Bundle of Holding - Advanced Adventures MEGA (OSRIC/AD&D 1e)

When I returned to the DM's seat 11 years ago, I wanted to use a familiar system. So, I used AD&D 1e, but with the OSRIC rulebook, which is simply a much easier-to-reference version of 1e. I also purchased a number of Advanced Adventures from Expeditious Retreat Press, and I was very pleased with the content I received from Mr. Browning and Company. A few years later, I was able to snag the first score or so in hardcover collections. Seriously, good stuff.

One of the current bundles over at Bundle of Holding is the Advanced Adventures MEGA Bundle:

For just US$9.95 you get all twelve titles in our Starter Collection (retail value $70) as DRM-free ebooks, including the first ten AA modules – from #01: The Pod-Caverns of the Sinister Shroom through #10: The Lost Keys of Solitude – and we add the 2009 bestiary Malevolent and Benign I and the free OSRIC rulebook. For a list of all the modules with links to their sales pages on DriveThruRPG, see the first book entry below, "Advanced Adventures #01-10."

And if you pay more than the threshold price of $35.79, you'll level up and also get our entire Bonus Collection with thirty-four more titles worth an additional $210: all 33 remaining Advanced Adventures modules from #11: The Conqueror Worm through #43 The Warrens of Zagash, and hitting many highlights of the AA line including #15: Stonesky Delve, #23: Down the Shadowvein and #24: The Mouth of the Shadowvein, and both White Dragon Run scenarios. (For the list and the DTrpg links, see the fourth book entry below, "Advanced Adventures #11-43.") We also include the 2018 Malevolent and Benign II monster manual.

 

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Story Time: My 1st Two Tournament Experiences

Yesterday I was doing something kind of monotonous and painful.....assembled (mostly) a big piece of Ikea furniture. Had Spotify blasting in the background and some song lyrics lamenting being dealt a "bad hand", and I honestly thought....., "Do people even think about the times they unfairly have an advantage?"

Well, obviously I do, or I probably wouldn't be typing about it here. What immediately came to mind were my 1st two RPG tournaments. While I am quick to talk about tournaments here 'cause it's an easy topic for me since I played in, and then ran, quite a few for HackMaster at Origins & GenCon. Pretty sure that I've referenced my earliest tournament experiences before, but I haven't flat-out told the whole story/stories.

My very 1st tournament experience was definitely a "bad hand" and the second was an "unfair advantage". Both of these were at a smaller local con overseas. The organizer was able to bill the AD&D Tournament as the "National Tournament" because there wasn't one otherwise. Winner got a free trip to GenCon Europe. No pressure.....actually I'm in it for the fun, so no....no actual pressure.

It's 1995 and I've made it to the final round at the "American" table.....there was another table for the host country so games could be run in native languages. I don't remember if we can choose our pre-gens or if they were randomly assigned, but I got a single-sided PC sheet that had the party Magic User. On the flip side of the PC sheet was a fricken wall of text. One paragraph of your PC's basic history and then a series of short paragraphs telling the player how their PC gets along with the other PCs. For the most part nothing too remarkable....until you got to the fighter, Solamnus. I can't recall my PC's name, but I sure remember this guy!

My PC did not like the Fighter, thinking he was an idiot and his stupidity is going to get me killed. There was some bad blood there, but it really looked like it my PC's fault 'cause it seemed to me that he was a bit full of himself and more than a bit dickish to the fighter, even if it didn't say that straight-up. The text was a first-person account and the "fact" that the fighter didn't care for being turned (intentionally, mind you) into a chicken was somehow not the MU's fault....yeah ok I think I have a feel for this PC.

In-character, and only in-character, I talked down to the fighter, nick-naming him "Salami" 'cause it was more succinct than "meat head". As a player I did mention to the other fighter's player that there was clearly some issues between our PCs and to please not take it personally. I assume he had bothered to read the backstory......especially since he didn't have to start looking up spells and whatnot before we started.....

.....yeah, clearly I assumed wrong. The player was a little antagonistic, but it didn't seem OOC in the moment.

The party did manage to work well-enough together, but leading into the final encounter it was obvious we were getting into, at best, a stalemate, and at worse possibly even a TPK. Now was my opportunity to shine and through a good combination of spells I was able to advance our party to the final encounter and subsequently managed to obtain the McGuffin while the party was otherwise bogged downed with the BBG. This enabled our table to win the tournament!

