D&D Influences (By Edition)

[@MiniBeas]

I love the fact that you completely skipped second edition and you were still playing first edition because you couldn't afford the new books. I think that kind of speaks to us all and is something that's really refreshing to hear.

[@TACNERD1]

The same thing happened to me. My mother bought me the basic set, and within a few weeks, I ended up getting the AD+D players' handbook. No one wanted to be DM so if I wanted to play I found I had to be DM but I discovered that I was a storyteller and D+D did that. I was 10 at the time and didn't find out until much later that the books were written at a college level. Really advanced my vocabulary.

[@CainOnGames]

I remember going to the dictionary to look up "milieu" and "ennui". I knew "sans" from my French classes. Gygax certainly had a distinct style of writing.

[@RoboCG]

Not regarding the video topic, but here we go! When Arcanum came out, my cousin bought it, and, after finishing it sent it over to me and my brother (from Tomsk to Kyiv - around 5000 km). I was around 10 years old at that time and was overwhelmed with all the dialogue so I just watched my brother playing it. When I got older, I finished the game a few times in a row. Now I'm 33 and doing my indie game. Thanks for your games and your channel. I wish there would be more positive content like yours!

[@ashuggtube]

What an awesome story, I hope Tim gets to see your game one day!

[@RoboCG]

@@ashuggtube Thanks, hopefully! :)

[@ashuggtube]

@@RoboCG I want to see it too! 😊

[@joshjames582]

Definitely do talk about your experience with the Old School Renaissance, Tim. I think it's one of the coolest side-corners of the RPG hobby today. Everything old is new again.

[@ThomasAndersonPhD]

Wow, that Basic Set box is in perfect condition! The colours as so vibrant!

[@FlickTakFlakAttack]

I hope you talk about OSR. I got into it through Shadowdark and now I've been collecting adventure books written for OSR, and it's something I wish modern D&D has.

[@wYeL333]

Senpai noticed me! Thanks, Uncle Tim! It's awesome to find out that Fallout's perks inspired D&D feats, because while learning 5e I distinctly remember the thought coming to me, "are these just Fallout perks?" I was more right than I ever would have thought. I don't know about everyone else here, but I would LOVE to hear you talk about the OSR and other D&D-adjacent TTRPGs!

[@Ihearvoicez]

12:25 "Playing with Tropes" I was having a discussion with friends about this recently actually and throughout the conversation I started to wonder. Maybe this is because the writers/narrative designers of today were going through their writing/narrative education period during the time when subverting tropes were being shown to them as groundbreaking. So now they're all at points in their career that they're all trying to recreate that perception that it's groundbreaking. So much so that just following the tropes to a conclusion is seen as completely out of field and people keep suspecting a M.Night style twist at the end and feel almost cheated or completely shocked when there isn't one, like how people used to feel cheated and shocked when there wasn't a happy ending to a piece of media. I mean during those talent shows it used to be "I have this talent here it is" with the occasional inspirational story about acquiring a talent through adversity. But now it is "Here is my terrible life story, and a talent I acquired through suffering" with the occasional "Here is my talent, I just like doing it" being rarer. Sorry for the wall of text but your comment really resonated with me with the recent conversation.

[@omowotomo19]

I am 34 years old currently finishing up my degree in computer engineering. I was a 3.5 edition player in high school and left DnD for more than 10 years. Came back to DM 5th edition and it did not click with me. My play group and I decided to dabble in old versions of DnD and TTRPGS and absolutely was blown away by the Moldvay Basic Set (That is after the holmes set you showed in the video). Simple yet elegant. Rulings over rules. Ran a campaign for years in that. While I did play 1e and 2e recently, I still think the basic set is the best version of DnD.

[@TheCreativeKobold]

Love hearing you talk about D&D! I got started with 3.0 after playing Baldur's Gate 2 way back when, then switched to 3.5. Played in a long running campaign of 4e, and I've done tons in 5e. But I'm burnt out on 5e, and I've never liked how much it simplifies certain things. So I'm going back to 3.5 for my upcoming campaign. (And I need to relearn the rules. xD )

[@RagabashBinBash]

Try Dungeon Crawl Classics from Goodman Games!

