>>97887059
The GM canceled a few hours before start time and I am still mad about it. We could have started earlier too because I had the day off.

>>97887059
>Tell us about your current campaign and share a pic of the game table if you have one.
Sorry, I will never give details of my game on 4chan. I'm enjoying it a lot, though.

>>97887318
Eat shit, nigger.

>>97887059
After a game which was light on much to do at home, I added a lot of detail to my new home-base city, with the intention of the players having a bunch of adventure there in addition to hexcrawling about.

After going over the City-State material, I decided to run with a bunch of Melan Fomalhaut stuff instead, mashing a bunch of his urban dungeon stuff together and filling the undercity with it. So far, so good. Wednesday night games are short, but overall the group is good and we've been having a good time.

>>97887691
>I decided to run with a bunch of Melan Fomalhaut stuff instead, mashing a bunch of his urban dungeon stuff together and filling the undercity with it.
Are you using the City of Vultures stuff? It's really good shit. I'm a bit doubtful about Mirvander Khan and all the Deston stuff, it feels a little bit too "you are not allowed to fuck with the status quo" for me, but everything else is peak.

>>97887746
Only bits and pieces. I have the Gallery of Rising Tombs in there, and some of the flavour bits, but the overall political situation and base city infrastructure stuff I've largely passed on for other material. Oom the Many is a great idea that I was happy to use, though.

>>97887873
I really like the whole Rat God complex myself, I don't know if you're considering that part of Rising Tombs or not, but the whole idea of being able to contract the priests to get the rats to do stuff is classic S&S IMO.

>>97887691
Have you had a look at the Nocturnal Table? Great citycrawling content.

I have read the mechanics for exploration with random generation but things aren't quite clicking.

Is there a good example of play (video preferred) that covers the mechanics starting from leaving the town and ending at entering the dungeon? Preferably covering mechanics like travel time, random encounters, surprise checks, encounter distance, etc.

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it took a decade but you can now buy ASSH in Canada from retailers.

Anyway its pretty good.

>>97890278

>human only ADnD

Whats the fucking point

>>97890294
having a much a game in line with most actual fiction? There isn't nearly as many fantasy stories featuring parties of elves and orcs as D&D would have you believe.

>>97890294
Sword & sorcery, presumably.

>>97890278

i find it immensely amusing the zoomers have more or less popularized the nazi elements from the 1960s so now when you google hyperborea is just nazi shit

>>97890199
Depending on what type of campaign you mean, this might be a misapprehension on your part. In a megadungeon campaign that's "strictly orthodox" in the sense of adhering to Gygax's initial instructions, these should be no meaningful travel between the town and the dungeon; they are adjacent, so that the wilderness exploration mechanics do not come into play while trekking between town and dungeon.

Putting wilderness between the town and dungeon is a common rookie error, and is not good because first level characters are not up to coping with wilderness travel and exploration.

>>97890328

everything is nazi shit. physical fitness is nazi, having kids with someone who has a similar skin tone is nazi, wanting laws to be enforced is nazi, thinking theft is bad, rape is bad, etc etc etc is nazi.

>>97890333

well I mean, the nazis did support all of those things and hate all of those things. come to think of it hitler liked drinking water

>>97890343

thats why i only drink coke. you know what hitler didn't have? Diabetes.

and thats why I'm morally superior to anyone who isnt in danger oif having their foot rot off.

>>97890278
>it took a decade but you can now buy ASSH in Canada from retailers
Do you live in the ass end of nowhere? I saw that 2e book in my LGS before covid. The big fuckoff thick 600 pager. Wasn't prepared to drop the 89+tx on it though.
You can't mean 3e. It's only been in print for four years.

>>97890418

I live in Nunavut, yes.

>>97890436
KEK

>>97890445

You laugh but I have a 6-man group sith a waitlist

i wish alcohol wasnt banned

>>97890329
Interesting. Well do you know one that covers general wilderness travel anyway?

Random dungeons I understand (encounter and parlay reactions is a tad confusing but I get the gist)

>>97890496
Videos, no. I'm not much for instructional videos.
This post:
>https://rancourt.substack.com/p/a-survey-of-overland-travel
is full of examples of play from different systems, some of which aren't OSR at all; it's an autistically detailed comparative analysis of the different operations, but if you just pick the system you want to read about instead of reading the whole thing, you should get a decent overview of running wilderness travel in that system.

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>>97890328
>>97890278

>>97889185
Yeah, that one is part of my standard citycrawl package, along with S&W City Encounters and Chaosium's Cities.