We had to pick a MVP from our table to win the trip and while I am biased (duh) I think it should have been me because I was playing my PC well, and managed to do some creative work that caused us to win. Problem was that Solamnus' player, and the player's wife (who was also in the game) really didn't like my PC making fun of that PC. Both players took it personally and to this day I don't think they actually read the PC backgrounds. Instead they both voted for the Bard's player, who did some cheap theatrics at the table......really?

Clearly I was a bit upset, but really it was just some added BS that feed into post-game and post-convention let-down. I really didn't know that was a thing for me yet. The player who went to GenCon Europe had a great time and she actually started playing and I was able to take part in her game a couple of times.

The next year (1996) though, that was a bit of a shit-show, but grossly unfair.....in my favor. Again I'm at the final table and this adventure revolves around finding a Holy Avenger for a Paladin....that I was lucky enough to draw. Really? The entire adventure revolves around one/my PC getting the best bad-ass weapon possible for him, which we managed to do. The final BBG is tough, but against a Holy Avenger....not that tough. Guess who won the tournament? The obvious answer isn't "me", but "Whoever managed to play the Paladin", which was me, but if a monkey capable of rolling dice was at the table with that PC (be nice Erik!) had the Paladin, then that monkey would be going to 1997 GenCon Europe! At least this monkey got a trophy!*

I didn't do too poorly at GenCon Europe. I didn't win, but I did place in the top half of my table...which came in second. This means I was in the top 10 if that's brag-worthy. That convention was in England during the weekend that Princess Diana died. That was an....... interesting experience, but not one for here. It was the second time I met Ken Whitman (1st being the earlier convention), but again not a (interesting enough) experience for here, unless you're a fan of the card game Groo: The game.

With these two initial tournament experiences it isn't surprising that it took me almost another decade to sling dice in an organized play event again......

*There was no trophy for winning the tournament. The prize was the trip, so I had a cup made as a trophy.  I just wanted something physical I could display, and possibly use at the table. Not the best pic as this was for something else....

Time for Me to Brush Up on My AD&D 1e Knowledge

It looks like I'll need to brush up on my Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 1e knowledge, not just the rules but the history and evolution.

Which is why I am breaking out my copy of the Dragon Magazine Archive. I didn't realize how important this would be for me on a personal level when I bought it back when it was released back in 1999. Apparently, I've lost the DM utility disk over the years. Doubt it would work on my Mac in any case ;)

Before the internet and social media became what they are now, the best way to get a feeling for the pulse of anything was magazines and the like. Dragon issues from the bast should give a decent view of the "inside baseball" of what became AD&D 1e.

Going to be some fun times :)

WotC Releases A0-A4: Against the Slave Lords (1e) in PDF

Remember when WotC was reprinting the AD&D 1e core books to generate some income between the the downfall of 4e and the rise of 5e? A0-A4: Against the Slave Lords (1e) was released around the same time.

The addition of A0: Danger at Darkshelf Quarry allows one to treat the A series as a mini campaign and was a nice addition. A1 was the first module I ever owned and it holds a special part in my gamer's heart.

I'm happy to finally have a PDF version of this, as now I can use the maps in Roll20 or another VTT, and that makes my DMing job pretty damn easy ;)

It's 10 bucks for 4 classic modules and a bonus module, which is a pretty good deal. Now, why they couldn't have found an unwrapped copy for the pic used at RPGNow - no idea ;)

AD&D 1e Forgotten Realms PDFs 50% of at DnD Classics

DnD Classics is running a sale on it's AD&D 1e Forgotten Realms adventures in PDF, putting the pricing at $2.50 each, which is one heck of a bargain.

N5 Under Illefarn and N4 Treasure Hunt probably got the most use out of me, as I reused and reskinned each multiple times, sometimes for the same group but with a different campaign. The Savage Frontier was fun as a setting book and I don't recall ever reading Swords of the Iron Legion. I may have to correct that. I3 through I5 contain some fun gaming if you can get the party to a desert area.

