https://zenopusarchives.blogspot.com/2026/04/moldvay-basic-finally-available-in.html?m=1
I rly want Companion tho
Saturday, May 23, 2026
Convert old Thac0 and old AC to Ascending AC
https://www.reddit.com/r/osr/comments/axa603/descending_ac_and_thaco_converter/
Subtract AC from 20, and you get ascending AC (If a monster has AC 4, then it's 16 AC for ascending)
For THAC0: subtract the roll needed to hit from 20 = your attack bonus (If a fighter hits AC 0 on a 19, then it's 20-19= 1; so +1 attack bonus)
Obviously, different games have tweaks to these sums, but overall this rough layout has been mostly accurate with converting on the fly
Loot our campaign / next time our campaign May 2026
Next time: at some pt. the drow (spider drow) will try to parlay b/c know how powerful they are. Guessing spent all resources just now on the big tsunami spell.
- sending a spider familiar to spy
- 1 guy comes with hands raised (?) in peace, whatever they do in Drizzt books
- speaks broken common
---
Loot gotten: ring of regen from elite drow warrior on lizard vs. tsunami in troll cave.
Loot Future.
Item for mage, on an enemy failed save of natural 1, 1/3 of the dice are max dmg.
Old words. Hawk, swamp, eel
https://m.youtube.com/shorts/hY8mt466e_0?ra=m
- Hawk
- Swamp
- Eel
- Berry
Might be older than proto-indo-european
Cool goat-antelope japan, snakes
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=F_6W4wHrs44&t=315s
Time9:11
Japanese Serow it is the one in the Princess Mononoke movie
Friday, May 22, 2026
Our campaign next time
From dnd cartoon ep 23, when Sheila walks out on the narrow walkway to get the ring. Bat creature (use that 2e one with one eye and 3 claws)… then it crumbles.
And drow on lizard plus drow on darkwing… hidden inviz ceiling. Durimg the mass troll fight.
Not one whit. Word origins
https://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/not+one+whit
See the word history guy https://www.youtube.com/shorts/EHZgK2s-ejc
None is a combo of 3 words… of
- Naht (like german nicht)
- Naht is a shortening of nanwiht, also nawhit
- Wiht is related to “wight” and “whit”, those mean an animal, a bit, or a thing.
- Nan (where we get none), is a shortening of
- ne + an= not one.
- Ne an wiht = not one bit
I like “not one whit” or “i give not one whit.”
Wight is a cognate to German Wicht. Bösewicht, Wichtel etc
Somebody says “i dont give a whit” is a thing, too.
Wednesday, May 20, 2026
B/X 1974, '77, 1981, 1983 ... Holmes vs. Moldvay vs. Mentzer details explained on drivethrurpg
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/110274/d-d-basic-set-rulebook-b-x-ed-basic
Colors are my emphasis
description
This is the 1981 edition of the D&D Basic Rulebook, which was sold as part of the boxed D&D Basic Set and also on its own. It was the first true standalone edition of what became "Basic D&D" as previous editions had instead been based on OD&D play.
Product History
The Dungeons & Dragons Basic Rules (1981), by Tom Moldvay, was the second edition of Basic D&D, with the previous edition created by J. Eric Holmes (1977). It was released in January 1981, leading off the year.
Holmes D&D. When Eric Holmes put together the original Basic D&D, his purpose was simply to clean up and organize the original Dungeons & Dragons (1974) along with some content from Supplement I: Greyhawk (1975).
He wanted to create a game that was easier to learn (as the original D&D was considered notoriously bad in that regard) and that could be better understand by the high school and junior high demographics, toward which the game was then trending. However, the expectation was that players would go on to the original D&D games from there. Basic D&D was never expected to be its own game system - at first.
Holmes' Basic Set was widely successful - sufficiently so that TSR was wary of sending its players on to the more challenging original D&D game or the more complex AD&D game (1977-79) game. Thus, as early as fall 1979, work began on an Expert Set that would allow the hundreds of thousands of players who had learned the game from Basic D&D to continue on, past the three levels available in that game.
