Welcome to the Old School Renaissance General, the thread dedicated to first-decade, Gygaxian D&D, its faithful modern clones, and content created for use with them. Later editions (2e and newer) should be discussed elsewhere.Broadly, OSR games encourage a tonal and mechanical fidelity to Dungeons & Dragons played as intended by its creators from 1974 to 1983 — less emphasis on linear adventures and overarching metaplots and a greater emphasis on player agency.If you are new to the OSR, welcome! Ask us whatever you're curious about: we'll be happy to help you get started. We also have two excellent beginner guides created by Anons with feedback from the thread that you can check for help:>n00b DM's Guidehttps://pastebin.com/EVvt6P0B>n00b Player's Handbookhttps://pastebin.com/XALkXkV0>Troves, Resources, Blogs, etc:http://pastebin.com/9fzM6128>Need a starter dungeon? Here's a curated collection:https://archive.4plebs.org/tg/thread/94994969/#95006768>Previous thread:>>98264675>Thread Question:Is too much treasure/wealth ever any issue in your games?
>>98305831>Is too much treasure/wealth ever any issue in your games?Only when I ran multiple parties and one group was consistently "luckier" than the other group (they were not). The "poor" group constantly complained that the game was rigged against them and they never got treasure when in actuality the other group started a couple of months before them, took bigger risks, and were generally just a couple levels ahead. By the numbers the poor group actually made more money per session but because they stayed on lower level floors they didn't get as many magic items. Their "poverty" was completely baseless and self-inflicted and if that doesn't encapsulate some players I don't know what does.
>>98305705Virtually any hexcrawl will work well for this but because I have a soft spot for the Wilderlands that's what I'm going to recommend. Rappan Athuk was originally located in the Elphand Lands (Map 9), in hex 4526, and Stonehell would work fine in that same location.
>>98305705>Does anyone have a recommendation for a hexcrawl where that would work?The unspoken expectation is to place it on the B2 map in place of the Caves of Chaos, the B2 map you can embed into Mike's World if you want something quirky. MW is by Geoffrey McKinney, the Carcosa guy.A more vanilla option is to place it on the same map as Barrowmaze, on the Eastern mountains, across the bridge, and run a dual campaign.If you want something more fairytaleish you could try placing it in Disneywood, but Disneywood itself might "take over"Or it could be an extra entrance to Dwarrowdeep, although be warned that that module is half baked and it needs some work on your part.Yet another option is to have a long mountain range that is impassable for many miles, and let the players discover that one of the deeper levels leads to a secret entrance across the mountain range, which might eventually lead to a mass combat attempt to conquer it to control the trade across it.In other words, you can place it wherever the fuck you like.
>>98305976>>98305985Or Greyhawk. Or the Known World, but not Mystara, which sucks ass.
>>98305909TL;DR You can win at D&D.
>>98305705t. SotB anonI just scribbled down some forest, mountain, grasslands etc. on a traveller sized hexmap, basically following GFC's hexchad video. Hole in the oak is out there somewhere, so is the Dark Tower.I've seeded several rumours and sidequest hooks to encourage hexploration, but my players are much more interested in exploring Stonehell than ranging further afield.I think it makes sense too, why would you look for new adventure sites when you know there's still so much mega dungeon left to explore?
>>98305831>tqOnly because my players are pussies who refuse to engage with the natural gold sinks in any meaningful way. Closing in on lvl 5 and have only hired 4 mercs to follow them around and keep watch overnight.
>>98306368Why don't you add stuff to the game that's actually worth spending money on?
>>98306368are jewish perhaps?
Kobolds are pretty small. I rolled a kobold encounter and among their treasure was some Chain Mail +1. If I decide one of the kobold guards is wearing it, that's not something a human would be able to wear, right? Logic tells me that I'm correct but maybe there's a footnote about magic armor's size not mattering that I can't remember.
>>98305991Those are more settings than hexcrawls.
>>98306370They've floated buying property but since they aren't interested in fielding armies or becoming landed generally I'm not sure what I should add. >>98306377They balked at spending a measly 3000gp on potion of Cure Disease, so possibly.
>>98306415>If I decide one of the kobold guards is wearing it, that's not something a human would be able to wear, right?No, it isn't. Note though that AD&D makes reference to the percentages of magic armor found that's human-size vs. dwarf/halfling-size, but has no provisions for magic armor as treasure that the PCs simply cannot use. So normally, if you roll magic chain mail as treasure, it shouldn't be kobold-sized, it should be at least potentially usable by some PC (and thus not worn by the kobolds).
>>98305831>DCC artNot OSR. Fuck off.
Any rules to run cavemen/prehistoric/"Flintstone" shit where cavemen and dinosaurs coexist?
>>98307372I assume what you want here is something more than just stats for dinosaurs and pleistocene megafauna (already available, check the MM)? What exactly is it you're hoping for the rules to cover?Either way, it's going to be hard to retain the basic gameplay loop in a pre-monetary setting.
>>98307005Okay, thanks. I rolled it as treasure intending that the players should use it, so I won't have the kobold wear it. Disappointing, I figured it would make for a slightly more challenging fight since most of my kobolds have been in leather or scale armor, but then I suppose a 10% higher miss chance isn't actually that interesting, even for a brand new group.Can you tell me where I might find the note about man-size vs midget sized armor? I love the DMG but the placement of all of its advice is so baroque. Sometimes I just need to find some info and it's somewhere I wouldn't expect.
>>98307748Damn it, never mind. Of course it's in a footnote of the magic armor table. I'm not sure I actually like the idea of halflings only being able to wear 5% of all magic armor, so I might ignore this note altogether, but then I'd be contradicting what I just said about kobold-sized armor. This is why I'm not a game designer.
>>98307756Lol yes, the disposition of the text isn't exactly perfect. When it comes to armor though, there are only really two places in the DMG where any rules can be: the magic armor table, and the stuff about armor types on page 27-28.
>>98307372Yep. This zine series, should be in the usual places. Wolf Packs & The Winter Snow is an older one, paleolithic megafauna rather than dinosaurs but there's neat stuff about cave shamen and such.
>>98304744>mummies with plasma rifles>eating brains for spells >get ambushed by a sorcerer with a bazookaYeah, this is the good shit about Carcosa, glad its going well. I found I needed to prep a decent amount as well, the tables and material are a good base but its a setting that needs fleshing out to run. Not a problem, I like doing that, but it is not quite pick up and play. >adding cultural stuff for different colours Good idea, what blog did you get that from?
>>98308018Took some stuff from this guyhttps://save.vs.totalpartykill.ca/blog/eating-sorcerer-brains/He has some posts about carcosa, if you don't find the one about races maybe I took it from somewhere else, if you really don't find I'll create a pastebin.Regarding the preparation I would suggest either rolling, or writing a program to roll the various technologies and monsters in advance, in my case I've created some stuff for this and to generate NPCs as well, I'll work some more on this later on to get leveled NPCs.Don't bother asking it's all in italian. Yes I'm that guy.