Shadowdale, Tantras and Waterdeep are mostly forgettable, as they deal with the Time of Troubles (the switch from 1e to 2e) in a very railroadie way. Players actions and achievements meant little if anything as the worlds events happened no matter what. Still, interesting to read to see the mindset going on with the change to 2e at the time.

Sale lasts until the end of August.

Knocking Your Noggin - Helmets in AD&D

Last night during our more or less monthly delve into the Castle of the Mad Archmage, obscure rules from the AD&D 1e Dungeon Masters Guide came up. For me, one of the classics is the rule for helmets on page 28 of the DMG:

It is assumed that an appropriate type of head armoring will be added to the suit of armor in order to allow uniform protection of the wearer. Wearing of a "great helm" adds the appropriate weight and restricts vision to the front 60" only, but it gives the head AC 1. If a helmet is not worn, 1 blow in 6 will strike at the AC 10 head, unless the opponent is intelligent, in which case 1 blow in 2 will be aimed at the AC 10 head (d6, 1-3 = head blow).

I always found this to be a strange rule for a game with an abstract combat system and no called shots rule.

Not that we didn't try using this for a while, but it didn't make much sense for us. If you couldn't "call a shot" in the game as written how could you "call a shot" for an unarmored head?

It was least painful to the magic-users (whose magical armor and bracers covered them head to toe) than it was to other combatants whose armor (magic or otherwise) only protected from the neck down.

Also, what kind of AC does a chain coif or leather helm give? 5 and 8 respectively probably, but EGG doesn't say.

About the only thing helmets protected from in our campaigns was ear seekers, and you had to removed your helmet to listen anyway...

Guest Poster - Pete Spahn -Terminology Deathmatch: Adventure vs. Supplement

Way, way back in the long, long ago, TSR began releasing products to support the core Dungeons & Dragons and Advanced Dungeons & Dragons rulebooks. These products were labeled "Adventure Modules" and they differed greatly in content, design, and reception. Some were cherished and adored. Others were hated and reviled. All were accepted as "adventures".  I have long believed that the varied response to these products was not only due to personal preference, but also due to the actual design elements of these "adventures", some of which were not really adventures at all.

If you break down the content of these "Adventure Modules" you will actually see they are two types of products---adventures and supplements. For purposes of this article, an adventure is a series of outlined events that happen without character intervention, and in fact the outcome of these events can only change through the actions of the player characters. A supplement on the other hand is a location, with plot hooks, encounters, and places to explore and perhaps even things implied to be going on in the background, none of which requires the PCs to do anything.

Adventures
Take a look at some of the classic adventures of the past: Night's Dark Terror, Curse of Xanathon, Assassin's Knot, Saltmarsh Series, Ravenloft, Red Arrow Black Shield.

Curse of Xanathon fits the criteria of an adventure. Badly. It's a horrible railroad that forces the PCs against a high priest who is unkillable the first time they encounter him. Only after they are forced to run from him (another railroad) do they learn how to kill him. Everything in it points to bad adventure design, and yet it is still classified as an adventure because the PCs are required to DO something to further the course of events.

A much better example of an adventure done right is Night's Dark Terror which has the PCs traipsing all over the Duchy of Karameikos trying to stop a magic-user who is uncovering the secrets of ancient magic. If the PCs do nothing, this mage and his organization of slavers could potentially become very powerful.

Ravenloft is another good example. The PCs are transported to the demiplane (which some might call a railroad) and must DO something in order to escape. Sure, they can bounce around in the village and forest, killing vampires and werewolves and such, but pretty soon Strahd is going to come looking for them which gives it a sense of urgency that is not present in a supplement.

Assassin's Knot and the Saltmarsh series involve investigative work, with consequences for inaction (or incompetence). In Saltmarsh, if the PCs do nothing, the coastal village will eventually be overrun by sahuagin.

Red Arrow, Black Shield involves the PCs traveling from country to country in an attempt to rally support for their army. Each country swayed commits troops to the final mass battle. Again, the PCs are required to DO something to complete the adventure.

Were these the greatest adventures ever written? Of course not. At the time, I don't think the folks at TSR really had a clear idea as to what made a good commercial adventure which is why you see dungeon crawls, investigations, wilderness treks, etc. all labeled as "adventure modules" and plot hook railroads accepted as standard fare. I think if they would have been classified better and a little more thought given to player motivations, some of them might have been better received.

