One of the things (IMHO) that 2nd edition Advanced Dungeons & Dragons improved on versus 1st edition, is the presentation of the Gem generation tables.
But (IMHO) the Rules Cyclopedia did it even better.
I like to have players roll for what a gem is when they find it, instead of pre-rolling and stocking the dungeon. It adds a fun little mini game that is like playing a slot machine.
Our team of police investigators from Palmas, Brazil, re-opened a grisly murder case when a missing suspect reappeared after 30 years, not having aged a single day. :blobfearful:
Ran #MailOrderApocalypse (by @jollyorc) tonight, because that damn maglev train sure ain't going to rob itself! 🚝🤖📦
Players were divided between forcing the opening flashforward scene to happen once the adventure caught up, or thwarting it. It happened, and it led to a glorious train explosion before a daring escape in a highjacked Zeppelin. :ablobcatrainbow: :d20: @ttrpg #TTRPG#IntoTheOdd#OSR
Into #ttrpgs since the mid-90s, mostly playing #osr-style #dnd, #callofcthulhu, #shadowrun, #dsa, #harnworld, but open to others.
I write (not as often as I want) and paint (even less), and post moody b/w photos on my pixelfed.
In IT and might talk about some obscure computer stuff.
#ttrpg / #dnd thought: Most people can actually co-exist peacefully with many of the "monsters" in their surrounding regions because they know how they behave and what not to do when they are nearby.
However, outsiders like "adventurers" don't have this local knowledge, and thus are much more likely to trigger the threat response of these creatures - resulting in violence.
@juergen_hubert so cool 🙂 I’m currently writing an #osr adventure (Working title: „How to love a spider-person?“) which explores this topic: what happens, if the Modus Vivendi between a community of humans and monsters becomes difficult because the body of orally transferred knowledge has become threadbare and a subject of re-interpreting the past.
Review: Stirring the Hornet's Nest at Het Thamsya evocative 25 room dungeon packed with factions, puzzles and threats set in a fantasy world centred on Southeast Asia.
Wrote a little blog post about why you should be using surprise/reactions/distance with your encounter tables. It contains the best encounter table I've ever written.
Ten year old me, obsessed with Star Wars and Dungeons Dragons, thought this cover on DA2 Temple of the Frog was the coolest thing ever. Wizards with lazer guns!
A small, PWYW release this morning - a little thieves guild dungeon for A Dungeon Game, created using my random dungeon generation tools and soon-to-be-released treasure tables.
A japanese translation of D&D did not arrive until the mid 80s, so in the void the Sword World RPG took hold. It is a 2d6 based task resolution system.
Interesting video about the early days of RPGs in japan.
In the late 70s Dave Arneson brought a lawsuit against TSR for unpaid royalties, contending that AD&D was covered under his agreement with Gary Gygax for D&D. They ultimately settled without going to court, but the evidence, discovery, depositions, legal documents and back and forth between lawyers is captured in the following pdf.
I get a strange karma / Alanis Morissette ironic / deja vu (not schadenfreude) feeling when reading through it. In the early 90s, TSR brought a lawsuit against Gary Gygax claiming his new game Dangerous Journeys was derivative of D&D. The case was also settled out of court, but you can see a back and forth legal document concerning that case.
What AD&D 2E and older products have a good library of "overland" map symbols for cities and towns of various sizes, as well as other locations (such as ruins, caves, etc.).
I am looking for inspiration. Other products are also okay, but I am looking for something of an "Old School" / #OSR vibe (though explicitly not hexcrawls).
Jennell Jacquays, titan of the gaming industry (played Quake? Caves of Thracia?) recently died.
Justin Alexander aka the Alexandrian decided to rename "Jacquaying" the dungeon, a term Jacquay_S_ publicly hated, to Xandering. After himself. From describing the process he now asserts ownership of if.
In his lengthy screed, he "apologises" and... will keep naming her process after himself.
@chgowiz got me to thinking about; what is the overall plot of the first 14 Dragonlance modules?
DL1 The party has gotten together to find a true cleric that can actually cast spells. Such a weird quest. This leads them to Goldmoon and searching for some disks from the gods. I have to mention that this reminds me of LDS Joseph Smith finding gold plates with words from god.
DL2 Railroad the players into getting captured by the Dragon Army, and have them shipped off as slaves. Then they are rescued by elves. Then they are implored to go into a Dragon controlled fortress to rescue slaves and cause a diversion, so all the rest of the elves can escape encroaching Dragon armies.
DL3 Lead 800 elven and human refugees through the lands of Abanasynia to a safe spot that happens to be next to a dwarven gate to their underground dwarven kingdom.
There is just something really disjointed about the plot.
Maybe to make it more free form, it should just start with DL2, but the players are just part of the refugees escaping the Dragon armies. Then they get presented with a choice. Do they want to go look for a platinum disk of the gods? Or do they want to go rescue prisoners and provide a diversion so the refugees can escape?
Adding to our discussion of pole arms, if it had a French name in AD&D 1e, it was likely a pretty deadly (and aesthetically pleasing) meat-cleaver-on-a-stick.
Here are a few family snaps from the greatest of all orange spines, 1st edition Unearthed Arcana.
Having just got the core books for D&D 5e, it’s fascinating to get this book to compare it with, probably the most complete “official” book of the OSR - the Dungeons and Dragons Cyclopedia, which lasted long enough to coexist with AD&D 2nd edition. It’s fascinating, with rules taking characters to 36th level!