Came across this post at one the blogs I normally read, Zack is fun even if he plays silly games.
My first thought was "this is why the OSR doesn't inspire me". Such limits on what you can do. A well designed heroic adventure game should allow for both Odysseus and Achilles. Old School to me means the search for a better game than D&D.
My second thought was, you can certainly play Achilles in those old games. As long as the party leader was Odysseus.
My third thought was, both those guys were screwed in the end. Given that, I'd rather be killed by a random arrow in a battle than by my own son*...
*In one version of the story
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3 comments:
Thanks for the link! I do, as charged, play silly games, and I thank you for your continued forbearance. :) I guess anyone who loves both Risus and Rolemaster has to be more than a little confused...
My post is really to the dungeon-crawl style of classical play. Certainly there are styles of play that allow for both, but if I'm in a meatgrinder dungeon, I'm going to go with the King of Ithaca.
A well designed heroic adventure game should allow for both Odysseus and Achilles.
That's a fair point that I think puts a finger on the stereotypes and assumptions that splits the OS and the NS in discussion.
OS games are always about playing the Odysseus.
NS games are always about playing the Achilles.
As always, in reality, things are much farther from absolute, even when the assumptions have their kernels of truth. And above it all, the most timeless games tend to have the bigger tents.
"Old School to me means the search for a better game than D&D."
Bingo! Perfection. No truer words were ever spoken. That is exactly what I think of when I think of my personal old school experiences.
As soon as I played other games I basically stopped playing D&D except for once is a blue moon.
Thank you for this. Thank you.
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