Supplements
Now let's talk about a few supplements: Tomb of Horrors, Keep on the Borderlands, Isle of Dread, Temple of Elemental Evil, Castle Amber.

Tomb of Horrors not an adventure? Keep on the Borderlands not an adventure?  Isle of Dread not an adventure? Madness!!! We've all run those adventures countless times!

But hear me out. As I said above, an adventure is more than just a mapped location with some plot hooks and encounters. There needs to be some sense of urgency, some sense that the PCs affect a course of events through their action or inaction.

Take a good long and honest look at the Keep on the Borderlands. You get the keep, some encounters in the wilderness, and of course, the Caves of Chaos. These are places to adventure in. They are not adventures in and of themselves. There is no reason for the PCs to get involved in anything happening in the text or on the map and there are no consequences for action or inaction. The encounters are mostly static. The PCs can raid the Caves and return to the keep at will, then return to the Caves, and although there are some minor suggestions for what the monsters might logically do to adapt, there is no sense of urgency for the PCs to do anything.

Compare this to the Lankhmar: City of Adventure supplement (or my own Guidebook to the City of Dolmvay). Like the Keep on the Borderlands, each has mapped locations, plot hooks, and encounters that set the stage for memorable adventures. However, none of these products are adventures in and of themselves. The PCs are not required to DO anything. They can wander around, pick fights, explore locations, etc., however, if they decide to do nothing, there are no consequences for inaction.

Can you have adventures using the Keep on the Borderlands, Tomb of Horrors, etc.? Of course you can! In fact, they are designed that way. However, again, that does not make them adventures. Anything you say about adventuring in the Keep on the Borderlands you can just as easily say about Lankhmar or Dolmvay.

Tomb of Horrors is an extreme example of this. It's basically a high-powered dungeon without the surrounding maps and encounters to give it context (i.e. a Caves of Chaos with no Keep). If the PCs leave the Tomb, no big deal. Nothing happens. Isle of Dread is the same way. You have an excellent map with tons of interesting locations and encounters, but if the PCs decide to leave the island, well it'll still be there if they wish to return. Castle Amber is basically just a romp through a magical castle (and can be considered something of a railroad as well).

Temple of Elemental Evil is basically a crawl through a large dungeon although one could argue that the evil rising in the old temple gives it an implied sense of urgency that pushes the module towards the "adventure" category.

I'd like to point out my own Blood Moon Rising adventure for a clear example of what I classify as an adventure. It is set during a festival. There are a number of events that take place during the festival, some of which surround the opening of a demon gate. On the last night of the festival, a host of demons will be unleashed.

That is the outline of the events that occur if the PCs decide to stay in their rooms with the covers pulled over their heads. Now, the kicker is that the PCs can disrupt this whole chain of events by getting involved, locating the demon gate, and closing it which prevents the demons from being unleashed on that final night. If they act: they save the village. If they do nothing: demons.

Conclusion
So in closing, a series of events that only vary with PC intervention. That is a published adventure. A location with plot hooks and encounters. That is a supplement.

You Hit it on the Head! Helmets in 1e

I was listening to the Roll for Initiative podcast on the commute to work this morning, and they brought up one of the obscure rules for helmets in AD&D 1e - intelligent adversaries attacking an unarmored head 50% of the time.

As such, I remember we always bought helmets for our PCs and then had no use for the rule.

The thing is, I always thought of the AD&D combat system as abstract - it wasn't blow by blow and it didn't have hit locations, so this rule is a rule that kind of breaks the rules that were already in place by default.

Did you / do you use the unarmored head gets the shit beat out of it rule when running you AD&D / OSR games? Why / why not?

(damn, I should ask about "weapon speed" in a later post ;)

AD&D 2e Is the Next Round of WotC Reprints - The Funding of 5e on the Reprints of Earlier Editions Continues

It look like WotC has listed the core 3 books from AD&D 2e for the next round of Premium Reprints at $50 a pop.

Player's Handbook, DMG and the Monstrous Manual.

I spent most of my younger years playing AD&D 2e. I remember picking the books up on the day of release and bringing it to the game session that evening. Back then, if TSR put it out, it was golden. We actually thought that way until the Complete Handbook series jumped the shark with the Complete Book of Elves. Even in those heady days of gaming we could see how unbalanced Bladesingers were ;)

With the exception of my Player's Handbook with it's peeling spine and my Monstrous Compendium with the inserts falling out, most of my 2e stuff has held up to the test of time.