>>97890436
Oh
My condolences

>>97890573
So to make sure I have the right idea
1) Move period of time, with navigation roll if necessary
2) Check for random encounter
3?) Roll for surprise
4?) Roll for Encounter distance
5) Roll for disposition or encounter
6) Either Parlay, combat, or flee

I am not sure if 3 and 4 should be swapped in order. Also if disposition/attitude is always rolled, or if it is supposed to be only on certain triggers.

Am I missing anything else?

>>97890741
Pretty much.
The important thing though is to remember that while these are random encounters mechanically, they're not in-setting.
They're world building.

Players encounter a herd of bison? There's likely to be villages/hunters/travellers nearby who can be traded and negotiated with, or recruited as hirelings.
Group of orcs? Maybe a raiding party. If they're caught unawares they might track them back to their lair. If they have a friendly encounter then the orcs might offer them some way to mark themselves so that other orcs of their tribe don't jump them on sight.
They spot a dragon at a distance?
They can likely ask around and learn about the local dragon..
And if no one knows what they're on about that means it's new to the area and that's a real fucking concern.

Bottom up world development. Or you can go the other direction, create the map first and then populate a random encounter table from it, making things top down. Either way, what's out there should feed into what they encounter.
4d6 Gnoll dickheads with a 3rd level Shamaness isn't a good random encounter. 4d6 members of the Scarlet Maw, led by slavemaster, leading enslaved humanoids from their trading fortress to the nearby drow trading cavern is.

Hexcrawling is effectively a subtle, ongoing way of creating plothooks outside of anything you have planned in the dungeons.
Not every encounter has to be important of course, sometimes 2d8 wild horses are just 2d8 wild horses, but it does help fill out the world if there's some meaning behind things.

>>97887059
>Tell us about your current campaign and share a pic of the game table if you have one.
You first, fag!

>>97890741
https://oldschoolessentials.necroticgnome.com/srd/index.php/Wilderness_Adventuring
>Also if disposition/attitude is always rolled
unless you have a good reason why not, roll it.

>>97890810
in my FAG the party is about to get a spelljammer and then they are gonna fight godzilla and then blast off into space

>>97890815
What if Godzilla doesn't want to fight?

>>97890827
he has been rampaging for a few months. wrecks an island, the goes undersea, rinse repeat. slowly heading towards the party's stronghold(s).
he will want to fight until he starts losing at least

>>97890294
>Whats the fucking point
Based setting

>>97890741
Yeah, you've pretty much got it (depending on game to some extent). Notably surprise has to be rolled before encounter distance because successful surprise modifies the distance, so in spite of your doubts, you've got that in the correct order.

>Also if disposition/attitude is always rolled, or if it is supposed to be only on certain triggers.
Gygax had unintelligent monsters always attack. Some editions will advise you only to roll for disposition if the unsure as a referee how it ought to go; e.g. if your party, deeply-laden with treasure, encounters a band of orc marauders, you probably don't need to check to see whether they'll try to slay and loot the PCs.

>>97887059
DO you guys allow combat fudging? Something I have always enjoyed, but I know there are mixed feelings about, is doing some bargaining with attack rolls. things like
>Can I go for an easier target like an arm but deal less damage, get a +2 to hit if I deal -2 damage
>Can I recklessly charge at an opponent doing +2 damage If I make it easier to hit my by 2 point?
>Can I try to disrupt his stance when I attack, giving him a -2 to hit next attack, but lowering my to hit by 2?

It can slow things down surely, But I have found it has made combat, especially low level combat a little more personalized and interesting. I ran Light of lost souls once at the local library, and it was very popular when I did that. OFC it was for three people, if it was like 8, that could be a lot to keep track of.

>>97894469
I allow players to describe context of their melee attacks, technique, stance, etc. but generally don't negotiate about mechanical effects. Determining if their approach is notably different than whatever else is happening in a 10 second combat round is important, but sometimes its not significant enough to have mechanical changes and just invites fucking about for bonuses.

>>97894469
Generally I don't permit this kind of thing, I feel the combat is too abstract for it to make sense. Some games do have built-in "attack postures" or similar which do something of the sort, though. LotFP has them, IIRC.

>>97890278
I like Hyperborea. A lot of great ideas on classes, spells, and equipment. The tone is great and the "human-only" fits the setting (and its inspirations).

>>97894610
True, but without an effect, even if slight, I dont find that players tend to describe or are inclined to think about there attack much. +/-2 is minor in the grand scheme of things, but I find its just enough crunch to get people invested.

