[D&D any] Old timers - what do you play now?

[Thurbane]

Hey all...I'm a self confessed "old fart" of D&D. I started playing about 26 years ago.

When I started, I was mainly playing AD&D 1E, with small amounts of Basic D&D (Red Box). Our group moved on to AD&D 2E when it came out, but unfortunately, the group disintegrated late in 2E's run (people started having kids, and/or starting their own businesses, that didn't leave much time for gaming).

Happily, our group re-formed a few years later, and launched into 3.5 (we missed 3.0 altogether).

When 4E came out, I flipped through the books, and played a couple of sessions at Game Day, but I just didn't take to it (lets not start an edition war here - my reasons for not playing 4E are purely a matter of personal taste, and I don't have a problem with 4E as a system).

My group still plays 3.5 D&D, at our weekly Monday sessions.

Anyhow, I was wondering how many other old-timer D&D players are on the forum, and what D&D (if any) are you still playing today?

[Yora]

Is 11 years still "old"?

I started with late 2nd Edition but soon switched to 3rd Ed. because it really streamlined the rules while still maintining about the same feeling and game world assumptions in the core rulebooks. There are a couple of 3rd Ed. books I think are quite good, but I only use them for fluff and still mostly play core only.
Lately I started to use E6, and I really like how it removes the high level siliness of 3rd Ed.

I took some looks at 4th Ed. but I really seems like a very different game that just uses a great deal of the fluff I didn't like about late 3rd. Ed., so I really can't b bothered about it.

[Zen Master]

I've been playing for 21 years, started on 2e, and we play 3.5 today. I also had a light brush with 4e, didn't like it one bit, and returned to 3.5.

I have an enormous amount of other rpg's too - Earthdawn, CoC, Dark Heresy, Shadowrun, Mythic, and so on.

[Psyx]

Started 28 years ago with 1e and red box. Discovered RQ and T&T fairly soon after. I went off D&D after a particularly bad campaign with a dreadful GM, but 3.0 bought me back. I avoid 4e, as I think it's utterly dreadful - If I want to play a computer game, I'll go and do that!

At present, I run Dark Heresy and play in some intermittent 3.5 games. I also run a homebrew game, which started off as a mythological Japanese game, but has had spin-offs into the modern era and the viking period. I still do a bit of wargaming, when I get chance. Frankly, I'd quite like there to be something high fantasy and better than D&D on the market which is well supported, so I do feel it to be a 'filler' game in many ways.

In the last year I've also ran a brief Feng Shui game set in mythological Greece and played Requiem, WFRP, SWd6 and OWoD Werewolf.

[Kaiyanwang]

I started 18 years ago.. red box, up to master, and then AD&D 2nd edition.

I currently play weekly a gestalt 3.5 campaing, and Pathfinder one-shots seldom.

Don't like 4th, at all. Myself, the game is simply called Pathfinder now.

[Aotrs Commander]

I think I first played D&D fairly early on in my gaming history...but after Rolemaster and Warhammer. We played a modest bit of AD&D, and I certaintly bought all the Complete [class] books and the Encyclopeida Magica; but my preferred system was Rolemaster. Until 3.x came out, and since then, I've never really looked back.

I looked at 4E, decided that, like Thurbane, while it is a mechanically functional system (which is more than most rules are, to be fair) it really was antithetical to my preferences. So, like always, I plundered it for useful rules (solos have been an outsanding adaption back into 3.5). Likewise Pathfinder. It has a lot of very good rules (the skill system, even if I don't agree with all of the skills folded into each other, the death rules), but a lot of equally poor ones. So, I stole the best and fitted 'em back to my own games. (In the end, I didn't think Paizo's houserules were better than my houserules.)

So now I play 3.5 95% of the time, with the odd Rolemaster quest for our favourite RM/SM party of crazies; and the odd WFRP as I have most of the quest books.

[Amphetryon]

Started playing in 1978. I'll let you do the math. I own the 4e Player's Handbook, but it doesn't hold the appeal for me that 3.5 does. I'm currently just DMing, but hoping to get into some actual games.

[potatocubed]

I started gaming about 21 years ago, but I didn't get into D&D until a few years later. Got the basic Rules Cyclopedia - I have no idea what edition that was, but it was old enough to be "when 'elf' was a character class". I moved on pretty quickly to AD&D 2nd edition, played that for 5-10 years, then sort of went on hiatus for the late 90s until the arrival of 3.0.

Right now I would play any edition of D&D. I would run Swords and Wizardry or 4e, because I just don't have the time to prep for a 3.5/Pathfinder game.

