5e Blues (or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the OSR)

Even though I dabbled in tabletop games during my high-school years, I didn't really get into the hobby until a few years ago when I finished up my undergraduate education. When I did, I jumped right into the newest iteration of The Game: 5th Edition D&D. While I still host two 5e games a week, over the last year and a half or so I've been steadily replacing my 5e leanings with a host of OSR systems. While others in the G+ blogosphere have written about this far better than I can ever hope to, I wanted to provide my perspective as a relatively new member of the community on the following question: why is the OSR (and old-school versions of the game in general) so much better than 5e?

To me it comes down to a few key approaches in mentality and mechanics:

1. Grounded vs. Fanciful
2. Player action vs. Character action
3. Creativity vs. More Skills

Grounded vs. Fanciful

The overall tone of 5e is probably one of my biggest ongoing problems with it. The closest comparison I can make is comparing Diablo II to Diablo III (action RPG computer games for those who don't know). Diablo II was released in 2000, and had the perfect blend of great art, action, and tonality that kept me hooked for years - playing at night with friends online through middle and early high-school. Diablo III by comparison, was released in 2013, and vast visual upgrades and gameplay changes did the game no favors. The new art style felt like a downgrade, and it changed the tone drastically. Diablo went from feeling like a fantasy-horror RPG splatterfest to a childrens' book version of the same thing.

Screenshot from Diablo II (2000)

Screenshot from Diablo III (2012)

This is one of the main reasons why I love OSR content and systems so much as compared to the 5e system and its content. When I started playing 5e, I was a bit put off by its overly-fanciful nature, but it seemed to be what all the cool people were playing so I stuck with it. As I discovered OSR content however, I realized that I much preferred the "grounded" feeling of its systems and settings. Even when OSR goes full gonzo (I'm looking at you Gathox Vertical Slum), there is still an overall essence to the game that keeps it from feeling whimsical. Things matter here, in a way that the more high-fantasy 5e content can't seem to match. In the same way that Diablo III turned the game from a tense, harsh, and dark affair into something more cartoon-like, 5e took D&D and make it overly whimsical and bland.

Player Initiative vs. Character Initiative / Creativity vs. Many Skills

The other key differentiator for me, and probably the most important, is the difference in how the player/character dichotomy is handled between the OSR systems and 5e.

5e seems to be much more centered around the idea of inhabiting your character's stat sheet, scrolling through a long list of skills and proficiencies, and deciding what to do in a given situation. Success in 5e is highly dependent on choosing the "right skill" for a given situation, rolling well on your dice, and moving forward. Roleplaying is important, but only insofar as "thinking like your character". This is highly limiting, as characters without the right skill makeup for an encounter, or high enough stats that give the player license to say "well my PC would think of this solution because she's smart", are totally left behind.

OSR games take the opposite approach: how situations are handled is determined by what the player can think of, not the character. Skills and abilities are still important, but they often don't determine the success of the party on a dungeon delve or adventure. Success is frequently determined by decisions players make, how they work together as a team, or roleplay effectively. This means finding creative and novel workarounds, planning ahead, and generally engaging more critically with the game or setting. Success means more than properly decoding your skills and their applied bonuses for maximum effect.

Bang vs. Whimper

Combined, the above leads to one major difference - the reason why I DM so much more OSR play now rather than 5e play. OSR play is punchy, in-your-face, and impactful. 5e play is abstracted and after a Warlock's 8-millionth eldritch blast, boring. Every situation overcome, enemy slain, or kingdom toppled in an OSR game means something. You get the rush of knowing that you earned it. When your magic-user casts that crazy spell and wipes out the gang of bloodthirsty mercenaries about to pounce, the whole party goes insane. OSR games, and by extension OSR DMing, has a visceral and evocative feeling that 5e just can't match. I've found that it takes special players to help overcome this feeling of rote-ness.

OSR characters accomplish the mundane with a bang, 5e characters accomplish the fantastic with a whimper.  

FLAILSNAILS Madness

Lately I've been FLAILSNAILing quite a bit, due to the sometimes sporadic nature of several of my "weekly" games and the time-consuming process of applying to PhD programs. Since I haven't had as much time or opportunity to play in or run my normal campaigns, I've been joining up in one-shots like today's Stonehell Dungeon game (run by Aleksandr Revzin), or the ongoing Vaults of Vyzor campaign, jumping from universe to universe as Lobat Greel, 4th level Fighter/Martial Master. 