[@arturb..]

I'd love to hear about your experiences with OSR titles, and what you're playing on the table top in general!

[@CainOnGames]

Coming up!

[@wozar7461]

​@@CainOnGames Awesome, can't wait. I got into the OSR this year and started dabbling a bit in TTRPG game design as way to apply some of the stuff I read but also because the OSR has such a strong DIY culture. Came across your channel as a result and quickly fell in love.

[@Andonios88]

My dad got into AD&D back when he was in the Marine Corps back in ‘80-83 😂😂 he introduced the game to me growing up in ‘90s…..I loved it. I loved just reading through the rules and the stat blocks….that may explain a thing or two.

[@awesomedude255]

I'd love to see a few videos on you talking about DCC and OSR! I myself just recently got into Shadowdark - I think its a good mix of rules simplicity and keeping the old school vibe. Neat to see your old boxed set!

[@neocalder1228]

Tim has quickly became one of my favorite youtubers

[@t3rminal_e221]

I love your takes Tim. Your ability to hold and voice your personal critics while maintaining an appreciation for the thing is awesome. Personally I love 5th but I also miss so so much from 3 and 3.5 since those were my starting editions. But things change, they evlove and they have to or they die! I wish more people could have that "Its not my fav but im not gonna yuk your yum" attitude. Keep up the great work amigo =]

[@misomiso8228]

It's so interesting how everybody's experience of the editions is unique. For us 'BECMI' was our jam. We tried 2nd Edition which was the 'advanced' game, but found BECMI to have a lot more depth and was more fun than advanced. Never played 1st. Would LOVE for you to a do a video on what OSR stuff you like. Nowadays that's what I'm into as it's so creative, and the rules systems of OSE and Lamentations of the Flame Princess are so simple and easy to run compared 5e.

[@triluve]

So incredible and fantastic that a programmer can be so into Fantasy and RPG from a young age.

[@clickrush]

I've converted from being a regular video gamer to TTRPGs. As a programmer I'm already sitting at the computer all day, TTRPGs let me design, make and play things with my hands in a much more free form and tactile way. Perhaps one day I will come back to video game RPGs and try to capture some aspects of the magic of TTRPGs in a video game. But probably not too soon, because I'm having a blast in analog land for now.

[@docweidner]

My friend John introduced me to the game with the Basic Set and Keep on the Borderlands. We always joked that Weis and Hickman spied on our games because I played a pair of brothers with a dumb but good hearted Fighter and his whip smart ,Wizard brother. They weren't twins, though.

[@clearsmashdrop5829]

Tim shows his 40+ year old Basic Box and its in great shape. My box was dented and scratched at 4 months old. Pretty sure, I stepped on it at least once. The corners were white from being carried in a backpack.

[@jed70]

Just finished ToEE (never forget!) and am now about a third of the way thru Arcanum. First time for both. Thank you, Tim!

[@MythrilZenith]

The whole "do people still play simple characters?" Thing is one of the big things that has kept me from making the time to get a group together for more D&D. I played a lot of 5e, but not in the last 5 years, and a big reason for that was how many new books, new UA, new etc. I had to track down just to follow what my players were wanting to do, and ON TOP OF THAT are all the homebrew and personalizations everyone wants to make, and THEN there's the issue of running into players with main character syndrome that ruined the last two campaigns I tried to DM for everyone else... It's too much. I get that everyone wants to be their own most special and unique* imagination. I get that a lot of people love all the niche rules. But I'm a core mechanics guy. I appreciate simple things. I haven't seen anyone deliberately monoclass a Fighter without wanting some homebrew or UA and that makes me sad. I'm sure someday I'll make the time and have the right group to do some ttrpg stuff. But the world of D&D has been taken over in so many ways by the D&D content creation / "Actual-play" scene that it feels inescapable without going to a more tertiary system.

