Wednesday, July 5, 2023

Simpler Things: Then and Now...

Hope everyone had a happy fourth, even if you hail from someplace else. For me, chilling on the porch got me thinking about how my gaming tastes have changed with time...

Then: I bought transparent, spinkle-filled dice because they looked cool.

And Now: Give me solid, high-contrast colors. Black on yellow or white on green.

Then: I chose flashy, so-called realistic miniatures and worshipped Tom Meier, scoffing at the garish and lumpy Grenadier figures not knowing why I secretly loved them...

And Now: The worship continues; but I appreciate Grenadier for the same roughness I previously derided because a second look reveals how well their crudeness nails it.

Then: I used everything in every sourcebook I could get because it was new.

And Now: Just the first three booklets for OD&D, please. And the P&P core rules.

Some of this is aging. But I suspect it's perspective as well. Sourcebooks are still cool, and so's Tom Meier; but advanced age brings an appreciation for the simpler things...

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10 comments:

  1. NarmerJuly 6, 2023 at 4:09 PM

    It's the same with me. It can only be rules-lite games for me now. In the past, more was better. Now...I just can't.

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  2. Jon SJuly 7, 2023 at 2:41 AM

    Yes indeed (but you know that!). One difference now though is that when we were younger, there wasn't anyone around telling us that we might need to take time to appreciate earlier stuff ..'cos there wasn't any.

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  3. mattJuly 9, 2023 at 6:51 PM

    You are dead on with the dice. I have tons of dice, but I keep buying new ones....all high contrast. No sparkly, intricate swirly design for me...a solid dark color and white numbers please. Oh, and a big font. Really large.

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  4. DanBoyoJuly 10, 2023 at 9:40 AM

    I'm at a point now that I use Pits & Perils and it's a wonderful hidden gem. I own other OSR systems like Swords & Six-siders and Basic Fantasy RPG, but P&P handles wilderness travel more better imo. Sometimes the complexity just stops me from developing more solo campaigns since i have to remember extra bits. Also the 100 six-sided dice for Pits & Perils i own is worth keeping lol.

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  5. shanepatrickwardJuly 15, 2023 at 9:21 PM

    Absolutely agree! Rulings over rules, light rules, easy to read dice, and good hamburgers.

    ReplyDelete