House Rules

Erik Tenkar posts on house rules and it got me to thinking about how I used to have loads of them, and over the years I've just reached the point where I hate them.

I don't know if I'm just another indoctrinated victim of modern game design, but these days the more house rules I see the more I wonder why I'm not just using a different system. To look at my own gripes with my ongoing AD&D 1E game, I have been wondering why I don't simply use C&C or S&W Complete instead, solving all my AD&D issues in one fell swoop (because it only takes about ten minutes for me to remember why I also don't play AD&D 2E anymore). I mean, I could house rule the hell out of 1st edition and make it like it actually was for me....but I could also simply pluck C&C, S&W or hell -Pathfinder- from my shelf and have a game pretty much good-to-go, no tinkering required. In fact, I have had to house rule C&C too much in the past, another reason it, too, ends up stalling out whenever I try to run games with it.

I guess what I'm saying is that in my middle years of life I just don't care to tinker with rules anymore, and I really need to keep that in mind when I'm indulging in the vast world of D&D-likes that seem to be 90% of the surviving RPG hobby these days!

I do wonder why I am not just sticking exclusively with Pathfinder and Runequest these days for my fantasy gaming.* Maybe it's time to clean some shelves, focus on the core experience of "what I have time for" as a father and older gamer who's butting up against a jaded wall of "been there, done that" in a hobby he still loves but which feels all too familiar and well-trod. Box some of these games up and leave them in a closet for my son to discover in a few years, maybe. I think of all the D&D-likes I have, both Swords & Wizardry Complete and Castles & Crusades would make fantastic introductory RPGs for him when he reaches an age appropriate for exploring such games. Not sure I'd want to subject him to AD&D though.

Fantasy Future:

Me: "Son, when I was your age we didn't have tablets, or cloud computing, or solid state drives, or computer games. No, I had to play my RPGs with papers, pencils and dice....and I used THESE rule books to play!!!!" >opens chest of RPG artifacts<

My Son: "Wow! Look at these awesome vintage RPGs! Must...play...now..."

Realistic Future:

Me: "Son, when I was your age we didn't have tablets, or cloud computing, or solid state drives, or computer games. No, I had to play my RPGs with papers, pencils and dice....and I used THESE rule books to play!!!!" >opens chest of RPG artifacts<

My son: "Too Long, Didn't Listen, Dad. Okay, I'm off to chase women and play football. Cya wouldn't wanna be ya!"

Ah, I am in a foul and pessimistic mood today! Heh.



*I sense a new year's resolution coming on. No D&D in 2013, just Pathfinder and Runequest. Hmmmmm yesssssh......