What Aspects of Older Games Have Aged Well? (+)

[MGibster]

We've had plenty of threads where we discuss things in games that have aged poorly and aren't seen in a positive light these days. (White Wolf's World of Darkness: Racial Epitaph I'm looking at you.) And while it's worthwhile to discuss those traits we no longer find so acceptable today, we don't always talk about the good parts. When it comes to aging well we could be talking about game mechanics, representation, art, or whatever it is in the game you think has aged well. Just give us the name of the game, what you think has aged well, and as much information about it as you can. Since I'm starting the thread I'll go first.

Cyberpunk 2020 Rockerboy published in 1989. This was a splatbook giving players extra options and ideas for their Rockerboy and Media characters they could play. It's got an interesting format in that it's presented as an in universe magazine about the media and rockerboys. One of the articles is "On the Street with Maz Despair" which is an interview with stand up comedienne Maz Despair. During the interview, they mention that Maz is a lesbian. By 2022 standards, that doesn't seem like a big deal but 32 years ago such things were not common in RPGs. The article even mentions the gay community Maz has a lot of fans who tend to spread the news that she's in town putting on a show. Despite being a Cyberpunk fan, I didn't read this sourcebook until 2021 and I was a bit surprised by how modern that article seemed. If you had told me it was written in 2018 I would have believed you.

So what older game has parts in it that you think has aged well?

 

[TerraDave]

Hit Points: as a simple way of building tension in combat without triggering death spirals and that can accommodate variable weapon impact.

Character levels: a straight forward reward play and way to measure power.


Both have been declared dead at various points and both are more ubiquitous than ever (including I think in a British government program for one of them).

 

[James Gasik]

Earthdawn, without a doubt. Game was way ahead of it's time. It had healing surge/hit dice spending type effects to let characters heal without needing magic spells to do so throughout the day. Non-spellcasters had abilities that let them far exceed normal mortals, and there was no caster that got everything- each one, from Elementalists to Illusionists, to Nethermancers, to even Wizards, had unique and thematic spell lists.

A wide variety of races, a fleshed out fantasy world that could be as gritty or epic as you want it to be, great artwork with full color splash pages- I really miss that game.

 

[MGibster]

Earthdawn, without a doubt. Game was way ahead of it's time. It had healing surge/hit dice spending type effects to let characters heal without needing magic spells to do so throughout the day. Non-spellcasters had abilities that let them far exceed normal mortals, and there was no caster that got everything- each one, from Elementalists to Illusionists, to Nethermancers, to even Wizards, had unique and thematic spell lists.

Earthdawn is one of those games I frequently saw at my local gaming store but for some reason never really looked too closely at. Probably because D&D was scratching that fantasy RPG itch at the time.

 

[Jd Smith1]

War Hammer setting has aged extremely well.

The CoC games, despite being in a 7th edition, have stayed true and faithful to the core setting, and the changes to the rules systems have been solid. While they have retained the hit point system, which is terrible in general, they have capped it so that it actually is viable.

 

[Hussar]

I'm in the same boat. But, I do remember that the books looked absolutely gorgeous. I always wanted to try it out, but, never got the opportunity.

 

[James Gasik]

I'd love to run a game of Earthdawn again, but alas, it's hard to find people willing to play any game in my area right now, let alone one from the 90's that asks you to roll a lot of different dice.

 

[Fenris-77]

10x10 pit traps stuck into random empty stretches of hallway?

 

[harunmushod]

War Hammer setting has aged extremely well.

The CoC games, despite being in a 7th edition, have stayed true and faithful to the core setting, and the changes to the rules systems have been solid. While they have retained the hit point system, which is terrible in general, they have capped it so that it actually is viable.

I’d add to the CoC point you made, that as well as the rule changes being solid, they are also backwards compatible so it’s easy to run a 1st edition scenario using 7th edition rules. In general, the BRP system has held up well - Runequest too.

 

[Yora]

I think the 1981 Basic/Expert edition of D&D is still the best RPG ever made. Even with the silly attack roll and armor class calculation and the weird spell slot mechanic.

The best thing about the game is the entire exploration system. Random Encounters, Encumbrance, and XP for treasure used together as a unified system instead of disconnected nuisances. It's the whole foundation of dungeon crawling as a game of exploration instead of just a series of fights to progress The Story™.
And unlike AD&D with its three big tomes in tiny print, this 128 page game is actually comprehensible. If you covert the attack roll and armor class mechanic to a sensible way of making a roll, you can teach this game to people in 5 minutes.