[@johnschwartz1641]

You're not alone. Plenty of people still play TSR era (A)D&D. If you want something with a more modern feel, check out Shadowdark or Dungeon Crawl Classics. Simple old school style gameplay with cool new ideas.

[@ajsbeast]

I think that they're not necessarily mutually exclusive if you're a good player. Ultimately as a player you must recognize that you're in the universe that the DM has created to hear the story they want to tell. The DM may shift the focus on your character or another party member, and surely your actions will influence the story, but it is still ultimately their story. You can have a complex and deep character backstory but make sure that it still drives your character in the direction of the DMs story (it's very useful to talk to your DM about this before the first session or session 0). Make your character's motivation aligned with the story, or something that can be put to the side so that you're not trying to hijack the entire campaign in pursuit of your character's story.

[@SilvesterBoots]

I mean, vanilla fighter (champion) is not that fun after three sessions. That said, yes, people like to learn new options, see different combinations. It always has been such way. The moment trpg arrived, people started writing new derivations, options, ideas. DnD by itself was a guide - not something clearly defined. Something more concise in that line appeared with aDnD, and that is probably was way to hold on it, commercially, while people created new systems off of it. By the way, look into something like Quest, maybe.

[@Nope-ity-nope-nope]

I love how casual your mother was regarding "the boys."

[@Yukeake]

I had the 1980/81 Red/Blue/Green box sets of the original (non-"Advanced") D&D, but as an only child with few friends, I never actually got to play those versions. Loved the books and the modules, though. Read the heck out of them, and imagined the kinds of stories they could inspire. Some time later, I found some friends who were into the same stuff I was, and we played 1st edition AD&D, then 2nd. By the time 3rd came out, we'd started going our separate ways in life, so we never actually played beyond that.

[@Syaniiti]

AD&D was my 1st tabletop game, 3.5 is the best DnD has ever been (and most likely ever will be). Although nowadays I much prefer skill-based games as opposed to class-based ones.

[@anonymousmouse1032]

When you said this video is in October of 2024, it shattered my illusion that you have a daily video routine. I saw you as this unstoppable force that records daily and somehow still gets things done. 😆

[@Streamweaver]

When I was in college, I had a budget for food like that too. Lots of Ramen, rice, tuna, peanut butter, etc.

[@juauke]

Very cool video! Loved the topic! Looking forward to one on OSR! And maybe one on your favorite TTRPGs overall!

[@s1nistergnome]

Love to see this sort of video. I found this channel through a love of TTRPG game design. Watched several videos about skills / perks before I even realized the focus was video games. Imagine my surprise when it clicked and I realized this was THE Timothy Cain.

[@donc7664]

That Holmes Basic cover art is some of the best in rpg history

[@Kizit]

Glad to hear Tim likes Pathfinder! Would love to find some Pathfinder players

[@BelCamryn]

I've played 5E games which were pretty much "You're an adventurer, do quests, make money", pretty much made a human fighter that was literally meant to be "Youngest Nobles son, who won't inherit and thus wants to make his own fortunes".... my DM killed off his whole family in order to make him 'more interesting' I actually prefer complicated characters and stories, but in that case the story in my mind was just him growing up. It was more 'coming of age' than anything else and trying to give him a lazy revenge plot for a family he didn't even like that much was annoying. Latest character that I am playing is a Half-Orc GOO Warlock, he uses his Lovecraftian powers to try and convince people that the bags of sand he's selling are magical.

[@PhantomHarlock78]

They Created Worlds podcast just did a 3 part series about DnD and games, starting with the origins of DnD with war games.

[@docnecrotic]

I love a lot of 2nd (Settings more than the Content Fodder) and wasn't partial to 3rd years after the fact (but looooved it when it was supported), but this has been a great video. To me, 4th is a decent beer and pretzels minis game. With a few house rules and complete divorcing from D&D, it's actually pretty awesome.