Honestly, having never played like this before (before delving into the OSR, I was much more focused on 5e high-fantasy shenanigans, as that's where I began) it's been such a blast. I've really been digging the various styles of DMing, the weirdo mish-mash of characters from across editions and settings, and the overall strange fantasy vibes. 

But really I think the best part of joining in or making FLAILSNAILS games via the G+ ecosystem has just been meeting and engaging with new people. I feel like I've learned a lot about how to be a better and more creative PC as well as a more efficient and entertaining DM. It's not only made me more aware of the amazing communities we have, but also how lucky I've been to consistently play with awesome people both online and off. I have yet to encounter any of the shitty personalities we all hear about, and for that I'm grateful. 

Going forward, I'd love to run more one-offs or ongoing FLAILSNAILS games or campaigns. If you're interested, drop me a line on G+ whenever I put a game up! 

Dungeons and Dragons and Boxing

Some would call me a nerd. Others might use the term geek. A few might even venture into dork territory. But regardless of the terminology, one thing is clear: I play a lot of Dungeons & Dragons, and I watch (and used to do) a lot of boxing. 

'How do these two interests come together?' you might ask. If that was your question, here's your answer. 

------------------------------------------- 

D&D 

I've been a bit of a geek/nerd/dork my whole life, starting (and continuing) with video games before moving on to comic books. I picked up tabletop RPGs (role playing games) during high school, but fell out of habit while studying for my undergraduate degree. I joined a new group about a year and a half ago while I was finishing up my MPH and haven't looked back, participating as a character or leading as the Dungeon Master (DM) anywhere from one to three games per week. I spend a great deal of my free time thinking about this hobby; where to take my character in his development as a person, and how to build my worlds so that my players have maximal opportunities for adventure and creativity and genuine moments. As a player character (a 7th level Ranger - Kalder Ossun, Mystic Beastmaster of the Ringing Mountains - if you must know) the game forces me to think strategically both in combat and social situations: 'how do I fight this Wizard?' 'how would our party's Paladin react to this act of wrongdoing?' 'which of these decisions will produce the outcome our party wants?'. As the DM for my two groups, I'm forced to expand my creative horizons, reading, watching, and listening to a wide array of media to draw on as influences for creativity and world-building. One of my high-points of every week is getting to engage creatively and emotionally with both friends and strangers in a shared, fictional world. 

Boxing 

Despite my often dorky, pacifistic, (all of my D&D characters have been goody-goody pacifists until they're forced to fight) and emotionally sensitive nature, I've always had an energy inside of me that I needed to get out, something that I didn't like. My parents had me try every sport under the sun as a little kid, and I hated them all: I was uncoordinated, not energetic, and didn't have any sort of natural talent. Eventually, at about 5 years old, my pops signed me up at a local karate school and told me that I'd be going every week, rain or shine, until I was old and smart enough to decide for myself whether or not I wanted to keep going. Ten years later I got my first black belt, and three years after that right before I left for college, I achieved my 2nd Dan rank. I'd found the outlet for my deeper, aggressive nature in a way that was structured, strictly disciplined, and mentored. By that point I had become a senior instructor at our dojo, though the number of students was dwindling and I knew inside that once I left, my Sensei would close the school. In the 3 years leading up to the day I left, one of our senior students, an amateur boxer of accomplishment at the university level, taught me how to box. One or two nights a week we left the dojo open late at night for boxing classes, and I became a glorified punching bag for guys that were often bigger, stronger, and far more skilled than I. But I learned a lot. I learned - through sparring guys half a foot and 40 to 60 pounds heavier than me - that I could face anybody. I became a boxing nerd, compulsively watching fight films online, on DVR, and on live cards. I was never a great, or even very good, boxer in the dojo, but I forced myself to think creatively and strategically to fight these guys who were 6' to my 5'7, 180 lbs to my (at the time) 140. I continued through most of university, helping form a club for all different martial artists to spar each other and think creatively. In conjunction with my more meditative karate training, I learned that I could channel my aggression and fear and anxiety and emotion into a pursuit that ultimately helped build me into a more complete person. 

Harmony 

Together, my two very divergent interests have helped me to become the most complete person that I know how to be. Both pursuits, martial arts training and D&D, help me to channel my creativity, passion, emotion, and aggression, into productive endeavors that challenge me to reach higher and further. Both have allowed me the great privilege to form deep and lasting bonds with others, and share in a unified geekery around shared passions. In the end, though my two passions don't overlap or intersect, they've helped me mold myself into someone that I can be content with, and that I hope is able to bring joy to others.

-------------------------------------

I wrote this earlier today as a FanPost over at Bad Left Hook, but wanted to post it here as well.