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Post by ripx187 on Nov 15, 2016 19:12:41 GMT -5
I recently reviewed a product called Ruins of Undermountain, that I think that you might find interesting; you can read it on my Blog, technically it is for AD&D 2nd Edition, but it really is edition free. It's the first three levels of Ed Greenwood's original games. This was my introduction to the hobby, we'd play this thing non-stop for days! We'd try to play other modules, but they just weren't as fun as Undermountain was. It never even dawned on me until recently, that this 90's era boxset was OD&D; just hidden under a different label. On my blog, I am fairly anti-module, but it really does depend upon the module. A good module can bring people together, and I'm not talking about just the folks in your gaming clubs, but strangers too. It is nice to talk about different experiences, but it is nice to talk about the same experiences too. Compare notes and remember a game that you've shared with this friend that you've just met. I really enjoy the Basic D&D module lines, as well as a few 1st Edition AD&D gems. A good module should transcend the hobby. I wonder how I'd feel if my first experience of D&D was through a story-driven module, vs. a setting based one? Would I still be playing today? I probably wouldn't. I, personally, never had much luck with running most modules, either the players would hate it, or I'd get bored. It wasn't until I started going backwards, running some of those amazing setting based modules from previous editions, that I was able to improve my game. Now I wonder if there was anything that came after Ruins of Undermountain that was similar? A modern module that defies Editions. One that doesn't define everything, that values blank spaces. I remember sitting on the floor, the DM taking up the entire table, and at least 10 of us crammed into my tiny apartment. We died to fast to warrant filling out an entire character sheet, we'd just write in what we needed to use, and play until we'd get squished. There was no winning this game. My very first character died a pointless death in the first session, followed by my second character very soon after; I didn't get upset, quite the opposite really. To play, to explore, and imagine, that was the point. I think that by playing Undermountain, it gave me a different set of values as to what Dungeons & Dragons really is. I can play a PC for years, and when its number is up, I don't get mad. I don't whine. I don't beg my fellow players to bring me back from the dead. I just got to the end of this persons story. There are still a few of the originals in my club, and while playing last weeks session it dawned on me that Undermountain was still with us. Some of the players have been playing these characters for over 5 years, they mean a lot to them, but this is D&D. As DM I put them into bad spots, and this time they had a choice to make. Go back inside of an asylum and lose their minds, or stand outside and fight against an enemy that they probably couldn't defeat, going out in a blaze of glory. They chose to fight, and while they all barely escaped with their lives, and I was trying too kill and maim them, the scenario still isn't over, now they have to figure out how to get back to civilization injured physically and mentally, with no provisions. Some of them probably won't be making it, but they are cool with that! This spirit has also been given to the younger people at the table, who agreed to a very suicidal plan. Reading the thoughts of the younger crowd, I think that this was a rare choice to make. Too often I think that people have this overwhelming need to always win. I think that OD&D, or at least exploring that play-style, really changes a players perspective on things. You might not even have to play the deathtrap games, but be able to play with someone who has to garner this ability to not get mad when you die. You didn't lose the game. We aren't winning or losing anything. To play. That is the point. |
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Post by mao on Dec 4, 2018 15:00:52 GMT -5
The OP is a little off his own topic sentence but does cover this, but what about other products that defy edition, or for that matter how about game itself. In keeping close to the topic, I submit the 4e DMs guide. I'm really not sure why I like it so much. The main things I still remember liking were the group style of making the party by committee and magic terrain, with special effect to add to your battlefields.
What about you?
