"Here lies many 'said they ate at Denny's"
There is much wringing of hands , clucking of tongues , and vapours regarding statements by Hasbro CEO Chris Cocks planning to move D&D to a live service model and supposedly away from physical book format. "Books will always be an important part of D&D," Cocks said. "It will always be kind of like a special totem that you can collect." Gamers, we have been here before! In the giddy and impetuous…
A new screen I assembled for our B/X-AD&D retro-clone " Advanced Labyrinth Lord " game. Player facing art is all Steve Zeiser except mid-right piece, "Witch Grave Ossuary," by Evelyn Moreau . The first three interior chart pages had a layout by Shane Mangus (Shane's blog is http://swordandsanity.blogspot.com/ however, its private...). The last page I just really needed a "Monsters Experience…
(We use an old CSWE map for Future Sigil.) As the 3 adventurers return from Astral jaunt to final piece of the Rod of Seven Parts , and also discovering the psionic-suppressing Annulus on the way, a Dark Man awaits – and is holding onto Raspatan’s Astral cord. The Dark Man yanks Raspatan’s chord causing Raspatan and the Dark man to fall back, disappearing into the breach in a wall of the Decantur…
(Design by Thaddeus Moore) Considering the AD&D (1e) experience that comprehensive rules actually guided DM rulings, we can the second "Zen Moment" of player skill over character abilities. Common examples for player skill over character abilities are pouring water over a floor looking for hidden cracks, or a PC tapping the floor ahead with a 10-foot pole to trigger any pit traps are rather…
(Design by Thaddeus Moore) The Old School Renaissance movement found solid footing in D&D RPGs shortly after D&D 4th Edition was released in 2008. During that time Matthew Finch (OSRIC, Swords & Wizardry) wrote “A Quick Primer for Old School Gaming” based on 0e, the original edition Dungeons & Dragons. Finch described the “Zen Moments” of Old School gaming generally as: First "Rulings, not Rules"…
(My original Judges Guild Judge's Shield (1977), DM view.) Almost always I have used a dungeon master shield. In 1978 I picked up the original first published Judge's Shield by Judges Guild . This was really made for OD&D using the Greyhawk supplement, but it worked for our D&D gane until the Dungeon Masters Guide was released around the summer of 1979. (I made a canary yellow Advanced Labyrinth…
But, nah, so probably the most significant 5th edition rule that grates on my OSR sensibilities is magic item attunement. The idea that certain magic items and their wielder to "form a bond" before the creature can use the item's magical properties is just a little to cozy. I can close my eyes and see Cyberpunk cybertech. (Should there be magic attunement psychosis ?) And, as others have noted ,…
(Matrox Lusch and Sick Rick bookend newcomers' viewing "The Annulus") I finally dug into the "End of the Multiverse" scenario which was where our New Old Weird World campaign left off in 2022 (and the site of where our Blipping #2 campaign left off). The scenario is a hack from Dawn of the Overmind by Bruce R. Cordell. Ha, most everyone said the night vibed like an old Blipping game as yes we…
(Art by Cynthia Sims Millan , 1978) I've got my half-round combat and floating seconds initiative for the low-rollers. What else from golden games of yore can I cram into the most modern version of D&D? We had fun using in our game the critical hit table from Arduin which, as often mentioned in many commentaries, is daft because over time odds are your PCs are going to suffer many more double…
Using half rounds for combat can add granularity and tension to combat encounters in your 5th edition D&D campaign. A standard round is 6 seconds, and each creature acts once per round in initiative order (a creature’s turn). Half rounds divide that round into two 3-second phases: • Phase A and Phase B This allows for two opportunities to act per round with a movement and possible bonus action or…
("Portal to Adventure" box art by Roland Brown) A new collection of Old School Renaissance-style gaming products opens the "Portal to Adventure" Kickstarter campaign October 1st that runs through October 31. The Kickstarter is organized through Emperor's Choice Games & Miniatures who team with with Matthew Tapp of Barrows & Borderlands and Griffith Morgan from The Fellowship of the Thing project…
(J.A.S. 15th Level Paladin "Alancrost" by J.A.S.) "But with regard to the material world, we can at least go so far as this — we can perceive that events are brought about not by insulated interpositions of Divine power, exerted in each particular case, but by the establishment of general laws." Whewell: Bridgewater Treatise. The abstraction of time in a 5th edition combat round reared it's ugly…
