Keith Davies wrote:

> tussock wrote:

>>     I reckon EGG was a brilliant game designer. The way casters and

>> grunts are forced to work together for mutual benefit is /hard/ to do

>> as well as AD&D: if you can actually figure out what the rules for all

>> that are. Easy-come, easy-go characters allowed some nasty traps and

>> monsters.

>>     Good /designer/ and a challenging DM, not a good technical writer.

> 

> Mm.  Okay.  Though some of the subsystems deserved to die on the vine

> (diseases, anyone?)

    I ran the 1e diseases through a spreadsheet a while back, and you only 

need about 10 Con to survive them to old age, unless you're living in a 

tropical swamp. Very hard on characters with 3-4 Con, but no PCs dump Con 

like that. No more page space than 4e or Pathfinder. <shrug>

    Weapon vs Armour is too much, weapon speeds not really needed, unarmed 

subsystems are a horror, and he was planning on dumping all them for 2nd 

edition, along with beefing up the fighters and monsters, taking some of the 

randomness out of hit points.

    But. Differing XP tables means players always level at different times 

(so it doesn't matter if anyone misses a game or two), they give a sense of 

fast and slow progression at various stages, and the rapid scale lets anyone 

catch up levels fast. Characters spend a little time learning the ropes and 

a long time in the part of the game that's good (if complex).

    The multiclass characters work well, the RNG stays relevant to all 

characters and monsters, the monsters and NPCs are simple enough to play 

without study. Random rewards press our Pavlovian responses and random 

tables for encounters, treasures, and even terrain takes the pressure off a 

pressured DM. He even has random social encounters when in town.

    Slow-growing AC (goblins can still hurt) and fast-growing hit points 

(but you can fight giants) are genius. No death spiral! Huzzah!

    Saving throw defenses give a sense of player agency over harsh 

consequences, and the nastiest effects had much easier saves (especially for 

the Cleric!). No roll to cast spells makes casters feel more successful than 

they often are, and enemy casters suitably scary.

    The stat mods fill a lot of tables, but they all work well. Defense 

bonuses /bigger/ than attack, damage bigger too. Different dice for 

different things because sometimes the d20 just doesn't work as well, 

especially when a lot of people need to roll it at the same time (d6!).

    Wizards that *can't* have a perfect set of spells. Players that 

/respond/ to what the game gives them, rather than planning a future in 

great detail and waiting for the game to dish it out: items, spells, who 

lives and dies, your next character.

    Monsters that are immune to a bunch of stuff, and attack in odd ways, so 

you can't spam the same tactics all the time. High level Fighters basically 

immune to everything. Rules for surprise that actually generate surprise and 

make things like /how/ you're exploring matter.

    No skill system telling you what you can't do, or making you check your 

character sheet to consider your actions, no feats or powers saying this 

Fighter has to push all the time and that Fighter can't ever: you just try 

what makes sense to try, depending on the situation.

    Fights start with "what do you do now?" rather than "roll initiative and 

wait for your turn". Non-fights also start with "what do you do now?", which 

is a clever juxtaposition. Group init makes the group coordinate, and is 

much faster. Even per-round initiative works to add a little fog-of-war to 

your action choices.

-- 

    tussock

The thread name suits, because it's not all truly that good. 8]