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Post by ripx187 on Dec 4, 2018 18:21:23 GMT -5
The OP is a little off his own topic sentence but does cover this, but what about other products that defy edition, or for that matter how about game itself. In keeping close to the topic, I submit the 4e DMs guide. I'm really not sure why I like it so much. The main things I still remember liking were the group style of making the party by committee and magic terrain, with special effect to add to your battlefields. What about you? You'll have to explain those a bit for those of us who've never played 4th Edition. They liked to change the language on people; now granted, Non-Weapon Proficiency is a horrible term, but I still can't tell you the difference between a Skill and a Feat, they both sound like NWPs to me. I think that I got adding special effects to battlefields, I like creating sets for the players to get stuck in, and I will draw up key battles on the old battle map to play with our figures. Having spaces on the map that alter how a character function has been with us for a very long time. Making a party by committee, I don't understand that term. Magic Terrain, I assume that this is related to playing with a battle map or even the overworld map? |
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Post by El Borak on Dec 4, 2018 20:33:17 GMT -5
The OP is a little off his own topic sentence but does cover this, but what about other products that defy edition, or for that matter how about game itself. In keeping close to the topic, I submit the 4e DMs guide. I'm really not sure why I like it so much. The main things I still remember liking were the group style of making the party by committee and magic terrain, with special effect to add to your battlefields. What about you? You'll have to explain those a bit for those of us who've never played 4th Edition. They liked to change the language on people; now granted, Non-Weapon Proficiency is a horrible term, but I still can't tell you the difference between a Skill and a Feat, they both sound like NWPs to me. I think that I got adding special effects to battlefields, I like creating sets for the players to get stuck in, and I will draw up key battles on the old battle map to play with our figures. Having spaces on the map that alter how a character function has been with us for a very long time. Making a party by committee, I don't understand that term. Magic Terrain, I assume that this is related to playing with a battle map or even the overworld map? I second the motion, more explanation please.  |
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Post by True Black Raven on May 18, 2019 21:22:06 GMT -5
mao please come back to this and give us more information about terms and others things that were mentioned.
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Post by True Black Raven on May 18, 2019 21:29:32 GMT -5
ripx187, that is an excellent and well done review, have an Exalt! It makes me want to get my hands on Ruins of Undermountain. If TSR had been smart, they would have let Ed Greenwood, publish (three levels at a time) all the levels he had. Wouldn't you have loved to be in his home game.
You mentioned that he dumbed some things down, do you have any examples of that?
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Post by ripx187 on May 19, 2019 12:32:20 GMT -5
ripx187 , that is an excellent and well done review, have an Exalt! It makes me want to get my hands on Ruins of Undermountain. If TSR had been smart, they would have let Ed Greenwood, publish (three levels at a time) all the levels he had. Wouldn't you have loved to be in his home game.
You mentioned that he dumbed some things down, do you have any examples of that?
It has been a long time since writing it. I think that I meant that there were things that didn't really need to be explained, but they were. Perhaps that is a good thing? I know that I take a lot for granted today. I assume that people know things about the game which it turns out that they don't. TSR at this time had given us a bad habit of taking things too literally. The designs were tight, if you didn't run one part than it could come up later in the game and you'd be kind of lost. At the same time, RoU left important stuff out. A buddy of mine who is normally a player ran it for us, and it didn't explain the basics of running this kind of thing. We did a lot of "You go down a hall, do you want to go left or right?" We'd just do this until we hit a room. To this day I avoid mazes because I'm not sure how we are supposed to describe them in a way that is engaging. On the player side, mapping this game is impossible. There were several times where we would go some place and be unable to return the way that we came, or we would unknowingly be warped to a different part of the dungeon. Today I know that this was used by Ed to either prevent or make it highly difficult for mappers, but I'm still not sure why you would do this. We have tried to map dungeons, and it is a hard thing to do, even if the dungeon is small and straight forward. From the DM perspective, it slows down my game and causes folks to get upset. If they error on their map it is because my descriptions suck and I don't like describing things that way, I'd rather describe a visual scene than a geomatry game. Today I tend to make the maps for them, filling them in after the game and handing them to the players based on what they had explored during the last game, but this has still led to problems. |
