quote:
The question is, why WOULD you use AD&D rules?

I think the main (only?) reason would be to appeal to the people who already play the pen and paper games.

Take care,
Bill

D&D is nice in pen & paper games, because the system already exists and is wildely adopted.
That mean you can play with almost any role playing gamer without problem.

I don''t think that a computer game should tell you which rules it uses or even show stats to the player, do you want to play a game or do like most lame so called ''RPGamers'' play rules ?

Obviously I prefer to play games and I don''t really care about the rules, all that counts is :
1- never ever makes me chase rats.
2- never ever makes me weaker than a dog.
3- always makes me begin the game with nice clothes and equipement. (optionnaly that I can choose)


Rules don''t make role playing games, but they sometimes break them.
Just my Opinion.


-* So many things to do, so little time to spend. *-

The AD&D rules used in the Baldurs Gate games were a pain in the ass, it took me about 5 minutes for my guy to hit anything with his spells/weapons and even then they did nearly no damage. I ended up stopping playing the game in annoyance at the incompetence of my guy to hit anything, that is not the way a game should be played.

If you want my advice make it so that weapons\spells almost always hit and just alter the damage they do to make them better. I'm not saying don't use D&D rules just saying don't feel pressured to use all of them

[edited by - Grambo on June 4, 2002 5:08:22 AM]

quote: Original post by Siebharinn

The question is, why WOULD you use AD&D rules?

I think the main (only?) reason would be to appeal to the people who already play the pen and paper games.

Take care,
Bill

Yeah, that''s what I was getting at. Of course you run the risk of losing people like me who really don''t know or care that the AD&D 3rd edition rules are. When I see previews, reviews and PR prattle on about them I tend to think that I''m not the target audience and move on.

You also run the risk of implementing them inexactly and then facing the wrath of "hardcore" players. For example I read a lot of Pool Of Radiance reviews that bashed it for not being true to AD&D rules.

I would say use whatever works. What do you want to emphasize? How do you want the pacing to be? What sorts of races and classes do you want? How do you want the player to feel? How likely should death be, how quickly should characters advance, etc.

Another problem with using AD&D rules is that is pretty much locks you into the genero-fantasy setting. Yeah, healing types can only use bludgeoning weapons or something…got that already…Elves make good magicians ho-hum. Innovation in setting is something most games are really lacking. How many variations of "Bonk Orcs on the Head" do you really need?

Anyone who has actually laboured through the creation of a full role-playing system will quickly see the value in a pre-existing set of rules. Content, balancing, playtesting, statistical analysis, history, geography are just some of the issues you can avoid when dealing with a properly working system. This enables you to focus your energy on gameplay and story.

Of course, if the original designers have not done their work properly, that becomes an issue...

quote:
Another problem with using AD&D rules is that is pretty much locks you into the genero-fantasy setting. Yeah, healing types can only use bludgeoning weapons or something...got that already...Elves make good magicians ho-hum. Innovation in setting is something most games are really lacking. How many variations of "Bonk Orcs on the Head" do you really need?

The new d20 rules have pretty much done away with all of the limitations that you mention. Any combination is possible now. Couple that with the fact that almost any monster can be played as a character, and you''ve got a lot of options.

As for "genero-fantasy", the d20 system is used for Star Wars and Call of Cthulhu, and it seems to work fairly well.

Take care,
Bill

You can implent AD&D rules to your game, but i have feeling that you cant advertice that. AD&D is registered trademark, you have to buy license if you want to tell that your game uses AD&D rules.

In my opinion, d20 rules are not only more flexible and more realistic, but they seem easier to translate to computer code.

Here's a thought:
If you look at FF5, doesn't the multiclassing system remind you somewhat of d20?

[edited by - DuranStrife on June 8, 2002 1:09:49 PM]