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.