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| That moment when you're done with that Seattle company. |
It was always a matter of when, not if. Our long sojourn with 5E has ended. I tried to stiff upper lip the Mos Eisley Cantina effect and the easy mode buttons as long as I could. The kerfuffle over the OGL a few months ago was too much - I ditched my D&D Beyond Subscription and shelved 5E for good. It's all over except for the selling.
We've been playing a Greyhawk-based D&D game for several months now (a classic clone). We're up to 8 players (a 9th may join this week) and I'm running it almost like a West Marches game - every week starts and ends back in town so we can roll with whoever is available the following week. It's been a fine approach with busy adults with varied schedules (and there are always a few stalwarts who rarely miss a game).
The players have been asking if I'd write up the game sessions on the blog, so arise dead blog - I have need of you. Game reports will help absent players catch up on what they missed, while logging the player's mishaps. We're playing a campaign built around Gygax's greatest hits, starting with Hommlet and the Temple of Elemental Evil (Gygax and Mentzer, I know). Since we're a couple of months in, the players are already exploring dungeon level 1 of the Temple proper. I have some work to do to get caught up. I'd love it if we're able to proceed to Tsojcanth, the Giants, and then Erelhei-Cinlu.
There's some housekeeping to do. There are a zillion spam messages to clear out of the comments and unapproved messages waiting. I'm sure there are broken links and missing images - don't ignore your blog for years, I guess. Oh, and LOTP just put all their PDFs on sale for like $1, so I grabbed a bunch of missing stuff. I skimmed a few of them and burned my eyes out. Those guys dance to their own drum beat, that's for sure. And they like pictures of dongs. Some "reviews" will be forthcoming. It'll be great fun.
Seems like it will be an interesting summer, too, as various publishers try to extricate themselves from the OGL and flip WOTC a well-deserved double bird. Time to roll the boulder away from the cave entrance and stumble out into the sunlight.
Always good to see other folks running some Greyhawk, John :D
ReplyDeleteAllan.
Welcome back :)
ReplyDeleteWhat was it that drew you to run 5e in the first place?
ReplyDeleteI try to be fairly democratic with what the players are interested in doing, and 5E was heavily favored from my group. That being said they are loving a return to OSR gaming.
DeleteYes! Go ahead with the blog. You still have some readers even outside your play group. I gladly will read your play reports, reviews and what else. :)
ReplyDeleteCould you please define "Mos Eisley Cantina effect?" I am unfamiliar and google isn't helping much.
ReplyDeleteIt's my own term for 5E when your player group consist of a bugbear, a few drow elves, a devil person (Tiefling), a turtle man, a weird angel blooded dude (aasimar), and so on. The characters operate better in the dungeons than the monsters. Campaigns built around edgy fringe alien outsiders can be charming in doses. I needed to get back to simpler humancentric gaming that parallels the literary roots of the hobby.
DeleteGood to hear from you (read from you?) again. The bloom has gone off the rose on 5e for me as well. I was already feeling itchy when Tasha's came out and I started to detect some overly abstracted mechanics creeping in with shades of 4e. Then the OneD&D playtest documents contained even more of that kind of thing. And then the OGL thing happened, and I just can't work up any enthusiasm for WotC anymore. I'll finish our current 5e Spelljammer campaign, but that will probably be the last 5e I run. I'm getting really into Dungeon Crawl Classics these days. It takes things right back to the sword & sorcery and weird fiction roots of D&D.
ReplyDeleteNice to see you posting again.
ReplyDeleteWelcome Back to posting. My group has returned to 2e from my 5e game for all same reasons. Its sad to watch WotC implode like this.
ReplyDelete-Tim
Welcome back! I was just talking to people about the Black City campaign I ran.
ReplyDeleteThanks! People are always asking about the Black City. I think I need to do something.
DeleteTo be honest, I'd love to see you write it out into a publishable setting, and kickstart it. I'd be happy to help with proofreading or whatever.
DeleteI agree. I’d love a proper Black City book.
DeleteI'm so glad you're back sir! I've been reading your stuff since 2011 and you have inspired me creatively so much. I've been checking back every few weeks since you last posted last year, and now you have multiple posts for me to read, which is incredibly exciting. I'm glad you're back!!
ReplyDelete