Brit narrator DM. Here is episode one, they say … dozens of episodes, maybe 2 years worth
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uXZwLI9XaCg&t=223s&pp=0gcJCQ0LAYcqIYzv
In low rumbling he begins “who now has awakened me from my long slumber? What is this, puny mortals?” Says amusingly. He whispers something old in Draconic, lights flood from his eyes… harmless… then closes one eye.
Calmly still “Let us speak. Ones so bold must have an interesting story. Why are you here among the foolish giants and stinking trolls?”
(Waits for some story)
In THUNDEROUS TONES “Now you may witness I, xxxxnamexxxx, in my full glory!” As he rises up on his hind legs and stretches his wings.
Be you impressed? Of course you are. .. any who behold the Might and Magesty of my kind are AWED and COWED.
Lo, I see one kind among you with dragon blood! I have heard of many over the centuries but never has one such come to pay homage. Do you acknowledge my right to a dream-filled slumber, or are the others with you convinced they might rob me of my long held treasure? Even these greedy giants do not dare lay a finger on ONE SINGLE COIN!!! (He roars!). NAY! (More calmly), nay… they might be stupid but not so foolish.
Yt of Books Bricks and Boards https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=CHuUMc0GDZk&t=805s
Time 13:00 you get a solid easy to use mass combat option. Nice.
Dd
Really well done. Creepy plus more. Questions still at the end.
Spoilers below ———
“Great Masters of Fantasy Art” Color book I wouldn’t mind having https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=uog4e6Q5lOs
Frazetta
Frank Kelly Freas
Greg Hildebrandt
Carl Lundgren
Oliviero Berni
Boris Vallejo
Richard Corben
Vincente Segrelles
Barclay shaw
Rowena moreil
Rodney matthews
Paul Lehr
Richard hescox
Tim White
Michael Wehland
Don Maitz
This one has good ones too https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Yryw-3GVyJ4
Here is specific deep dives by Pete Beard English man style, this on Arthur Rackham - https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=kTD0csU14Qs
Even better Arthur Rackham stuff by other yt- https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=hTolFUdG-sU&t=197s
New young artist inspired by Elden Ring and Berzerk, very good - https://m.youtube.com/shorts/U2R51ItlKmA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HG6XcyqF3A0
I like my comment... of course I would, it's my comment. Just kidding, I've been thinking this one over for months and this might just be a short enough version of my thoughts to get the point across to somebody:
I think there are good things in nearly every version of D&D. The OSR: I love the art look. I love the way there is no "one solution only" mindset... usually there are several ways to creatively get something accomplished. Common sense works just fine in most situations without having to roll, I like that a whole lot. Watching some Tenkar's Tavern, I have learned tons of OSR tricks that I never picked up in my youth (never got to play much back then). Newer games (say D&D 3.5e or 5e): the art look has been diminished quite a bit for me, but I do enjoy lots of powers to keep the variety going. Maybe you concentrate less on super creativity using basic things (a spike in your pack used to block a door and hold back the giant spider), but you can often be very creative with your powers, assuming the table has the right mindset. Maybe you cast sleep under the door crack because it's got over an inch of a crack under it, you got down on your belly while the fighter held the door, and bam you put the giant spider on the other side to sleep. Or maybe you try to cast fireball under the door with the huge crack... maybe you can only do it with a wand of fireballs and you slip the end under the door, or the DM let's you know it'll be a very hard aim (50/50 on the dice) ... and then it's up to you whether it is worth the risk. So yeah, it is easy to say newer games refer to the character sheet too much (they do), if you have the right mindset and some exposure to older styles, you mix them up, then you get so many options nobody ever gets bored. That is a recipe for fun in my book.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=BFXN3X4e5sE&t=309s Was the multi vortex windfarm killer. Craaazy. This is scariest of the vids of it maybe
Beat one for clarity - https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=R_ZDVYzIhgc&t=312s
Same, Greenfield Iowa May 2024 https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=EcWFYUsVchM&t=200s
——-
Mike wide iowa, April 26, 2024. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=mZ27T04dNno
------
The Clem Schultz video. The sound, the steady approach. The hope that it won't happen, and then when it does happen, you see just how bad it is through the window as the neighborhood gets ripped away a second before it hits him and his house. Has to be the scariest ever because he gets hit. Poor guy... his wife died from it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rk5Y2biSpog&pp=ygUUQ2xlbSBTY2h1bHR6J3MgdmlkZW8%3D
-----
El Reno escape by Dan Robinson. Might be a repost: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MxgU1QcFMJM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lQtR4IHkJxI&pp=0gcJCQkLAYcqIYzv
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ldNOZktEmEA
John Cichowski is the B&W artist
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T1r7lW7MJEs
He has some good B&W dnd classic OSR style stuff to buy on drivethrurpg. He made art for the GloomRaider guy (the sort of Shadowdark but more AD&D 1e. See those vids.