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Post by mao on May 24, 2019 6:13:05 GMT -5
mao please come back to this and give us more information about terms and others things that were mentioned. Unfortunately I lost the 4e DMG in the great flood here, but I do all about the fantastic terrain. Best used w miniatures as proper placement is needed .A great example of one would be blood stains that allow the person on them to critical hit more often or more damage on a crit, basicly any form of damage modifer can use this. Another one is tiny volcanoes that randomly covers the battlefield w one square struck for damage.. |
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Post by El Borak on May 24, 2019 12:42:03 GMT -5
mao please come back to this and give us more information about terms and others things that were mentioned. Unfortunately I lost the 4e DMG in the great flood here, but I do all about the fantastic terrain. A great example of one would be blood stains that allow the person on them to critical hit more often or more damage on a crit. Another one is tiny volcanoes that randomly covers the battlefield w one square damage.. Tiny volcanoes sounds like a wild spell to use on a battlefield. I don't understnad the blood stain thing though |
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Post by mao on May 24, 2019 17:17:45 GMT -5
Unfortunately I lost the 4e DMG in the great flood here, but I do all about the fantastic terrain. A great example of one would be blood stains that allow the person on them to critical hit more often or more damage on a crit. Another one is tiny volcanoes that randomly covers the battlefield w one square damage.. Tiny volcanoes sounds like a wild spell to use on a battlefield. I don't understnad the blood stain thing though Ok above is fixed |
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Post by Mighty Darci on May 24, 2019 18:43:19 GMT -5
How did I miss this thread? Also I think the OP was a great post. The thread title gave me this mental image of a boxed set for undermountain, holding a cross and a sword, defying the the core books of several editions all at the same time.
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Post by randyb on May 25, 2019 8:22:34 GMT -5
1e AD&D DMG. Gygax's Magnum Opus. #1 on my personal list of Game Books Every DM/Ref/GM Should Read.
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Post by Deleted on May 25, 2019 9:32:00 GMT -5
Judges Guild Ready Ref Sheets is IMO a good choice an edition free, useful with any FRPG, book.
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Post by Deleted on May 25, 2019 10:21:39 GMT -5
Kudos for that article, ripx187. UM is an amazing module indeed. Full of good ideas that you can steal if you don't want to deal with that huge map. Greenwood must be a really great referee. One of the things I really know about his modules, apart from those you pointed out, is that he places objects and misteries that don't have a given solution, but that are left for the referee to resolve as best he or she wants to. For instance, I remember reading rooms in which you find a key that opens 'something somewhere else'. I admit I love the early Forgotten Realms products (i.e. those for late 1e and early 2e) and that I've always bought any stuff from TSR written by Mr. Greenwood. He's a creative genius and the way he writes is really inspiring. It's been a while now, but in past years I enjoyed reading his 'So Saith Ed' threads over on the Candlekeep boards. Peoples mostly ask him about lore and novels, but when he describes things about how he referees, boy, that is something you really would like to experience. |
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Post by mao on May 25, 2019 10:35:42 GMT -5
