Old School RPG — what is it?

[whswhs]

Originally Posted by Stormcrow

Old school means simply this: the game exists to challenge the abilities of the PLAYER, not the character. The character is simply an avatar to put the player into the game. This avatar has a general description and perhaps a few special powers, but his chances to do various things are undefined.

In an old-school game, if you want to find a trap in a room, you tell the referee where and how you look for it. If you want to make friends with someone, you converse with the referee. There's no rolling to do these things, unless the referee doesn't want to decide for himself and leaves the outcome to a chance he decides on.

In a "new-school" game, you check against your CHARACTER'S ability to find a trap. If you want to make friends with someone, you make some kind of influence roll based on your character's abilities. If the referee demands you to "role-play it," this only supplements the roll, or vice-versa.

I wouldn't say that this is wrong, but I think it's a bit too simple and too dualistic. In GURPS Social Engineering, for example, the goal is to enable players to play "face" characters, as the goal of GURPS Martial Arts is to enable players to play combat monsters. But the final page of main text is titled "Throw Away This Book" and is about the "just roleplay" approach. It does not say by any means that you have to roll dice, or that the acting is there only to supplement the dice roll.

On the other hand, there is a difference akin to what you're describing: old school games are action/adventure; new school games commonly try to enable drama as well as action.

Bill Stoddard