Here's some GloomRaider stuff, like this module for levels 1-5, with undead: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/545072/gloomraider-osr-rpg-the-risen-from-the-tomb?src=hottest_filtered
Here's that free one (again?): https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/515076/gloom-beneath-the-sorcerer-s-tower-osr-adventure-for-gloomraider-rpg?src=hottest_filtered
I have to say, he was wise but also knew how to handle himself (even online). Impressive.
Via https://1eonline.info/7ua/elf.dark.htm
Originally
posted by Dinkeldog
As
an addendum to Redleg's question, was the intent that all drow would be
evil and no player could ever be one?
Noppers.
As noted in my reply to Redleg's post, I didn't think all drow had to be
evil--only maybe 99% It then follows that some player might have a drow
character, Evil or not, as the DM allowed
Cheers,
Gary
Quote:
Originally
Posted by Elfdart
My
nickname on the web boards comes from the old English term for back spasms
(which I suffered several years ago) being labeled "elf darts" because
the ancient Germanic peoples thought sudden pains and spasms were caused
by invisible darts from the elves. On the other hand, Tolkien nerds are
more of a pain in the a$$.
Interesting
origin of the name, and something I had not read before. thanks.
Happy for you that the spasms have ceased. I injured by back when I was working as a mover in my late teens, and had many a chiropractic treatment before a kinesiologist one cured the proble,
Cheers,
Gary
As
for Drow, I never envisaged them as a standard PC race.
I
guess I erred in not making them more loathesome...although malign subterranean
elves that love spiders seem pretty unappealing as is...
Cheers,
Gary
Quote:
Originally
Posted by Aeolius
Gary,
Were
there any beasties from the 1e days (and prior... I respect anyone who
puts a tuatara in their monster lists) that you considered to be "classic",
that never seemed to catch on with the masses?
That
is something I had not considered.
Upon
reflection I have to say no, the "architypical" monsters were pretty well
accepted across the board and included by DMs...includine many very clever
variations and permutations.
What astonished me was the players' being smitten with the drow, desiring to play a PC of that race. I devised them as a most unlikable, ruthlessly evil subterranean race. To cater to the demand, the Drow were made into realtively more warm and fuzzy sorts. I can only liken that into changing Hannibal Lector into a visiting nurse.
All that said, do you find that some "classic" critters to be generally ignored?
Cheers,
Gary
Resuce bl press by 8-12 pts for Systolic by…
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=bAQTHHS2YVk&t=213s
Wall sit- (planks are fine too)
Hold position 2 minutes
Rest 2 minutes
Repeat that 4 times
3 times a week
Note, do as much as you can working up to these times. Doesn’t need to be 90 degrees on wall sits.
——
Also planks. Use as many muscles as poss.
