A Survival Game versus the Forces of Hell

I described first-edition AD&D to my players as "a survival game versus the forces of Hell," they instantly got the vibe. This is the old-school school, almost like the original Diablo I game, where your best hope is to survive long enough to give the next heroes a chance to push back the forces of Hell, which keep corrupting and overrunning the land.

Tribes of monsters are almost certainly demon and devil worshippers, out for blood, pillaging and tearing down any place of good or civilization, sacrificing villages, and just out to destroy everything as a tribute to evil. Trigger warning: These are not good, happy, cute, or misunderstood monsters. Even the dragons are some of the worst, taking advantage of the chaos, burning down cities, and leaning into the wars to fill their treasure hordes.

I had a few paragraphs about 5E here. I am phasing that commentary out because high-level play is boring, broken, and slow. The 5E boat has left the dock. The only real "Wizards D&D" is 3.5E. The only real D&D is AD&D first edition.

The best "tabletop dungeon tactical game" is Pathfinder 2 Remastered.

I can't play the game in my mind with anything else except the first edition, and even then, OSRIC is my reference of choice, the best-written technical manual on a perfect game. The original books are for inspiration only. Gary's words can't be erased or replaced; this game and the worlds it built kindled almost every game, video game, movie, and book that came after it.

To tear the man down is blasphemy.

Everyone has flaws, but we celebrate greatness and accomplishments. Wizards, you have lost your way. I hope you can return to the fold. Even Hollywood is moving on from the 2010s, and the whole era looks more like disco every day. Otherwise, we must carry on.

We do that by devoting ourselves to that original ideal.

I love the rawness of the first edition. You are not supposed to survive. You aren't given "nap times" or "free cantrips" to carry you through to the subsequent encounter. Death is possible. To even think of the game as encounters, like some pen-and-paper ARPG, means you need help understanding the game. I tell my players that playing the first edition requires spatial thinking, causal analysis, critical thinking, math skills, resource management, bravery, tenacity, and the will to survive and do the impossible.

A dungeon is a problem space you need to solve. It can be a dynamic, changing environment, with time working against you. You can use parts of the environment to your advantage, just like battle space planning in the military. It is part fluid, part static, and those parts can interact. It all starts out as an unknown. Solutions to that problem are built into the game, but they must be told to you.

Even how to run the game is also a mastery, a wizardry, and a science.

After this one, every version of the game took a step away from perfection.

The game isn't a game; it is a riddle you need to solve by looking inside yourself. Once you understand how to "win," you will be set for life; very little in life can stand in your way.

We circle back to the premise, "a survival game versus the forces of Hell." In a way, this may sound like your life, and it should. The impossible task is in front of you, and every day seems like stemming the tide, trying to lose less and survive the day, and getting pushed back to a safe place you realize isn't so safe the next day, so you are on the move again. Watching suffering and despair. Watching what was once good get razed and burned to the ground.

What good are you? You have one spell, and you are done for the day? Your skills could be better. You can't fight. You die easy. You don't get "quest XP for good deeds." You need to kill and steal every experience point, cash it in, and get better with every outing.

Before long, you are Merlin or picking up Excalibur.

The tide turns.

The bastions of evil fall. They thought they were safe there. They were wrong.

You will find the end of this story. It is out there, waiting to be discovered. In some ways, the journey is essential, too. And there will be losses along the way. Only some people who start this tale will be there at the end. There may be new heroes along the way who pick up the swords of the fallen.

There may be a total party kill.

The legend of that moment may inspire new heroes to try to do what the others failed to do.

You will all get to play that story, too.

It is your choice.