Like many I started out RPing with D&D many, many moons ago. The White Box was a door into a whole new world back in 74 or so which quickly led to D&D, then AD&D but then I got sidetracked. Ive played a bit of everything since then from TW:2000 to Rolemaster, Traveller to Gangbusters. Then there was Deadlands and Call of Cthulhu and many newer titles like Savage Worlds, Ubiquity, World of Darkness and so on. Its been a great ride.

Strangely however when the fantasy genre raised its head various players and I over years steered clear of D&D. It became cliche, almost an embarrassing element of our gaming past. We would try out anything new, different and edgy but as the various editions of D&D came and went, we hardly paid notice. I actually bought a load of Pathfinder stuff at one time with some vague notion that it was the NEW and IMPROVED D&D but it sat on my shelf for a couple years before making some guy in Virginia extremely happy with his Ebay purchase. When we played fantasy it always had a twist. There was Dragon Age and a couple others and more recently Symbaroum and they were all fun but decidedly distant from D&D, and by choice.

Then, during an intended long break from gaming this fall, I find myself wandering through the mountains of dusty tomes my years of gaming has generated. I pulled out a setting I havent actually looked at for about 35 years. Its a mess of pre-computer age spiral notebooks, loose leaf binders, Zeroxed maps and scattered note cards but I can recall when it was pure creative gold for me when merged with AD&D. The notion struck me to blow off the dust and see if a revival wasnt possible. Maybe I could put this old friend back to work again. I could use it for some game system next year if the fantasy thing comes round again. And then it hit me, why not use D&D?

I was hesitant, no thats not nearly strong enough, I was fairly certain D&D would not be the system of choice. I turned my back on Gygax's baby a long time ago after all and never regretted it. However, the peek I had at Pathfinder did reveal the little fellow had matured a bit since the 70s so impulsively I ordered a chunk of 5th Ed. stuff (Having heard nothing but horror stories about 4th ed.) and skeptically opened the Amazon box.

Wow! I read till almost 3 in the morning, something like 6 hours straight. It was like snuggling down into a warm blanket on a cold day. I didnt realize how much of my own perceptions in gaming were initially set by D&D until once again it was right in front of me. The game, the background, the races, the monsters, the magic... it all just feels right somehow. Gone were the kind of awkward adjustments needing to be made with most of the fantasy games we have played. These dwarves arent really craftsman, these Elves are evil, magic works this way here etc. Everything I read was exactly as I have always sort of pictured it. Now sure, there are a few things here and there that I dont particularly identify with (Dragonborn for example) but overall, the game was so familiar, so intrinsically conventional it was a joyful, nostalgic and comforting experience reading through.

Ive decided to use 5th ed. in the resurrection of my old setting and am more excited about the process than I have been in gaming for a while. Who would have thought it would take 35 years to come full circle?

Any kindred spirits out there or for that matter anyone thinking I should have left well enough alone?

Quote from: rgrove0172;993932I was hesitant, no thats not nearly strong enough, I was fairly certain D&D would not be the system of choice. I turned my back on Gygax's baby a long time ago after all and never regretted it. However, the peek I had at Pathfinder did reveal the little fellow had matured a bit since the 70s so impulsively I ordered a chunk of 5th Ed. stuff (Having heard nothing but horror stories about 4th ed.) and skeptically opened the Amazon box.

  The horror stories about 4th are largely exaggerations, but it is not the choice for someone looking for a cleaned-up version of the old game. Most of us who still have some affection for it are those who were never quite satisfied with older editions for various reasons, especially the Old School's grittiness or 3E's systems resulting in spellcaster dominance.

  I have no deep interest in 5th, but that's largely because the thing that could have pushed my nostalgia buttons--Curse of Strahd--wound up being 'triple-down on 1E nostalgia while letting Hickman take a hacksaw to the 2E setting.' I play a 5E game because it's what my friends want to use, but I've got no strong affection for it.

  Glad you've found something you're enjoying, and I hope you find much fun in your return to the Reborn Wyrm.

Most of what I have read about 4th Ed. and a little scanning of free PDFs out there. (Arrrrr, it was the parrot not I that downloaded them me-hearty!) show a decided boardgamey feel to it. Lots of attention to a tactical sort of inter-phase that would clash pretty harshly with my far more story-driven taste. Im sure its a great game in its own right but If I have to count squares and super crunch combat options and daily powers and the like, I have skirmish games that handle that sort of thing.