I do like Pathfinder, though. I prefer it to 3.5 because it (currently) has fewer options to keep track of, and those options are all open content so I can browse the SRD to keep abreast of things rather than buying a zillion books.

Finally, I'm working on my own system that combines D&D with the FATE system. When it's done I'm going to use it to run my old Planescape modules.

[Kaiyanwang]

Got the basic Rules Cyclopedia - I have no idea what edition that was, but it was old enough to be "when 'elf' was a character class".

Rules Cyclopedia is a compilation of BECMI rules, without the "I" (and few minor changes IIRC).

[coffeedragon]

I'm a self confessed old timer I started with the red boxed basic set in 1987. Played 1st and 2nd edition but started to lose interest after a while. Tried Star Frontiers and Gamma World.
Took a break for a few years and then a friend talked me into DMing third edition. That lasted about a year before I decided that they had changed too many rules for my liking.
Then a year ago a new friend invited me to play in their 3.5 Freeport campaign. Great DM and a good bunch of players have revived my love for the game.
Now I'm preparing to DM again next year, running a pathfinder campaign.
4th ed holds absolutely no appeal for me.
There are still aspects of 3.5/pathfinder that I find frustrating, such as the magic system and the combat, but I'm working on a set of house-rules to fix that...

[Psyx]

Rolemaster

*shudder*

Used to enjoy the game, but hated the system. Would never consider running the wretched thing.

[Caliphbubba]

23 years in the hobby for me.

Started off playing Red Box D&D, did a little Blue Box. Then pretty much straight into AD&D 2nd ed as it was just starting up then.

Played 2nd Ed for many years. and actually still play a 2nd ed game once a month.

Made stops along the way into many other game systems, most notably the oWoD games for a long time. But included such winners as Shadowrun, Rifts, Castle Falkenstein(sp?), Star Wars d6 and many many others.

Happily made the switch to 3rd ed (and 3.5) with most of my games when they came around, and the majority of my gaming is still done with this system.

Have no interest in D&D 4th ed.

Right now I play in:
1. 2nd Ed AD&D, heavily houseruled Dragonlance game.
2. oWoD, Vampire the Masquerade
3. oWoD, Werewolf the Apocolypse
4. D&D 3.5, Greyhawk
5. D&D 3.5, Iron Kingdoms
6. D&D 3.5, Homebrew World
7. Palladium Rifts

[panaikhan]

I started playing when I was 14 - my parents bought me the 'basic D&D' box. I moved to 'Advanced' pretty quickly, and have followed the roller-coaster ride that has been D&D ever sinse... up until now.

It's been a long and difficult struggle to even interest my current group with 4e.
Almost everyone is complaining they cannot re-envision their favorite 3.x character in 4e, but I remember the exact same problems moving from 2.x to 3e....
Anyway.

Games I have played, but no longer:
Tunnels & Trolls, Traveller, Runequest, Middle Earth, Gamma World, Cyberpunk, Palladium (Heroes Unlimited / Palladium / Rifts), Macho Women with Guns, Paranoia, Warhammer, a large number of pseudo-fantasy or sci-fi board games.

Games I still play (at some point or other):
D&D 3.0 / 3.5
World of Darkness
Call of Cthulhu d20
Car Wars (Yes! Car Wars!)

[hamishspence]

I've played Basic, 2nd ed, 3rd ed, and 4th ed. I like both 3rd ed and 4th- 3rd for the sheer variety of stuff out there, and 4th for the ease of play.

I've taken part in one game of Star Wars D6- and liked it.

[PairO'Dice Lost]

I learned to play 2e when I was 7 (13 years ago), so while it wasn't all that long ago relative to some others, I think that still counts. After getting us comfortable with that, the DM (a friend's dad) also taught us 1e to mix things up a bit, then about a year after 3e came out I moved, found a new group, and started playing that. I've played several playtest games of 4e, and have decided to stick with 3e (like others, I think it's fine on its own merits but not what I'm looking for in D&D), so I play mostly that with the occasional 2e campaign when I can convince my group to do that.

[Psyx]

Other stuff on my games shelves (Anyone have fond memories of any of these?):

Cyberpunk 2013 and 2020.
Millennium's End
Torg
Dragon Warriors
Pendragon I-III
SLA Industries
Rolemaster
Runequest 2-3
T&T
Starwars d20
Mechwarrior
Elric
Harnmaster
Sengoku
Stormbringer
WFRP 1&2
Conspiricy X
Mekton
En Garde
Star Frontiers
Dark Heresy
oWoD: Vampire (1st Ed onwards)
nWoD: Requiem
Paranoia
Robotech
Shadowrun 2
Traveller
Amber
Dangerous Journeys

Plus several dozen smaller games with only a rulebook. Most of which have never got played.