Commenter on https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=COmJ6224nxI
Mochaelkellyep… Says
Tolkien's said he lifted his goblins in "The Hobbit" directly from George MacDonald's goblins in "The Princess and the Goblin" and it's sequel "The Princess and Curdie". The idea that goblins make no beautiful things comes directly from the first book, in which MacDonald says, "As I have indicated already, the chief defence against [the goblins] was verse, for they hated verse of every kind, and some kinds they could not endure at all. I suspect they could not make any themselves, and that was why they disliked it so much. At all events, those who were most afraid of them were those who could neither make verses themselves, nor remember the verses that other people made for them; while those who were never afraid were those who could make verses for themselves; for although there were certain old rhymes which were very effectual, yet it was well known that a new rhyme, if of the right sort, was even more distasteful to them, and therefore more effectual in putting them to flight." And the soft feet of MacDonald's goblins also gets a nod by Tolkien when he says his goblins "slipped on soft shoes".
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6HsYKj2W3_8&list=LL&index=1
Bone Javelin Spell, from the Old 1e book, from 1996 (collected spells date back to 1975 though, so how old is this spell?). Wizard Spell Compendium.
G3 Hall of the Firegiant King /Against the Giants -- We near the end of the module.
BX style ooze- only blunt or fire does good dmg. Even magic swords don’t rly hurt. Use this?
ACTUALLY via the real module, green slime(s) on ceiling!
https://www.reddit.com/r/osr/comments/axa603/descending_ac_and_thaco_converter/
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.
---
Loot gotten: ring of regen from elite drow warrior on lizard vs. tsunami in troll cave.
Loot Future.
https://m.youtube.com/shorts/hY8mt466e_0?ra=m
Might be older than proto-indo-european
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=F_6W4wHrs44&t=315s
Time9:11
Japanese Serow it is the one in the Princess Mononoke movie
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.
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
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.
https://m.youtube.com/shorts/7hYAHIeiJKc
Search for “unsubscribe “ and make it tag then, new name, that moves to new folder
Books Bricks n Boards yt https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O6rI1WL_pQo&t=1379s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=faxWa6s9lGk&t=8319s
If it is 1e or older Basic… RPGreanimators is the yt, gotta be Basic without eXpert, eh?
Cant shoot into melee at all. Time 2:16:00 maybe.
Time 2:18:30, parry with one dagger while Two attacks with other dagger. Wow. Daggers always two attacks. Unclear on parry rules, but he told other thief he should be parrying a moment ago.
—-part 2 ——
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gGnq86XWGCk&t=199s
Time 12:14 , love his osr tricks of… ten foot pole (or stick) in front, kicking it along to trigger tripwires. Looking for ceiling murder holes. Torch vs. air flow. Through 18:30ish, Look for pinholes and big slits in walls. Whats floor look like… smooth middle, trash sides… so look for lines in floor.
Always looking for OSR dungeoneering ideas, and from time like 12:40, there are so many good ideas. Sticks or poles bouncing up and down to trigger trip wires, looking up high for murder holes, second torches as distractions or further vision, torch strapped to pole, changes in the air, erc. Tenkar would be proud.
——-other stuff——-
BECMI has backstab https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cViuzMqh8_A
1e adnd (he prefers) vs B/X https://princeofnothingblogs.wordpress.com/2024/08/01/osr-an-offence-of-add-1e-vs-b-x/
I love what he says, love it : What do I look for in a game: I experience tabletop roleplaying games most vividly at the level of individual sessions, both while running and when playing. This is not to say that I do not enjoy the gradual development of a character as it survives and attains more power and influence, the slow-unfolding of a consistent and interesting game-world, this is all great and very desirable. But this functions as the scaffolding that props up the adventure itself. Overcoming obstacles, defeating enemies, recovering treasure, the thrill of near-misses and triumphs, this is the primary draw. There are second-order attributes to a campaign world that make the adventure more interesting. Having a consistent and somewhat believable game-world allows players to infer, anticipate and engage with it in a pro-active way. There are bells and whistles; atmosphere, world-building, cool/quirky NPCs, this all adds to the enjoyment of the game (if you do them properly). But prioritize accordingly. You as the DM are a factory of units of adventure. Sustaining the long term production of units of adventure is your campaign. The bells and whistles is a thin shell wrapped around the units of adventure, to make them more adventuresome. The point is that while various tools exist to create an extensive world, and creating such a world is inherently enjoyable, its purpose must always be that of a place to have adventures in.