Never cared for D&D all that much but I'm glad you are enjoying it now.

Quote from: rgrove0172;993932Any kindred spirits out there or for that matter anyone thinking I should have left well enough alone?

Why would we want you to leave well enough alone? What's the worst that could have happened--you discover that you really didn't like this thing you thought you didn't like after all? Instead you found you like it, and that's great!

Yes, there will be things like Dragonborn and Warlocks and dwarven wizards and rules for playing drow in the main books and these things called feats and so on and so forth--you wouldn't expect literally nothing to have changed (and if you did, why buy new books)?

5e is a breath of fresh air for me (a die-hard BECMI fan) after 3e and 4e. It isn't the game I want, but with some very easy house rules on healing and some decisions on things like allowing multiclassing&feats or not, it absolutely can play in much the same way.

Although, and let me be clear, I don't think 4e is a bad game, either. I just don't have the patience for that level of rules complexity anymore.

Quote from: rgrove0172;993943Most of what I have read about 4th Ed. and a little scanning of free PDFs out there. (Arrrrr, it was the parrot not I that downloaded them me-hearty!) show a decided boardgamey feel to it. Lots of attention to a tactical sort of inter-phase that would clash pretty harshly with my far more story-driven taste. Im sure its a great game in its own right but If I have to count squares and super crunch combat options and daily powers and the like, I have skirmish games that handle that sort of thing.

D&D came very close to just being an IP and no longer being a published, supported rpg because of what a shit show 4E was.

I went back to playing B/X D&D ten years ago, and I really enjoyed it. I was able to look past the mechanical oddities and just enjoy it as a game.

I came to the conclusion that a lot of my negative opinions of the game came from the fact that it was a the first thing I ever ran and played. Of course it was a mess. I also have a better idea of what D&D is good at and what it is not so good at. Use the right game for the right campaign.

Quote from: rgrove0172;993943Most of what I have read about 4th Ed. and a little scanning of free PDFs out there. (Arrrrr, it was the parrot not I that downloaded them me-hearty!) show a decided boardgamey feel to it. Lots of attention to a tactical sort of inter-phase that would clash pretty harshly with my far more story-driven taste. Im sure its a great game in its own right but If I have to count squares and super crunch combat options and daily powers and the like, I have skirmish games that handle that sort of thing.

   Then you're right, it's definitely not the game for you. It's a solid design, but it's a tightly focused product--probably too tightly focused for the market leader.

I wouldnt call 4e solid. Least in its original iteration.

Stuff like Gamma world showed what it could do stripped of its more onerous elements.

Quote from: Willie the Duck;993951Why would want you to leave well enough alone?

Because many of us have limits on time and money.

Quote from: Gronan of Simmerya;994256Because many of us have limits on time and money.

My typo might have messed that up. It was supposed to be, "why would we want you to leave well enough alone?" As in why would we have any vested interest.

Oh, that's different.

Quote from: rgrove0172;993932Like many I started out RPing with D&D many, many moons ago.

Any kindred spirits out there or for that matter anyone thinking I should have left well enough alone?

I didn't want to play DnD 5th edition at all.   Our play had moved more towards boardgames and one-shots to try new systems, but at least one of my buddies really wanted us to give it a whirl and you know what, it was fun.  Unfiltered good times ensued; it wasn't clunky or overly fiddly.  It runs clean and crisp, the support is simple and optional and the modules are pretty slick (with a notable exception).  Well done WoTC, well done indeed.  Right now I think everyone is digging on just keeping it simple at the table and having low key, no stakes fun.

I should also mention I'm running the game for some of my children and (small sample size) it is very understandable and playable for the 9 - 13 year old set as well.  So there is that bit of passed nostalgia as well.

While I did play both 3rd and 4th editions of D&D on occasion, including 3.5 and Pathfinder, none of them really grabbed me. I didn't play 2nd edition AD&D at all, really, as I was more ensconced in WoD stuff in the 90s. So, really, 5E is the first version of D&D I have played regularly, and thoroughly enjoyed playing, since the 1980s in fact.

Quote from: Willie the Duck;994267My typo might have messed that up. It was supposed to be, "why would we want you to leave well enough alone?" As in why would we have any vested interest.

I would think that attitude would preclude you from commenting on a high percentage of threads on this site. We have vested interests in what other gamers are doing typically because we like games and enjoy lending advice, making criticisms etc.