[Thurbane]

...I should mention, other games that I have very briefly played as well as D&D include Twilight 2000 1E, CoC (no idea what edition, and only a handful of games), Runequest (again, no idea what edition, and only a handful of games), and an old edition of Traveller.

@panaikhan - I had a friend or two that I played Car Wars with a few times. Fun game!

[Matthew]

I was introduced to fantasy adventure gaming about eighteen or nineteen years ago at age eleven or twelve, I think, with the Hero Quest board game. When I get the chance, I typically play some iteration on Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, though I have participated in the D20/4e Dark Sun encounters series at my local game shop. I do not have a lot of time to devote to gaming at the moment, so I usually just play whatever is available.

[subject42]

I only started in the late 90s, so I don't know if I'm an "old timer" or not, but these days I either play Pathfinder (with 3.5 importation), and do occasional playtesting on homebrew systems.

[okpokalypse]

Hey all...I'm a self confessed "old fart" of D&D. I started playing about 26 years ago.

When I started, I was mainly playing AD&D 1E, with small amounts of Basic D&D (Red Box). Our group moved on to AD&D 2E when it came out, but unfortunately, the group disintegrated late in 2E's run (people started having kids, and/or starting their own businesses, that didn't leave much time for gaming).

Happily, our group re-formed a few years later, and launched into 3.5 (we missed 3.0 altogether).

When 4E came out, I flipped through the books, and played a couple of sessions at Game Day, but I just didn't take to it (lets not start an edition war here - my reasons for not playing 4E are purely a matter of personal taste, and I don't have a problem with 4E as a system).

My group still plays 3.5 D&D, at our weekly Monday sessions.

Anyhow, I was wondering how many other old-timer D&D players are on the forum, and what D&D (if any) are you still playing today?

Same here. Started playing the Basic set back in the early 80s, moved to Advanced and 2nd E in college. I didn't like 2E much, but I did like the 2.5 Combat & Tactics supplements and such - made games really long, but the group I was in was a bunch of converts from the 40k type of gaming at the time, so we didn't mind long tactical battles...

I didn't play for a while after college and started back up again in 2002 with 3.X and have been playing weekly to bi-weekly since with a good mix of gamers. I've played in a handful of outside games, but I prefer the group I'm with. I also tried a bit of the 4E and just didn't like it at all. So it's still 3.5 for me and my group... We do avoid splatbooks since they create a lot of unmanagable power-creep.

Wow, has it been almost 30 years? Jeez...

[Jarawara]

30 years here!

I started with AD&D (1st edition), and wasn't even able to buy all the books because they were out of stock in this region for months at a time. I supplimented my collection by adding some of the Basic rulebooks as reference.

After awhile, I saw errors in how AD&D worked, and that Basic had done it better (ability scores is done far better in Basic than in Advanced), so I started a homebrew design combining elements of both systems together.

When 2nd edition came out, I stayed with the 1st edition homebrew, though my system did continue to evolve, as I now researched details from original D&D. I ended up creating specialist wizards without knowing that they had created specialist wizards in 2E. Oh well.

In the early 1990's, I switched to 3rd edition...

Wait. How is that possible? 3rd edition didn't come out till what? 1999? And yet I switched in the early 90's?

Well yes. Because 3rd edition is simply a compiled collection of what most of us gamers were already doing with our homebrews, and so many of the key elements of 3rd edition was already in my homebrew (and surely in thousands of other homebrews, all across the country).

When 3rd edition came out, I officially 'switched over' to using that, so that I would be 'playing the same system' as everyone else. Meaning, I bought the books, never opened them, and continued to play what I've always played.

When 3.5 edition came out, I made a concentrated effort to update my gaming expertise, so that I would be on the same page as everyone else. Meaning, I finally opened up my 3.0 books and tried to figure them out.

When 4th edition came out... I gave up trying to understand 3.0, and am now convincing my players to use a homebrew combination of AD&D/Basic, with elements similar (but predating) 3rd edition. Which I just happen to have.

Online chatroom gaming does not fit well with rules-heavy minatures combat gaming. Instead, we rely heavily on free-form description and the rule of cool.

[Ormagoden]

I'm 79 years old now and I have to say that I still enjoy 3.5 most of all!

-50 years

[Draz74]

I started playing 2e 16 years ago. I currently run a 3.5e game. But doing so is greatly increasing my desire to get my spin-off homebrew system, CRE8, into working (and simplified) form so I can switch to that.

I wouldn't mind playing 4e if that's what's available, but I don't think I'll ever "permanently switch" to it.

[SimperingToad]

"I uhhh... started out as a child." - Bill Cosby

Summer of 1978, a couple of friends got me involved in the Holmes set. Not too long after, we began with AD&D, probably by that Christmas.

