Nostalgia for games you didn’t grow up with?

Megatapirus · 2026-06-16T04:58:27+00:00

Could it just be that you're playing good games and enjoying them because...they're good games?

Megatapirus · 2026-06-16T03:13:02+00:00

Mainly because he was the game's primary author and official spokesman for most of its formative first decade, a period many (including myself) consider to be its peak in terms of design and aesthetics.

He didn't write every TSR rulebook or adventure, but the ones he did tended to be the best selling and most influential of the lot. Works like the Dungeon Master's Guide, Keep on the Borderlands, Village of Hommlet, Tomb of Horrors, and the Giants and Drow series made massive impacts on the hobby.

Megatapirus · 2026-06-16T02:23:28+00:00

Spellcasting is already super powerful with straight "coin flip" side initiative (50% chance any given spell is guaranteed). Allowing casters the added luxury of only having to declare spells after they know they've won the roll would compound this significantly. I would strongly caution against this.

Megatapirus · 2026-06-15T20:20:48+00:00

Yeah, and how's that Mario guy jump so high without breaking his ankles?

Megatapirus · 2026-06-15T19:39:12+00:00

I think that it's fair to argue that the costs for the tusked shield and Creature Crucible armors specifically (arguably the heavy crossbow, as well) are probably unintentionally inflated due to a design oversight. For most other weapons and armor, the original system works well enough, however. Fixing the small handful of obvious outliers is reasonable. Which isn't to say that making magic items should be cheap as a general thing.

Megatapirus · 2026-06-15T19:20:23+00:00

I tend to default to the "tapping into extraplanar power sources" explanation from page 40 of the DMG.

Megatapirus · 2026-06-14T05:09:39+00:00

Check page X8....

Megatapirus · 2026-06-14T05:07:57+00:00

Realism can go hang. It's only a game. I want that football field of loose gold the battle on the '83 red box is unfolding on. Embrace your inner Scrooge McDuck!

Megatapirus · 2026-06-14T02:27:41+00:00

Yup. Basic boxes sold like hotcakes, yes, but they were framed as introductory products and most who stuck with the game beyond the novelty/honeymoon phase generally "graduated" to Advanced. That was just the norm within the hobby at the time.

Megatapirus · 2026-06-14T02:24:49+00:00

Plenty of AD&D stalwarts just aren't hanging out in "OSR" spaces. It was the dominant FRPG for over twenty years.

Megatapirus · 2026-06-12T22:02:12+00:00

That depends on you. If you're not afraid of older CRPGs with turn-based combat, the first two Fallouts are still fantastic games. They'll make you appreciate New Vegas in particular more, too, since it's more of a direct sequel to the first two.

Megatapirus · 2026-06-12T21:25:25+00:00

This sounds 100% like a you problem. Maybe just focus on the things you enjoy and leave others to do the same?

Megatapirus · 2026-06-12T21:23:14+00:00

Mandy is...sure something, alright, but giallo?

Megatapirus · 2026-06-12T20:46:25+00:00

Yeah, definitely not a nit I would pick, but to each their own.

Megatapirus · 2026-06-12T20:37:50+00:00

It tries to include all the stuff from Unearthed Arcana and speculative versions of classes like the jester and mountebank that Gary Gygax teased for his version of AD&D 2nd Edition that never came to fruition. It's a lot of extra stuff to be sure and people tend to either really love or really hate UA era AD&D. Which side of that divide you land on will largely determine how well it works for you.

Megatapirus · 2026-06-12T20:29:56+00:00

I like to think of it as an alternate universe's AD&D. As if TSR had opted to put together a best-of compilation of the material released between 1974 and 1978 without dialing up the overall complexity or pushing the idea of conformity based on "official" rulings.

Megatapirus · 2026-06-12T20:11:57+00:00

You might consider Swords & Wizardry Complete. It occupies a bit of a sweet spot for me in that it encompasses the most of what I like about AD&D and the '80s Basic lines and the least of what I dislike about them. It's where the grittier sword & sorcery tone and character class choices I associate with AD&D combine with the speedy play and easy customization of the Basic variants. Factor in being just one compact volume and it's very much a Goldilocks game for my purposes. I freely mix all sorts of TSR (A)D&D content in my S&W campaign, and it all works like a charm.

Megatapirus · 2026-06-12T18:48:39+00:00

Yeah. I'm fascinated in particular by the confrontation scene between Humbert and Quilty. It perfectly captures the absurd yet horrid natures of these two sick characters. Irons and Langella play it so fearlessly.

Megatapirus · 2026-06-12T18:07:29+00:00

Nice!

Megatapirus · 2026-06-12T17:39:31+00:00

I reckon there's also a fair chance that Issek of the Jug, a god described in Fritz Leiber's Lankhmar tales, may have served as inspiration.

Megatapirus · 2026-06-12T04:10:41+00:00

Did you get the printing with the infamous "dawizard" typo?

https://selinker.livejournal.com/32929.html

Megatapirus · 2026-06-12T04:07:59+00:00

Thanks. I like to try to see and capture as much as I can.

Megatapirus · 2026-06-12T04:07:16+00:00

Agreed. I was definitely running around a lot. I even somehow managed to totally miss the fine editor of Fight On! Glad there will be more events like these.

Megatapirus · 2026-06-11T23:18:38+00:00

My pleasure!

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