Post originally by Robin Ashe at 2003-12-14 05:48:55
Converted from Phorums BB System

I'm not slamming the d20 system here. Based on what I can remember of playing AD&D, third edition D&D is a much more consistent system, meaning there's less that needs to be looked up. For me, that's an improvement.

Yeah, it looks that way on paper, but I still prefer AD&D 2nd Ed as I played it to the extent of memorizing the rules as well as most standard equipment, spells and magic items. That was after about 4-5 years of playing it. Despite D20s consistency I'm still working on getting the rules memorized.

I think it's an issue of familiarity. Anything that's different from the first system we tried is going to be hard. I can easily alternate between AD&D 2nd Ed, AD&D and D&D, as they are essentially the same system with variations. D&D 3rd Ed is a whole new system. To me the original system was just made up according to what the designers thought was a good idea at the time. 3rd Ed/D20 tries to be a consistent system like GURPS which makes it great in terms of portability, but that doesn't say anything about ease of use. The original D&D rules were MUCH less complex than the D20 system, despite the inconsistencies.

Anyway, the D20 CoC supplement looks to be right up my alley. In terms of Horror gaming I've been a Ravenloft fan, which the focus was also on atmosphere and not on combat. My interest in CoC is simply because Lovecraft is my favorite author. I don't think it would be too hard to use the CoC D20 System with the Ravenloft Core Rulebook from S&S. Does anyone who played either CoC system also have Domains of Dread (2nd Ed) to compare it to interms of Insanity? I always felt that the Madness, Fear and Horror checks worked quite nicely.