But yah, on the con it can devolve into lawyering.
>>97894715
>too abstract
idk, just describing your general approach seems appropriate over a period of time, are you being agressive, cagy, primarily trying to occupy them rather than dealing excessive damage etc. Not speicficly "Im attacking their head/hand/foot" kind of thing.

>>97894469
>DO you guys allow combat fudging?
I don't. I've lost count of how many times I've had to say no to players who think combat is between their character and a sack of potatoes. It’s always the same: the enemy attacks and they go, 'Okay, I see his move and I do some HEMA crap to counter-attack,' while flailing around with nonsensical gestures. The only thing I can tolerate is an attempt to disarm, following the same principle as striking the head (I run 3LBB) but with even lower odds: a 5% chance to hit the hand, which must be unarmored anyway. Or, switching from melee weapons to brawling. Either way, these are rare situations that deserve very little attention and usually have to be handled by winging it.

>>97894469
Looks like the best option is always obvious with those. So there's no tactical depth to your hours rules. Meaning you're slowing the game down for no benefit, so I wouldn't use those rules.

>>97894788
>without an effect, even if slight, I dont find that players tend to describe
Excellent. Extra reason not to use those rules, then. Why would you encourage players to faggot your game up that way?

>are you being agressive, cagy, primarily trying to occupy them rather than dealing excessive damage etc
Ew. Gay.

>>97894995
>>97895011
Sorry for the double post. I got an error, so I reposted, and it looks like both went through. Now it won't let me delete either one of them. Annoying.

>>97894788
>True, but without an effect, even if slight, I dont find that players tend to describe or are inclined to think about there attack much.
Skill issue. If they aren't effectively doing anything different, tell them. They have to have accurate game world information. If you're just making shit up so they keep making noise you're actually lying to them and they'll keep doing the pointless shit. This is a bad approach and why
>fudging
is fundamentally flawed.
Encourage notable difference, if there isn't a notable difference tell them. They don't have to have rich descriptions every attack roll, once per combat or if their changing tactics is fine.

>>97895176
NAYRT but I agree with this and it's why I think abstract tactical stances are a better fit for D&D combat. Like, everyone can understand the concept of "fighting defensively" and it's nonspecific enough that it doesn't matter whether the player grasps the situation in detail.

>>97895176
>If you're just making shit up so they keep making noise you're actually lying to them and they'll keep doing the pointless shit. This is a bad approach and why
THIS
describe what you "want" out of your action and Ill tell you whats likely to happen. As you get more skilled ill be less soft with it, but players need to know how the game "works" outside of their sheet
>fudging
NEVER.

Had another fun session in the depths of the Well of Frogs this week. Wound up running an extra hour and a half because everyone was hooked on the life or death battle with the horde of frogs in the subterranean lake at the bottom. Edward Littlehands, who died last session, was replaced this session by Harry Bigfeet, and died this session after his controller said "he can't possible roll another natural 20 to hit me", and has been immediately replaced by Johnny Two-Lungs to continue the campaign. Despite being schooled in 5th ed, the player has been a great sport about his deaths.

Multiple other characters were swallowed whole, only to carve themselves out or be carved out by others.

Overall, I still don't think the Well is a top-tier adventure, but it only goes to show how great a time you can have with a solid crew and the innate stakes of the game itself.

>>97897017
>Overall, I still don't think the Well is a top-tier adventure
What don't you like about it? If you mentioned it before I didn't see it.

>>97895011
mh, im not sure about that. as a player you have limited information, and you dont exactly know if doing just a bit more damage will finish an opponent off, if disrupting thier attack would be more appropriate, or if dealing something at a higher chance is superior. It was more about hedging their bets and what they wanted to prioritize. gave them a choice instead of just maximizing damage output. Seemed to be pretty engaging for them instead of just deciding to attack, retreat, or do some scenery shenanigans (like rolling some barrels down a staircase).
>Why would you encourage players to faggot your game up that way?
dude, its not Shakespeare to say im being “aggressive/defensive/disruptive”.
Think I got the idea from a post here that referenced a blog that had "dueling rules" that followed the general idea.

>>97895176
>They don't have to have rich descriptions every attack roll, once per combat or if their changing tactics is fine.
That could be an interesting take. where the party can decide as a whole what method to take. kind of reminds me of charge rules in BECMI. Though I do have a it of a dislike for over fiddily specific rules (Yah you could say the same thing for what I did, but "get +2 to this for -2 to that seemed real easy to remember).

That also reminds me, Is the assumption for a lot of the late 80's era dnd that you have a party of like 8? cause the amounts of monsters described are getting into like skirmish wargame levels in the multiple dozens.