>>98308809>>98308018Alright I found it!https://bernietheflumph.blogspot.com/2015/05/carcosas-thirteen-races-of-man.htmlI've also taken this https://bernietheflumph.blogspot.com/2014/10/lotfp-summon-spell-in-carcosa.html and modified it to be a more precise thing, where they can cast less often than once a day, using ACKS rules, basically I nerf the spell until it is worth 1 extra bility (*).
>>98310817>return of the salt rangerCalm down, get some ointment for that ass, lad.
Robin Hood lives. We made little to no use of our castsrs. With better positioning I think we would have won the fight.
>>98311137Sheriff of Nottingham BTFO
>>98310893You sound upset.
>>98307922Why did they intentionally make it look like a pack of American Spirits
>>98311207May be coincidence, may be unconscious, but you should be asking them and not us
>>98311201You sound like a cookie-cutter caveman
>>98311162
>>98308830NAYRT but thanks for the links, Anon. I definitely remember reading these back in the day, they don't fit with how I envision Carcosa but they're definitely a useful resource for someone who wants to play more standard pulp.
>>98308809>eating brains rules Nice. Thanks for the links. >follow me on G+ It hurts man.
>>98311207Might be subliminal or coincidence, colour theory only gives you so many combinations that look good.
>>98310867You sound defensive over being called out. Try to improve the quality of your posts instead of shitting your own pants.
>>98311282
>>98307005>>98307756>"Elf-sized" is its own categoryI'd actually forgotten this, I somehow just took for granted that humans and elves would wear the same armor.>>98312630Liniment is cheap, bro. No need to stay anally blistered.
>>98307372Yeah, dipshit, in the core rules. Try looking in the monster manual.
>>98314011Try improving the quality of your posts.
Eberron is a really fun OSR setting once you get out of Khorvaire
>>98314388
>>98314388I dream of someone making a hexcrawl on Xen'drik
>>98314388>>98314394>>98314412The whole 'Curse of Xen'drik' pretty much kills overland travel hexcrawling.
>>98314475Huh.>The Traveler's Curse alters Xen'drik temporally and spacially. The effect is that adventurers will find that maps sometimes fail them. On the positive side, sometimes the curse will cause a person to arrive where they need to be earlier than they anticipated. Or even better, the curse can cause a treasure seeker to find an unexplored ruin filled with treasure. Railroad ahoy! Pretty gay, as expected of post-Gygaxian module swill.Still, that's easily fixed. "The Traveler's curse is nothing more than what fools call their inability to read a map." Done.Still don't know why you'd want to run in this dumb shit when you could use the Wilderlands or better yet, roll your own like a real DM.
>>98305831n00b Player's Handbook link seems to be dead
>>98314703We're missing v1.3, n00b guide anon hasn't been around lately. See https://pastebin.com/EVvt6P0B for a copy of v1.2
>>98314703>>98314734>https://files.catbox.moe/x0d5n4.pdfI uploaded 1.3 to catbox 2 threads ago.
>>98314872Thank you!
whats new in 1.3 btw?
>>98314872Awesome, thanks anon.
>>98314661>Railroad ahoy! Pretty gay, as expected of post-Gygaxian module swill.Yeah when I read about it I assumed it had to be there to make railroading easier. The more charitable option is that it was a stupid device they included for some obscure philosophical, narrative or thematic reason without thinking of how it would affect gameplay. Which isn't much better.
>>98314661Could do increased chance of getting lost when you're checking for that. The setting is okay I guess? Its got pulpy tomb raiding and jungles and stuff. Its got scorpion drow iirc if that's a thing you want. Not something I need ideafodder to make but I could see someone using it as inspiration I suppose.
Looking at Wilderlands of High Fantasy, I don't understand how exactly to use it. When the players move to a new hex do you have to look through every table (lurid lairs, villages, etc) to see if that hex is keyed in one of them? And since it has generation of random ruins and other features, I assume there may be a number of unkeyed features in each hex. But what are the chances that the players come across them? What if they're looking for them?
>>98316137I've been looking at it too but havent used it so this might be a useless reply sorry. In AD&D appendix B there's the inhabitation table that gives a rough 1/6 chance of each hex having a settlement or ruins. I'd probably copy and paste that unless wilderlands has a similar table idk I've only been fucking around with the ruin/cave/dungeon generator. And I run OD&D+grayhawk+chainmail and use the "lakes are castles" -"""rule""" so when generating the map and there's a lake I put an inhabited castle there and on other hexes roll for encounters to see monster lairs. When players look for a location I do it like forst day there's a x/y chance depending on terrain and increase the chance for each day. IDK if this helped at all or if it's even correct lmao I just run zero to low prep games anyways.
>>98316265Using AD&D's rule might be viable but it's probably not intended, since it came out two years after Wilderlands did.
>>98316307True unless there's a Dragon magazine article or something.
>>98316137>And since it has generation of random ruins and other features, I assume there may be a number of unkeyed features in each hex. But what are the chances that the players come across them? There's also % in lair and Wilderness Hexplore, which are random tables extracted, cleaned up, and compiled from Wilderness of High Fantasy, highly recommended.>What if they're looking for them?Up to the DM to figure out.
>>98316137I default to 1:6 chance to randomly find things in a 6 mile hex, modified by how big the thing is or if the party has a large amount of troops to search the hex with. If they spend a day looking I generally reveal what's in the hex. Haven't used Wilderlands, but prerolling a few things so they're rough but ready seems like it would save time at the table.
In reference to the thread subject, I played in a game where we had way too many magic weapons. It was kinda dumb. So yeah you can have too much treasure. Potions tend to pile up too, and really magic loot can become such a glut on the sheet. Anyway, OSRG Discord Server: https://discord.gg/evhaXjw7mdThere are some good friends on here and lots of voice-chat activity.
Does anyone have recommendations for modern OSR hexcrawls? I'm guessing they're better formatted and more detailed than classic hex crawls, and the one I've looked at (From Here to There) supports that intuition. As cool as the old stuff is I want something I can run with as little prep work as possible on my part.
>>98318915Oh, and I'm already aware of Dolmenwood, which is another example of a modern hexcrawl that's detailed, well-formatted ad easy to use as written. I'm just looking for something else since my players already have Dolmenwood in a different game.
>>98318928>>98318915Fomalhaut is set up like a hex crawl (numbered hexes and all) but I can't remember where and if there's a supplement on which hexes are described Wilderlands style.Carcosa and Mike's World are options.X1 of course, although not sure I'd call it modern. It's formatted perfectly well AFAIAC.Silveraxe and Valley of the Manticore are basically hex crawls, but they're more structured, in that there's an "end point" and many locations send you toward it in a progressive fashion.The Evils of Illmire are a bit like Silveraxe and Valley of the Manticore in this regard. One content per hex, pretty dense, somewhat unitary plot. The Black Wyrm of Brandonsford is a tiny cute little hex crawler, but also affected by "unitarity".I haven't read Hot Springs Island and Sworfish Island so I can't vouch for them, but you might want to check them out.I haven't read Woodfall either, but it comes with a recommendation on page 1 to play it the "Old School style", and it describes what that means in a perfectly reasonable way, so it's at least promising.
