bloodtide

This is just a list of the differences.

6.Ability scores. In Old School you rolled up a character and played it...no matter the ability scores. A character could have ability scores from 3 to 18. It was common for a character to NOT have a single score over 15, and several below 10. In fact, in an old school game...a character could even have a low score in their primary ability. My group fondly remembers 'BlunderFoot' the thief with a dexterity of six. And 'Driftwood' the fighter who did not have a single ability score over ten.

The modern gamer, however, must play a superhero character. They would never play a character that had less then double digits in every ability(except for one dump stat that they won't use). And no modern player would ever dream of playing a character with a low primary ability. Play a fighter with a strength of nine? No way...every fighter must have a strength of 16+.

In old school, Driftwood hacked at the dragon even with his six strength. Yes, it took a couple rounds longer..but Drifwood and his group still killed the dragon.

And a group of low ability score characters all had to work together. The whole group of eight characters had to fight the dragon. Not just one Tank and one Striker.

And not to say that Old School games did Not have high ability scores. After all, people did sometimes roll 17's or 18's. And increasing ability scores was a main component of quests.

The point is that a Old School gamer felt that they were simply part of an shared group, while a modern gamer thinks of themselves as the superstar.