Ho, everyone! The Dropbear is back after a long hiatus.
Not much to say about the tabletop gaming scene at large for the past few years, honestly. Not much positive, anyway. Until now…
There are many reasons as to why I am attracted to old-school style games. The primary
reason, though, is that I have fonder memories of them than I do of many of the more “evolved”
versions of the games that have supposedly progressed since The Grand-Daddies of TTRPGs
(which I consider to be Dungeons & Dragons and Traveller). When new versions of these old
games are released, although I might play through them and even enjoy them to some extent,
the memories are just not quite as good and the fun not quite as fun.
I have told many that I can‘t quite define it. But I really can, just not in a simple sentence or two
and most modern gamers shut down after that so I don’t bother to explain myself anymore. You
see, in Dungeons & Dragons’ case in particular, it has increasingly become the designers and the fans that turn me off.
Especially with this newest 5th Edition of the game that is soon to be updated but with
no name change. I would honestly prefer to go back to the orignal Basic/Expert feel of the
game, with a few minor changes.
I prefer race & class as opposed to race-as-class. Experimenting with a variety of different
games that explore a B/X style made me realize that. And yep, I said race. I‘m fine with that
terminology in a fantasy TTRPG, and don‘t really want to hear the arguments about why I
should or shouldn’t feel comfortable using that term in a fantasy game about make-believe stuff.
Screw that.
I like level titles and always have. It says a lot about your character and their place in the world.
The only level title I really think of with modern D&D, since there technically aren’t any, is Super
Hero. I prefer zero to hero play rather than being a hero at level 1. There isn’t any sense of
accomplishment in that.
I hate the proliferation of multi-paged character backstories with a passion. It’s supposed to be a
group game and not a “look at my character!” game. The story of the game, and the characters
in it, should be emergent from play. All I can think of when someone hands me reams of paper
and says “this is my character’s backstory” is ripping the entire ream apart with a smile on my
face.
But most of all… I hate the turn that Charm Person has taken in D&D. I think that it speaks a lot
to the mentality of both the designers and the die hard fans of 5E that this spell even made it
into the book and was accepted as it’s currently worded.
“When the spell ends, the creature knows it was charmed by you.”
There’s absolutely no reason any creature that was ensorcelled in such a way would
automatically know thay there was a spell cast upon them or who exactly it was that cast the
spell on them. They might have a hint or clue, but to know with absolute certainty beyond any
shadow of doubt? Pure stupidity of game design. And the stupidity of the game has snowballed
from there, through supplement after supplement that has been released.
Fortunately, now that’s all off my chest, there’s a new RPG that is out that makes Charm Person
great again. And that RPG is called Dragonslayer RPG.
Not only does Dragonslayer RPG contain all of the items listed above in my preferences, there
are quite a few bonuses in addition to those that will make it the top contender as my go to fantasy
TTRPG to replace D&D.
Do you prefer the old-school B/X side-based initiative? It’s in there. Roll 1d6 for each side, high
roll is first. Spellcasters declare spells being cast before the roll is made.
Do you prefer monsters to be monsters, and not baristas? Check. It’s in there. No monster
races for PCs. No monsters as heroes. No more asking monsters about how they feel. They
feel like eating you. You need to stop them from doing that, or your character dies. Yes,
characters might possibly die.
Do you prefer to use your own imagination, rather than be spoon-fed a laundry list of feats and
skills that you have to make sure your character has before they try to do anything cool? Check.
It’s in there – or, rather, it’s not. Decribe what you want to do. The Maze Controller either tells
you that you do it, or asks for a roll if there’s some consequence for failure and all that. The
rules are light, loose, and old-school. Perfect
Do you absolutely have to use miniatures in all of the games you play? While Dragonslayer is
an OSR game and theater of the mind is a pretty basic assumption with those games, there are
abbreviated miniature rules included in this book as well.
Do you like critical hits and misses, but don’t like a bunch of complicated charts and tables to
look them up, or wish your old-school game even included such rules in the first place? Check. A
simple table for critical misses, and a simple rule for critical hits.
Do you think healing is kinda rough with old-school clerics and no Medicine skill to save your
hoop? Everyone can Bind Wounds at the end of a combat in Dragonslayer RPG!
And for my last question(s), do you want cool old-school inspired artwork that makes you
reminisce about gaming of yore, or do you just like badass artwork? Check. From the Jeff
Easley cover (pictured above) to more fraggin’ amazing art than you can shake a stick at featured throughout Dragonslayer RPG, Dr. Greg
Gillespie has delivered a game that brings together the best old school D&D style rules and
artwork together into a rather kickass combo.
For those of you who have difficulty grasping a lot of things about the old-school play style, Dr.
Gillespie has included a handy set of appendices at the back of the book as well.
I’d highly recommend Dragonslayer RPG as a complete replacement for WotC Dungeons &
Dragons, in a single volume. As an added bonus, the Megadungeon Monster Manual adds even
more monsters!
I think my only disappointment in this game was the fact that the Barbarian class has the rage
ability inflicted upon us by WotC since 3rd edition. I hate that. But, on the plus side, the
Barbarian has also received the ability Coward Sense. So I will roll with the humor in the ability’s
title.
So with that, I’m off to seek out some more tater tots, since I am leaving a whole plateful of
them at the doors of OSR Publishing, Dr. Greg Gillespie, and the crew of amazing artists who
brought us Dragonslayer RPG.
Oh, and for those of you who remember my little fellow Max, he’s not so little anymore, going on four now, and doing great! In fact, he’d love for you to say hi to him on Instagram at @Maximillianexplorestheworld.
When Dropbears Attack! 