OSR v D&D 5E: A Questing Beast Crossover!

In episode #121, Professor Dungeonmaster comments on a video by Ben from Questing Beast! What's the difference between Old School games and modern systems like D&D 5E & Pathfinder? PDM does a deep dive into the history of RPGs to find the answers!

The Secrets of Blackmoor Documentary

Music:
"Fury of the Dragon's Breath" by Peter Crowley

[lisanadazdy]

I've heard the difference between old and new style rules this way: "In modern rules players are meant to engage with rules before everything else. In old-school rules, the players engage with the *environment* before everything else".

[jasonvoorhees]

I never really thought about the psychology of the old school artwork, but you're right. There used to be a feeling of "Oh shit, we're gonna die!" before we even started the game.

[bensaylor]

My girl who is super new to tabletop gaming has expressed how much more she enjoys the feeling of Mork Borg over 5e.
I've never been more happy or proud.

[sumdude]

Most players favorite magic item in 5e is the +5 Plot Armor.

[Goshin]

Good stuff, spot on. In a B/X game the players were being followed by a powerful enemy wizard and his retinue of dangerous fighters... they'd already fought him once and he escaped. This time they backtracked him at night to where his gang were sleeping in a barn. They took out the sentries quietly, blocked the barn doors, and SET THE BARN ON FIRE. That's OSR...

[forsomereason]

I want the 3 best RPG influencers (IMHO): Questing Beast, Dungeon Craft and Runehammer to make a collaborative podcast/video discussion talk now.

[Runehammer]

great breakdown on a very elusive topic

[gstaff]

This DID age well. Nice work Professor

[blitzthekraken]

It's one reason older players are so much more cautious when they play. I have quite a few dead rogues too. I remember if you got a character up to 7th level, people got really careful. The truth of it all, great stories revolve around astounding and incredible deaths.

[ppowell]

The gritty feel and high stakes element attracted me to OSR. 5e is good, but doesn’t have that edge. - Utah

[DanBoyo]

I really felt like as a newbie to the hobby, playing 5e for a couple of sessions made me feel I was playing a video game almost. However I don't think its awful but almost lacks a bit of flair to what you do in the game. I tried Basic Fantasy RPG and i felt like i was my character doing actions without any sort of skills that i want to use for the enviroment. Though describing things from both DM and players made it very interesting. I mean lethality will turn off a lot of people not wanting to lose more than 2 characters, but it feels less fun to survive a challenge. Enjoyed the video 👍

[Goshin]

"Save or die". A thing many newer players don't understand about that mechanic was this: getting a saving throw AT ALL was a leniency.... a normal person *should be dead*. Another thing was that you played to *avoid rolling saves at all*... you tried to out-think the opposition, or come up with an out of the box solution the DM would allow that would bypass the need to save in the first place. Trapped treasure chest? Drag it out of the dungeon and throw it off a cliff. It busts open and you go down and pick up the treasure...

[hollywoodguy]

I take this as a challenge to GMs to run their 5E games like OSR games. You can play with standardized rules and still allow for improvisations that the rules don't cover.

[longshot]

Oh! The OSR nostalgia! I am running an OSR game for my son and his friends and they are loving it!
Long Shot, South Carolina

[JAvellino]

I believe that the intense focus on specialized skills removes the importance of basic stats. Eliminating "proficiency, " and making checks based on the base stats, eliminates the meta-gaming that is so encouraged in modern games.

[BlackJar]

I'll say it is interesting to see players used to newer editions play early versions of D&D; they often like it, but DMs use to newer editions often include tons of rolls, mostly ability checks, we never did back in the day. It seems its a habit of thought that's hard to break, and which those who are used to it simply assume as the norm.

[smugzoid]

I am watching this for the 3rd time (since first published) love your description of events from 8:30 on with OSR ingenuity vs perception rolls.

5e has merit of getting players to min max characters. But in an essence it all comes down to probability using different dice.
Hearing check at a door 5 or less on a d6 = 83% chance success.
DC 15 (+10 with attributes ) 5 or higher = 75% chance of success.

What ever seems the easiest or most likable for the GM or the group wins. But it all comes down to probability rolls (which is very, very, fun).

[jessemcintosh]

Jesse McIntosh, Idaho! Your continued focus on old school feel and mechanics and how you apply them to your home game is what keeps me coming back. I'm hoping to try Runehammer's 5e Hardcore Mode if I can get a group together! Thanks Prof.

[swaghauler]

The kids today know something isn't "right" in 5e but they cannot seem to figure out that 5e makes "superheroes" while OSR makes "adventurers." All 5e really needs is a bit of "grit" in the formula. Reduce the class abilities, FEATS, and start them with a Proficiency Bonus of just +1 and you really begin to tone down the power creep in the game.
Tom from PA.

[deanlol]

It's great to see you guys reviewing each other. I love both of your channels.