In Which my 5e Group Plays White Box

With the worldwide lockdown in effect,  our 5e group is on hiatus. I
had suggested some  time ago that we could play  online. Neither the
GM nor the other players had ever done that, so I offered to run one
of my games for them on roll20. The  intent was for the 5e GM to get
comfortable with  roll20, after which  we would switch back  to that
campaign, but so  far our weekly sessions have been  White Box FMAG,
and the  players don't seem  in any rush to  switch. We had  our 6th
session last night, and even added another player.

I plunked  the PCs down in  the [Phoenix Barony][0], and  placed [my
own 'Caves of Woe'][1]  a few hours march away, so  the prep work on
my end has been minimal, which is the way I like it.

Some 5e habits are  hard to break.  I've yet to  cure the players of
picking their class and race before  they roll stats. I was told the
new player would be playing an Elf Wizard, before he had created the
PC. I have them do 3d6 in order for stats, but I'm not watching them
roll,   they   created   characters   mostly   offline,   using   my
[quickstart][2]. So I  think there was some fudging, with  an 18 STR
for the  Fighter.  Still the bonuses  or penalties are small  (+1 or
-1), and they have learned that the stats just don't matter much.

Elaborate backstories is another 5e-ism - I never even think to give
PCs a  backstory. It just  makes no sense in  a game where  death is
common  and  character  style  and personality  are  forged  through
play. But two  players took me by surprise  and created backstories,
unprompted. I don't really  care either way - I have  yet to see the
backstory influence the play at all - it was just eye-opening for me
to see someone craft a backstory for a White Box PC.

The  players are  getting the  hang of  less rolling  and more  role
playing.   Most secret  doors and  traps are  detected (or  not) via
descriptive means. Combat is faster and more free-wheeling than they
are used  to. "Just tell me  what you want to  do" is what I  say to
them. There are  ad-hoc rolls when something  seems important enough
to matter when it fails or succeeds.

I'm  also trying  to encourage  resource tracking  (torches, arrows,
etc.)  and  [simplified encumbrance][3]  (PCs can carry  1,200 coins
each max), something we never did in  our 5e games.  Gold for XP was
foreign to  them. I  have given  them hints  on spending  or banking
their excess  gold, which is working  well.  So far they  have hired
(and lost) two  meatshields, bought new silvered weapons  and even a
house  in town.   When  the thief  died, they  paid  the 1,200gp  to
resurrect him. Going  into our 6th session, they had  almost no coin
left, and were anxious to get back to the dungeon to replenish their
gold. The thief is already 2nd level and the others are close.

So despite  the differences  in play  styles, in  the end  we're all
having fun, which  is the goal after all. I'll  be interested to see
if, when we do play 5e again, some of this influences our GM.

[0]: https://smolderingwizard.com/2020/02/11/forgotten-gems-of-the-osr-the-phoenix-barony/
[1]: https://smolderingwizard.com/tag/ravendale/
[2]: gopher://gopher.smolderingwizard.com/9/rpg/player_and_gm_resources/wb_fmag_player_quickstart_v2.pdf
[3]: https://smolderingwizard.com/2019/01/17/simplified-encumbrance-for-odd-and-clones/