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Mailing List Logs for ShadowRN

Message no. 1
From: Mike Elkins <MikeE@*********.COM>
Subject: Re: AD&D and SRII -Reply
Date: Wed, 23 Oct 1996 14:09:36 -0500
Tom Pendergrast wrote:
>[AD&D] has everything to do with Shadowrun experience. I've been playing
>AD&D for six years and SRII for three. Lots of my AD&D experience has
>translated over to SRII... not to mention just RPing in general. And my
>AD&D and SRII experience has helped me in the Champions campaign I'm in.
>Just because its not strictly SRII soesn't mean it has no place orbearing on the
>list... (i.e.- critters, magic, char ideas... etc.)
>
> ---Tom---

Before the flame war begins, let me warn you that several of us listmembers will
STRONGLY disagree with this statement, and probably get overly emotional about
it. While perhaps your experiences vary from mine (which are admittedly over a
decade out of date), playing AD&D for me invariably descended into
munchkinism. The game world was so inconsistent that maintaing the suspension
of disbelief became increasingly impossible. There were no absolute unbreakable
laws of "fantasy physics" (a new spell could always be invented to break any you
came up with) and new monster species and dungeons sprang into existance at a
rate of about 4 per day. As a GM all you could do was shrug your shoulders and
say "Its just a game, don't worry about it".

Now that I'm older, I need a game world that is consistent enough that I can get
wrapped up in the story and, for a little while, believe that somewhere my
character is having a fascinating dangerous life.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that if you play ShadowRun anything like the
ways I've seen AD&D played (including critters, magic, and character ideas), I
think you are missing out on a LOT.

If (on the other hand) you play AD&D like I play ShadowRun, congratulations,
you're a better gamer than me.

Double-Domed Mike
Message no. 2
From: "Robert Pendergrast (Tom)" <3011_3@***.EDU>
Subject: Re: AD&D and SRII -Reply
Date: Wed, 23 Oct 1996 12:20:39 -0700
> >[AD&D] has everything to do with Shadowrun experience. I've been playing
> >AD&D for six years and SRII for three. Lots of my AD&D experience has
> >translated over to SRII... not to mention just RPing in general. And my
> >AD&D and SRII experience has helped me in the Champions campaign I'm in.
> >Just because its not strictly SRII soesn't mean it has no place orbearing on the
> >list... (i.e.- critters, magic, char ideas... etc.)
> >
> > ---Tom---

>Before the flame war begins, let me warn you that several of us listmembers will
>STRONGLY disagree with this statement, and probably get overly emotional about
>it. While perhaps your experiences vary from mine (which are admittedly over a
>decade out of date), playing AD&D for me invariably descended into
>munchkinism. The game world was so inconsistent that maintaing the suspension
>of disbelief became increasingly impossible. There were no absolute unbreakable
> If (on the other hand) you play AD&D like I play ShadowRun, congratulations,
> you're a better gamer than me.

<snip>

That all depends on your DM/GM. I've seen (and participated in) MANY
campaigns that degenerated into munchkinism. However, ANY system can be
run inconsistently... I've seen just as many SRII campaigns degenerate as
I have AD&D as I have Mechwarrior as I have Champions/Fantasy Hero...
etc... It all a matter of how the campaign is run, and that has to
do with both how the GM does things, and what kind of the players there
are. In recent years, I have become a much different player than I used
to be; I am disheartened with most of the gamers I encounter now, I see
campaigns that have turned to munchkinism (GOD I HATE THAT WORD), ...

Please, no flames... I am *NOT* trying to preach, but... I (now)
play all of my campaigns the same... (Mostly) By the rules, (house or
otherwise), honestly (Not pointing any fingers, I've just know a lot of
dishonest gamers), and with a helluvalotta RPing... I just to make one
more comment, I am currently involved in an AD&D campaign, a Shadowrun
campaign, and a Hero/Champions campaign.

I guess the pint I'm trying to make is that RPing is RPing,
regardless of the system, ... and that no system is perfect...


---Tom---

Further Reading

If you enjoyed reading about AD&D and SRII, you may also be interested in:

Disclaimer

These messages were posted a long time ago on a mailing list far, far away. The copyright to their contents probably lies with the original authors of the individual messages, but since they were published in an electronic forum that anyone could subscribe to, and the logs were available to subscribers and most likely non-subscribers as well, it's felt that re-publishing them here is a kind of public service.

Thwap!