https://zenopusarchives.blogspot.com/ and https://sites.google.com/site/zenopusarchives/
Says the RPG Reanimators (actually he said they are "doing God's work") on yt https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=faxWa6s9lGk&t=866s
Some random B/X rules I wasn't aware of:
He https://grognardia.blogspot.com/2010/10/down-in-dungeon.html mentions ... of Frank Frazetta, the Brothers Hildebrand, and Ralph McQuarrie.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=f0eO97NuDck&t=2583s&pp=0gcJCQMLAYcqIYzv
Time 43:05 the blue winged jay(?) using ants that spray acid(?) to clean parasites off wings.
Time around 42:00 squirrel fight orange vs black.
Around 30:00-35:00 bird bumps camera.
Early on may time 15:00 … something interesting with a squirrel i think. ??? What was it.
Here's another slew of free modules apparently (have not verified): https://rendedpress.blogspot.com/p/free-downloads.html
---
GET EM. But beware of this blogger's words, he may be a danger to us all: https://alldeadgenerations.blogspot.com/p/pdf-adventure-archives.html
Via his blog:
With all my malice and disdain,
Enjoy your games,
-- Gus L.
COLOR CODES
Anomalous Subsurface Environment:
These
adventures are set in the world of Patrick Wetmore's Anomalous
Subsurface Environment, the "Land of a Thousand Towers". The setting is
a gonzo science fantasy post-apoco0lypse and I still believe that the
Anomalous Subsurface Environment represents the best of OSR design,
especially in the transition phase between the forum based "Old School
Revival" and Google+ based "Old School Renaissance". I have long
enjoyed writing in this setting, and with it's cheerful anarchy and
absurdity had become the default OSR tone rather then grim darkness.
Someday I hope Patrick finishes his dungeon or I work up the courage to
buy the notes and maps off of him and spend three years doing so myself
(this is very unlikely).
Fallen Empire/Crystal Frontier
My
own "Off-Vanilla" fantasy setting, a sort of high magic apocalypse
where the remnants of the Successor Empire are plundered by the rising
"primitive" feudal powers of the Resurgent Kingdoms. Crystal Frontier is
the Western edge of that empire, but these adventures are set in
various other regions.
Other
Things written outside of any of these settings. Those frankly a lot aren't much outside of them.
Free Adventures
➽ Red Demon of the Vile Fens - 8/2012
A
lair adventure for levels 1 -5, using the ruined war machine motif. I
still think there's good ideas in here, but it's very much a Patrick
Wetmore influenced work. The design and writing are rather raw, as I'd
barely started talking to other creators. It's more typical of the
"off-vanilla" design popular in the early Old School Renaissance where
the basic elements of D&D's implied setting are used to create a
different sort of setting. For example, one of the dangerous special
munitions one can recover is described as powdered mummy dust that
inflicts AD&D's mummy rot -- rather then being the Martian
biological agent it was in own fiction.
➽ Prison of the Hated Pretender - 8/2012 An introductory lair adventure focused on monster encounters and a day and night activity cycle puzzle that allows movement through the otherwise very dangerous haunted location. The original uses the same sort of design as Red Demon, but the 2020 version linked here is much improved both in that it includes notes on how to run the adventure as a teaching dungeon, more art and better keying. It also includes a 5E conversion and some notes on the playstyle differences (though Prison is one of the rare OSR adventures I think can work in 5E as it's focused on encounters focused not exploration). I'm proud that it is frequently described as one of the three top OSR teaching dungeons, but it's still free. The tips go into my fund for buying other people's adventures mostly, and some tiny pittance goes to Hydra Co-op and offsets cost there.