[@diegomorales7290]

oh man, i would love for you to elaborate on what exactly you feel that modern d&d as lost and what is it about pathfinder and dcc that entices you. I'm on the younger side of what i imagine most of your audience is but as someone currently running a d&d campaign i too think there's a videogame-y dunnowhat about it that just doesn't click with em

[@allluckyseven]

I love when you talk about TTRPGs and can sit here and listen to you talk about it for hours and hours. Speaking of how things are more complex these days in D&D... I liked the flavor of fantasy that D&D had back when I played the BECMI (Frank Mentzer's) edtition. It was very medieval, simple, and relatable. When WOTC bought it, it then became much more influenced by the Magic: The Gathering flavor of fantasy, which is everything and the kitchen sink. The rules were great, but the setting wasn't that great.

[@TheDoctor4221]

Would love to see/hear about your old adventures

[@Santi.Strange]

Blown away by the perks/feats tidbit. 🤯

[@ezekielmcgee825]

Hi Tim, thank you as always for your videos; they’re super informative. I’m an early-career archivist, and I was wondering if you have ever considered donating your personal papers to an archive (if you haven’t already). You have such a wealth of information on game design and the industry as a whole, and I’m certain that information would be invaluable for future research and as inspiration to others hoping to go into the field. The Strong National Museum of Play would be one place I could recommend (I worked there as an intern in the past), but I’m sure many other institutions focused around computer science, game design, etc. would love to work with you.

[@DungeonDiving]

Third edition is my great love 🤩

[@TheSteveSchulz]

The whole my character is complicated thing is a player choice on a meta level and doesn't reveal anything about the 5e ruleset specifically. That's more about the groups you've watched play. Many adventures and setting books have simple NPCs at their core. Not all, but most. You can easily ask for recommendations. The 2024 edition doesn't change much,. It does tweak the core classes slightly to address some problems. But otherwise it mainly focuses on providing more flexibility on starting choices, simplifying terminology used, better organizing the books' sections, updating some some things to better fit with contemporary cultural norms (or at least making them agnostic), etc.

[@interfusor]

I like to play simple characters. I've only started roleplaying last year but I love D&D, we play 3.5 edition though we have played some Pathfinder too. I always like playing fighters and warriors in games, my character's only motivation is combat and war, he's a lawful evil fighter whose only pleasure is fighting powerful monsters and people.

[@W00DGR0USE]

Man I need to try pathfinder, I always hear great things about it.

[@garryame4008]

Basic is rad as hell! As I understand it was drastically more popular than any other other version (especially advanced) until 5th edition

[@NOLNV1]

My understanding is 2e was very popular, which is why they stopped doing the basic sets during its run

[@lucasmarquesdecamargos4298]

It is so cool to know my gaming hero also likes OSR games and other indie RPGs I like. Do a video on those that you like the most :)

[@memeslich]

This is the video we been waiting for!

[@pendantblade6361]

More DnD please. Hell give us OSR stuff too.

[@KingSizeUGP]

Hey Tim, I'd love to see your video about Pathfinder and other, non-D&D systems! I'm relatively new to the hobby, but I've already realized that I appreciate both D&D 5e AND Pathfinder 1e, but for very different reasons.

[@NOLNV1]

Holmes Basic is such a cool, funky release! Lots of fascinating variations compared to BX, I think the 5-area alignment is the most useful advanced alignment for instace (of course Lawful-Neutral-Chaotic is easier)

[@bobbycrosby9765]

I grew up on 2nd edition. I really liked 3rd edition. These days, I DM Dungeon Crawl Classics for my kids. It's lots of tables, but they can lead to some fun results.

[@NyrikDoomfist]

I got that same D&D module when I was a kid in the 90's. I'm pretty sure my mom found it at a garage sale. I still have it in a box somewhere.

[@memeslich]

If I could make one recommendation for you Tim, you have to pick up the dungeon crawl classics book The Umerican Wasteland. You will love it. its a post apocalyptic roleplaying game with some inspirations you might recognize.