I do find it very interesting to watch WotC relying on reprints of previous editions (and soon PDFs) to fund their development of 5e. I wonder how much of their future customer base they'll lose to the reprints? I doubt it's much, but there will be some bleed.

I'm still curious how much money from the AD&D 1e reprints actually went to the Gygax Memorial Fund...

1e Session Recap (Part 1) - Whereupon the Party Finds Many Rats, But No Coppers

So, last night I kicked off my 1e / OSRIC campaign. It's the same players from my old ACKS campaign and Ambition & Avarice play test sessions for the most part. To make up for the reboot, I awarded them half the expo earned (approximately) during the ACKS Campaign, which gave everyone  8k in expo. I'm using a heavily modified DCC #27 to get the ball rolling.

The party includes:

Glabe, an Elven MU2/T3 - CN

Janos, an Elven Cleric4 - CN (I opened the classes up as per 2e)

Byrne, a Human Thief4 -NG (second highest HP total in the party)

Rastan, a Human Fighter3 - NG (the HP tank with exceptional Strength - name may ave changed - it was in flux ;)

Mark, a Dwarven F2/C3 - LN (also exceptional Strength)

So, the party wakes up chained to a cell wall via next collars. They have some vague memories of being in Tenkar's Tavern, in the Town of Tenkar (BareBones RPG Keranak Kingdoms Fantasy Setting). It was "Adventurers' Night" at the Tavern, when adventurers eat and drink for half off as paying patrons attempt to ply deals. A young fop named Lawrence was striking a deal with them when another adventuring party demanded the contract. Within minutes, the Tavern was laid to waste (not for the first time). Glabe remembers seeing the pointy end of a spear protruding from his chest, and suspects he died when it all faded to black. The others remember being on the losing end of the fight and falling unconscious, or worse.

Thus ends the set up ;)

Upon awaking, Rastan tested his chains and was able to pull them loose from the wall. The resulting hole revealed the sound of rushing water behind the wall. With some work, the rest of the part was freed, and it was decided to cast a silence spell so they could complete opening the wall up enough to escape through if necessary. They knew there were was someone on the other side of their cell door, and they wanted to be as quietly as possible. Besides, they were clothed only in prisonwear, without armor, weapons or other quiptment.

With the wall opened enough to view the unground river below, the party awaited their jail keeper, on the assumption someone needed to provide them with food and water. They were correct, and after waiting an undermined amount their jailor, a well times sleep spell took the wererat out after he opened their cell door.

The attempt to charm him failed, and what little info he was able to provide the party failed to make much sense. In the short of it, they disposed of him so he wouldn't be a possible issue later.

The elvin MU/T was the first to lower himself into the river. I wasn't sure if he had a death wish or now, but he saw the hints of a shore and a dry cave and decided to swim for it. The rest of the party decided to us the chains from the jail keeper's / torturer's room to tie themselves off and avoid being washed down river. It's nice to know the whole party isn't suicidal.

The party made their way the cave tunnel to a small lake with a whirlpool at the center - this was obviously fed by the river they had successfully traversed. The dwarf stopped to inspect the racks and stones at the shore before pressing on - he wanted something he could throw. Instead, he found a waterproof scroll case washed up among the rocks. The were some spell scrolls for the magic-user and a coded treasure map (and future adventure seed).

Proceeding to the far side of the sure the party came to a winding tunnel system, roughly 4' high and 4'.  It smelled of death, decay and poop. Rat poop!

(to be continued)

Quick Thoughts From Behind the Screen - My First 1e Session in 25 Years

It's been a long, long while since I've run AD&D 1e even though it is the RPG that to this day defines my RPG Genes. Since I've returned to active gaming, I've played C&C, D&D Next, Blood & Treasure and Apocalypse World. I've run sessions of ACKS, DCC RPG and Ambition & Avarice.

Last night was my first return to AD&D 1e (with OSRIC coming along for the ride).

My observations?

I really miss my Combat Wheel ;)  I forget which issue of The Dragon had it, but I had cut it out, reinforced it with cardboard and even gave it a protective spray. I really wish I had that now.

