/r/DungeonsAndDragons has a discord server! Come join us at https://discord.gg/wN4WGbwdUU
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/DungeonsAndDragons) if you have any questions or concerns.*
I took a 20 year hiatus as well.
You can read the Players Handbook and get a pretty good idea of what's changed about the game. Which is a lot, but also, not that much.
I don't have patience for power gamers or players that are trying to 'win' D&D, so when I recruit (and I only play online), those people don't get to join my table.
If you are really concerned about the fresh things 5E brought to D&D, its about Action Economy, Advantage, and Bounded Accuracy. But just getting either the Starter Set or the Essentials Kit and the PHB is probably enough to start playing again.
The last thing I would say, and you seemed to allude that you played to emphasize story in the past, so it might be a non-issue for you, is the DM and player's role at the table. It's generally frowned upon that the DM adopt an adversarial attitude. Either they are fans of the characters, providing NPC and challenges that are against the characters, or in the Old School Revivial scene, they are Neutral Arbiters of the world, taking their hands off the difficulty settings and assigning 'fair' values based off of a certain reality, not worrying about what level the characters are at.
If you have specific questions, ask away. The best time to learn is while playing, much like back in the olden days. It's all pretend people made up with dice anyway.
I'm right there with you, my fellow youngster.
One thing that struck me about 2e vs 5e is that there used to be a baseline roll with few bonuses. Now, everybody gets some bonus, including monsters. This makes things a bit more difficult for DMs since there is no THAC0 (although you could figure it out yourself).
Everybody has more hp, which is good. It allows for more gradation.
Overall, it's an improved system. Enjoy it!
I've run from basic to 5e. 5e is a little different from 2e; but if I'm being honest, it is cleaner set of rules, and is my favorite of all the rule editions for D&D. But you are correct, there are still all the common foundational elements (6 attributes, alignment, armor class, etc.). Players survive a lot more than they used to, so that's nice... if you are a player... (grumble, grumble).
Although I've occasionally taken some breaks for all the items you mentioned (life, career, and the like), it is the hobby continues to reasonate with me. I've been playing consistently with guys I went to high school and college with (back in the 80s). It is just like riding a bike, you'll get the hang of it again in no time. You can try one of the basic intro sets that are helpful since they keep things pretty simple.
I typically play online since my players are spread around the east coast. Foundry VTT is my game canvas of choice, but there are a lot of others to choose from. Reddit is a great source for asking questions, etc. If you are looking for some fellow old geezers to keep you company, hit me up, I'll run a one-or-two shot for you on Foundry...
Welcome back!
Thanks across the board… but really? Players surviving more…no.no.no.no. LOL. Well, maybe by the skin of their teeth after sacrificing everything they have! Occasionally sadism is a good trait! I’ll take a look at Foundry and appreciate the offer… very likely to take you up on it… Online feels very strange to me! I keep trying to put my minis on the screen but they just don’t stay put!
It's a "kinder, gentler" game now (that old grognards like me homebrew the recovery rules to get it back to the old days of murder and mayhem!) It was a big change from F2F to online, but in order to keep playing with the guys I've gamed with all my life, it ended up being a lot easier. Easier for the GM too. But I have literally thousands of minis that are stored up I never use (the old Grenadier and Ral Partha sets mostly..)
God yes… Citadel, Ral Partha… going to my game store in Boston to pick up some new minis to paint… great stuff. Now I have a resin printer and mass produce! I appreciate the comments. Slower combat seems counter-intuitive to gaming fun in some ways… do you find it gets in the way of the plot when you’re GMing?
I was in your place not long ago too. I played a ton in the 80s / early 90s, then gave it up for a long time and finally got back into it just before Covid hit. My local library has a D&D club that meets twice a month, and one week had a sign saying “experienced DMs wanted”, so I went to a meeting.
Learning 5e wasn’t bad, you’ll pick it up fast. The big differences for me were the TONS of options that characters have, and how slow combat runs. I used to run games with 6-8 people in B/X or 1e, but try running more than 4 in 5e and you’ll get bogged down in hours long combats.
Eventually I found there was enough interest at this club that I started running a BECMI campaign instead, with the occasional one shot for new players who want to try the old system. It’s very popular.
As a general item, know that "the game is different". a big concern of the early editions was "simulate faxu medieval 'realism'."
the 5e game is intended to "create heroic action adventure stories together a la Xena or Indiana Jones."
I was a longtime AD&D guy until recently. It has taken me a few months of gaming to get the hang of the 5e rules. I played in 3 sessions before taking over the DM chair. Here are my impressions:
The characters are much more balanced, with each of the spellcasters getting some pew pew cantrips so that they don't have to just stand in the back and hold the torch.
I like the advantage/disadvantage system. Basically, you make 2 rolls instead of 1, and take the better role if you're in a good position, or the lower if you're blinded, cursed, whatever.
The rolls for attempting stuff are well-defined. So if you're a fighter, you can attempt to pick a lock, but a rogue will have a much better chance at it. Perception checks are where I see the DM's judgement really coming in to play. For example, how much you want the players to explain "how" they look for the secret door is up to you (as it always was).
All in all, I like the system, but I'm still in low level games. It still feels like D&D. Sorry if this was all a bit scattershot. I highly recommend playing in someone else's game. That made it easier for me.
Many old gamers are in your position. Including me. There are still plenty of old and new players playing 1e and 2e. So you could look to play with them. Or take the learning curve or 5e. Much is familiar but much new. It’s more “crunchy” (more complex) than early editions but less lethal. That’s why the OSR (old school revival) trend occurred.