>>98319565Fomalhaut has hex maps included in the Voyage to Fomalhaut zine, but the only parts that are keyed for hexcrawling IIRC are the Broken Wastes of the Batrakasz (found in Khosura) and the area around the City of Vultures which is in I want to say issue 6 of Echoes.
>>98318915The new Yoon Suin release has enough in it to get a hex crawl going and fill in the rest. Gongburg is neat, ties in with the old Fallen Empires setting and adventures so there's lot of material there. Valley of Flowers is weird, its too small to be a hex crawl really but there's a lot of stuff going on in it and would work fine. Times That Fry Men's Souls is cool but its colonial american war for independence based so ymmv on how useful that is. iirc there's a hex crawl that goes with Gunderholfen but I haven't really looked at it.
>>98320557As much as I like Yoon-Suin it's absolutely not compatible with Anon's desire for minimal prep, though.
>reading a fantastic OSR module>see something wokeinstantly fucking dropped. i will NEVER support degeneracy, no matter how good at design the degenerate happens to be
>>98318906Discord destroys generals. Do NOT use it.
>>98321008Can you tell us which so we can avoid it?
>>98321022Arden Vul was the latest example, but this keeps happening
>>98321008lol snowflake got triggered
>>98320858Eh, I think there's enough to make a hex crawl with the premades and fill in more past that as you go but its more work than other options.
>>98321028I Rlrespect the principle. What specifically offended you in AV?
>>98321196Of course there's more than enough material to *create* a hexcrawl, but since everything is in random table form the referee needs to assemble it by hand, which is a lot of prep. Anon asked for ready-made hex crawls.
>>98323480Its got at least 30 hex locations premade. Put them on a hex map. You are ready to hex crawl now.
>>98324612In the new edition there are 15-20 "sample hexes" per region. That's hardly the same as a fully fleshed-out hexcrawl; I feel like you're being intentionally obtuse for no reason here.
>>98324652I feel like you're being intentionally incompetent so I guess we're even.
>>98324695Bro, I can prepare hexcrawls from scratch all day, that's just not what that anon asked for. Again, I really like Yoon-suin, it's just like pouring a bunch of legos on the head of a kid who asked for a Millennium Falcon toy.
>>98324753Not your bro fuckwit. If you can't understand >has enough in it to get a hex crawl going and fill in the rest. you're on your own.
>>98324796Salt is the last refuge of the enfeebled, bro,
>>98321008Right wing version of someone trying to ban Mark Twain books because they have the N word
>>98324989Did Anon say he wants to BAN those books, mongoloid?
>>98324989Also: Mark Twain used the word "nigger" in a non racist book, so criticising him for it is nonsensical.Idpol propaganda in RPG books is being criticised exactly for what it is. So it is completely appropriate.So your comparison is idiotic.
>>98324612>>98324695>>98324796Anon who asked here. I'm looking for something I can run out of the box with minimal prep, so that other anon is correct.
>>98321028Arden Vul was written by an apolitical historian so whatever offended you is probably based on something that really happened
>>98321028One of the characters is implied to be gay.
I've been running one continuous campaign of BECMI for many years, but due to work and my health, I've had to officially call an end to it. I wasn't happy about it, but I just have to focus on other things right now...However, I was not at all ready for how my players ended up taking it. Most of them are understanding and a little sad that it's over. They played many different characters over the years and I had to break it to them that it's over. But most of them wished me the best.But I have a couple players that are REALLY upset. One guy has basically messaged me every day saying that I *NEED* to keep running the game and that it's all that he has left in his life to look forward to and supposedly that no one has EVER ran a game like I have. The other guy that's upset has basically decided to spread rumors about me and has even went as far as to say that I actually "HATE D&D!" And that something must have come over me to make me disinterested in it suddenly. (The truth of the matter is, I just don't have the time to commit to running a campaign anymore. I have other projects that I need to be doing in my meager free hours.)
>>98325144Wack. Did you explain to them that you had to prioritize your health?
>>98325144They should teach a class in primary school about not being entitled over other people's creative work
>>98305831I'm dying to run a Chainmail game inspired by The First Fantasy Campaign
>>98325261Yeah, the FFC is pretty interesting, showcases a fairly unexplored style of play even in the OSR. Are you planning to add any D&D elements at all, or just the persistent-wargame parts? Writing your own hero and dungeon rules?
>>98325280I'm planning to add the 3LBB while keeping Chainmail mechanics
>>98325362Cool, any details? It's easier to talk about your campaign if you tell us some specifics about it.
>>98325362I ran 3LBB a couple years ago and it was good, but after reading up on Chainmail I wish I had used it. Damage and attacks make a lot more sense with the d6s, and magic weapons and armor become much more meaningful.
>>98325144Gotta admit I'm curious what it was about your campaign that caused this reaction. Though it's not hard to guess if all his other DMs were running modern D&D.
>>98324809>>98325101Cope however you must.
>>98325144I'd restart the campaign and kick those two guys from the table.
>>98325858>Anon clarifies his initial request>this is copeKekYou know we're all anonymous here, right? You don't need to protect your rep with this kind of weird deflection.
>>98326191What's wrong with #1? Okay, he's a bit, uh intense, but fundamentally he liked the game and treasured it, so why hate on the guy?#2 is a fucking crank though, by the sound of it.
>>98305831>Is too much treasure/wealth ever any issue in your games?About half my players get how to use wealth. Mostly they just use it to carouse. One player (magic user) used his wealth to join a closed society of magic users, buy houses in nearby villages and connect them via magic, cause a war between merchant houses over 2 of the merchant's daughters wanting to marry him, humiliated his rival by hiring his men out from under him, and now acts as a consultant for dwarven engineer that has a contract to fortify settlements on the frontier. Everyone else just sits on them or asks if there are any magic items for sale.
>>98326414>>all that he has left in his life to look forward to >What's wrong with #1?He's either being dramatic, in which case fuck him, or he has unresolved issues, in which case man up and take responsibility to improve your life instead of pestering a DM who has health issue of his own.
>>98326853>About half my players get how to use wealthAnd yet none of them are building castles and hiring soldiers. Even the wizard hasn't built a tower.
We had to miss last week for reasons. But I am excited that my group is back on this week, we ended right outside of the dungeon and have a plan that involves door kicking and lots of violence.
>>98325134Is that it? Crazy how easily some people get triggered.
>>98328604Listen, Anon already had to forgo all of the Greeks and most of the Romans. He can't afford to lose any more literature.
>>98321008based
Is B1 In Search of The Unknown a pretty good place to start for a new DM and a new group? It's advertised as such, but I was curious what you guys thought. The map looks like a pain to describe, but the vibe is pretty cool.
>>98329041B1 doesn't get nearly as much play as B2 or B4. I don't remember it being talked about as in having run it here much at all. The format actually seems like it could be interesting to go through and fill in, making it your own.
>>98329041It's okay. It's designed to teach the players the basics of mapping and dungeon exploration, and the referee the basics of preparing and keying the dungeon. If you find the map onerous, you're not alone; I personally like this alternative map by Dyson Logos which splits the top level into two floors and removes some of the more obnoxious winding passageways:>https://dysonlogos.blog/2018/04/16/return-to-quasqueton-map-1-of-3/
>>98329134>caverns cannot be displayed as it contains errors
>>98329154works fine on my machine. Try reloading or a different browser.