Kudos for that article, ripx187 . UM is an amazing module indeed. Full of good ideas that you can steal if you don't want to deal with that huge map. Greenwood must be a really great referee. One of the things I really know about his modules, apart from those you pointed out, is that he places objects and misteries that don't have a given solution, but that are left for the referee to resolve as best he or she wants to. For instance, I remember reading rooms in which you find a key that opens 'something somewhere else'. I admit I love the early Forgotten Realms products (i.e. those for late 1e and early 2e) and that I've always bought any stuff from TSR written by Mr. Greenwood. He's a creative genius and the way he writes is really inspiring. It's been a while now, but in past years I enjoyed reading his 'So Saith Ed' threads over on the Candlekeep boards. Peoples mostly ask him about lore and novels, but when he describes things about how he referees, boy, that is something you really would like to experience. can you post a link on the link board? |
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Post by mao on May 25, 2019 10:38:03 GMT -5
Judges Guild Ready Ref Sheets is IMO a good choice an edition free, useful with any FRPG, book. I take it you mean the "Purple Book". yea that was really usful when I first started my heavy DMING. |
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Post by Deleted on May 25, 2019 10:50:49 GMT -5
Kudos for that article, ripx187 . UM is an amazing module indeed. Full of good ideas that you can steal if you don't want to deal with that huge map. Greenwood must be a really great referee. One of the things I really know about his modules, apart from those you pointed out, is that he places objects and misteries that don't have a given solution, but that are left for the referee to resolve as best he or she wants to. For instance, I remember reading rooms in which you find a key that opens 'something somewhere else'. I admit I love the early Forgotten Realms products (i.e. those for late 1e and early 2e) and that I've always bought any stuff from TSR written by Mr. Greenwood. He's a creative genius and the way he writes is really inspiring. It's been a while now, but in past years I enjoyed reading his 'So Saith Ed' threads over on the Candlekeep boards. Peoples mostly ask him about lore and novels, but when he describes things about how he referees, boy, that is something you really would like to experience. can you post a link on the link board? Sure. Here's a link to the main page: www.candlekeep.com/index.htmlThe boards: forum.candlekeep.com/And the sub-boards where you can find all past threads with answers from Ed. forum.candlekeep.com/Unfortunately he's been pretty much inactive in the recent years. He's answers have always been given by a friend of his under the name 'The Hooded One'. But, the best part, here are the PDFs with indexes and all his answers since 2004! www.candlekeep.com/library/articles/sse/so_saith_ed.htm |
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Post by Deleted on May 25, 2019 10:51:44 GMT -5
Judges Guild Ready Ref Sheets is IMO a good choice an edition free, useful with any FRPG, book. I take it you mean the "Purple Book". yea that was really usful when I first started my heavy DMING. It is a great book indeed. I'm using it right now for a scenario that I'm prepping. |
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Post by Deleted on May 25, 2019 10:53:41 GMT -5
I take it you mean the "Purple Book". yea that was really usful when I first started my heavy DMING. The very one, mon ami! We used to refer to it as the DMG for OD&D. |
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Post by ripx187 on May 25, 2019 13:40:13 GMT -5
Kudos for that article, ripx187 . UM is an amazing module indeed. Full of good ideas that you can steal if you don't want to deal with that huge map. Greenwood must be a really great referee. One of the things I really know about his modules, apart from those you pointed out, is that he places objects and misteries that don't have a given solution, but that are left for the referee to resolve as best he or she wants to. For instance, I remember reading rooms in which you find a key that opens 'something somewhere else'. I admit I love the early Forgotten Realms products (i.e. those for late 1e and early 2e) and that I've always bought any stuff from TSR written by Mr. Greenwood. He's a creative genius and the way he writes is really inspiring. It's been a while now, but in past years I enjoyed reading his 'So Saith Ed' threads over on the Candlekeep boards. Peoples mostly ask him about lore and novels, but when he describes things about how he referees, boy, that is something you really would like to experience. This philosophy and dependance on the ideas of others caused a great rift between myself and much of the gaming public. Too many folks believe that lore is something to be purchased and just don't want to hear that Forgotten Realms is nothing but a writing prompt. They waste so much of Greenwood's time by asking him pointless questions that he is going to just make up on the spot instead of actually talking to him and learning methods, organization, and DMing tips. I got more out of Greenwood's articles in Dragon prior to FR being published then can be found on the internet. |