I went to AD&D 2E when that was released, and even dabbled in a Player's Option game for a while. Following suit, I even went to 3E and 3.5 when they were released, like so many did.

Never touched 4E other than to look at the rules.

I do not own any 3E books any longer (and never did 4E), and even most of my AD&D 2E books are gone save core.

I've been with a group of AD&D players for about 12 years, introduced by my cousin. I picked up copies of the Classic line which I never played under before (Moldvay/Cook and Mentzer sets), and am now considering a hybrid between Classic and AD&D for my own game (about 75%/25% rules ratio at the moment).

[ZeltArruin]

My oldest gaming memories are from the mid 90s, playing adnd 2e's The Night Below and also playing Warhammer Quest, not that anyone remembers that amazing-fantastic-awesome game. Since then, I switched over to 3.X (cant remember if it was 0 or 5) in 2001, played that until 4th came out, and I play that too. I still prefer adnd 2e to any other edition, but that is only because if simplicity, I hate 3.5 for the huge amount of splat it has, same goes for 4th. I am kind of 'devolving' now, moving from 3.5/4th to Osric, as that has struck a chord in me and I likely fancy it more than a should.

Other games:
WFRP (preferred 'complicated' rpg)
Warhammer/40k
Dark Heresy/Rogue Trader (have yet to have a not one shot game)
Several completely homebrewed games that my brother and I ran on paper back when we were young, generally involving exploration and killing monsters

[Oracle_Hunter]

16 years ago I flipped open the rules to the "Dungeons and Dragons" box set (one of the basic sets released as an intro to AD&D) and got to the page that said "read no further unless you are the Dungeon Master."

I've been running games ever since

AD&D was where I cut my teeth, but I played a bunch of contemporary systems as well:

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Shadowrun (2nd & 3rd)
Battletech
Heavy Gear
Mage (oWoD)
Werewolf (oWoD)
Vampire (oWoD)
WRFP (1st Edition)
Star Wars (d6)
Deadlands (1st Edition)

Experience with WotC D&D

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When 3.0 came out I was excited because Feats added a little depth to the combat system. By the time I got to college I tried running a few 3.5 games but after my first mid-level campaign exploded in a burst of min/maxing I stopped.

4e is a godsend because it runs like I ran AD&D - simple combat rules, uncomplicated character advancement, and plenty of space for non-combat actions.

Today, I wouldn't run a 3.5 game without a gun at my head - and even then, Core Only. I have since played in a few but mostly as a social matter. I run the occasional 4E game - it is my D&D of choice - but I've been tending towards the so-called "Indie RPGs." Each Indie RPG has a particular gaming experience in mind and it delivers it well - by and large.

Indie RPGs I've Played

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Bliss Stage
Mountain Witch
Baron Munchausen
Burning Wheel

Aaaand I'm trying to rebuild oWoD Mage in my free time. Y'know, as a rules system as opposed to a morass of GM Fiat

[LibraryOgre]

I have been playing longer than some of the people at our table have been alive.

I got started in 1989, playing what I remember as a 1st/2nd edition hybrid under my Senior Patrol Leader, Andy Nuxoll. When we moved to Louisiana in '90, I played some AD&D (again, a 1st/2nd edition hybrid, using a 1e PH and a 2e DMG... and a lot of Dark Sun), some Palladium games, some V&V, and some Shadowrun. When we moved to Houston, I played a lot more AD&D 2e. In college, it was a lot more Palladium, a fair bit of 2e. I embraced 3e when it came out, but was getting married about the time of 3.5, so it took me a couple years to get around to it.

I'm now playing in a 4e Shadowrun game, in a 4e WD&D game that's on hiatus, and in a Castles and Crusades game that recently switched over from Pathfinder. I've also got an intermittent group that plays a simplified variant of Palladium or 3:16: Carnage Amongst the Stars, depending on who gets together.

[arrowhen]

27 years here, currently playing 3.5. It's not my favorite system but I'm familiar with it and it's what I can find players for.

My ideal system for adventure gaming would be something halfway between Microlite20 and 4e in terms of complexity.

[Psyx]

"Warhammer Quest, not that anyone remembers that amazing-fantastic-awesome game."

It's a big pile of awesome!

We're considering using it as a filler game, for when we're down a couple of players.

[valadil]

Started with MERP about 15 years ago. We switched back and forth between that and AD&D. I don't actually know which D&D that was, but I think it was 1st ed, with a few choice 2nd ed rules backported. Enjoyed 3rd, but it's run its course for me. Currently playing GURPs and Dark Heresy while running 4th ed.