON) and lots of GURPS
College, Part One: As much as the overall quality of gaming books began to improve, my focus continued to stay with AD&D, but my intense look at games with system simplification had begun. Games like TWERPS (a little tactical, a little bit simple, and a whole lotta fun) crossed my path.
Game Store Employment: Not a lot of RPGs (lots of Magic: The Gathering keeping the lights on). Enough time to read a lot of stock about a lot of games.
The Masterbook that wasn't: After returning to college, earning a degree and entering the ranks of the real world, I pondered another return to my World of Georic homebrew fantasy campaign, with two important changes: (a) Move the world into the Dangerous Journeys Epic of Aerth Setting and (b) get into a lighter, plot-driven game using West End Game's Masterbook (Generic TORG for those who have never heard of it.) I simply didn't want to run the new d20 at the time.
In the end, Hackmaster came out and we made the swerve back to a cumbersome but comfortable system.
Move out of the area... I purged a good portion of my collection and moved up to Wellsboro... and discovered Risus. That investment in light-hearted play kept me going until...
I Moved Back, Got Married, Had Kids: Raising two little ones meant limited play sessions and evolve into the long play session model I used for Call of Cthulhu. The kids started gaming through wargames and a homebrew game that in the end looked like a stripped down version of Savage Worlds.
NOW, or "The Future is these here computer games": Outside of games with the kids and convention games, all of my other gaming has been done online. Cthulhu is still on hiatus, but now I've reserved Monday nights for a Roll20/Skype extravaganza. D&D 5e, Call of Cthulhu, and RISUS-based games.
I've also learned to better appreciate the narrative based games in the Powered by the Apocalypse wheelhouse. The same can be said for Fantasy Flight's Genesys Engine used in their Star Wars RPGs. Any system that allows players to work out stories and actions from the "Yes, but" school, or the even rarer "No, but... " field of study. Anyway, players are usually more harsh to their characters fates would be with me behind the screen.
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