[@TheCoulsonlax]

Possible topic suggestion: Tabletop RPGs vs Video Games. What each does well/poorly and what element of story telling do you enjoy with both?

[@Shtibdab]

Tim if you like 3 and 3.5 maybe you be interested in Arcanis? 3.5 is my favorite edition too, and Arcanis was a campaign setting that got its own system. It's like an archetype-based, semi-classless 3.5 with a cool fantasy Rome coat of paint. Has really dynamic combat, magic, and initiative systems too.

[@bubbathedm]

I will always love 2nd Edition because of Planescape which will always be my favorite setting

[@GamesbyMarcWolff]

100% agree with everything you say here Tim, You and I have exactly the same taste in RPGs. I wonder if that has anything to do with our mutual love of GURPS

[@RanieriMattos-eh9nr]

Great video. Is there a video where you discuss direct influences of GURPS on Fallout 1 S.P.E.C.I.A.L. system? Fallout 01 it´s my favorite game of all time! Greetings from Brazil.

[@CainOnGames]

How Fallout was made SPECIAL kzbin.info/www/bejne/oZizqJl-jc51oNk

[@stevenkennedy4130]

I started with that same boxed set. Think I was in the 7th grade. Anyhoo thanks for the share!!

[@RedRaggedFiend]

@CainOnGames You mentioned D&D first edition “set your design flavor in stone.” Can you describe specific design principles or mechanics from 1e that still resonate in your creative process today?

[@CainOnGames]

I talk about a lot of what I learned from playing first edition and using Judge's Guild modules here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/oHjMqXqkecZgmc0

[@RedRaggedFiend]

@@CainOnGames Great, I'll check it out. Thanks Tim!

[@Diskhate]

Always super interesting Tim.. however, now my mind ponders about which specific modules/adventures influenced you guys more than others. I've heard of many game designers being inspired by, for example, "The throne of Bloodstone", or "Keep on the borderlands" and needless to say "Temple of Elemental Evil", but i'm willing to bet there are so many more that literally taught the basics of level design to so many early Crpg designers.

[@CainOnGames]

For me, that was Judges Guild kzbin.info/www/bejne/oHjMqXqkecZgmc0

[@Diskhate]

@@CainOnGames Thank you so much for the reply Tim, heard you mentioning Judges Guild in this video too but i know little about it.. going to watch the one you linked ASAP and, if i'm intrigued about it, i'll have to find a way to read through some of their original material.

[@TimvanderLeeuw]

That dragon on the front of the 1977/1978 D&D Basic set looks just like Smaug on top of his goldpile, in the images drawn by Tolkien himself. 😁 (Pose and colour are different but as "basic dragon" it looks just the same, I think!)

[@Space_Masters]

Talk more about Dungeon Crawl Classics! It's my absolute favorite TTRPG and I would love to hear your thoughts on it.

[@kevinvito8336]

4E is fun. I ran a one shot where I reskinned it as kaiju stomping around a city fighting mechs. My players had a blast. It is really different though.

[@Alexxave32]

would be great if you could tell us more about your thoughts about the OSR movement, even if it's a side note on a different video :O

[@motadelladelamorte]

I would love to hear your opinion on PF 2e from a designer's perspective. I know this system only from a player's perspective and I love it to peices. There is rulesupport for allmost everything and yet it allows a near infinite amount of freedom for character expression. Unlike DnD 5e, our dm don't have to come up with new improvised rulings, at least twice a session, that we have to memorize or write down for the sake of consistency. I've read some opinions, that some player's feel limited by this, but I haven't encountered a situation that wasn't solvable by existing rules or some light homebrewing, that was heavyly inspired by the very clear design philosophy of 2e. But then again, my autistic brain loves me some clear parameters of how the world works, and what are the possibilities limitations of our shared simulated reality.

[@rafaeldefier]

Would love to hear your opinions on OSR games and the modernization of mechanics that retain the old school philosophy of play.

[@ArilandoArilando]

I would love to hear your thoughts on OSR and other TRPGs in general.

