Comments on: What It is that I’m Doing Here

By: LS

LS — Fri, 20 Jul 2012 20:14:36 +0000

I like rules and mechanics, but it’s up to the individual group and GM to decide what works and what doesn’t.

I’m glad you’re enjoying the blog. My posts have been a little meandering lately, but I should get back to my ‘deeper reflections’ soon enough. Good luck introducing your daughter to the hobby! Pathfinder does have a lot of rules to remember, but it’s a solid system to start out with.

By: Gilmoure

Gilmoure — Wed, 18 Jul 2012 22:10:40 +0000

Hi! I’m just now getting back into D&D gaming, after last playing back in early 80′s (pre-AD&D). Daughter, 11, is interested in PnP gaming and while I have kept up with GURPS and HERO systems, I figured it’d be nice to start her off here. After several months of research last year, I’ve settled on Pathfinder (Core Rules last month) and I’ll admit, it’s been pretty confusing. Finally broke down and picked up their Beginner Box last weekend. It’s all starting to gel now.

Anyways, am enjoying your blog and it’s deeper reflections on gaming. One thing; my friends have always played were the rules were more suggestions, than hard law so makes sense to me, being less than enthused with skills concept, to not use it.

By: tpmoney

tpmoney — Tue, 10 Jul 2012 02:51:34 +0000

I think “old school” is a mindset, rather than a point on a timeline. After all, when you stop and think about it, all the OSR retroclones are as new if not newer than Pathfinder. Sure, some are as close as possible legal clones like Labyrinth Lord or OSRIC, but others are house ruled bundles like Swords and Wizardry. Some even still are alternate reality games, like Adventures Dark and Deep, which tries to imagine AD&D 2e as if Gygax had never left.

Like I said, my interpretation of the OSR was beneath the adoration for Gygaxian D&D, lies a desire to get back to gaming as a hobby. For too long, people bought into the publisher encouraged mantra that “Newer is better, and all the old stuff is ‘Badwrongfun’, so buy the new stuff”, and I think the OSR grew up in part from people becoming fed up with that idea. In fact, you could argue that Pathfinder blazed the first trail into this wild world of ignoring mainline D&D for older editions.

Of course, I’m no official OSR historian, nor founding member, just some guy who found a community of gamers that resonated with him, and hasn’t stopped enjoying it since. Am I OSR? Are you? I think the whole big point of OSR is that no one can say that but you. If you’re playing your game, and you’re having fun, and you’ve rejected the ideas of other games and playstyles being “badwrongfun”, then what more could the OSR really ask of you? What more could you ask of yourself.

By: LS

LS — Mon, 09 Jul 2012 23:57:37 +0000

I appreciate the welcome! Though I’m pretty sure everybody agrees that the O and the S stand for “Old School.” I don’t think it would be fair to represent myself as an OSR gamer when I play one of the newest and most popular games on the market. =P

None the less, it’s nice to be welcomed. I’m really fortunate that a few well timed links gave me so much of a readership amongst old schoolers. I’ve learned a lot from their comments and discussions.

By: shortymonster

shortymonster — Mon, 09 Jul 2012 19:03:22 +0000

I think you managed to get something positive from the experience because you learned something about yourself, even if what you learned could be seen in a negative way. And if the con wasn’t for you, you say there’s plenty of others. If you like gaming, it’s only a matter of time until you find a community that you want to spend more time interacting with.

Hell, I’ve never played pathfinder, but still like reading your blog, so there’s always that…

By: tpmoney

tpmoney — Mon, 09 Jul 2012 17:51:52 +0000

Not that I have any authority to do this, but welcome to the OSR my friend. Or at least the OSR as I understood it. Though the OSR has primarily been about bringing back the older editions of D&D and their play styles, I think there has always been an undercurrent of getting back to gaming as a hobby, and away from gaming as “Serious Business”. Of hacking apart our games and building the game we want to play from the pieces; and of returning to the days when the rules really were more like guidelines. There’s nothing at all about the OSR that precludes you from being a Pathfinder player or blog any more than it precludes C&C players, T&T or even D&D 4e. I’m sure you will find some people that consider that statement to be heresy, but that sort of thinking is what brought about the “Serious Business” mindset, and is what made old D&D “irrelevant” in the first place. If you’re playing the game, you’re having fun, and you can connect with your fellow gamers, no matter their source material, then I think you’re doing exactly what the OSR was supposed to do.