The small, almost pocket sized edition of OSRIC is great to read, but hard to reference during game - it's the damn size of the print and my 45 year old eyes.

I think my solution will be to print out the combat charts and saving throw charts for ease of DM reference during the next session.

Other than that, we didn't have any real hiccups rule-wise during the session. Interface issues with Google Hangouts / Tabletop Forge? Yep, but we managed to work around it.

Play report to follow

Thinking of Using DCC #27, Revenge of the Rat King to Kick Off the AD&D 1e Campaign

I know, kicking off a AD&D / OSRIC campaign with a module for PCs level 4-6, when my players will average 3-4 (I'm giving them 8k expo, so level depends on class(es) chosen), has the potential of killing the campaign before it even starts. Still, my players are tough and experienced at not only thinking outside of the box, but also standing on top of the box and thinking when it suits them.

Besides, it uses one of those scenes I generally hate in the middle of a campaign: "The party is captured and stripped of their belongings", but works amazingly well to start a campaign: "You awaken with other strangers. Last you remember you were drinking in a tavern, now you are in a damp cell with nothing but the shirt on your back and some soiled leggings. What do you do?".

Yeah, I think it will work well. ;)

Did I mention it has a Rat King? Not a single copper in the whole adventure as far as I can tell. I'll need to rectify that.

Intelligent Swords in AD&D 1e - What's With the Ego Trip?

While designing / building / hacking together a campaign for AD&D 1e, I find myself digging out rules that I didn't use my first time playing, or used and then discarded. Sword Ego was one of the second type of rules.

I see where the roots of Sword Ego comes from - it's 100% Strombringer.

From my perspective - intelligent swords are cool in very small numbers, and swords that are stubborn or jealous or have other personality traits can be a nice tool for a campaign, but I don't think Sword Ego is appropriate for most D&D campaigns.

My issue with Sword Ego is the whole Swords Versus Characters conflict:

When a sword possesses unusual charactiristics it has a personality which is rated by combining its intelligence and ego scores. The sword will, of course, be absolutely true to its alignment, and if the character who possesses the sword is not, personality conflict will result, i.e. sword versus character. Similarly, any sword with an ego of 19 or higher will always consider itself superior to any character, and a personality conflict will result if the possessor does not always agree with the sword's dictums.

The personality strength of a character is: INTELLIGENCE + CHARISMA + LEVEL OF EXPERIENCE. Note level is reduced by 1 for every group of hit points of damage taken equal to the character's average number of points per hit die for total levels of experience (rangers, for example, getting 2 dice at 1st level). Example: A fighter of 7th level has 53 hit points: 53 + 7 = 7.6 - for every 8 points of damage he or she takes, his or her personality strength will be lowered by 1.

Whenever personality conflict occurs, the sword will resist the character's desires and demand concessions such as:

-removal of associates, henchmen, hirelings, or creatures of alignment or personality distasteful to the sword

-the character divesting himself or herself of all other magic weapons

-obedience from the character so that the sword can lead the expedition for its purposes

-immediate seeking out and slaying of creatures hateful to the sword

-encrustation of gems on pommel, hilt, scabbard, baldric, or belt and a special container for its safekeeping likewise of precious substances

-magical protections and devices to protect it from molestation when not in use

-that the character pay it handsomely for  a11 abilities and powers the sword is called upon to exercise in behalf of its possessor

-that the character always take it along on all occasions

-that the character relinquish the sword in favor of a more suitable person due to alignment differences and/or conduct 

At any time that the personality score of a sword exceeds the personality score of the character who possesses it, the sword will dominate its possessor, and it can force any or all of the above demands or actually cause any of the following actions:
1. force its possessor into combat
2. refuse to strike opponents
3. strike at its wielder or his or her associates
4. force its possessor to surrender to an opponent
5. cause itself to drop from the character's grasp

Most of the above takes choice out of the hands of the player. Nothing above adds to the game, unless the campaign style is one "fuck the PC". Also, tracking the PC's "personality strength  with the up and down of HPs.

I don't have issues with intelligent magic items, but they should be played more like an NPC it's own wants and desires, not solely there to screw the players.

What were your experiences, if any, with Swords with ego?