[@CapraMonkey]

Tim, long timer watcher first time commenter. What brand is that shirt? I really like it and I'd love to buy one for myself. Thanks!

[@ratinthecat]

I found one of those sets at a Salvation Army store once, probably in 2000 or thereabout. Can confirm those dice were awful. I hope I gave it to a friend who was more into collecting, because I honestly have no idea what happened to it.

[@danacoleman4007]

😊

[@pelicano1987]

Hi Tim. Great talk as always. How about influences outside common places? I mean, it is easy to be influenced by books or movies, but there was some kind of elevator panel design you thought interesting to be an UI? An approach to consumer's line in a supermarket that made sense? The whole display of groceries and how it influenced some game in some other way than simply the display of items in a game? Thanks.

[@CainOnGames]

Last Friday was a video on game lessons from collecting fragrances. And a few months ago in posted Learning Game Design From Old Sitcoms: kzbin.info/www/bejne/onvQkqylZt-NmM0

[@ltcinsane]

I started playing in 2nd ed, 3.5 was my love and when I tried my hand at dming eberron which my favourite world setting. 4th ed put me off dnd.. and i really didn't like what they did with forgotten realms at that time. I've had a peek at 5th ed got the players hand book and played a bit with bg3.. 3.5 is still king 😂

[@ignacius8466]

To your comment on modern writers just playing with tropes: I think after GoT, they assume that they all need to subvert expectations and don't focus enough on just meeting expectations.

[@ianfrazier9896]

Hey Tim! I don’t know if you’re already familiar with it, but if not: Shadowdark sounds REALLY up your alley, based on your closing comments. (And it is, in my opinion, excellent)

[@CainOnGames]

I agree. A Shadowdark video is in the queue!

[@ianfrazier9896]

@@CainOnGames Nice! Looking forward to it. :)

[@uncouthboy8028]

how would you make a DCC crpg? Neat concept to hear you expound upon.

[@SideQuestPress]

I read from Bethesda that the Vats sciences in fallout have been lost to time? Was it meant to only be a suspension of disbelief mechanic?

[@MaitreMechant]

a lot of modern game devs really should play old DnD or other TTRPG

[@pavinus]

Hi Tim, around the 12.10 mark you talk about 5th edition being more about playing with tropes than about old school dungeon crawling (that's my understanding). Questions regarding this observation: Are you familiar with the table top game Gloomhaven? If so, what are your comments and observations regarding it's merits as an D&D inspired dungeon crawler, it's design and the overall experience? Obviously it not being an table top RPG, would the experience of playing Gloomhaven come closer to that core old school D&D dungeon crawling experience than a 5th edition trope heavy session?

[@mitchymancer]

It's interesting to hear you didn't like the early modules which primarily focused on modular adventure locations (aka dungeons). There is quite the revival of this sort of material currently, particularly in the OSRIC fan community, which is a 1e retroclone. It would be great to hear how your early 1e campaigns manifested and played out - what would happen in a typical session? All the best.

[@CainOnGames]

I have talked a bit about my early 1e D&D sessions in several videos, which might answer your question: kzbin.info/www/bejne/rnO4nJeFaa5-bdk kzbin.info/www/bejne/oHjMqXqkecZgmc0 kzbin.info/www/bejne/pmSWnoOLasasoM0 kzbin.info/www/bejne/mH_JZ2NnftR1psU

[@GMRayJ36]

So, you having mentioned it, what are exactly all the things you lament that was lost or left behind from 1st edition and old school AD&D? Thnx!

[@Interference22]

My first exposure to D&D, after hearing about it for years, was with Baldur's Gate. It was a long time before I could actually buy an edition and the first set I got was 4th Edition which was... not great. You're right about it being very game influenced: they outright say as much and even have rules for trash mobs. I also didn't really like what they did to the setting of Faerun with the Sundering. 5e, on the other hand, I've loved although considering my shallow prior experience I might just not know any better. Have you ever given Traveller a go? I got into that a few years back via the newer Mongoose edition and, considering it's rich setting and how long it's been around (it's only 3 years younger than D&D) I'm surprised it's only really seen two video game adaptations: The Zhodani Conspiracy and Quest for the Ancients.

