Are our tastes set?

Levels 1-20 in all four "standard" campaigns thus far. (My son ran a Skylanders D&D campaign for my nephew and I that went to 15th level only, but that was as high as the story needed to be, as the campaign was intended merely as an introduction to TTRPGs for my (at the time) 10-year-old nephew. He's been gaming in our regular D&D campaigns for 7 years now.)

We haven't noticed any diminishment of fun after level 11, although I admit the stat blocks start to get pretty involved. But for me, stat block work is all part of the fun of being a DM.

Johnathan

Richards said:

Levels 1-20 in all "standard" campaigns thus far. (My son ran a Skylanders D&D campaign for my nephew and I that went to 15th level only, but that was as high as the story needed to be, as the campaign was intended merely as an introduction to TTRPGs for my (at the time) 10-year-old nephew. He's been gaming in our regular D&D campaigns for 7 years now.)

We haven't noticed any diminishment of fun after level 11, although I admit the stat blocks start to get pretty involved. But for me, stat block work is all part of the fun of being a DM.

Johnathan

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Thanks for answering!

2e was my original D&D, but 2014 5e is my favorite, and at this point it probably is the last version I'll play for the rest of my life. (Even if I pick up 2024 5e material, I'll probably just retrofit it as needed for 2014 5e.)

That said, there are things I appreciate about the other editions, so it's entirely possible I'd hack 2014 5e to integrate some of those things. One of the advantages to 2014 5e is that such hacks are comparatively easy.

Tastes change all the time. I started with BX but my main game runs on 2e. Apart from the ability score mods and attack progression, which are still BX. And some of the class and action economy elements, which are 5e. And some other class elements, which are 1e. And the domain system, which is BECMI. And the combat maneuvers system, which is from Pathfinder. And spontaneous casters, which are from 3e. And other casters which are from 2.5e. And some of the monster rules, which are from 4e, along with some backgrounds turned into kits. What was the question again?

For myself, I can say the opposite of my tastes are set, as I see them evolve as my situation changes. For example, I used to do 12-14 hour RPG marathons every weekend and still play in other games during the week, loving nice crunchy games. (I also played war games like Star Fleet Battles, and board games like Diplomancy.) My superhero game of choice was Champions (now Hero System) which literally wants a calculator for creating/advancing characters. It was a superheroic world physics simulator, and could tell you not only how much STUN and BODY throwing a car at someone did, but also how far they'd get knocked back.

Now, with my 2.5-3 hours every other week sessions the idea of big crunchy systems is just repugnant. My superhero game of choice is Masks: A New Generation, a PbtA that doesn't try to do any mechanical simulation of powers in the slightest, but the player and the GM having a shared understanding of the power so they can judge how it can affect the narrative. I set aside a whole day for Diplomacy for the first time in decades and found myself very happy when we eventually just called the game and left.

While I started earlier, I have some really strong good memories of AD&D 2nd. But their based around an extended group of players who were also my friend, and an amazing DM whom passed away years ago. I have no urge to play it. I have great memories of running and playing 3ed and 3.5, but I got totally burned out on the power creep and working characters 1-20 to get prestige classes and all that stuff. 4e I have fond memories of a good Eberron campaign, but it doesn't pull me back. 5e I've played and run since it's come out, but I see all of it's cracks and am ready for a turn of the crank to a new edition -- which isn't going to happen anytime soon so I will be at least partially abandoning it.

I can talk about lots of RPGs that I quite enjoyed, but that was never just the mechanical to pull me back. And ones I have enjoyed I've moved on from and don't want to return.

My tastes aren't set; what's over the next rainbow?

I started with B/X, quickly moved to AD&D, skipped 2E and 3X, but jumped on 4E and 5E.

I’d gladly play all of them again provided there were house rules to tweak things to suit my tastes.

But if it was only one version of D&D forever? It would be Dungeon Crawl Classics RPG.

I started with 3.0e when it was launched. I loved it but at the same time it rubbed me the wrong way within a short time. I moved slightly from there to Monte Cook's Arcana Evolved, then True20 - which became my d20 standard for a bit - before coming back to D&D for 4e. That reignited my flame for D&D, but that edition also attracted flame wars, and that vitriolic toxicity directed towards the edition almost pushed me out of the hobby. 5e was fun for a bit, but I became bored of it much quicker this time around. If not for me discovering other games in the hobby, it's possible that I would have just stopped gaming.

I don't think that our tastes are set. We certainly have nostalgia for the magic that brought us into the hobby. However, our tastes evolve as we grow, as we discover, as we anguish, and as we meet new people.

Started with Holmes Basic, played lots of 1e/2e/3e back in the day, but if I had to play only one edition it'd be 4e. I have zero interest in going back to older editions other than maybe for a one-off nostalgia game.

Whizbang Dustyboots said:

Noooo. I started with 1E and life's too short to go back to combat matrices and saving throw charts.

I will always love AD&D flavor, though, and it influences how I've run 2E, 3E, Castles & Crusades and now 5E and Shadowdark.

If I had to pick one system for the rest of my life, for all purposes? I'd hate making that choice, honestly, but it'd probably be Shadowdark, since I can (and do) homebrew up all the stuff I miss from other versions.

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Are you saying you found the 1E pummeling and grappling rules...

...overbearing?

Quickleaf said:

• 5e doubled down on subclasses as the main mechanism of character customization, and attempted to address flaws of earlier editions. To avoid the distaste for "non-D&D" 4e, they mechanically differentiated classes & incorporated ideas from that edition with a few rail guards (e.g. Hit Dice became healing surges then suddenly everyone was OK with the idea, and save ends effects became de rigueur for monsters that paralyzed/poisoned/stunned). To avoid an excess of conflicting rules with unexpected interactions like in 3e they consolidated feats and greatly limited player-facing content so they could vet it better. They mostly carried over the refined skill system of 4e – with all of its merits & flaws. Subsystems were extremely limited compared to 1e, so there was the downtime subsystem which you could use or ignore, yet it didn't involve suddenly switching to % die rolls but instead integrated with the skill system.

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Very nice post! Lots of interesting stuff in those liminal times and supplements, I completely agree.

Actually, this section here reminded me of one of my reservations about choosing 5E if I had to pick one.

"They mostly carried over the refined skill system of 4e – with all of its merits & flaws."

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I think this is actually something that they really didn't do. And the design change here from 4E to 5E is bigger than a lot of folks notice, even if it doesn't always feel as bad in play with skills as it does with saving throws.

In 5E, getting the half-level bonus means that as you get higher and higher in level, a character becomes more omni-competent, regardless of what they're proficient in. While the proficiency bonus gradually goes up in 5E, in 4E it starts out at a beefy +5, but that +5 becomes less and less important as you rise in level. In 5E it's kind of the opposite. If you don't have proficiency OR a high score in that skill or save, you're just going to have an increasingly hard time against any challenge or monster which hits one of your weak spots.

In 5E the higher you get in level the bigger the gaps in competency between PCs in the same party become. A skill check or saving throw which challenges the person who's proficient at it becomes nearly impossible for their buddy who's not.

4E ensured that high level heroes are broadly competent and can overcome low to mid level challenges (like a Stealth check to get past a mook, or a Survival check to traverse a wilderness), even if they still need their specialist for the REALLY tough tasks.