Some Questions / Observations on B1 - In Search of the Unknown

I'm away for the weekend, and the only things I brought in print with me that were gaming related were OSRIC and B1 - In Search of the Unknown. My intention is to start writing the introductory adventure for my AD&D campaign, and what better inspiration than Dungeons & Dragons Dungeon Module B1? (Okay, one could argue B2, but it is what it is).

So, here's some observations from B1:

1 - Right on the cover it states "With only minor modifications, this module is also eminently suitable for use with ADVANCED DUNGEONS & DRAGONS". Strangely enough, it seems with only minor modifications it is suitable for use with Dungeons & Dragons. More on that below.

2 - Non-player character clerics include Tassit, Servantjü of St. Cuthbert. The World of Greyhawk was casting a wide web back then.

3 - Fighting Men NPCs include Krago of the Mountains (Dwarf) with Str 18/54. Exceptional Strength was purely an AD&D concept as far as I can recall.

4 - I'm pretty sure thieves were restricted to Humans only in Basic Dungeons & Dragons, but there is at least one of each of the player races in the NPC list.

5 - I had forgotten that B1 was a "stock the monsters and treasures from list A and list B" type of adventure. Hardly easy on a beginning DM, but amazingly awesome for reusability of the adventure among the same group / intertwined groups. The room descriptions themselves dont change, but the contents do.

6 - It makes a point of introducing tricks and traps to the players and the DM - it's not a funhouse dungeon, but it has its moments.

7 - There is a list of potential hirelings and henchmen for the PCs to hire, but no town to actually find them within. We know they aren't hanging around outside the dungeon waiting for a job. I guess that's why they swapped this out for B2 in the later Basic D&D Sets.

What Would You Allow From Unearthed Arcana in Your 1e Campaign?

As I start to plan out my AD&D 1e game, the latest post at Dispatches From Kickassistan got me thinking - there's a whole lot of unbalanced shit in Unearthed Arcana.

I already knew I wasn't going to allow "power gamer character generation method V" into the campaign. Even as a bunch of Monte Haulin' teens we saw the insanity within.

Cavalier, Cavalier-Paladin, Barbarian - fuck no, they gotta go!

I'll keep weapon specialization, but I'll tweak it.

I'll keep the new spells, but reserve the right to nuke any that I feel are unbalancing.

So, what would use from Unearthed Arcana? What would you never use? What would you modify?

What Level Do You Start Your OSR Campaigns At?

Maybe This Should Be the Opening Scene of the New Campaign ;)

This is a tough one for me. Generally speaking, as a DM I prefer to start my campaigns at level 1. It always seems more authentic to me that way. However, my new AD&D 1e campaign, is to some extent, a reboot of my ACKS campaign, as we've lost and gained players in the group since the start of that. PC levels there are around 4 / 5.

I'm thinking of starting the new AD&D 1e campaign at level 2. PCs are less squishy than level 1, but no one has level 2 spells yet. I want them to have some of the feeling of accomplishment for leveling in the ACKS game while still starting the new game at a lower level. Imperfect solution, but most solutions are imperfect.

I'm also thinking of passing on one magic item to each player from the previous campaign. Different world, different setting, but something passed down from distant ancestor who may or may not have crossed over to a different world.

What level do your start your campaigns? Does it make a difference if you are ending one ongoing campaign to start a new one? Does your preference change if you are a player and not the DM?

OSRIC, AD&D 1e or Both - Thoughts on the New Campaign

I've already told my players that if they don't have ready access to the AD&D 1e books, they can go with OSRIC. Me, I've started the reread of AD&D 1e's Player's Handbook to get my mind in the right gear, but I'm starting to wonder if I still have the reader's ear for Gygaxian prose.

I'm actually afraid I may have lost my taste for Gygax's words. Not his thoughts, rules, games and so one, but the actual presentation.

This pains me not a little. I would read and reread the holy trilogy of AD&D night after night in bed when I was younger. Amazingly, even with that, I was able to pointedly ignore things like weapon speed, as it made no sense to my teenage mind as presented - even then I couldn't wrap my head around Gary's presentation of it, but I grocked the rest and had it pretty well memorized.

Now? It's still in my gaming genes. It feels like riding a bike, but the Gygaxian prose is making the bike path all bumpy and windy and, to tell the truth, not user friendly. Ah, to be a teen again.