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Post by Deleted on May 25, 2019 14:31:16 GMT -5
I hear you, ripx187. I was always more curious about how they (they, meaning the most famous people in the hobby) came up with ideas than the ideas themselves. It's their creativeness that always caught my attention. One of the things that got me thinking is when I heard from Rob Kuntz how the introduction of modules, with 'Palace of the Vampire Queen' damaged the hobby. I own a couple modules, but not that many, and, although there's two or three I really like, I think they're not for me. When I read or listen to many dicussions about D&D I see that everything is set up in the same manner, like following a predetermined set of ideas and patterns. That's not the kind of D&D I want to run. I take more inspiration for encounters from History, literature and movies than from the Monster Manual. |
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Post by ripx187 on May 25, 2019 16:10:45 GMT -5
I hear you, ripx187 . I was always more curious about how they (they, meaning the most famous people in the hobby) came up with ideas than the ideas themselves. It's their creativeness that always caught my attention. One of the things that got me thinking is when I heard from Rob Kuntz how the introduction of modules, with 'Palace of the Vampire Queen' damaged the hobby. I own a couple modules, but not that many, and, although there's two or three I really like, I think they're not for me. When I read or listen to many dicussions about D&D I see that everything is set up in the same manner, like following a predetermined set of ideas and patterns. That's not the kind of D&D I want to run. I take more inspiration for encounters from History, literature and movies than from the Monster Manual. I am not good at running modules. I have fun finding the errors and prepping everything that didn't get prepped, but then I'm done. I don't like to run them because by the time that I got everything corrected, then I'm bored with it. We only get to play every four weeks, so the very idea of spending over a year on a story that I could care less about doesn't really make me excited to run it. Modules have already been played and I get my joy for the hobby by expressing myself and allowing the players to do so as well. I own a bunch of stuff, things that I purchased when I was learning the hobby, and things that I've acquired when friends have died. I might steal a scenario out of them, and I do enjoy reading about settings, but actually using one seems so restrictive to me anymore. Even the loosey-goosey Greyhawk makes it hard for me to work in, probably because the map never changes and that is something that I want more than anything. An ever-changing world that is not under the control of TSR (or whatever). |
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Post by The Perilous Dreamer on May 25, 2019 22:28:22 GMT -5
I have never run a module either. I look at everything as idea resources. I have played in a game with a module though. One of my friends ran The Keep on the Borderlands with B/X. It was fun, I missed the first game and they had two deaths, and then the second game is where I came in. From that point through the end of it we did not lose any more characters. We enslaved one group and used them for scouts (we gave them all the stuff we did not want, it was a Cornucopia for them), we pulled off some ambushes and we convinced one powerful villian to come over to our side. We had fun.
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Post by Deleted on May 26, 2019 1:29:48 GMT -5
Yes. I guess modules can turn out well, of course, but I agree with ripx187 that, as good as a module may look like, it's something done by others and that's subject to their tastes, even if it was thought to a general public. Your individual tastes may not coincide with those of the general public. That's what happens to us (and I'd dare say it's probably so with most people on these boards). I also enjoy reading campaign settings. It's a kind of escapism for me but I rarely steal ideas from them. I'm sometimes find myself in a dilemma, when I want to use a published campaign setting for a game I'm gonna prep, but then I feel too restrained and end up going back to my own world. |
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Post by Mighty Darci on Jun 7, 2019 0:19:52 GMT -5
It looks like Greenwood and Ruins of Undermountain are old school instead of just packaged pap. I will have to take a look at it. The Perilous Dreamer is there any connection between Ruins of Murkhill and Ruins of Undermountain? |
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Post by The Perilous Dreamer on Jun 7, 2019 20:24:05 GMT -5
