A little retitling of an earlier post
I said in the last post "how I'd structure my D&D Campaign (if I was still running one)." Perhaps I should have said, "How I would structure my FRPG" campaign, because there's nothing to say that I'd use D&D if I was to shackle myself to the task of running a megadungeon. There are some other options, with a lot to offer.
First, there are all the OSR (Old School Renaissance) clones out there, e.g. Basic Fantasy, Swords and Wizardry, or Labyrinth Lord. OSR clones of early editions of D&D feature spartan stat lines for monsters, encourage exploration over "room cleaning", etc. The downside is that you might not want to get too attached to your character, since in all likelihood he's going to die from a goblin's arrow to the throat.
Second, there's Earthdawn, the second edition of which is for sale over at Half Price Books right now. I honestly think Earthdawn got people believing they could do something different than AD&D for fantasy games, and a lot of features, including special powers for every PC class (or in Earthdawn's case, "discipline") made its way into Fourth Edition D&D. Earthdawn's background had the fundamental tropes of FRPG's built in, including a pretty reasonable explanation why large underground complexes full of monsters could exist in the world (instead of being burned out or bricked up by the local authorities). Earthdawn also had that quality that one reviewer on RPGnet called "D&D meets Cthulu) and I know what they mean. Earthdawn's monsters weren't the stock-and-trade baddies that have become so well known in the D&D mythos. They were "horrors" that more often than not were unique to their environment. That unfamiliarity breeds discomfort, and that discomfort leads to the rare quality of horror in Fantasy RPG's. I know Earthdawn has a third edition, but I could pick up Earthdawn without too much hassle, especially with HFB's upcoming sale next week.
Then of course there is D&D Essentials, which WotC refuses to call 4.5 or 5E. I picked up the main rulebook and the Heroes of the Whatever that has the primary classes in it. It's totally compatible with 4E, but the classes have been tidied up a bit to resemble their earlier edition counterparts and streamlined so you don't have all the build (read: powergaming) options. D&D 4E/Essentials continues to have an edge over Pathfinder in my opinion when it comes to the ease of putting an adventure together, but I know Pathfinder is more the player's game when it comes to customizing your character.
My attempts at getting a 4E game together got me a handful of players, which have now declined to three. I need to either change games or try out a new time, so hence my musings on this topic.
First, there are all the OSR (Old School Renaissance) clones out there, e.g. Basic Fantasy, Swords and Wizardry, or Labyrinth Lord. OSR clones of early editions of D&D feature spartan stat lines for monsters, encourage exploration over "room cleaning", etc. The downside is that you might not want to get too attached to your character, since in all likelihood he's going to die from a goblin's arrow to the throat.
Second, there's Earthdawn, the second edition of which is for sale over at Half Price Books right now. I honestly think Earthdawn got people believing they could do something different than AD&D for fantasy games, and a lot of features, including special powers for every PC class (or in Earthdawn's case, "discipline") made its way into Fourth Edition D&D. Earthdawn's background had the fundamental tropes of FRPG's built in, including a pretty reasonable explanation why large underground complexes full of monsters could exist in the world (instead of being burned out or bricked up by the local authorities). Earthdawn also had that quality that one reviewer on RPGnet called "D&D meets Cthulu) and I know what they mean. Earthdawn's monsters weren't the stock-and-trade baddies that have become so well known in the D&D mythos. They were "horrors" that more often than not were unique to their environment. That unfamiliarity breeds discomfort, and that discomfort leads to the rare quality of horror in Fantasy RPG's. I know Earthdawn has a third edition, but I could pick up Earthdawn without too much hassle, especially with HFB's upcoming sale next week.
Then of course there is D&D Essentials, which WotC refuses to call 4.5 or 5E. I picked up the main rulebook and the Heroes of the Whatever that has the primary classes in it. It's totally compatible with 4E, but the classes have been tidied up a bit to resemble their earlier edition counterparts and streamlined so you don't have all the build (read: powergaming) options. D&D 4E/Essentials continues to have an edge over Pathfinder in my opinion when it comes to the ease of putting an adventure together, but I know Pathfinder is more the player's game when it comes to customizing your character.
My attempts at getting a 4E game together got me a handful of players, which have now declined to three. I need to either change games or try out a new time, so hence my musings on this topic.
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