>>98329154>>98329167Yeah, it worked fine for me too when I tested it before posting the link, so it should definitely be possible to get it to work.
>>98329041B1 is great for OD&D because it's one of the earliest written modules and was probably designed with OD&D in mind rather than B/X. I do recommend using the simplified map instead of the original though.
>>98329727>was probably designed with OD&D in mind rather than B/XYeah, given that B1 was included in the Holmes boxed set it definitely wasn't written for B/X. Holmes is very much more an intro to OD&D than anything else, so you're bang on target about B1.
>>98325261Been doing that for a year now. Use the tables and generators liberally.
>>98328406Well the door kicking happened.Can I get F for one of the wardogs? The i have never heard the GM as happy as he was when the gang of bandits were were fighting all got backstab on the dogs. But better them going in first than a PC or a henchman.I also want to give a shout-out to Blinding Flash as a spell choice for low level magic users in ACKS, it has good range, effects a big enough area to be consistently useful and is still potentially dangerous against high HD monsters.
The PHB says that subsequent attempts to open stuck doors make considerable noise. Should I increase the encounter chance? Or is that just a hint to the players that encounters are a possibility if the keep trying?
>>98321008lmao, whatever makes you feel better.
>>98331470Not a GM but I think you just roll for a random encounter every turn the PCs spend bashing a door to see if something comes to check on the noise.
>>98321028>this keeps happening>this keeps happening>this keeps happening
>>98331470>The PHB says that subsequent attempts to open stuck doors make considerable noise. Should I increase the encounter chance? Either that or make extra checks>Or is that just a hint to the players that encounters are a possibility if the keep trying?Lol no.
>>98331470>Should I increase the encounter chance?Certainly; it's as >>98331481 has it, just make an extra encounter throw for each subsequent attempt.
>>98331787>>98331481Yup. Also, monsters beyond the door will have no chance of being surprised (and may have an increased chance of surprising the party depending on the situation.)I don't make each open doors check take a full turn in my game, but each check after the first failed attempt incur wandering monster checks.I'll also sometimes allow players to open locked doors creatively, provided the door isn't some sort of impregnable iron security door or what have you. In those cases, I'll rule that the door will take 1d4 turns to pry open or hack down with an axe. Naturally, that also prompts wandering monster checks.
I wouldn’t keep rolling 1 encounter per attempt, there should be a reasonable limit on the number of curious parties within hearing range and past some point they taper off.
>Decide to get away from toxic 4chan OSR>Go to alien antenna OSR dedicated forum:"Class as race is just for kids and is stupid">Hundreds agree>Come back to 4chan
>>98331993This is the worst place to discuss OSR, except for all of the other places on the internet
I'd only read B/X and OD&D before and I had no idea how good the DMG is. I'd almost say it's essential reading.
>>98332711It’s essential for understanding the history of the game and for understanding Gary Gygax’s intentions.
Rate this OSR character art
>>98332824For me it's useful for clarifying the intent of rules by showing how they apply in various examples.
>>98333469looks like a very old manga style, I like it, very moody, maybe a bit too messy for my taste, it looks almost lazy.8/10.
One thing I've always liked about AD&D is how rolling high ability scores opens up options in your sublasses. I enjoy the feeling of discovering that your character is something special. But I don't like how you have to go through all the subclasses to know what the options are. So as a simplified thing for the B/X game I'm starting soon, I wanted to have a d100 table that players roll on during character creation. 1-50 are no special benefit. Then as the numbers get higher, you get an increasingly unusual boon for your character (these would include the right to be the AD&D subclasses). Rolling a 100 would allow the player to define their own unique boon, subject to DM approval. Has anyone done something like that before? And does anyone have recommendations for possibilities?
>>98331993>muh toxic 4chan OSRThis thread isn't the least bit toxic unless you're a 2efag.
>>98334167NTA but, what, there aren't occasionally flaming assholes who shit on people for not already knowing the answers to the questions they ask here? Are we even lookin' at the same thread, my man? It's fine though, like he said, everywhere else is somehow worse.
>>98333469It's fantastic even though the face looks weird in the second one
>>98333469amano - 8.5/10>>98331993In the past I believed this, now I know that if you make a race-class truly strange and unique (not the usual elf) it represents well strange and non-human characters.So basically the elf class should have strange powers not just be MU + fighting man.For example an actual dragon class, or the vampire class, crazy stuff like that.Of course the PC shouldn't be able to start the game with those but gain them later on.
I'm looking for all the third party stuff for BECMI, ADND 1 and 2, and the like. I have part of the internet archive open, but i'm looking thru it and not sure i'll be able to download any pdfs. Where should i look?
Anyone have a good bx wild magic table or know a supplement that has a good one? Tia
>>98334792You should look for the OSRchive in the share thread.>>98334793What exactly do you want out of a wild magic table?Picrel is from a Stonehell room, pretty basic mishap table.I wouldn't be surprised if Goblinpunch had done a d100 wacky wild magic effects or something...
>>98331993Now imagine what it would be like if you couldn’t handle the fact that your opinion was a minority, continued to visit Reddit every day, continued to think about Reddit constantly, and channeled all your frustration into policing OSR threads on 4chan to try to censor any discussion of race-and-class. That’s what it’s like to be trollcow.>>98334167lmao
>>98333573Examples? My general impression of Gary’s rambles is that they are ideaguy posts, they explain where he wanted to go with the game but they don’t actually take it there.
>>98335151I might grab some later, but yes, where he wanted the game to go is useful information even if he wasn't able to take it there - that's why I said "intent."
>>98333620Current table I have:SPECIAL TRAITS1-40: There's nothing special about you, but those with humble beginnings often have great destinies.41-50: You have a penchant for trickery and can be an Illusionist, Mountebank or False Priest.51-60: You have uncommon skills you gained far from here. You can be a Barbarian, Assassin or Monk.61-70: You are divinely favored. You can be a Paladin, Agent or Mystic.71-80: You have an inclination toward nature. You can be a Ranger, Druid or Wood Elf.81-90: You are talented but hadn't planned to become an adventurer. You can be a Cavalier, Thief-Acrobat or Savant.91-95: You have received an invitation to one of the legendary bardic colleges, and may be a Bard.96-98: You are exceptionally gifted, and may raise any attribute to 18.99: You may choose any single special trait from a lower roll on this table.100: You may devise your own special ability or class, subject to approval of your DM.
>>98335759False Priests use illicit rituals to steal gods' power instead of being granted it through legitimate devotion. They don't have to act in accordance with a god's will, and have a few more spells available, but will be hated by any sincere worshippers they meet and may even incur a god's wrath at high levels.Agents are thieves who get priest spells, but can only use their thieving abilities in service of their god's cause and not for personal gain (getting treasure they'll tithe from dungeons counts as their god's cause).Mystics are multiclass Magic-User/Priests.Wood Elves are Elves that have thief skills, but only in natural environments or when dealing with natural materials.Savants are magic-users whose sagelike knowledge allows them to receive special hints from the DM sometimes.All other special classes are similar to how they're described in AD&D, but usually simplified and strictly better than their superclass rather than a tradeoff.