>>97898279
>Theorycrafting on /osrg/, inspired by a blog post.
Sounds like a bad idea to me

How many HD should a Blue Whale have? Dragon Turtle territory?

>>97898601
11+1

>>97898664
In the AD&D 1e MM, a large Sperm Whale is 36 HD.
I assume male, which reach 45 tons (females are way smaller).
A blue whale reaches 88 to 100 tons.

I think a sperm whale would be scaled down in BX because I assume a Dragon Turtle would be bigger, but I was curious to see what people think.

>>97898601
Sperm whales have 29-36 HD, and blue whales can be almost half again the size. So maybe 42-50 HD?

>>97898601
>B/X Sperm Whales have 36 HD.
If Sperm Whales have 36 HD, based on size alone, you could ballpark Blue Whales to have 72 HD (I personally scale HD as doubling for every tripling of weight), but the fact that Sperm Whales are carnivorous might be an argument to make blue whales have fewer HD than 72. Worth noting that no monster in B/X has more than 36 HD.


>MM Whales have 12 to 36 HD, and are further divided between carnivorous (bite attack) and non-carnivorous (fluke attack), with Sperm Whales being categorised as having 36 HD.
That implicitly means that Blue Whales, the largest non-carnivorous whales, also have 36 HD. Krill is vegan obvs.

So I would use the implied MM stats: AC 4, 36 HD, attack one fluke (5d8).

>>97898716
>Sperm whales have 29-36 HD
No? They explicitly have 36 in both B/X and MM.

>I think a sperm whale would be scaled down in BX because I assume a Dragon Turtle would be bigger
In B/X, if Sperm Whales have 36 HD and Dragon Turtles have 30, it's hard to argue that Blue Whales should have fewer than 36. Dragon Turtles have much better attacks, AC, and breath weapons anyway.

There's the oddity that Dragon Turtles have only 12 to 14 HD in AD&D, but since they have HP based on age like regular dragons, a B/X Dragon Turtle, which rolls HP normally, is not that much bigger than the largest AD&D one: 135 HP on average vs fixed 122 HP.

>>97898697
>Cook Bx 1981
Dragon turtle HD 30
Sperm whale HD 36
Blue whale ideally 42-50 like anon says
>Gygax Adnd 1977
Dragon turtle HD 12-14
Sperm whale HD 36
Who was in the wrong here?

>>97898822
Whales have a very generalized entry in the MM, which was greatly expanded in the DMG appendix.

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>>97898868
Right, I forgot about the DMG. Thanks!

Picrel

>>97898925
>black whale
>but right and sperm whales both have their own separate entries
>no blue whale
What the fffffuck did Gygax mean by this? Plainly obvious that he wasn't raised in Nantucket.

>>97887059
Currently playing my first-ever paladin in our weekly game (with the same DM who has run AD&D 1e for us since 1981). It won't be long until the rest of the party decide to investigate whether it's worth dragging an unconscious paladin around to get the benefit of protection from evil.

No table to share; we mostly play with just a lot of talking, no miniatures. Last time we got around a table with actual models, it looked like they were fighting 2 empty coke cans.

I 've already read what was wrong with recent adventure modules (e.g. Dragonlance), but is there a good place to read why the original rules are better than newer editions?
Already aware of player skill vs character skill (= just roll some dice).

>>97898835
Dragon Turtle has a much much better AC than the whale, and couldn't be harmed by normal weapons. Giving it more hit dice would have made it nigh-unkillable.

There are reasons the system isn't to be taken in isolated snippets.

>>97898279
>Is the assumption for a lot of the late 80's era dnd that you have a party of like 8? cause the amounts of monsters described are getting into like skirmish wargame levels in the multiple dozens.
holy fucking retard newfag, batman

>>97898601
>>97898697
>>97898716
>>97898748
>>97898822
>>97898835
>>97898868
>>97898925
>>97899564
Thank you anons for the insights.
Concerning the Dragon Turtle, I always found the Basic line one more appropriate to the usual imaginary compared to the AD&D line ones.

>>97899829
Don't be rude

>>97900694
>anyone of even average charisma can easily field 4 henchmen
>uh, is eight TOO MANY???!?!

>>97900851
And originally, it is supposed to be 4 unusual henchmen. technically, characters should be able to field infinite "normal" NPCs regardless of charisma.

>>97901207
>field infinite "normal" NPCs regardless of charisma
not in the dungeon ya goof

>>97901215
Pay them their danger pay and they will all go in. Run a conga line through the halls if you have the money for it.

