I don’t care about D&D.
Or to be exact, D&D as a ruleset? Can’t be bothered.
Or to be exact, D&D as a ruleset? Can’t be bothered.
I really can’t. I don’t care (any more) about the original game, and I don’t care (never have) about 3rd, 4th and 5th edition. Too much to do and to choose from, too many moving parts, way too many rules and superheroic feats.
Way. Too. Many.
And sorry but not sorry, descending armor class is bullshit and completely counterintuitive. AAC makes it more bearable, but still… way too many rules.
Way. Too. Many.
I don’t care about much of the OSR, either. Retroclones, my ass. I have the original game(s) on my shelves, and even if I didn’t have them, I’d go buy pdfs or decently priced originals.
I DO care about a few OSR games, though.
I care about ‘s Into the Odd. Because it’s so quick and forgiving-unforgiving at the same time. Because it has so, so, so many awesome hacks people wrote for it. Its big brother, Bastionland, will be a piece of art. I’ll be backing this beaut on Kickstarter like crazy.
I care about 2d6 system (Blood of Pangea and Barons of Braunstein, specifically). Because it takes me back to a time before fancy dice invaded our hobby. Because it feels positively ancient, but still plays very, very quick.
I care about The GLOG. Because it’s the D&D I always dreamed of and always wanted to play (and tried to write, often enough). Because it has all I want in a game: classes galore, races galore, a magic system that blows my mind because it’s so freakishly awesome (and you can still use old D&D spells if you want).
So there you have it: I don’t care about D&D. I care about three of its children, and that’s really all that counts, isn’t it?
Darkworm Colt 
I’m reading this over as I ponder many things about game design, and wanted to point one thing out: Arneson was pretty clear that he whipped the D20 out very early (and everyone was really weirded out by it). So pre-funny-dice roleplaying barely exists, if at all.
That said, tradition is about the only reason I’d hold onto most of the funny dice, generally preferring the bell curve of a 2d6. Though that may be because I started out with Fighting Fantasy books. Though obviously 2d8, 2d10, etc all hold possibilities as well.
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