>>98335666There’s also good advice about how to run the game, which is what I was asking about, there are probably things that I see as ‘not useful for running the game’ that I’m wrong about. Off the top of my head the advice for moving characters between games and introducing new players is just generally good, the stuff about getting the players to develop your setting for you is good, the world building advice is generally great even if it rambles a bit. Then there’s other stuff, like the bits about taxes and tithes and money changing (some of which is from the phb iirc), it’s great ideas for game developers but it’s terrible advice for someone who wants to run an OSR game. >>98335935>>98335942>>98336264rofl
>>98336355>roflNot an argument, crybaby
>>98336542You didn't present anything to argue against.
>>98335141>Now imagine what it would be like if you couldn’t handle the fact that your opinion was a minority, continued to visit Reddit every day, continued to think about Reddit constantly, and channeled all your frustration into policing OSR threads on 4chan to try to censor any discussion of race-and-class. That’s what it’s like to be trollcow.Silly Fishfag, you can't project your way out of your terrible, lonely existence.
>>98337080I thought I was fishfag. I don't wanna share the name with some other anon :(
>>98337466Why would telling an off-topic troll to get out be off-topic? No one wants the shithead here and he only wants to talk about non-OSR games.
>>98338337Lol at calling someone a faggot for wanting to read what the thread's actually about instead of schizo slapfights.Anyway, speaking of which,>>98329041>>98329134Here's another alternate map for Quasqueton. I found it easier to use and more similar to the original than Dyson's, even though I generally love Dyson's maps.
>>98338691Why is your copy so much larger than the original? Is it 'cause you're such a faggot?
>>98338864... the file size? I don't know. It's the one Dyson hosted and I had to convert it from webp.
>>98339953Oh, my copy's a png from eight years ago, I guess Dyson switched the site to webp at some point? Converting to and from that presumably increases the file size.
>>98335759For a B/X assassin I wanted to have the disguise ability (same 2% chance of detection) but also poison use that's actually practical as a game mechanic. Gary Gygax infamously hated poison and you can tell by how its inclusion feels reluctant, with qualifiers that make it so you'd never really use it.The questions that come up are, why would only assassins use poisoned weapons? Like what's so difficult about storing or applying it that no other character class would if it were an option? And also, if assassins can make poison, what stops them from stockpiling it? Or would stockpiling be a legitimate strategy/something to do with their downtime?What i was thinking was that assassins could be able to make some field poisons, using a portable kit and common plant/animal materials, but they aren't terribly powerful. They just have somewhat debilitating effects like slowing enemies down or making them save vs. a terrible pain that keeps them from having the presence of mind to attack for a round. Without sophisticated means of stabilizing or preserving them, these poisons would lose potency in about a day.But also on top of that assassins might, by default, be skilled at finding places to buy more stable or powerful poisons. However these are expensive and any deal has a 2% risk of being busted (they're universally illegal).
>>98341267>what stops them from stockpiling it?Organic molecules tend to break down over time. Poisons have a shelf life, and many need to be used right away for full effect.
I’m a newfag reading through the AD&D Player’s Guide and the section on the Monk caught my eye. Oldfags… Did DMs at the time ACTUALLY do this? >Once you reach (mid-to-high level) as a Monk, you cannot level up >Not before you have a 1v1, items off, final destination only with a monk one level higher than you. >You’re trying to take his fucking job, you see>If you lose, you lose all your XP and drop a level>Also if you wuss out, you lose all your XP and drop a levelThis is comically evil. How much of a ballbreaker did the DM have to be to enforce this? Did anyone enforce this?
>>98331993I browse the OSR discord with a pride flag icon, and there are several /osrg/ posters there. The most annoying thing imo is their hatred of piracy.You'd THINK a bunch of queer commies would embrace filesharing as direct action, but noooooooo.
>>98341563Do you even know about level training? Ano no, stop acting like a retard faggot.
>>98341590You have some true believers against piracy but most of that is just to prevent the Discord from getting DMCA'd. If you have a public Discord that is blatantly posting links to paid materials you're gonna get your server banned real quick.
>>98341563>Did DMs at the time ACTUALLY do this?Those who understood the reasons behind it did. It's one of the great things to do during downtime, praise Arneson.
>>98341267>Gary Gygax infamously hated poison and you can tell by how its inclusion feels reluctant, with qualifiers that make it so you'd never really use it.It's not just "Gary hated poison"; the standard poison (or venom as it actually mostly is) is save-or-die. It's simply too good if players have access to a save-or-die weapon attack at will. It's necessary to regulate it for game balance.>>98341563>Did DMs at the time ACTUALLY do this?Yes. The same rule applies to Druids.
>>98341267For the same reason that magic users don't use swords: because it's a fucking game
>>98341947I like 3.5's way of handling poisons, actually. I might try back-porting some of them...
>>98341563There's nothing ballbreaking about it. Challenging the master to become the new master is a classic martial arts trope and playing it out in your game is cool.I'm guessing, and please correct me if I'm wrong, that you're coming from a modern D&D paradigm where leveling up is in some sense expected or owed to the players. It's supposed to happen over the course of a campaign as they complete their hero's journey, or simply as a necessity to be able to meet the greater challenges that arise.But in old school it's not like that at all. Leveling up is a reward you receive for playing the game well or getting lucky. Different players in the same session can and will be wildly different levels due to deaths, distinct leveling scales for each class, and probably having gone on different adventures. So the karate duel monks to reach their capstone isn't even that big of a hurdle compared to the other things you've done to get there, and it's certainly not evil in practice or intent. It's just a bit of fun.
>>98342642Magic-users don't use swords because they take training and MUs would rather spend the necessary time on getting better at magic. Elves can do both because sword training is part of their culture and/or they're older so they've had more time to practice.
>>98341267>The questions that come up are, why would only assassins use poisoned weaponsTakes a lot of time to learn how to do at all, extract, make tinctures, etc. Doesn't store well, no refrigeration, hard to manage in the field. Possibility of poisoning yourself, PPE is limited. Application time to weapons is limited and circumstantial. Its a lot of hassle for niche benefit even if you know what you're doing. Alchemist can't even make potions of poison in b/x.
>>98335759>71-80: You have an inclination toward nature. You can be a Ranger, Druid or Wood Elf.I get this is just the table rather than how it would work in game world but its amusing it implies you can chose to be a wood elf if you have the inclination. The spread for most other entries being 3 options at 10% and bard at 5% is notably different. What's up with that?
>>98305831Ok rolled my fisrt dragon lair. It's a sleeping sub-adult blue dragon with no magic and a butt load of treasure. There are also tharks in the region and they have a negative relationship woth the dragon. Any tips for making this lair? A secret passage to get in is obvious but beyond that my mind is drawing blanks.
>>98342816No, that's an explanation for things in universe. There is plenty of fictional instances of magic users also being competent fighters. We are talking about a game. Why don't magic users wear armor and use swords? Why don't thieves get to fly?
>>98343600Bard is an extra special class, like it is in AD&D.