So, my intention was to reread the original, EGG rules, but I think instead I'm going for the unofficial rewrite - OSRIC 2.2. I'm sure I'll flip through the original trilogy, especially the DMG, as there is some awesome Gygaxian advice that I'd be a fool not to reread after all these years. Otherwise, I'm going to be reading OSRIC.

It saddens me to realize my limitations.

The Future is Going Back to the Past - My New Campaign Will Be AD&D 1e

I let my group do an informal vote on the future of our Saturday Night gaming sessions. We had started with ACKS, moved on to A&A to do some playtesting (and caused the whole 2000 cp / rats ruckus) and now we are going back to the past: AD&D 1e with some house rules and Unearthed Arcana (no UA classes though). Players can reference AD&D 1e or OSRIC as they choose

I'll also be running my AD&D 1e sessions in 3 to 4 week arcs, then playing in Keith's Echelon campaign playtest for 3 to 4 weeks, and so on. It gives the DM's time to prep some rocking sessions and get to play too.

This should be a blast! No matter the rule set, if I don't know the rule I default to my AD&D genetic memory. It serves me well. I suspect I'll be able to run this with minimal page flipping after a session or two.

A for the house rules, this is what I have so far:

1 - Fighters and fighter subclasses are proficient in all weapons.

2 - Fighters start with 2 specialized weapons, subclasses 1. No others are gained later. No double specialization.

3 - Cleave rule as per ACKS. Fighters and subclasses do not gain 1 attack per level when fighter creatures under 1 HD

4 - Magic-User and Illusionist gain bonus spells as per their Intelligence Score, using the Wisdom Bonus spell chart for Clerics

5 - Clerics may gain use of certain non-cleric weapons depending on the god they follow.

6 - Bard Class as per Dragon Issue #56

7 - Monster and NPC saves will be converted into Spell Attack Rolls as per my earlier post on the subject

8 - 100 coins per pounds, not 10 coins per pound

9 - % Chance to learn spell for Magic Users is gone

10 - after determining initial spells randomly, Magic-Users can pick one further spell of their choice

11 - No Assassins, No evil PCs (I know my group way too well to allow this)

The Myth of THAC0 - And the Compounding of Hit Points

There were a lot of really great comments on my first two Myth of THAC0 posts. A few touched on the issue of buckets of Hit Points.

As bad as it was in AD&D 1e & 2e, especially with Rangers that had a CON bonus, it's gotten worse with later editions.

Up until 2e, HD capped at name level (generally between 9th and 11th levels). 3e kept the dice rolling with each level gained, there was no limit, and a high CON's bonus to Hit Points just increased the never ending pool.

Pathfinder adds even more HP, increasing the HD size of all classes but the fighter and cleric one size up, so a rogue with d6 in 3e now has a d8. Max HP are given at first level also.

D&D 4e starts players with 15 + CON, so figure an average of 25 HP at first level.

Higher HP will lead to longer combats unless offset by increasing THAC0 or lowering the effects of armor. All three are intricately connected. The last thing a game at my table needs is longer combats.

Still, excessive HP can still be a problem even in OSR style games. How do we keep the game in it's sweet spot - the lower and mid levels?

I'll be taking a look over the next few days at E6, the OGL game that tops out at 6th level, with the idea of seeing if the concepts can be applied to OSR gaming.

My Favorite Pre-Written RPG Adventure - Haunted Halls of Eveningstar

I can't let y'all have all the fun!  heh

My favorite adventure to run (favorite to read is probably Paranoia's Yellow Clearance Black Box Blues) has to be Haunted Halls of Eveningstar.  I must have started four or five campaigns with this module, and I'm sure those included some of the same players.

It was great, as it had an adventure, a nice amount of hooks and a sandboxie location for the players to start their explorations in.  After the first time through, I don't think I used the core adventure as is, but there was so much to play with, it was easy use it as a campaign starter.  Back in the day, if it was time to start a new campaign and I was relatively unprepared, tis was my go-to adventure.  I knew it well enough to run it with minimal referencing.

Something else I need to dig out when renovations are complete.

Remember to let me know about your Favorite Pre-Written RPG Adventure and you could win some free stuff.