➽ OBELISK OF FORGOTTEN MEMORIES - 9/2012 A level 1-3 adventure located on the ASE Denethix regional map proper (lower left corner), and the largest adventure I've written for ASE. A graveyard with a few mini-dungeons and faction intrigue with the representatives of three petulant orbital deities. At the time multiple tables and table nesting were very popular in OSR circles, and this
➽ Hel Crow's Final Rest - 9/2012 A Viking adventure. Low level, short, originally for a contest and I think a functional faction intrigue set up. Originally two pages. New version here is edited, and slightly longer due to layout considerations.
➽ Tempus Gelidum - 12/2012 A level 3-5 (more like 2-4) adventure on the Certopisan plains. Also a lair, an ancient clocktower home to a mechanical Gorgon. The treasure hoard is notable as is the experiment with description capsules covering room conditions.
➽ BritTLESTONE PARAPET -4/2013 My first entry I ever into the One Page Dungeon Contest and a winner (That year everyone won... it was a more egalitarian time) -- low level or something. I think it started my obsession with owlbears and the idea that they eat magic. Also includes crystals, magical pollution and cannibal bandits. A microcosm of every adventure I've ever designed. I'm not sure how playable it is, but think it works for a OPD.
➽ Adrift on The Sea Of Love - 9/2013 A level 1-3 pirate adventure. Generic enough, but I enjoy it. The dungeon in it is very much a set of traps, but I think they work, as does the island. Some of the ideas (such as the search for a boat) are borrowed from "N1-Treasure Hunt, a later TSR adventure I enjoyed in the 90's. It's nothing special design-wise, very standard B/X, but the keys are startign to get long and disorganized -- showing more "trad" influence then I'd like, though frankly this may be an issue for sea voyage based adventures. This was written quickly for Erick Jensen to use at a con I think so I suspect that I started regressing to the design style of all the early 90's dungeon magazines I read back in the day -- like a feral parrot sipping too much dark rum.
➽ Wreck of the ANubis - 2/2014 Level 2-3 and Written for an ASE Campaign, I don't know how successful it is largely because the key lengths are quite long, and it includes a matrix style intro key for each area that is far more elaborate then it should be. Otherwise it's a ASE wizard tower in another wrecked vessel with a swamp theme.
➽ Thunderhead Manse - 4/2014 Another one page dungeon and I think a finalist in the 2014 contest. I floating castle missing its wizard and now ruled by an increasingly slovenly band of flying monkey guards. Not explicitly and ASE adventure, but very much one in spirit and execution.
➽ Stone ShipS - 4/2014 A two page adventure that is my only experiment with procedural generation. Build an entire fleet of half sunken arcane warships. I like the idea, but this is too little space to do it justice. A failed design experiment that I should finish revisiting. There's no shortcut to a well designed dungeon adventure.
➽ KUGELBERG FLOOD - 5/2014 Another small adventure, that like Stone Ships started as a one page dungeon attempt and wouldn't fit. A sunken location suddenly revealed by a once a decade flood, with a time limit imposed by the returning waters. It could be a Fallen Empire location, and it's rather complex for an 11 key location, a dense and fairly terse four pages that manages to still have sufficient flavor. The text is lengthened by the same matrix style room description as a lot of my design from this time period, but it's more useful here then in some other examples.
➽ Along the road of Tombs - 7/2014 A larger sandbox and faction intrigue dungeon for 3rd - 5th level characters (I think - it has some nasty cultists in it) but designed rather organically without any attention to level balance -- meaning that it is rather dogmatic about mid-OSR design conventions. It's also a mess. One of my favorite messes, and something I mean to revise and republish without the constraints of the contest it was written for and which never finished (Road of Tombs was one of four finalists). It could be improved with editing, a less restrictive map, some new illustrations and a selection of smaller tombs (See The Grieving Road as an example of the style I think would work). With this I think it would make a very interesting sandbox with strong faction conflict firmly set in the Fallen Empire. I have thought of relocating it to the Crystal Frontier, but I think it's best if it remains within a few days walk (or more likely within the walls) of the Successor Empire's Capital. It's also an interesting adventure in the evolution of my design process - the keys are too long and disordered, it needs an edit, and again this is partially a process of quick writing, but it also drops the matrix design in favor of a bolded keys and stat blocks. This would evolve into my current style of bolding and sub paragraphs and to me represents an efficient and accessible way to write keys for complex and non-standard locations.