>>98343737Well it's a blue dragon, so it lives in the desert, so look up the survival techniques of desert creatures that burrow, including predators like the ant lionAnd don't forget, dragons can fly, so why should they pick a layer that is easy for walking creatures to navigate? The floors should be jagged crumbly and irregular at best, thorns and spikes everywhere, perhaps a symbiotic relationship with insects swarms that clean his body, an underground spring that he guards, etc.
>>98344326Armor gets in the way of casting spells and using swords (which is in fact more difficult than using unbalanced or hafted melee weapons) requires training that magic users don't typically undergo. Thieves don't get to fly because they don't know how to cast magic. The game reasons for these are variety, niche protection and balance.The fact that we're talking about a game doesn't mean these things don't need to have in-universe explanations. At least with TRPGs. one of the unique things about them, compared to board games or video games, is that the mechanics need have to have explanations. It's one of the strengths of a medium where you're playing a character and you have a DM who can respond to anything you do. Those explanations can be abstract, or exaggerated, or in a fantasy setting they can be "it's magic."That's actually one of the things I like about the OSR vs. modern D&D. This isn't nearly as bad in 5th edition as 4th edition, but modern RPGs often treat things your characters can do like video game mechanics with no clear corresponding reality. Whereas in OSR nearly all the mechanics are something that your characters also know about and make sense in the game world. Characters are aware magic-users forget their spells after casting them, or that gathering more wealth will allow them to become more socially and personally powerful, or that armor makes you more difficult to lethally damage; and they make their decisions accordingly. It's more immersive and allows for more creative engagement with the world than the rules/DM saying "ya just can't."So bringing this back around to what you were originally responding to, "it's a game" isn't sufficient to dismiss questions about how assassin poisons work. But fortunately, as we've seen posted, it's possible to come up with actual in-world reasoning that supports the game mechanic working in a fun way.
>>98341267>why do only assassins use poisoned weapons?Because the rulebook says so.
>>98344730See >>98344501
>>98344730Besides your idea being lazy and bad game design, it's not even what the rulebook says. The PHB never says only assassins can use poisoned weapons, just that they like to, and in the poison section it explains that there are possible social consequences for non-assassins using them because of the assassins' guild, not that no one else ever does or can. It also says, if the DM doesn't allow poisons, it's because they don't adhere to the weapon in the setting.So the very thing you're appealing to is demonstrating the great pains Gygax took NOT to have arbitrary rules even though he wanted to discourage poison use.
>>98333620>>98335759>>98335792tl;dr thanks, I hate it. The chargen gambling minigame is not my favorite thing about authentic Gygaxian D&D, but I can’t act like it isn’t fun, and it looks like you’re leaning into the fun parts in an elegant and honest way. I just think the whole idea of some classes being intentionally better than others is radioactive, it’s the main thing that went wrong with prestige classes for one thing. It’s like, you’re home brewing man, a lot of your stuff is going to be better or worse by accident even if you’re trying your honest best to make it all balanced.
>>98344501NTAYRT - You fundamentally misunderstand the OSR, you have it backwards. It *is* a game, and only works because it has been designed a certain way. Mechanics don't need to have explanations, make up whatever shit you want at your table but the narrative layer is merely an aesthetically pleasing decoration sprinkled over the all-important ludic layer.
>>98345686>NTAYRT - You fundamentally misunderstand the OSR, you have it backwards. It *is* a game, and only works because it has been designed a certain way.That doesn't contradict anything I've said.>Mechanics don't need to have explanations, make up whatever shit you want at your table but the narrative layer is merely an aesthetically pleasing decoration sprinkled over the all-important ludic layer.Saying that the game mechanics are more important than realism isn't the same as saying it's okay for mechanics to have no explanation. Gary Gygax has said the former and I agree with him. He's never done anything to indicate he would agree with the latter. The narrative is also not merely a "pleasing decoration" because things characters do that aren't covered by the rules can have an effect on the game outcome. The ability to do this is fundamental to TRPGs as a medium but its importance is also particularly emphasized in the OSR as a distinction from modern play.
>>98345722Another of putting this: it's okay to prioritize rules and the game they produce over verisimilitude. It may, indeed, be best to do it that way in general. But it's not okay to have no explanation whatsoever for why the rules work the way they do.
>>98345737>But it's not okay to have no explanation whatsoeverI don't think anon is suggesting that you can't have any explanation whatsoever, just that whatever explanation works for your table is fine.
>>98346001The suggestion that no explanation is needed beyond "it's in the rulebook" or "it's a fucking game,' and subsequent challenges based on that starting point, are all I was responding to.
>>98346029Fair enough
>>98345722>The narrative is also not merely a "pleasing decoration" because things characters do that aren't covered by the rules can have an effect on the game outcome. Isn't this what "tactical infinity" means? It's one of the reasons I got into OSR cuz there's a real strain of thought in modern TTRPGs (see the System Mastery podcast or Draw Steel) that draws a hard line between "crunch" and "fluff" and that sucks ass to me
>>98345338>I just think the whole idea of some classes being intentionally better than others is radioactive, it’s the main thing that went wrong with prestige classes for one thing.I understand the concern but is it really that big of a problem? It already kind of exists in B/X with dwarf (almost strictly better than Fighter but can't use longbows and greatswords) and Elf (almost strictly better than Fighter and MU but has d6 hit die instead of d8). The only balance against them is the higher XP costs for leveling. And if I really wanted it to be balanced I could just do that for the special classes, since most of them get similar benefits to Elf (more versatility).
>>98345722You were asserting that mechanics NEED in-universe explanations. This is false.You're putting the verisimilitude before the rules, this is backwards.The multitude of different hacks and settings talked about in this thread (carcosa, ackztecs etc.) show that the narrative elements are changeable, whereas the system (ignoring house rules and modifications) must remain the same.
>>98346098Asserting that mechanics need in-universe explanations is not prioritizing verisimilitude over the rules. Prioritizing gameplay means that you come up with the game first, then find a way for it to make sense. Prioritizing verisimilitude would mean that you'd look at how something works first and then try your best to match it with rules, even if those rules aren't fun. I'm not advocating the latter, which would be like GURPS or FATAL or Rolemaster or something. The former is how OSR works, which Gygax explicitly said. What you're advocating, if you disagree with me, is leaving out the "then find a way for it to make sense."
>>98298799I'd like to know more about this mind flayer lich villain. Always wanted to use one myself, but it hasn't worked out yet.
I came across a reference to a houserules doc, Original Edition Campaign: Additional Rules for Fantasy Medieval Campaigns by Erik Johansson.I can only find it in hardcopy but maybe I am stupid (it is not in Bytee's index.) Does anyone know of it in pdf?
>>98346132I think you're confusing designing a game with running the game.I concede that "making it make sense" is part of the fun, but this doesn't support your declarative statements about armour making it difficult to cast spells or the necessity of narrative consistency.The answer to why poison works the way it does being "because organic compounds", or why MUs can't wear armour is "because magic can't be cast when movement is restricted" is inconsequential, all instances of "because" are equally valid."Because demons", "because nanobots" - "because X" is the reason, BECAUSE it is a game and those are the rules. If it doesn't matter what X is, X doesn't matter. It's flavour.
