Mappers had to look listen to the description of the DM and try to draw a “good enough” map. Very easy to get things mixed up or one square off, and have to erase and redraw. “A doorway to the left” can be confusing when you’re are heading south and it on the right of your map. Or maybe the DM means the left of the map?

Bear in mind, there was often treasure hidden in secret rooms, so knowing where the unexplored space was could be pretty important.

Once in a blue moon there was a player who got a thrill from that, but most folks hated the hassle.

There was a fair deal of “rules of order” style rules in early D&D.

Ever hear of a “caller”? That was the special player in early D&D rules who got the privilege of telling the DM what the party would do. It did kind of help with big groups, actually.

Better that than being stuck as the “mapper.”

Hope you brought your diamond dust!

You can also safely check with Vicious mockery. The spell can target any creature, but only damages the target if it can hear, which “inanimate” things cannot.

On the other hand, Dissonant Whispers causes the target to hear (rather than hearing being a precondition as it is with Vicious Mockery) and with this you can kill petrified creatures, thus ensuring no spell casters return them to flesh-and-blood, without damaging the statue.

You’re not dead when you’re petrified, either, which can lead to some pretty interesting exploits, rules-as-written.

Petrified creatures count as creatures, not objects, so rules-as-written you can determine if a statue is a petrified creature by trying to target it with a spell that requires a creature for a target.

With the cantrip Poison Spray, you can check for petrified creatures without using spell slots or risking damaging the creature, since it would be immune to poison while petrified.

I gave my 8 players a Condorcet poll for which game I should run next. Their main gripe was a Condorcet poll sounded complicated (it wasn’t).

Kevin Crawford’s “Without Number” games swept the podium (Stars, Cities, Worlds) knocking D&D to fourth place.

The real big table might be a factor. Combat is just so much faster.

Oh, I don’t let the fickle dice tell me when to give a hint or twenty. Nat 1’s come aplenty when you gate-keep crucial information on a die roll.

Only thing that worked was jettisoning the players who torpedoed campaigns for whatever reason.

Nah. Basic was way deadlier.

You can be the first type, and some players will still see you as the second.

Like, they attack the king’s castle for no reason and are upset the guards don’t lie down and die, then refuse to surrender when things are entirely hopeless and they’re offered mercy. Such a mean DM!

This is just another way to out yourself, gamer.

Had me until your last sentence.

It’s always going to be mixed, to some degree. The challenge is making it work anyway.

It’s even better when the DM for you!

This can happen with new players who are native English speakers too, as D&D has a fair deal of vocabulary not everyone knows. Words like charisma and melee really got popularized by D&D.

Deep cut here: When I was a kid (ages past) and first heard friends talk about D&D, I thought there was a lens to keep you on the border. And without it, you might go straight Into The Unknown.

I ran 2 tables in 4E, but when 5E came out they never wanted to go back.

It all came down to keeping track of all the powers, nobody liked that. They also hoarded their encounter and daily powers, rarely using them (and hoarding encounter powers doesn’t make a lot of sense).

I was a little disappointed because the one table was about to hit their paragon paths, which seemed like fun, and the players seemed excited for. It’s a concept I wouldn’t mind seeing in a new game – it was a little like choosing a subclass at 10th level.

Late response, but you could only Deflect a missile (arrows, etc.) not spells. It only affected one missile, not a round’s worth like Shield but was a great, bit penalty to the shot.

Attack spells were often pretty pathetic at low levels. Let the Fighters, Rogues, and Thieves do the attacking, spell casters handle battlefield control, healing, etc. It was real different than 5e.

My progressive-as-anyone zoomer kids and their friends use “based” all the time, for, as I understand it, any bold statement that’s hard to dispute.

This is actually the first time I’m hearing “based” being associated with alt-righties.

Late reply, but original D&D and Holmes-book D&D came before Red Box. Not sure about OD&D, but Holmes had race-class separation. AD&D has roughly contemporaneous with red box, and had the concept of Elf Wizard.

Red box D&D (both its editions) was pretty different in a lot of ways than other editions.

A group of my players brought this up. I let them know that was fine, but the monsters would be able to return the favor.

We decided “the weave” determines the angle of squares (no diagonals).

I know the feeling, but it leaves plenty of time to get a drink and snack.

I can’t seem to find the reference, but I think an echo of this made it into 5e, where the offspring of orcs and other races were always half-orcs.