It looks like Greenwood and Ruins of Undermountain are old school instead of just packaged pap. I will have to take a look at it. The Perilous Dreamer is there any connection between Ruins of Murkhill and Ruins of Undermountain? No connection at all. I did not see 1st Ed AD&D until the mid-90's and did not see anything Greenwood wrote until around 2008 and then what I heard about Ruins of Undermountain was what I read on Dragonsfoot. I had been using the name for a long, long time by then. |
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Post by Deleted on Jun 8, 2019 5:06:30 GMT -5
It looks like Greenwood and Ruins of Undermountain are old school instead of just packaged pap. I will have to take a look at it. The Perilous Dreamer is there any connection between Ruins of Murkhill and Ruins of Undermountain? No connection at all. I did not see 1st Ed AD&D until the mid-90's and did not see anything Greenwood wrote until around 2008 and then what I heard about Ruins of Undermountain was what I read on Dragonsfoot. I had been using the name for a long, long time by then. <iframe width="19.440000000000055" height="6.819999999999993" style="position: absolute; width: 19.44px; height: 6.82px; z-index: -9999; border-style: none; left: 14px; top: -5px;" id="MoatPxIOPT0_83236479" scrolling="no"></iframe> <iframe width="19.440000000000055" height="6.819999999999993" style="position: absolute; width: 19.44px; height: 6.82px; z-index: -9999; border-style: none; left: 916px; top: -5px;" id="MoatPxIOPT0_79057809" scrolling="no"></iframe> <iframe width="19.440000000000055" height="6.819999999999993" style="position: absolute; width: 19.44px; height: 6.82px; z-index: -9999; border-style: none; left: 14px; top: 278px;" id="MoatPxIOPT0_36866608" scrolling="no"></iframe> <iframe width="19.440000000000055" height="6.819999999999993" style="position: absolute; width: 19.44px; height: 6.82px; z-index: -9999; border-style: none; left: 916px; top: 278px;" id="MoatPxIOPT0_50457168" scrolling="no"></iframe> Does it mean that during the 70's, 80's and most of the 90's you've been running/playing OD&D 'isolated' from the later stuff TSR published (Dragon issues, etc.)? I'm just curious. |
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Post by The Perilous Dreamer on Jun 24, 2019 20:47:46 GMT -5
No connection at all. I did not see 1st Ed AD&D until the mid-90's and did not see anything Greenwood wrote until around 2008 and then what I heard about Ruins of Undermountain was what I read on Dragonsfoot. I had been using the name for a long, long time by then. Does it mean that during the 70's, 80's and most of the 90's you've been running/playing OD&D 'isolated' from the later stuff TSR published (Dragon issues, etc.)? I'm just curious. Yes, it does. I had the seven issues of The Strategic Review and I saw the first few issues of The Dragon, the four supplements and the Arduin Trilogy. Oh, and I had Chainmail and Outdoor Survival. I also saw, but did not own The Empire of The Petal Throne, Gamma World and Metamorphosis Alpha. I am not remembering anything else off the top of my head. I did not see any other D&D stuff until the mid 90's and I did not know about The First Fantasy Campaign or any of the Judges Guild stuff or anything else until about 2007. In the mid 90's I became acquainted with 1st Ed AD&D. All other D&D/AD&D I was not aware of until about 2007. My family lived 6 hours away at that time and I came home and my one brother wanted me to turn 1st Ed for him and his son, so spent a half hour speed reading parts of it and then run it mostly like an OD&D game picking it all up on the fly as we played. So I ran a game about 5 times a year for about 5 years for them and that was my exposure to 1st Ed. Then his son left home and I did not get my own copy of 1st Ed until about 2003. When I was in college, when I was home a few times during the school year and then during the summers, I ran OD&D for my brothers. They were nine and twelve when I brought the game home for them. As an adult, my middle brother has no interest in it and his son found D&D on his own and runs 5th Ed on-line with people in about three different countries. The two nephews did not overlap with location and time frame. Oddly enough, I recently found out that my sister after I was out of college had exposure to the Satanic Panic stuff and always wondered about it, because she knew I played it. So I am going to run a game for her sometime when things come together to do that. I never heard of the Satanic Panic stuff until I learned of it on Dragonsfoot. So I did run it in isolation from fall of 1975 through about 1997 when I encountered 1st Ed and did not become completely un-isolated until about 2007 when I ran into everything else. I am one of the most ardent OD&D fans and one of the most ardent Dave Arneson fans (along with havard and robkuntz. havard is a more ardent Blackmoor fan than I am, but only because I am such a big OD&D fan. Of course, while they both outstrip my knowledge, I would argue that my enthusiasm, at the very least, matches theirs. robkuntz was around in the beginning and havard does not spread himself as thin as I do. So I am a prime promoter of OD&D, Dave Arneson and Blackmoor in that order. As for running D&D with kids, I learned that with my own much younger brothers. |
