Older than Old School
Character creation in Atlantean Exodus using the Perennial RPG system is “older-than-old-school”.
But how can this be?
Monthly Archives: January 2022
Gurdjieff and Games: How D&D Has Changed
In Beelzebub’s Tales, in the chapter on Art, Gurdjieff wrote about an ancient form of art called “mysteries”, devised to transmit important knowledge to succeeding generations of initiates. This art, we are told, degenerated into what is now merely theater performed by actors, conveying mostly entertainment and little knowledge.
In his Third Series, Gurdjieff wrote that ancient literature was written and read for the purpose of perfecting one’s reason, and this, we are told, also degenerated into mostly entertainment with little meaning transmitted to the reader.
There is a striking parallel to how Dungeons & Dragons began and how it is today. Recently there has been much heated discussion about what is changing and has changed in the hobby.
So what has changed since D&D made its appearance almost fifty years ago?
Atlantean Exodus: Perennial RPG, Playtest Report 1
I have enough material to start playtesting what I’m calling Perennial RPG (the system) and Atlantean Exodus (the setting). Previously, I had run two sessions with a couple players using Cha’alt. Now we were going to use a system conversion of the Caves of Chaos from B1: The Keep on the Borderlands.
Setting Summary
To start the session, I summarized the setting for the players:
“Atlantis, the greatest continent in the world, has sunk beneath the waves. Forewarned of the impending catastrophe, you have escaped to a strange land with your lives and with the seeds of civilization, if you can keep them.”
I told the players that their characters belong to a remnant of Atlantis that survived and reached the shore of an unknown continent. This remnant has formed a caravan that is exploring the new land.