>>98344919>your idea being lazy and bad game designI'm not doing game design, I'm playing the game. You're the one who's designfagging.
>>98345686>the narrative layer is merely an aesthetically pleasing decorationIt's not even aesthetically pleasing.
>>98345737>it's not okay to have no explanation whatsoever for why the rules work the way they do.It is, though. It's perfectly okay. Practically no game comes with explanations for why the rules work the way they do, all you need in the rulebook is the rules.The idea that RPGs are an exception to this is cancer.
>>98345338>I just think the whole idea of some classes being intentionally better than others is radioactive,Nah, it's perfectly okay if done the OSR way.>it’s the main thing that went wrong with prestige classesUtterly irrelevant. What works or doesn't work in non-Gygaxian games is has no bearing on the OSR.
>>98346206My statements about armor making it difficult to cast spells et al were examples of of explanations for mechanics, and not meant as necessities for how those things would have to work in RPGs. >The answer to why poison works the way it does being "because organic compounds", or why MUs can't wear armour is "because magic can't be cast when movement is restricted" is inconsequential, all instances of "because" are equally valid.>"Because demons", "because nanobots" - >"because X" is the reason, BECAUSE it is a game and those are the rules.>If it doesn't matter what X is, X doesn't matter. >It's flavour.Yes, this is what I disagree with. While those things are unlikely to be of consequence, that doesn't mean they can't be. If you can't cast in armor because it restricts movement, then maybe you can get a magical armor field that doesn't (which exists in D&D). If it's because demons, it matters when the players realize they have holy water that suppresses demons in a radius. If it's because nanobots, it matters if the players realize they could use their micromesh filtrator to keep nanobots out. Again, these things aren't likely to come up, but the chance that they will and the DM can then rule on it is part of the appeal of TRPGs over other gaming media, and like >>98346044 said, denying that by creating hard categories of "matters" and "doesn't whatsoever" is wrongheaded.
>>983464651. You and I are both doing the same thing right now, which is posting on 4chan.2. When you offer a possible explanation for a mechanic in a TRPG, or make statements about how they should be explained you are doing game design I'm afraid.3. If you're implying I'm a nogames who designs instead of plays, you're incorrect, as this is for a session in less than a week.4. Design shouldn't be derided because it's always been within the purview of the DM, and can improve things for a specific table, and another aspect of old-school play that's been reduced in modern fantasy RPGs.>>98346481TRPGs are an exception because they're the only medium with a GM. Nothing else allows players to attempt anything, and for anything in the world to come into play. The ability for the GM to supersede the rules when something about the world situation makes another outcome more likely than the rules has been a thing since Braunstein. And for the GM to be able to do that, he needs to know what the rules are describing.
>>98344330Might just be austim but if its extra special as in rare its weird to be 5% on its own when each of the others is 3.3%
>>98346753Each of the others is 10% because they're not exclusive. If you roll a 59 you can choose between Barbarian, Assassin, Monk, or a normal class. So you're half as likely to be able to play a Bard as any other special class, because it's the most special of all.
>>98346783Oh I get that, still feels weird and I don't like it but for sure its a me problem.
>>98346593All of your examples are narrative rationalisations that need to be converted into mechanics by the DM.MUs can't wear armour but can cast shield/Fighter can't cast shield but can wear plate is just a flavour of X class needs to burn Y resource to prevent negative outcome. Z class doesn't have Y resources, but that is balanced by being able to use A, which is a much cheaper method of preventing the same negative outcomes.The game runs on mechanics, you could literally strip everything away to pure numbers on graph paper and it would play the same.The appeal of TTRPGs you're invoking is that the mechanics can be interacted with & persuaded via the DM. This doesn't change that it only matters how the game is run, the narrative layer is just a handy tool to render the entire simulation through analogy. It's a translation that allows efficient use of processing power & intuition to alter the mechanics on the fly. It is an uniquely magical game, I agree.It is a game and only requires that the rules be followed in order to work.
>>98346824>The game runs on mechanics, you could literally strip everything away to pure numbers on graph paper and it would play the same.>It is a game and only requires that the rules be followed in order to work.This is the part we disagree on. You could not strip everything down to pure numbers and it would play the same, partially because you can't describe a scenario by pure numbers, but also because there are actions the players can take that aren't described by numbers in the game system. Therefore they don't fully define the game.>The appeal of TTRPGs you're invoking is that the mechanics can be interacted with & persuaded via the DM.The appeal of TTRPGs isn't that the mechanics can be interacted with via the DM. It's that the world can be interacted with via the DM. The mechanics say how to do that, and when they don't obviously cover what's, the GM steps in, figuring out how the mechanics might apply, modifying them for a specific situation, creating new ones in extreme circumstances, or simply declaring what happens in this case using common sense.
>>98346862The way I see it, there is no "world" to be interacted with; you are sitting at a table and imagining a scenario built from game mechanics. I fear we've reached a semantic stalemate. The words we've chosen to symbolise different aspects of the game are not the same words.In my language, you are wrong, because I don't believe in the primacy of the story of the world. I can see where you're coming from, but I still think you're putting the cart before the horse.
>>98346909Yeah I don't know if there's much more we can say to each other.
SotB anon here, I'm running a hexcrawl session tomorrow where the party are trying to locate a herd of wild horses within an hex flower (6 mile hexes). I've simplified mv. rate of miles/hexes per day into a movement point system where entering difficult terrain costs more points.Haven't done much wilderness exploring in the campaign so far. Does anyone have any experience running sessions where the party is trying to find an entity that is also moving from hex to hex? Picrel is what I'm thinking of in terms of extra procedure.
>>98347345Man, I see a lot of problems with this.1. I don't think that's a hex flower. A hex flower is a generative tool. Those are just seven hexes in the shape of a flower.2. This is fundamentally pursuit, not exploration. Hexes are a useful structure for mapping and discovering things. That's not what you're doing here, and even if those hexes contain things other than the horses I assume the horses are the highest priority and they wouldn't stop to look at ruins right now anyway.3. When you're designing a subsystem like this, you need to ask yourself, how interesting are the decisions the players are making? And be honest. They will make a semi-arbitrary decision of which hex to search if they lose track of the horses, then they will track the horses until they find them, then they will approach them and if chance is against them they'll get to do it all again. Other than devising a way to approach without spooking there's just nothing interesting to decide because it's practically algorithmic.As a matter of pacing you could probably just make a roll for how long it takes to find the horses, then have the scene where they approach.
