A Matter of Preference.

For my friends and I, this book was the tome of our "Old School". We all had a copy. Some of us had 2. We paid around 20 or so dollars for it. We knew the rules inside and out. Between the 4 of us, we had all the tables memorized. If you are reading this blog then odds are you had some edition of a Players Handbook for some system that you were just as nerdy about.
When we played, I would always play as a Fighter. Now when I think back to those days I wish I made a Magic User. What was my deal with always picking the Fighter anyway? I guess I loved getting in and dealing massive damage with my hands and the deadly blade they were carrying. It was always a Bastard Sword. I would hold it with 2 hands for max damage. I would be proficient with the blade AND specialize in the use of a Bastard Sword and just like that I had a +1 to my attack roll and a +2 to my damage roll.
Now I am about a week out from refereeing my first Dungeons & Dragons 1'st Edition game. I have been reading every forum, blog, and rulebook in order to get my skills as sharp as possible. My goal in this new campaign as I have previously stated is to "try" to capture some of the wonderment of those old days. I know it is a tall order, but I have to try just the same. I recently remembered how rewarding it was to buy a better sword once you found enough gold to go shopping. Remember that? Well in an attempt to simulate that experience, I have limited the starting gold and the items available in the starting city. We will see how that goes.
One feature of the 1'st Edition rules that I like is the basic nature of it. Now I know that I could play the original Dungeons & Dragons and get even more basic and open. I say open because I would have more room to add house rules, but for me I believe 1'st edition will be close to the system we started with so it should not be as much of an adjustment to learn. Boy was 3.5 odd to get used to at first. AC is better going up? Where was THAC0?! But with that being said there are many changes we will need to get used to. One change that I want to touch upon is the fact that there is no Weapon Specialization rule like there is in 2'nd Edition that gives you bonuses to your rolls right from the start. (ok, ok, I am aware of the supplement Unearthed Arcana, but I am talking about the OSRIC rules here) After a bit of thought I have decided that I am going to like the absence of the players getting an additional +1 to attack and +2 to damage. From what I can see, a magic weapon with a +anything added to it was a special and rare thing. I don't want to have a rule in my campaign that steps on the wonderment of a magic weapon. I like the idea that +1 means something again. To me this feels "Old School". Of course I am referring to my personal idea of what "Old School" is. This is especially obvious after our playing the 3.5 edition. I am sure this is a matter of preference.