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>tq
Been running Stonehell and supplements for the last year or so. Party moves a bit slow and weekly sessions are only three hours so they're only now on the second level of the Dungeon. Party is around 3rd to 5th level now and has hired 4 henchmen. We play online but I use a webcam for miniatures.

>>97890278
I am brown, can I play this RPG?

>>97901531
were you able to use the hobgoblin firehose on them?

>>97901582
They actually managed to handle that encounter without getting hosed. They decided to stand and trade ranged attacks against the Hobgoblins and, despite their cover bonus, managed to kill enough of them that they were able to assault without getting hosed. One even managed to use a grappling hook on the spout and rotate it towards the far end of its firing arc to allow them to pass after killing the Hobgoblin manning it. They then set the spout to douse the bridge as they ventured forth to avoided being attacked from the rear. The party has been particularly brutal against the Hobgoblins and Orcs*, but generally polite to the Kobolds and the Necromancer in the crypts. They briefly ventured into the lizardman quarter and left after one of their retainers got blinded and are now dealing with the Asylum. The Mad King has requested their help in dealing with the evil Magic User in their territory. I think I've come up with a fun way to use that situation and the Nixies he's encamped with.

*The party used Hold Person on three Orcs and forced them to watch as the party burned all of the Orc women and children to death.

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>>97901766
>The party used Hold Person on three Orcs and forced them to watch as the party burned all of the Orc women and children to death.
PCs, man

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>>97901766
I didnt get to use the hose either! When the party besieged the hobbos, the MU summoned 5 shadows, and the hobs had no defense, but made morale so fought to the death until they were all withered husks.
They genocided the lizards by hand, they hated them.
The asylum was a fun part, I gave the mad king magic armor that is always too big (instead of always fitted), and a round shield painted like a giant evil smiley. The retainer of the party MU is wielding the shield. The armor got buried with its wearer. heres a sloppa

>>97901531
Lol this is crazy, my players are obsessed with going deeper.
24 sessions in and they're 20% through with level 3. Very few of them are higher than lvl2 though, they're like the opposite of your players.

>>97901239
>Pay them their danger pay and they will all go in.
Wrong

>>97902654
NTA
How so?
Isn't that the point of danger pay?

>>97902676
>How so?
By the rules.

>Isn't that the point of danger pay?
Danger pay is if they accept. No guarantee that they will, those who do are certainly not in unlimited supply, nor do they have to go arbitrarily deep into a dungeon.

>>97902084
Aw now I feel like I missed an opportunity to make the Mad King more memorable. I described his armor and weapon as being heavily jeweled is all.
>>97902225
Man, I wish. My players are hell bent on exploring every nook and cranny of each floor before moving on. They did get bamboozled by Doom Lures on two separate occasions, though. Led into traps both times.

>>97903184
I allowed my party to bring two light footmen into the dungeon with them a few sessions ago for the fact that they offered them a lot of money and made good reaction rolls. They made it through the delve without taking any damage, somehow, and were rewarded with even more money. My intent was for them to cut and run at the first sign of real danger but the party led them to glory so that never happened.

>>97904077
thats explicitly against the rules dumb fuck

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lol

>finally back at the game table after a week off
>we stand victorious over the bodies of dozens of the bravest kobolds to ever live
>a henchmen and a dog are too wounded to fight or do much at all
>we can finally loot the treasure
>kobold loot is understandably mid with most things of any value being very heavy but this is what our 4 brave mules are for but there was a 250 gp gem and a 700 gp vase
>we almost have a hear attack when a snake hidden in the treasure goes for our thief but thankfully a henchman avoided surprise and killed it with a spear
>we find a secret door
>just 3 chests sitting in a room
>queue most of the session being paranoid hijinks about how to safely inspect the chest for traps without triggering them, finding traps, disarming them, breaking our lockpicks and having to use a crowbar anyway
>totally worth it, a huge haul, probably 8k in coin and jewelry but also a potion and at least 1 but we think 3 other magic items
>pack up to leave
>decide we are going to haul ass and get out as fast as we can
>flanked by 6 gnolls on our way out
On that cliffhanger we ended the session, we have a ton of loot to sell assuming 6 gnolls doesn't butcher a party of 1st and second level characters and a couple level 0s

I wish I had something more interesting to report but we spent a lot of time discussing the logistics of how we wanted to search safely which seems yo be part of the game but I am at a loss on how to spin it into an interesting story because we were careful and avoided traps.
I am not too familiar with assessing how dangerous an enemy is in OSR play but a gnoll seems to be about a 2nd level fighter and they can get our wounded henchmen, the thief and our archers so I am more than a little worried that this can go badly. My character if he can win initiative can interpose himself but if not...