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Post by Deleted on Jul 1, 2019 1:39:58 GMT -5
Does it mean that during the 70's, 80's and most of the 90's you've been running/playing OD&D 'isolated' from the later stuff TSR published (Dragon issues, etc.)? I'm just curious. Yes, it does. I had the seven issues of The Strategic Review and I saw the first few issues of The Dragon, the four supplements and the Arduin Trilogy. Oh, and I had Chainmail and Outdoor Survival. I also saw, but did not own The Empire of The Petal Throne, Gamma World and Metamorphosis Alpha. I am not remembering anything else off the top of my head. I did not see any other D&D stuff until the mid 90's and I did not know about The First Fantasy Campaign or any of the Judges Guild stuff or anything else until about 2007. In the mid 90's I became acquainted with 1st Ed AD&D. All other D&D/AD&D I was not aware of until about 2007. My family lived 6 hours away at that time and I came home and my one brother wanted me to turn 1st Ed for him and his son, so spent a half hour speed reading parts of it and then run it mostly like an OD&D game picking it all up on the fly as we played. So I ran a game about 5 times a year for about 5 years for them and that was my exposure to 1st Ed. Then his son left home and I did not get my own copy of 1st Ed until about 2003. When I was in college, when I was home a few times during the school year and then during the summers, I ran OD&D for my brothers. They were nine and twelve when I brought the game home for them. As an adult, my middle brother has no interest in it and his son found D&D on his own and runs 5th Ed on-line with people in about three different countries. The two nephews did not overlap with location and time frame. Oddly enough, I recently found out that my sister after I was out of college had exposure to the Satanic Panic stuff and always wondered about it, because she knew I played it. So I am going to run a game for her sometime when things come together to do that. I never heard of the Satanic Panic stuff until I learned of it on Dragonsfoot. So I did run it in isolation from fall of 1975 through about 1997 when I encountered 1st Ed and did not become completely un-isolated until about 2007 when I ran into everything else. I am one of the most ardent OD&D fans and one of the most ardent Dave Arneson fans (along with havard and robkuntz . havard is a more ardent Blackmoor fan than I am, but only because I am such a big OD&D fan. Of course, while they both outstrip my knowledge, I would argue that my enthusiasm, at the very least, matches theirs. robkuntz was around in the beginning and havard does not spread himself as thin as I do. So I am a prime promoter of OD&D, Dave Arneson and Blackmoor in that order. As for running D&D with kids, I learned that with my own much younger brothers. Thank you for sharing your story. It was really interesting. I sometimes wonder why so many editions are necessary (I know why from a company's perspective, but I talk from my own perspective as a gamer), when they're not that different after all and something as simple as OD&D just gives you a lot of leeway to do whatever you want without having to drown among piles and piles of rules. My collector's side makes me buy books that, maybe I enjoy skimming through, reading or just looking at on the shelves, but that I won't even use a fourth of them, so I wonder why do I want them (I know I can't just let them go). On the other side I think I'll just be as happy with that little white box, some supplements and maybe a couple magazines! I see that isolation of yours with some envy. |
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Post by mao on Jul 9, 2019 15:09:06 GMT -5
Yes. I guess modules can turn out well, of course, but I agree with ripx187 that, as good as a module may look like, it's something done by others and that's subject to their tastes, even if it was thought to a general public. Your individual tastes may not coincide with those of the general public. That's what happens to us (and I'd dare say it's probably so with most people on these boards). I also enjoy reading campaign settings. It's a kind of escapism for me but I rarely steal ideas from them. I'm sometimes find myself in a dilemma, when I want to use a published campaign setting for a game I'm gonna prep, but then I feel too restrained and end up going back to my own world. I havent read or run a modual for 25? years They are for Dungeon Medocres not DMs |
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