I had the chance to run a game with 4 old school players who approached the game as a challenge to the players, not their characters. It was a fun ride, and I noticed a few things. First off, they gathered a lot of information, asked me a lot of questions about the environment

What could be seen from where, how many people were around, where the exits were, what is that made of, that sort of thing. People took notes, wrote down names of important NPCs, pieces of information, facts about the area. There was a LOT of information gathering

The environment was used to a greater degree, part of asking about the environment is to establish advantages. One PC grabbed a barge pole so he could reach and restrain a fleeing prisoner, and used salt to keep an unruly frog-man prisoner in line. They actively engaged…

.... with the environment, not waiting for me to mention something important or something that would give them an advantage, instead they asked questions and looked for advantages. There were a lot of discussions about positioning, where they were going to stand and for how long

They questioned everything, their employer set up their inn, was he to be trusted? What do we do with prisoners if we don’t know the local law? When they discovered a big secret it was “who to tell”, “who can we align with to achieve our goal”, not just “smite evil”

I have had inquisitive players before, and some of my current crew like questions, but this was something else. They spent most of their time extracting information from the environment and seeking advantages from that information. The reward?

In 4 hours of gaming, one fight, when they were forced into a place where they did not have comparative advantage, and they were ambushed there. Other than that the threat of death was palpable and real, but they were cautious enough to keep it at bay

This was peak, sweet, old school AD&D, fast, no minis, lots of questions, and lots of improvisation on the part of the players. It felt seamless and pitch perfect. The group played like old friends.

Player skill in analyzing the environment through questions was key. And the questions chosen often took things in unexpected directions, making it truly collaborative.