Ha, so all our games were not drug and alcohol infused debauchery. Technically speaking, our first game system was from the Dungeons and Dragons Basic Set by J. Eric Holmes . Holmes uses a very simple weapon speed system - Daggers get 2 blows per round, long swords 1, and 2-handed swords 1 every 2 rounds. When the Advanced Dungeons and Dragons Players Handbook came out the summer of 1978 we…
***This Video has been corrected to meet YouTube Standards*** A portion of AC/DC's "Back in Black" is in the background during a segment of this video. The song is globally blocked by SEM Entertainment Group in unofficial videos on YouTube. The offending audio has been replaced with an excerpt from my original music: "Teacher Summertime Blues" The Blipping Campaign , Saturday July 27, 1996 Magic…
("How it started" by Sumerled ) As my gaming group hit the 1990's and individual players our late 20's into our thirtysomethings, we left a trail of alcohol bottles, cigarette butts, vomit, hanger heads, stacked and painted people, and fucking hellacious games. Our DunDraCon game sessions were so renowned we designated them with proper nouns: The undercover Flower People ('92), Pee-Wee Herman's…
The Blipping Campaign , Friday November 29, 1996 Magic Item of Note: Mithral Torch (+1 to Wisdom, True Sight line of sight, it burns twice as bright as a normal torch (80 feet). Once per month everyone within the light has protection from evil and undead within the light are effected as if by sunlight.) Game Background Music: Old Dick Dale (I think), Ministry , and the Steve Miller Band . So from…
I have 2 D&D campaigns running post-End of Time event: Wilderlands 5th Iteration and the shared Psychedelic Deadlands / Dreamer of Dreams (co- DMed with Dr. John PhD), both running 5th edition 2024 rules . The new Wilderlands game incorporates 5e recreations of the original Judges Guild by Goodman Games ( Caverns of Thracia and City State of the Invincible Overlord ) and Frog God Games ( Tegel…
I have devoted lots of hours (weeks, months, years, decades ) toward the Dungeons and Dragons game, right up there with jobs , and only essential compensation having been companionship with my fellows of the game. (There is also a distinct possibility based on personal and family history I am somewhere on the spectrum for autism and that D&D helped me build self-esteem and rewrite my personal…
by Olivier Bernard Today Wizards of the Coast announced the release of System Reference Document 5.2 ( SRD 5.2 ) for the 5th Edition 2024 Ruleset.
(Ark of Time) GM: Matt Morrison Type: RPG System: D&D/Arduin Grimoire Edition: 5e (2024) Players: 7 Provided: Characters may be provided by GM Power Level: Levels 9-12 Variations: If you bring your own PC, 2014 5th edition characters are acceptable. Rules Knowledge: Useful Game Content: Mainstream The Ark of Time, a metropolis-sized object, traverses hyperspace paths coterminous with the…
(Ha, and why it's good none of the players read my blog.) (Northern Continent Detail by Zak S.) I had been intending to run Zak Smith 's Cube World setting since Zak began to publish the installments back in 2020. Cube World, literally a cube-shaped world with the campaign taking place on the "near face" of the cube, is the overall campaign setting that contains Zak's major published works:…
Okay, I took the next step in my "New Edition" journey purchasing the 2024 5th Edition revisions edition of the Player's Handbook. A subset of our regular gaming group have been running straight 5th Edition since last April so I could familiarize myself with the rules, but just for the sole purpose of running the new 2024 revision version. The new Player's Handbook is the same size, 8.5 x 11…
What with the new 2024 revisions due to start being released this coming September, I am converting my online game to D&D 5th edition. I still have to end the multiverse in an upcoming session in my ongoing chain of campaigns (the hybrid in-person/online using Advanced Labyrinth Lord ), where the Illithids will be heading back in time and who with it's anybody's guess. Codex of the Infinite Planes…
(George the Gnome Barbarian.) Mere weeks after D&D turned 50 years old, DunDraCon 47 was held (should have been #49, exception years were DunDraClone in 1981 and the Covid shutdown year 2021), showing the gaming convention's roots with the world's most popular role playing game. Friday night has been Arduin night for me at the con. Four of the past five conventions I've run a variety of places in…
Per D&D Historian Jon Peterson , D&D was first released in late January 1974, so Jon picked Sunday, January 26, 1974 as Sunday was the day each week Gary Gygax invited folks out to his home in Lake Geneva to demonstrate the new game. (I began playing about 4 years later, the last week of December 1977, after Dr. John PhD received the Holmes Basic Set as a Birthmas gift.)