Problem Solving


I feel that one of the advantages that the old school games have over 5E is the fact that players would have to problem solve.  My current campaign is 1E AD&D.  Players don't have any skills in 1E beyond those that belong to their character classes.

This actually opens the game up to being rich in role play and problem solving.  In 1E characters are not rolling against their skills and ability modifiers to determine if they are able to figure something out, the real players of the game have to do it.

Why is this a big deal?  It makes for a much more interesting game and a better experience for the players.  Let me give you an example (I did this in our current campaign):

"Your party has to help repair a section of the city's wall.  The wall is 30 feet high.  Sections of the wall are showing signs of needing to be patched up.  You have scaffolding, a pulley system, lots of rope, pick axes, chisels, mallets and 2x2x2 blocks of stone."

Scenario 1: 

Player: Great!  My character has stone masonry as a skill and I have a modifier because my character's intelligence is so high.  I rolled a 20.

DM: Great job, you solved the problem and your party was able to successfully repair the wall.

Scenario 2:

Player 3: Anyone know what a 2x2x2 stone block weighs?

Player 2: About 170 pounds.

Player 1: Let's hoist up the stone blocks and...

Player 2: ...and just glue it to the wall?  What are we going to do with it when we get it up there?

-Discussion ensues-

Player 3: Maybe we should use the rope to measure the block, then measure a section of the wall that needs repair.  We can cut the block size out of the wall, then hoist the new stone up there.

Player 1: How are we going to get the block to stay up there?

Player 2: Some type of solvent or glue?

Player 3: But we can't go to Home Depot to get it, how would we make it?

-Discussion ensues-

After 20-30 minutes the party has determined how to solve the problem and found a workable solution.  Because the party did all the work the DM (me) awarded them 500 experience points each for this.

Just an example.  Now look at this in terms of combat, finding/disarming traps, tracking, etc and it makes a game much more interesting and expands the game to more than just hack and slash.

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