>>97904376
That reminds me of a sword I saw somewhere on the internet many years ago, It was a magic sword that could only either miss or critical hit.

>>97904411
>assuming 6 gnolls doesn't butcher a party
dont forget that even if reaction is hostile, you can drop food and/or treasure while running away

>>97887059
Before I go diving for PDFs, can someone tell me if Birthright or Dagonlance mass combat rules were more about squads and platoons being measured against each other with dice roles, or did they include different scales of stats and spells that weren't included in other rulebooks? I'm thinking of battlefield spells rather than singular fireballs or troops wearing specific materials of armor and not just having a vague number.

>>97904429
>Birthright or Dagonlance
off-topic sadly, ask @grok plox

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i hate these "teehee innocent" 2etards we get wandering in here

>>97904305
Eat my dick.

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>>97904454
I allowed my party to be all half-dragon FM/MU/Thf multiclass, what now, gayboy?

>>97904466
Leveling must take ages.

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>>97904466
??
who is this

>>97904477
Nobody

>>97904475
skill issue

>>97904908
That is not what your mom said.

>>97905079
stupid fucking reply

>>97905177
Three such cases, and here's a fourth

>>97905204
kill yourself

>>97905177
Yeah you made one, kid.

Question

If a player drops the game, is it appropriate for the rest of the PCs to retain their character as a henchman?

>>97905265
Each henchman is in the service of a specific PC, and the number oh henchmen a PC has is limited by his charisma.

If a PC dies or retires, other PCs can certainly attempt to hire his henchmen, subject to Charisma limits, an enticing offer, and a reaction roll.

>>97905378
That is all well and good anon but I wasn't asking about vulturing his guys. Obviously we could do that.

>>97905378
youre a genuine fucking moron.

>>97905265
its not inappropriate if the player OKs it. Sometimes just their magic items get sniped.

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Trying to get two of my friends into OSR that have never played RPGs before. I'm going to run B/X as I have two extra physical copies of the B/X omnibus I printed from lulu that I can give them. I'm thinking of running B2, but having them start at the entrance of either the Vaults of Volokarnos or Gatehouse on Cormac’s Crag - I haven't decided which yet - which I will place in the B2 overland map somewhere

I think having their characters just waltz up to the keep is just asking for them to amble about aimlessly and waste time, giving a bad first impression.

Feeling quite a bit of pressure this time men - I usually run online for OSR players, or in person for people that have atleast played RPGs before. This has me second guessing every decision I make about modules etc.

What are you running this weekend?

>>97905633
just start them directly outside the dungeon bro

>>97905551
The guy missed game for weeks but kept us in limbo about if he would actually be able to make it. I get that work can screw you like that but you should know what your actual schedule will be after a week or two.

If I'm not looking to immediately have my party manage hirelings and their domains and what not, is OSR still good for me?

Frankly I've just been looking at this for better "adventuring" and "exploring" rules.

>>97905519
Lol
Sorry, I misread

>>97905897
You can ease into it. Don't fret it, don't sweat it.

>>97905910
thanks anon!

>>97905897
you can start smaller, but why not let them have hirelings???
also domains would be years away irl

>>97905897
Domains are a late game issue. Most people don't even make it to 9th level. For the classes that can construct strongholds early it still takes a lot of cash.

Hirelings are different issue. They're not a requirement but they are a force multiplier when it comes to exploration.
Having some dudes to carry treasure and lend extra hands to hare brained schemes is helpful.

What you will probably have happen is the PCs will go without employees for a while then come to the natural conclusion they could use some hired help.
Don't worry about framing it as a necessity in the beginning. Just remind them it is available when they are preparing for a more ambitious delve.

>>97905897
As long as you let them know it is an option the game will put pressure on the PCs to hire some, especially in small groups.
In my ACKS game the other players went from not being interested in hirelings at all when we started but now every PC has a least one by level 2.