>>98347573I guess my intention was to create a challenge where the party would have to weigh up the cost & risks of an extended venture into the wilderness against the potential reward for finding the valuable horse running with the herd.It made sense to demarcate a 7 hex search area rather than allow the horses to range anywhere, and it fits well into the terrain of my hexmap. Also I was tickled with the herd movement rules I devised.Your criticisms are making me think I should perhaps extend the decay time for horse tracks and remove the "flower" constraints on their movements.The finding of the horse would be an anticlimactic encounter but for the fact it is worth 10k gp. It should be like finding a needle in a haystack, in competition with droves of others.I was probably going to use these capture rules from Quagmire too (picrel)
>>98346625>1. You and I are both doing the same thing right now, which is posting on 4chan.Holy Mother of Autism>2. When you offer a possible explanation for a mechanicI don't do that.>3. If you're implying I'm a nogames I'm not. Just because you're a designfag doesn't mean you're also a nogames.>4. Design shouldn't be deridedWhen it's good design. But most designfags suck at it. You suck at it. So I deride you.>TRPGs are an exceptionWrong>they're the only medium with a GM.Wrong.>Nothing else allows players to attempt anythingWrong.
>>98347345>I've simplified mv. rate of miles/hexes per day into a movement point system where entering difficult terrain costs more points.LolwutThat's already how it works, Anon.
>>98347808Sorry, I suppose I was leaving out half the system because I think it is a commonly known substitution from the GFC hexchad video.As opposed to picrel, the party has three movement points a day, which would be enough to enter & move through three hexes of clear/grassland, but less of woods/mountains etc.
There must be at least one OSR Jurassic Park module
>>98346465He’s right though. Saying “Only assassins can use poison because the rule book says so” is game design (and also wrong according to the rules, which would seem to spoil the only good thing it has going for it). What version of D&D are you reading, anyway? It certainly isn’t Gygax’s D&D, are you sure it isn’t the actual boardgame?
>>98348005Isle of Dread?
>>98348528Yeah it would be this
>>98305831Any classic modules/dungeons that can be done in an evening or two? Two players of relatively high experience with 1e but we've never done modules. I know one shots arent really in the style but we are meeting over a cabin weekend so something quick to pass the time there in the candle light.
>>98349234I like Borshak's Lair from the Dungeoneer Compendium. 30 rooms or so
>>98349234>I know one shots arent really in the stylefuck off then
>>98349234You're correct that one-shots aren't the style, but it's a case of perspective.Whatever happens in a session of play is a one-shot. You needn't find a module that is advertised as such out of some misplaced anxiety that there will be no satisfying arc; trusting in the system and the dice will deliver a great session. It will come to a natural ending.I recommend the Tower of Birds by Gabor Lux, found in issue #2 of Fight On! Magazine
>>98350810The Tower of Birds can also be found in the Khosura module, as part of the Wastes hexcrawl.
>>98341947>>98344730>>98344919thoughts on these rules for poisons? Modernized/adapted version of the old JG rules
>>98351152This guy has a lot of good rules pulled from JG. I especially like his castle building!
>>98305831I've got a hex map and world I'm working on and I'm looking for resources on putting down resources, natural or otherwise, on the map. Things like ore deposits, salt and so on that can influence what lands have value for the different factions that inhabit the world. Does anyone here know of any?
>>98351678An Echo, Resounding is built for that, a high level abstracted faction system where every faction turn, the various powers attempt to acquire territories with valuable resources. It's similar to what ACKS does, but takes a wide view with little bookkeeping.
>>98349234Its not classic but Purple Worm Graveyard is short enough to work for a session or two. Same with Tomb of the Dragon's Heart. Tower of the Stargazer is not my thing but if you want a horror sort time it can be fun. This is a pdf of intro modules in general, lots in there to chose from. Not in the pastebin for some reason. gf /d/g4jECq>all those blogs in the pastebin like tears in rain fuck
>>98351678ACKS is built for this
>tfw no motivation to work on my game
>>98350326>>98350810>>98351802>>98350530Thanks guys! This is why this general is the only thread worth coming to on this site. Studying Borshaks lair atm and it is looks so fun.
>>98351678The system in an Echo, Resounding only really tells you how many resource spots you should put down.ACKS gives every hex a land value of 3d3, which is the amount of wealth a family working the land gives in tax revenue per month, so kind of abstract as well. However, it has rules for randomly placing deposits of ores, valuable stone and salt in By this Axe, which sounds like what you're searching for.
>>98353134Good taste, it's one of my favorites.
>>98351152IMHO JG rules are almost always a good base to build on – Bledsaw bumped up against a lot of the same sore spots back in 1975 that are discussed in this thread, and he mostly had some clever solution, if not necessarily optimal.
>>98353124ive been here 20 years, shitstain. Youre nothing to me.
Hello all, summer camp anon back again.I run the game this week to a group of seven kids, honestly went better than expected.Ended up running Hole in the oak since it seemed best suited to a really short game out of the modules I am familiar with.Had only two and a half hours to game, they managed to get in using a rope, payed some tribute to the root-faces for info and run into the home of the Sheep family. Main sheep man lured them into his study with the enchanted chairs and brought in the two females. The party was wise enough to not try his tea and after failing to convince him to bring them milk instead a fight broke out. couple of them came close to falling but thanks to good group initiative rolls and a decision to grab the animated chairs and break them over the sheep's heads WWE style the party pulled through.All the kids got really into the game, some trying to map and others taking notes. I might do it again if I get another small group this summer.
>>98356184Nice, Anon! It sounds like a good time. And agreed that it seems to have gone off better than expected given the constraints the camp put on you.
Example of why I love Moldvay. Tells you exactly what you need to use it. In contrast, AD&D's description is unnecessarily verbose (obviously) and also requires every climb check to be rolled exactly twice no matter how high the climb. Though AD&D also details rules for easier or more difficult surfaces, which could be useful situationally. So this example perfectly represents the difference between the two editions.
>>98356375Oh and AD&D doesn't tell you the damage, just mentions that falling damage is detailed somewhere. Gygax loves his q.v.
>>98347345>>98347573The search for the herd came off just fine, if not incredibly exciting. I think better by half than reducing the entire venture to a single roll.As always though, when relying on wandering encounters to provide stakes, the dice invariably fail you. Over two weeks travel the party were largely unmolested, save for a single encounter with Tarantellas that were easily evaded. We got through the whole thing in half a session, so were able to spend some time mucking about in Stonehell after all, closing out a small loop in the Quiet Halls, coming afoul of Sirges & Rot Grubs. The situation of Malfreces Nul and his pursuers is slowly being revealed via hearsay and ESP.
>>98354867stronghold stuff
>>983571062/3
>>983571093/3
>>98357113Neat, which Judges Guild book is this from? Not familiar with their stuff.
>>98357219The original rules were spread across their Wilderlands and Ready Ref Sheets. This updated version is from Conley's revised Wilderlands, which are now unpurchaseable but you can find in the Rchive.
>>98352243So link or screen cap the relevant tables, one of the strengths of OSR play is the large pool of compatible resources.
>>98356375Viewing AD&D as the definitive version of D&D was catastrophic for the hobby. It is conceptually unfinished, it’s not just that Gary didn’t finish his work, it’s that he never actually decided what he wanted from the game and he allowed his indecision to write the book for him. Did he even play AD&D at home or did he just go right back to running OD&D?
>>98357948Idk why everyone worships the ground that guy walked on but to you point I would much rather play B/X or another game that uses it as the chassis than play AD&D again.
>>98358245If I could go back, I would want to play with one of the groups that played basic a lot and developed their own play style and then read AD&D later and treated it like a splatbook.