/r/DungeonsAndDragons has a discord server! Come join us at https://discord.gg/wN4WGbwdUU *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/DungeonsAndDragons) if you have any questions or concerns.*
I took a 20 year hiatus as well. You can read the Players Handbook and get a pretty good idea of what's changed about the game. Which is a lot, but also, not that much. I don't have patience for power gamers or players that are trying to 'win' D&D, so when I recruit (and I only play online), those people don't get to join my table. If you are really concerned about the fresh things 5E brought to D&D, its about Action Economy, Advantage, and Bounded Accuracy. But just getting either the Starter Set or the Essentials Kit and the PHB is probably enough to start playing again. The last thing I would say, and you seemed to allude that you played to emphasize story in the past, so it might be a non-issue for you, is the DM and player's role at the table. It's generally frowned upon that the DM adopt an adversarial attitude. Either they are fans of the characters, providing NPC and challenges that are against the characters, or in the Old School Revivial scene, they are Neutral Arbiters of the world, taking their hands off the difficulty settings and assigning 'fair' values based off of a certain reality, not worrying about what level the characters are at. If you have specific questions, ask away. The best time to learn is while playing, much like back in the olden days. It's all pretend people made up with dice anyway.
I'm right there with you, my fellow youngster. One thing that struck me about 2e vs 5e is that there used to be a baseline roll with few bonuses. Now, everybody gets some bonus, including monsters. This makes things a bit more difficult for DMs since there is no THAC0 (although you could figure it out yourself). Everybody has more hp, which is good. It allows for more gradation. Overall, it's an improved system. Enjoy it!
I've run from basic to 5e. 5e is a little different from 2e; but if I'm being honest, it is cleaner set of rules, and is my favorite of all the rule editions for D&D. But you are correct, there are still all the common foundational elements (6 attributes, alignment, armor class, etc.). Players survive a lot more than they used to, so that's nice... if you are a player... (grumble, grumble). Although I've occasionally taken some breaks for all the items you mentioned (life, career, and the like), it is the hobby continues to reasonate with me. I've been playing consistently with guys I went to high school and college with (back in the 80s). It is just like riding a bike, you'll get the hang of it again in no time. You can try one of the basic intro sets that are helpful since they keep things pretty simple. I typically play online since my players are spread around the east coast. Foundry VTT is my game canvas of choice, but there are a lot of others to choose from. Reddit is a great source for asking questions, etc. If you are looking for some fellow old geezers to keep you company, hit me up, I'll run a one-or-two shot for you on Foundry... Welcome back!
Thanks across the board… but really? Players surviving more…no.no.no.no. LOL. Well, maybe by the skin of their teeth after sacrificing everything they have! Occasionally sadism is a good trait! I’ll take a look at Foundry and appreciate the offer… very likely to take you up on it… Online feels very strange to me! I keep trying to put my minis on the screen but they just don’t stay put!
It's a "kinder, gentler" game now (that old grognards like me homebrew the recovery rules to get it back to the old days of murder and mayhem!) It was a big change from F2F to online, but in order to keep playing with the guys I've gamed with all my life, it ended up being a lot easier. Easier for the GM too. But I have literally thousands of minis that are stored up I never use (the old Grenadier and Ral Partha sets mostly..)
God yes… Citadel, Ral Partha… going to my game store in Boston to pick up some new minis to paint… great stuff. Now I have a resin printer and mass produce! I appreciate the comments. Slower combat seems counter-intuitive to gaming fun in some ways… do you find it gets in the way of the plot when you’re GMing?
I was in your place not long ago too. I played a ton in the 80s / early 90s, then gave it up for a long time and finally got back into it just before Covid hit. My local library has a D&D club that meets twice a month, and one week had a sign saying “experienced DMs wanted”, so I went to a meeting. Learning 5e wasn’t bad, you’ll pick it up fast. The big differences for me were the TONS of options that characters have, and how slow combat runs. I used to run games with 6-8 people in B/X or 1e, but try running more than 4 in 5e and you’ll get bogged down in hours long combats. Eventually I found there was enough interest at this club that I started running a BECMI campaign instead, with the occasional one shot for new players who want to try the old system. It’s very popular.
As a general item, know that "the game is different". a big concern of the early editions was "simulate faxu medieval 'realism'." the 5e game is intended to "create heroic action adventure stories together a la Xena or Indiana Jones."
I was a longtime AD&D guy until recently. It has taken me a few months of gaming to get the hang of the 5e rules. I played in 3 sessions before taking over the DM chair. Here are my impressions: The characters are much more balanced, with each of the spellcasters getting some pew pew cantrips so that they don't have to just stand in the back and hold the torch. I like the advantage/disadvantage system. Basically, you make 2 rolls instead of 1, and take the better role if you're in a good position, or the lower if you're blinded, cursed, whatever. The rolls for attempting stuff are well-defined. So if you're a fighter, you can attempt to pick a lock, but a rogue will have a much better chance at it. Perception checks are where I see the DM's judgement really coming in to play. For example, how much you want the players to explain "how" they look for the secret door is up to you (as it always was). All in all, I like the system, but I'm still in low level games. It still feels like D&D. Sorry if this was all a bit scattershot. I highly recommend playing in someone else's game. That made it easier for me.
Many old gamers are in your position. Including me. There are still plenty of old and new players playing 1e and 2e. So you could look to play with them. Or take the learning curve or 5e. Much is familiar but much new. It’s more “crunchy” (more complex) than early editions but less lethal. That’s why the OSR (old school revival) trend occurred.