A new version of the Basic Set was required for release with the Expert Set.
Moldvay D&D. Whereas Holmes' Basic D&D was mostly a matter of organization and explanation, Moldvay's Basic D&D also engaged in simplification. Thus, for example, there were no longer separate character classes and races. The twelve race-and-class combinations of Holmes' Basic D&D (including things such as the elven fighter/magic-user multiclass) became just seven classes in the new Basic D&D: clerics, dwarves, elves, fighters (which had still been "fighting men" under Holmes), halflings, magic-users, and thieves.
Moldvay's second edition [[basic second edition, funky]] also cleaned up character alignment, constrained spell choice, and even improved the layout of the book. All around, every effort was made to upgrade the game for starting players. As for the results, even former editor Holmes said, "I think the new Basic Set rules are an improvement over the first edition. Not a big quantum jump ahead, but better in a number of minor ways."
Moldvay's Basic D&D was enough of a change from the previous edition of the game that it was actually a "new edition" as it's understood in the modern roleplaying market, which was a pretty rare occurrence in the 70s or early 80s.
The Basic Set was (as planned) released simultaneously with the new Expert Set by David "Zeb" Cook, which expanded Basic D&D to levels 4-14. Gary Gygax mentioned a "Masters Set" around the same time, which was to cover levels 15-36, but that wouldn't appear during Basic D&D's second edition.
Color-Coding the Boxes. Some people like to classify the D&D boxes by color: This edition is thus the "magenta box," to differentiate it from the "red box" edition that would follow in 1983.
The Inevitable Adventure. Moldvay's Basic D&D was sold both as a standalone book and in a box with six dice and an adventure. The adventure was Gary Gygax's "B2: Keep on the Borderlands." Because of its inclusion in the Basic D&D set, "Keep" became the most-published RPG adventure ever, with a much-later estimate suggesting that there were 1.5 million copies of it made.
Mentzer D&D. Moldvay's D&D wasn't the final iteration of Basic D&D. It was replaced just two and a half years later by Frank Mentzer's third edition of Basic D&D. The goal was once more to make the game even easier to learn from the rulebooks. That version of D&D, often called BECMI, was the one that actually included Companion and Master sets, which supported levels 15-36 between them.
About the Creators. After his work on Basic D&D, Moldvay immediately moved on to producing adventures for the game system. One of his first tasks was to revise "B3: Palace of the Silver Princess," by Jean Wells, which had been recalled and pulped after its first printing.
About the Product Historian
This history of this product was researched and written by Shannon Appelcline, the author of Designers & Dragons - a history of the roleplaying industry told one company at a time. Please feel free to mail corrections, comments, and additions to shannon.appelcline@gmail.com.
Tuesday, May 19, 2026
Kill gmail spam
https://m.youtube.com/shorts/7hYAHIeiJKc
Search for “unsubscribe “ and make it tag then, new name, that moves to new folder
Sunday, May 17, 2026
BECMI details I never knew
Books Bricks n Boards yt https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O6rI1WL_pQo&t=1379s
- Time 23:00 or so, weapon mastery specialization rules are wild and superr powered. For the M(aster) and I(mmortal) levels, maybe to keep up with caster powers.
- But complicates life and some ppl don't like.
- Some insta kill in right situation
- Some increase AC
- Time 16:15, … around 100 extra classes you can play! All probably slightly mechanically weaker (bcuz hi experience needed to level), but fun flavor.
- Beastman, from Hollowworld
- The Sea People (another Creature Crucible book) People of the Sea, ppl
- Talll Tales of the Wee Folk (Creature Crucible) had…Fey and Wilderness creatures. Centaur.
- That Orcs of Thar Gazetteer had.. Orcs, Gnolls, kobolds, goblins, trolls.
- Night Howlers book, to play as lycanthropes
- Top Ballista Creature Crucible book had flying classes.
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