After running my campaign world for a while now, I've decided to add some means of enchanting weapons to the game's world. My players all have at least one character that's advanced far enough along and I think they've gotten to a point where I need to consider by what means powerful sorcerers actually create magic items within the world. So, I've come up with some methods. It's important to first note that first an item needs to be of "Higher than usual quality". A craftsman has to first appraise the weapon, armor, or item as being "Of a masterwork quality illegible for enchantment." So, that right there is already a limited number of items within the world.
a.) Players may seek out old-world tech and take it to the Tinkerer's Guild of Denithex. Doing so will give them specific effects (based on what "ancient artifact" they graft on to the item.) The cost ranges quite a bit and may result in items with bizarre or useless effects.
b.) They may take shards or powder of Fluorspar to the Runedurg of a Dwarven Hold and have Runes inscribed on their weapon or armor. These runes only bestow bonuses against certain types of monsters. (So, a +1 Longsword/+3 against Trolls) and cost range from 1 to 3k.
c.) Specific parts can be removed from powerful magical enemies and can be taken to the Sorcerer's Guildhall at Black Lake. The party must perform a "favor" for the guild, and also pay a cost that increases each time they return. But the effects of items can be more fine-tuned and specialized this way.
There will of course still be more esoteric and outlandish means of bestowing arcane effects on weapons, but these are the only ones somewhat known by specialists in the field of enchantment.

>>97906628
based brosr poster

>>97906923
Brosr has nothing to do with ACKS

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>red dragon
>black wings
uh?

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>be king
>order map from world renowned adventurer
>get this
UH

why does anyone EVER use non-6-mile hexes?

>Scale: one hex equals 5 miles
Mr. Gillespie, all you had to do was make that a '6'. you don't even understand how wilderness travel works in the first place., you silly billy.

>>97887059
3lbb+chainmail+grayhawk campaign got two more great sessions under its belt.

Fist session only managed to get two players so we did a little chainmail scenario where both players had high level characters (necromancer and lord) using the castle inhabitant rules and the barony rules to get small starter armies. They explored the map and the lord player found a group of ogres and ran them over with his heavy cavalry units in a chainmail battle. He used the loot to get more troops and is now marching against the necromancer in the next session.

Second session was a regular dungeon crawl. The pcs are in an evil wizard's town and are trying to find a way into his dungeon. Used a charm spell to befrend one of the guard to get more info about said dungeon. Anyway they then went to the dungeon outside of town and looted a kobold lair. Dwarf fighter got a level up.

Its fun to use the different game modes in the same campaign. Wonder why this isnt more common.

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If I want streamlined Ironsworn+5th ed mechanics, class system (no multiclassing tho), low power level, and european-tier lore what kind of system am I looking for?

>>97907726
The DMG is required reading, Anon. Shut up until you do.

>>97908126
A noose attached to a sturdy beam will do its job egregiously

>>97907759
Based

What are some various approaches at giving low level arcane casters things to do besides that one or few spells per the entire session?

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>>97908126
E6 5e, I guess?
Just play an OSR game instead.

>>97907726
OD&D uses 5-mile, so I do too. See no reason not to.

>>97908126
One that has nothing to do with this thread. You'd be better off starting your own thread for the question, or maybe asking in /5eg/.

Any good sourcebook which covers settlements, domains, their rulers, followers and quest system as one concept? Aka you can use it to create a village, or city, or underground base, along with its rulers (npcs or player's own domain)?

is OSE supposed to be this vague?
There are a lot of rules that are just, "Eyeball it yourself Referee."

>>97909218
Do you have a few examples to paste here

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>>97909251
One off the top of my head.
It's good they put the metric in there- but theres also no explanation to what drowning even is. Does the character die?

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>>97909257
>Does the character die?
Yes. A general rule of first decade D&D is "consequence is death unless specified otherwise", e.g. monster poison.

As for your general question, it's generally the case that when B/X feels vague or incomplete, the DMG covers it in more detail. E.g. when it comes to swimming, DMG page 55. Picrel.

>>97909158
>Any good sourcebook which covers settlements, domains, their rulers, followers
DMG, ACKS II

>quest system
What kind of faggotry is that?

>>97908126
OD&D was played by 12 year olds. Are you smarter than a 12 year old?

>>97909384
I'm a bit unfamiliar with the names, what is the DMG?
I've been searching online for it, and can't find anything about it.

>>97909536
Dungeon Master's Guide, silly. Published in 1979?

>>97909218
>>97909257
the answer is, genuinely, 'yes'.

the OSE books are well-designed in a layout sense, but they're intended more as reference books than to be read for leisure.

i actually think Moldvay Basic is one of the best tabletop game books ever written. bloggers like to have arguments with themselves about whether 'room trap' and 'treasure trap' are distinct Game Terms. 10-year-olds in 1981 probably just read the sentences in the book and understood them.

>>97909664
>Published in 1979?
Correct. Not to be confused with the later knockoffs by the same name: If it doesn't say it's by Gygax, it's not really D&D.

