under_score wrote:When I read about S&W, or any old school play reports, there are new aspects of gaming that seem significant that we're not used to, but I'd love to incorporate. Managing followers, morale and loyalty, resources, encumbrance (assuming gold=XP, encumbrance becomes a lot more important). The ability to get lost in a dungeon. How do you run a game like that without turning it into a load of book keeping?
A bit late, but I had something to say.
I wanted to speak to this aspect (which seems to be the core of your concern).
IF this resource-management style of play is important to you then yes book-keeping is a part of it. The DM and players themselves are also resource-managing. Heh.
But, some folks myself included 'use' D&D instead of 'playing D&D'. What I mean is: I don't play old-school D&D with the old-school rules and old-school intended style. I dig the old rules just because I dig the old rules.
What I do is simply utilize D&D (or rather S&W more often than not, and usually WhiteBox) simply as an engine to play a fantasy rpg.
I ignore encumbrance. I don't even track time, really. I often ignore the number of rations and arrows and torches, etc.
Despite the game assuming and being built in such a way that hirelings and whatnot is very nearly necessary, I ignore that too and proceed with a game like most folks play with nearly every other system old and new and that is a party only as large as the number of players. I allow slightly quicker and easier healing. I usually use "low level" monsters as opponents often well long after PCs are levels five or seven or whatever (this helps to make fighters awesome). You can get a lot of mileage with standard human bad-guys anyway. Plus, monsters in OD&D and S&W:WB/WB:FMAG have only a single attack except for very powerful ones as opposed to the 'claw/claw/bite' attack routines of every iteration of D&D past the 3LBBs only.
My point is just to make you aware that you could do the same if the idea appeals. This is moot of course if you want to play OD&D in the resource-management vein.