Yeah... why aren't I?
5e seems to be truly beloved. It's by far the most popular set of rules in use right now. Am I being deliberately obtuse, or trying to harness some kind of 'Old School' mojo?
The truth is, I have never played 5e. That's the reason I'm using B/X for TOTM. When I started my little experiment in storytelling, I had never even seen the rules.
(A little aside here... imagine my horror upon reading the 5e rules and finding a demonstration character in it named 'Umara' ... oh come on!! I swear it's a coincidence. Now, if I ever name a character Margan Ironwolf, you can throw things at me).
I have since read the basic rules and listened to a lot of hours of 5e games in podcasts. I think I pretty much get it, and I like the system. It seems a bit overpowered for my tastes (0 level cantrips do HOW much damage???) but overall it seems ... well some people use the word 'elegant' and I think it's deserved. In particular, I like that:
1) they start off level 1 characters with max hp (a rule I thought was a little off the wall when I used it for my B/X characters).
2) ascending AC just makes more sense. I wish I had used that, but it's too late now.
3) the concepts of advantage/disadvantage are wonderful; if I haven't used them yet, I'm sure I will.
I don't regret using B/X for TOTM though - not at all. I know it well, and it's rules light. For an audio medium, I think rules light is a big bonus. Savage Worlds seems extremely rules light and I'd love to try it out, but the rules might be too hard for anyone to follow if they don't use the system already. Ditto for Mythic - I think that could make for a very interesting podcast. Somebody, please go make a podcast for Savage Worlds or Mythic... or both! I will listen! Like with 5e, I didn't consider either of these systems for TOTM because I didn't know they existed.
TOTM was my way to get back into D&D after a long, long time away. Really long. My last campaign used 2nd Ed. (I didn't use 2nd Ed for the show because it is a bit too 'crunchy' for a podcast and I didn't want rules errata to clutter up my story any more than necessary.)
If this whole COVID thing does go away in the next little while, I'm going to join a meetup or something and get some hours invested in 5e. Who knows, maybe it'll be a good choice for a Season 2 if I get that far. Then again, B/X is serving me well - and it turns out there's a niche OSR community. I hope being part of one camp doesn't exclude the other, because the system doesn't really matter that much in the end - it's all just swords and sorcery.
Just discovered your podcast and wanted to say I love it, really filling a niche I've been looking for with doing solo OSR, I'll probably be stealing from it for my own games.
ReplyDeleteAnyways not sure if this is on your radar but there's a youtube actual play using Savage Worlds and Mythic, incidentally. Its called Me, Myself and Die, and its by a voice actor Trevor Devall. There's about 22 episodes in season 1 with a season 2 incoming at some point - its a good place to learn how to use both and see how they actually function.
Hey Xelor, thanks for the comment - I'm thrilled to hear that you enjoy the show. Coincidentally, I just discovered Me, Myself & Die and ... well, you called it. I love that show. He says he's going to do a second season, too. I really hope he does, because it's quite brilliant work. Any other recommendations?
ReplyDeleteThe Delvers (LL AP) is a bit older and short but pretty good. You covered the Iron Realm in your next post. Would highly recommend Silhouette Zero (Star Wars comedy AP that's still going, 1 GM and 1 player, super underrated). Most of these go by pretty fast, don't have the time for and honestly I can't stand the plodding pace of slower shows that end up being 3+ hours long.
DeleteYep - I hear you. When I see anything over 2 hours, my heart sinks a little. Not sure why... it's not like I can't pause it, but something in my heart knows it's going to be unedited and sllloooowwww.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree. In our busy love, and certainly dependent upon your style of life, an hour or two hour podcast is simply something many of us cannot do. I only drive about 5 to 10 minutes to work each day and my work is very brain power dependent, so I cannot listen to a 2-hour podcast which requires some level of attention to follow.
DeleteI'll throw in a recommendation for the podcast "The Cast Perilous". They're playing in the Dolmenwood setting using the Low Fantasy Gaming system. They episodes come in just under an hour and they are really fantastic. I love the way they are using that setting.
ReplyDeleteThx, Woodbeard. I've been a fan of that pod for a while -and you're right: they are wonderful! One of them did a character voice for me not too long ago, actually.
ReplyDeleteThat's great! I just found your podcast recently and I'm currently working my way up from the beginning. I'm really loving it so far! I've been playing a Play-by-post game using Old School Essentials (which is basically a streamlined version of B/X) and agree with you about a simplified system being better for "away from the table" style play.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, keep up the great work!
I use OSE, too. It's great. Hmmm, I wonder if Necrotic Gnome is looking to sponsor an Official OSE podcast??
ReplyDelete5e character creation is way, way too complex to successfully run 4 or more level 3 characters simultaneously, especially in an audio medium. I'm currently setting up a solo RPG game for myself and I'm planning to create and use stripped down character creation rules for 5e because I can't imagine running 3 full characters simultaneously. (Most of the heavy lifting has been done in the book "Tasha's Cauldron of Everything" with their "Sidekick" rules so I won't be reinventing the wheel)
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comment, Will. If you plan on documenting/publishing your solo adventure, I'd love to follow/subscribe! I still haven't played 5e yet - but as the restrictions start to lift here in Toronto, I will definitely try to find a table. I did try to make a character once - just to do it, but, I honestly got kind of confused and gave up after a while.
ReplyDeleteHi, new to you podcast and I'm loving it. I'm at episode 10 rn!
ReplyDeleteYou said that
2) ascending AC just makes more sense.
If you use OSE, why don't you use ascending ac for that?
Hey Matteo - so glad you found and are digging the podcast. Thanks very much for listening. Your question is a good one. Simple answer: when I started the cast, I had never heard of OSE, nor ascending AC. Learned about them when I was already a few episodes in and thought a switch would be confusing. Will definitely switch for season 2.
ReplyDelete