>>97909863
Arneson can come too, though he's a wastrel

>>97909883
to be fair, Dave didn't write much. Blackmoor, Adventures in Fantasy and The First Fantasy Campaign. I personally don't know anyone to actually play using those.

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>>97909916
That's why I called him a wastrel, lol. He invented the game, but had trouble writing it down or explaining it to anybody else. Gygax is the one who inferred how things worked and codified them so other people could play the game.

>>97907726
I use three mile hexes because they are supremely superior for multiple reasons.
However you have inadvertently admitted that you are a nogames newfag.
Bye bye!
>>97908126
Honestly you could probably use any 12 gauge shotgun and put it against your brain stem and it will accomplish the same job
>>97908567
I highly fucking recommend that you lurk more instead of posting inane stupid questions like this
The subject has been discussed here to death, if you care enough you can use the archives to look.

>>97909257
>Does the character die?
Are you actually fucking kidding?
Go ahead and provide another example.
>>97909536
This is how I know you're a genuinely retarded troll. Please shoot yourself in the face at your nearest convenient opportunity

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>>97909257
...do you not know what drown means?

Can you guys tell me about your settings? I'm running OSE session soon and I'd appreciate some ideas.
Many OSR settings seem to have the following in common, at least:
>Fallen world: Life is tough and the world is cruel, which is why you've resorted to adventuring
>Dangerous wilderness: Going from point A to point B is rarely straightforward, because outside civilization are horrible monstrosities
>Spiritual proxy war: Gods, demons, and other powers are fighting each other with mortals as the pawns (ergo clerics and cultists)
What would you add?

>>97910200
an* OSE session
fuck
I swear I'm not ESL

>>97910200
You're retard just play the game bro

>>97908567
Play the game by the book for at least 50 sessions before "fixing" it, WotCfag.

>>97910523
This, I reccomend a minimum of 6 months of weekly sessions before even THINKING about homebrew, let alone actually brewing.

>>97908567
Here's some actual advice
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B8L0nTXKffA&list=PL8J6oOFX18PfHvqCTnU2ILCtSmVdToRHA&index=41

>>97908567
remove magic user. Like 90% of fantasy stories feature magic users as NPCs with the entire hero party being fighters and rogues. Most stories with magic user protagonists don't use jack vance's gay magic system. So, remove magic user (and cleric).

>>97911144
>jack vance's gay magic system
I looked into your eyes and could see that you were NOT my nigga.

>>97911209
There is only two media franchises in the entire contemporary world that I can think off that use vancian style magic. D&D and Goblin Slayer. To me, this says that anyone bellyaching about "but what can the wizard do???" or "but the wizards in my media can cast all the spells" lacks the familiarity with the system to tinker with it and should opt to remove the offense instead.

>>97911144
~30% of Appendix N features magic using protagonists or characters aligned with the protagonist

>>97911243
>media franchises
WHO GIVES A SHIT, This is a fantasy adventure game, not a recreation of your media franchises.

>>97908567
Hold the lantern snd stay behind the Fighter.

>>97902084
Anon, I think your boys cacked Evil Ernie.

>>97911249
Aparently, the original comment that wants to make wizards different "so they have something to do"

>>97911245
Nobody reads apppendix N. People read shit like glory milking farm and dungeon crawler carl.

>>97911347
I don't understand your position here. Appendix N is foundational. If you're looking to play OSR games having a passing familiarity with some of the literature is a good idea.

>glory milking farm and dungeon crawler carl
I don't know what either of those are. The first one sounds like wine aunt romantasy about jerking off barnyard animals. The second one sounds like a tumblr nose webtoon. Personally I wouldn't want either of those to influence how I envision my game.

>>97911356
My point is contextualizing the kind of retard complaining that wizards "have nothing to do at level 1". It's the kind of retard that wants infinite cantrips.

>>97911392
Or he wanted some advice on other ways to deploy a character with limited resources. All the responses under that post except mine are presupposing this guy >>97908567 is asking

How do I make spellcasters more powerful? and not
How can I make spellcasters more useful?

It's the usual cynical snakepit bullshit I expect from this general.
Are you a snake in the pit?

>>97910200
For obvious reasons I can't just post the OD&D setting PDF, but it should be in the troves somewhere, I think. If not that, you can probably find it in an old thread on Plebs. It's about the setting implied by the rules and charts of OD&D and sounds like something relevant to your interests.

>>97911329
Probably the best answer alongside carrying adventuring gear like crowbars and spikes since they don't have to carry armor.

>>97911243
>media franchises
Kill yourself