[Reflection] Old School D&D settings
For some reason I've spent quite a bit of the past week reflecting on some of TSRs D&D settings, especially those that were released during its heyday in the early 90s. Reading these old books and supplements, I instance get a desire to play them all, but conversely know full well that they'll never quite live up to expectation.
In particular I've been looking at Al-Qadam and Ravenloft, both setting with a huge potential and probably a lot more supplements and releases than I'd initially expected. With this too, I've been thinking about Dark Sun and how the new WotC 4e model makes me think they missed a trick with this release.
Having played both in the 2nd edition settings of Ravenloft (a campaign we played in at least once or twice a week for a good year back in the early 90s) and then the first three or four Dark Sun adventures around the same time, I have to say that they are the most inspiring settings out there. Today, however, I have to say that I'm not a big fan of the game mechanics, and if I was to run or play in the settings I'd look to Mini Six or something equally simple (yet flexible) to replace the 2nd ed ruleset.
I think also the adventures for these setting are very hit and miss (a train of thought that is reflected in the reviews I've read on rpg.net and other places). Still, the best of these look as if they would hold-up today, with a few changes here and there.
So with my reminiscing on these old settings, I'm curious as to whether anyone reading this got to play in these settings, or others that were around at the same time (Birthright, Spelljammer, etc.)
In particular I've been looking at Al-Qadam and Ravenloft, both setting with a huge potential and probably a lot more supplements and releases than I'd initially expected. With this too, I've been thinking about Dark Sun and how the new WotC 4e model makes me think they missed a trick with this release.
Having played both in the 2nd edition settings of Ravenloft (a campaign we played in at least once or twice a week for a good year back in the early 90s) and then the first three or four Dark Sun adventures around the same time, I have to say that they are the most inspiring settings out there. Today, however, I have to say that I'm not a big fan of the game mechanics, and if I was to run or play in the settings I'd look to Mini Six or something equally simple (yet flexible) to replace the 2nd ed ruleset.
I think also the adventures for these setting are very hit and miss (a train of thought that is reflected in the reviews I've read on rpg.net and other places). Still, the best of these look as if they would hold-up today, with a few changes here and there.
So with my reminiscing on these old settings, I'm curious as to whether anyone reading this got to play in these settings, or others that were around at the same time (Birthright, Spelljammer, etc.)