From classic dungeon crawls to slice of life storytelling, role-playing games have evolved and mutated in the fifty years since their conception. Many vintage games and titles are still played, though their presentation and execution may differ from the original intent. How are modern players clashing with old-style expectations, and how can you blend nostalgic charm seamlessly into your current games?

This was one panel that I totally misunderstood before the convention. I had a handful of notes about games that were NOT old school D&D, but that was not the direction of the panel at all.

How do we deal with all the history various games have now? Is there a way to bring some of those things forward to use in a modern game?

This is a panel that I wish was recorded. It was a nuanced and interesting discussion with players from various backgrounds. That is always the danger when talking about older versions of games – there was a distinct lack of diversity. There are any number of old adventures, adventure settings and interactions that would be considered “problematic” by a lot of folks today.

Can some aspects of those games and adventures be updated? Certainly. There are examples of many classics being updated to the latest game systems and being republished. Are there some that likely won’t make the cut? Absolutely. Dark Sun was a prominent one in the discussion as a significant portion of that setting revolved around slavery. There was a small mention of the 1st edition module series “Aerie of the Slavelords” and A2 “Secret of the Slavers Stockade” in particular. Those have some very specific issues. Could they be mined for ideas and maps? Maybe – but you’d very much have to have clear boundaries and discussions with your players as to how they feel about topics like that and if they are suitable for game play.

A good topic, a great discussion and one I hope to revisit – at the very least so I can take better notes.