[@isaacwillbanks3723]

That’s a shame about 4e. I haven’t played it myself, but I pull a lot of powers from it to flesh out my 5e game. I feel like the ability to have at least one alternate attack, or spell or thing to do helps players feel like heroes. Especially when a martial class can do something that controls the board, like knocking enemies down. Fun stuff!

[@isaacwillbanks3723]

Bit of a rant, but I’m passionate. What D&D has lost is the game. Now, a new DM is told things like “Learn how to write compelling fiction! Go to am improv class and take acting lessons!” Instead of *game design advice* like “Rewards illicit behavior in games. If your scholar player wants some lore, and you as the DM need them in a dungeon, put the lore in the dungeon.” I believe that D&D has been compared to many things that it is only vaguely similar too and it’s watered the concept down for people who don’t want to use it for its intended design. That and, there is a difference in the modern day between Table Top Players and D&D Players. It’s very hard to get people to try new systems, further underling their mis understanding of the system. I’ve been at tables where all they do is avoid D&D mechanics for the sake of shitty homebrew that is most likely designed better in another game. There is this sense that telling people “That game isn’t for that.” Is some kind of attack against their personal character.

[@SeannyOg]

4th Edition gets a lot of flak (and rightfully so I'd said, I also felt it was too gamey) but one thing I'll give 4th credit for (though not so much in terms of succeeding) was attempting to make martial characters a little more fun to play. The problem was they kind of felt like limited magic users more than anything else which at that point you kind of run back into the classic problem "why don't I just play a spellcaster." And the answer is "somebody's gotta be the tank." 5th has tapped back into this with subclasses like the Battle Master, but in my mind something akin to the optional weapon features in the BECMI edition where choosing certain weapons and training in them allows you to use them in interesting ways would be nice, that way you can pick a weapon based on what you're trying to do and work on mastering it. In my own homebrew games I use a heavily modified variant of those where anyone who chooses to be a non-spellcaster (or in limited capacities mixed spell/martial characters) have some tactic options so it's not just "I run up to the bad guy and whack him!" And whereas most characters have to pick a weapon type and stick with it if they want the benefits I have fighters, and to a less extent paladins, start with some training with multiple weapon types.

[@beganfish]

4e shouldn't get a lot of flak. It finally fixed the problem that people had been complaining about for years, and started complaining about again in 5e. Linear fighters and quadratic wizards. Every class feels really fun to play in 4e, they all have cool abilities and their own role in combat, which allows the tactics of a battle to really shine, rather than the way combat is now which is - I swing my sword to deal damage a couple times or I cast a fireball to deal damage.

[@SeannyOg]

I'll have to disagree. The way the game played to me with the way At-Wills and Encounters worked and how most those across classes had their own status effects baked into attacks they felt more like a La Croix with hints of a class for flavor. They in theory have their own roles in combat, but from my experience after about level 7 it starts to all run together and the tactics become meaningless as it devolves into a mess of status effects, surges, and pluses or minuses. Yes, it can be argued that's D&D in every edition, but in 4e it was that to the tenth power and it just wasn't fun, at least not for me or the people I played with. The only plus side to playing 4e in a longer campaign setting was around level 9-10 we starting being a lot diplomatic and RP focused because nobody wanted to go through combat if we could avoid it. Not to mention with the baked in status effects you get some, in my opinion, tonally weird things for default classes. Like a cleric hits an enemy and heals allies, or bard strikes enemy and allies get plus this to attack roles. As variants of classes that are more martial in nature that come with some trade-offs for that could be really interesting, but the fact they're the default for every class is what makes combat in 4e, short of straight magic classes to some degree, feel kind of same-y. So for me it really didn't fix the problem of linear fighters and quadratic wizards, it just blurred it in a fashion. Which is certainly a way to deal with that, but for me I didn't like it. There are good ideas in 4e that I wish would come back in some limited fashions or with tweaks, but as a whole I didn't care for it.

