DM your games like it's 1975! (video, not mine)

[ampleframework]

I feel this video from Game Methusela fits in well here. He's a very enthusiastic fellow who has been in the D&D scene from the beginning, and has a particular passion for Zero Edition. He's got several videos on the subject but this one amounts to his personal manifesto about OD&D's strengths.

In a nutshell, my takeaway from this video,  the Jim Murphy way is - 

>3lbb only

>Encourage player creativity. (My addendum here would be to paraphrase a principle from Wesely and Arneson. "Anything that is physically possible may be attempted, not always successfully." Strategos N style)

>Campaign- specific permanent bonuses assigned to characters who repeatedly spectacularly succeed at tasks. (Maybe a +1 to attacks with a bow or acrobatics attempts when dice are used)

>Situation based temporary bonuses or penalties to AC and the like based on logic and the rule of cool (very common houserule for old school play in general)

>"Give and take" ethics, to build on that. Jim believes in balancing penalties and bonuses for spectacular attempts, like perhaps allowing a player to vault off a chandelier to perform extra damage, but they're treated as unarmored for that entire Round as far as the dice go.

>The referee uses custom bestiaries. The bestiary from Booklet 2 is for inspiration/starting point but a long term ref tinkers heavily with this to keep players on their toes.

>Magic is dangerous, exciting and unpredictable (My addendum is that I'm a fan of this. I don't mess with codified spellcasting but when players try to push the boundaries of magic or mess with magical pools or monuments in the wilderness, weirdness occurs)

[The Perilous Dreamer]

I am about halfway through listening to this.

[The Perilous Dreamer]

May 4, 2020 10:15:03 GMT -5 ampleframework said:

I feel this video from Game Methusela fits in well here. He's a very enthusiastic fellow who has been in the D&D scene from the beginning, and has a particular passion for Zero Edition. He's got several videos on the subject but this one amounts to his personal manifesto about OD&D's strengths.

In a nutshell, my takeaway from this video,  the Jim Murphy way is - 

>3lbb only

>Encourage player creativity. (My addendum here would be to paraphrase a principle from Wesely and Arneson. "Anything that is physically possible may be attempted, not always successfully." Strategos N style)

>Campaign- specific permanent bonuses assigned to characters who repeatedly spectacularly succeed at tasks. (Maybe a +1 to attacks with a bow or acrobatics attempts when dice are used)

>Situation based temporary bonuses or penalties to AC and the like based on logic and the rule of cool (very common houserule for old school play in general)

>"Give and take" ethics, to build on that. Jim believes in balancing penalties and bonuses for spectacular attempts, like perhaps allowing a player to vault off a chandelier to perform extra damage, but they're treated as unarmored for that entire Round as far as the dice go.

>The referee uses custom bestiaries. The bestiary from Booklet 2 is for inspiration/starting point but a long term ref tinkers heavily with this to keep players on their toes.

>Magic is dangerous, exciting and unpredictable (My addendum is that I'm a fan of this. I don't mess with codified spellcasting but when players try to push the boundaries of magic or mess with magical pools or monuments in the wilderness, weirdness occurs)

Wow, he has over 11.2K followers, that is huge for old school. He sounds a lot like me for the most part, the biggest difference is that I never left OD&D, so I never had to come back to it.

[ampleframework]

Yeah. He's had a fascinating journey but his favorites seem to be Zero Ed D&D and Fantasy Trip. From what I can tell that's where his heart really is. Good taste, that fellow. For my part, I went from making my own rules with crayon on the kitchen floor through several layers of complexity of printed D&D and back to making my own rules with crayon on the kitchen floor, with 3lbb as a sort of muse standing over my shoulder. (This is another thread but my current OD&D ideology is that the original D&D box set is suggesting, both directly and indirectly several times, that a referee will eventually rewrite the rules to suit his or her specific campaign, so that's my project right now before I run it again.)

[The Perilous Dreamer]

May 4, 2020 14:05:42 GMT -5 ampleframework said:

Yeah. He's had a fascinating journey but his favorites seem to be Zero Ed D&D and Fantasy Trip. From what I can tell that's where his heart really is. Good taste, that fellow. For my part, I went from making my own rules with crayon on the kitchen floor through several layers of complexity of printed D&D and back to making my own rules with crayon on the kitchen floor, with 3lbb as a sort of muse standing over my shoulder. (This is another thread but my current OD&D ideology is that the original D&D box set is suggesting, both directly and indirectly several times, that a referee will eventually rewrite the rules to suit his or her specific campaign, so that's my project right now before I run it again.)

Bravo!

[hengest]

This is pretty cool, actual practical advice from a guy talking to a camera summarizing what he thinks is useful about the "old" way of doing things. The Perilous Dreamer, maybe you should be on YouTube.

[The Perilous Dreamer]

Aug 11, 2021 20:08:18 GMT -5 hengest said:

This is pretty cool, actual practical advice from a guy talking to a camera summarizing what he thinks is useful about the "old" way of doing things. The Perilous Dreamer , maybe you should be on YouTube.

I would have to purchase all the tech and learn how to use it. I won't rule it out, but it won't be anytime soon.