[@beganfish]

@@SeannyOg That wasn't my experience at all, the opposite in fact. When we switched over to 5e, that's when the combat started to feel incredibly samey. I had to work so hard to tweak and outright invent new mechanics for monsters to try and make them even as remotely as challenging to fight as 4e monsters were. Everything just ended the same way in other editions, monsters come along, martials stab it, spellcasters zap it, end of encounter. In 4e, so long as you were using the monsters tactically and not just bumrushing them forward, it forced the players to fight tactically, they couldn't just overpower encounters with raw numbers and had to actually use their powers in strategic ways, synergize attacks and work together as a team. Martials could actually control the battlefield, when only wizards could do that in other editions, but they controlled it in their own way, differently from how a wizard could control the battlefield, which made every class feel unique even when there were so many.

[@proydoha8730]

Maybe it was an age thing and when we got older it became easier to understand but 5th edition was much easier to explain to other people than 3.5

[@Adamthegeek70]

I went from BECMI basic in 1983 to 1e from there to GURPS.

[@Adamthegeek70]

Being the DM is the best job in the game.

[@hyperbrug9328]

What are your overall thoughts about 80s nostalgia which seems to have swept into the mainstream for the past decade or so?

[@TheCoulsonlax]

A lot of the community calls the new 5th edition D&D 5.24 (because it came out in 2024) lol

[@StellarSteven]

Favorite class/race to play? Name of your favorite pc?

[@lhfirex]

Not sure if this is one of your videos I haven't seen already, but if you were going to make an MMO, Tim, what would you want it to be like?

[@thatradiogeek]

3rd edition was peak D&D. I still play simple characters. You might say I'm anti-backstory.

[@lordcool]

Also not regarding video topic, but do you have any comment on whats happening with Obsidian right now? I'm worried that some bad actors(Hansen) are possibly tainting or ruining your legacy.

[@chrisrpg3913]

The question about people and simple characters is the point. This is why I go with Basic Fantasy now. Superhero games and builds are not for me.

[@snegglepuss6669]

$15 in 1986 is equivalent to $43.18 today according to a quick Google search, or less than $5 a day. That's rough

[@WilliamT-ep8cz]

Good morning Tim, Would you ever consider playing DnD on a web series like Dimension 20 or Critical Role?

[@aleccrisman]

I vibed with your criticisms of 5e, but they seemed aimed more at the culture around 5e than the actual mechanics of 5e itself. Do you have mechanical criticisms of 5e as well, and, maybe more interestingly, are there any ways in which the mechanics of 5e facilitate or encourage some of the cultural issues with it?

[@ThomasIu-d5r]

My first experience with D&D was 2nd ed and the wondrous feel of the spells and items back then has been lost with each following edition. Magic just feels blander now. Is it something you’ve felt too or have any idea why? I do appreciate the more consistent and balanced rules of later editions.

[@Torile0]

I played extensively (90% as DM) the following editions: OD&D AD&D 3rd 3.5 4e 5e2014 and now playing 5e2024. 3rd edition is defintely the worst edition from the perspective of the DM, while 4e is the best one from that same point of view. I now enjoy very much 5e and the 2024 version of the rule is definitely an improvement, but 4e is still better when you want to tell interesting stories with a decent lvl of hidden control over the development of the narrative.

[@junkbucket50]

Interesting you never really played 2e, did you play much baldur's gate 1, 2 and throne of Bhaal?

[@rufrox9947]

Tim, I would go into debt to finance a game that took a simple system (say, something like OSE), made it into a simple tactical game where you'd play said simple classes and just walked around a map exploring dungeons, freeing princesses, and getting richer with loot... Can't you get some of your old buds and put something together and thro it into a crowdfund? Retrogaming is all the rage now, just take a look at games like Skald. The graphics don't even need to be impressive.

[@andrewbrock3675]

I play 3.5 dnd to this day lol.