➽ Lone Colossi of The Akolouthos Sink 9/2014 Similar in design to Along the Road of Tombs (3rd level? There's a 10HD monster in there) a smaller dungeon in one of my favorite locations -- a wrecked war machine. I like some of it, but think the giant arcane "mecha" of the Successor Empire deserve something bigger. Also returns to the matrix keys of Kugelberg Flood, and less successfully as the longer description means each key is broken into two unconnected parts spread over almost a whole page. Usability isn't high here.
➽ Pretender's Dread Machine - 10/2014 I think this is a good 3rd-6th level adventure. A multi-session expedition featuring a region to explore, and containing two dungeons. Like Prison of the Hated Pretender it involves the legacy of a rather nasty despot and one of his magi-tech creations. In this case a building size machine (the primary dungeon) that can resurrect the dead. As a piece of adventure design, I rather enjoy the ideas in it, but think both the experiment with isometric mapping in its first dungeon fails, long keys and the matrix also make another unwelcome appearance. It deserves a editing pass, redesign and rerelease I think. I'd also like to add the 5th - 8th level third part of the Pretender sage "The Divine Wight" which I started but never finished because I couldn't figure out how to write a certain puzzle. Perhaps one day there will be an omnibus.
➽ FALLEN THRONE - 4/2015 I dislike this adventure. Mid-level maybe, a one page dungeon contest entry that I wrote in about 3 hours. It's basic idea, a throne of heaven (sort of a divine marble space station) falls into a city and begins to destroy it with angelic cruelty. The issue is that that's a big idea, as in it needs a big dungeon. One page can't offer a big dungeon so instead it's the sketch of an idea and terse compromises with a region based map. Honestly it reminds me of many of the small Post-OSR adventures that I don't have much time for, big ideas done too fast, too sloppy and without the space, design knowledge, or diligence to complete them. It is also my only OPD contest entry so far that hasn't placed. Read it only as a lesson in how not to design adventures (or OPDs).
➽ Comes the Mountain - 5/2015 A short (failed OPD) adventure for higher levels based solely on the drawing/map included. I think it's got a good idea, but the scope is too big for four pages. Again a sandbox about climbing up a walking volcano to turn it away from it's destructive path could be a very good high level adventure, but running this would require a lot of work. ➽ HMS APOLLYON PLAYER'S GUIDE - 8/2016 Not a dungeon. Perhaps the most time consuming piece here. The most detailed set of my house rules (an old version) for a setting based variety of LBB/OD&D. Contains such nonsense as steam powered mech suits and a lot of mid-OSR mechanics borrowed, stolen, modified and tested over several years of online play. It has some good rules, I still use many, but it's not streamlined in ways I'd like it to be and doesn't include various modifications that I think make this sort of ruleset better and have been using since.
➽ GRAVESAND BEACH - 4/2017 A one page dungeon that I submitted, but there was a typo in the license so it wasn't included in the contest I think. I enjoy the washed up sea elf pirate/giant turtle wreck, but am not sure where the seagull things came from. Fun ideas, but once again badly constrained by the OPD format.
➽ Maw of snails - 8/2020 Another One Page Dungeon, 2nd place I think in the 2020 OPD contest. It works, but it's fairly sparse. I've written a whole post on its design here so I don't think I will go into detail. I like it, but it's a One Page Dungeon which means a design test at best and usually a stunt.
➽ THE GRIEVING ROAD - 6/2022 2022 One Page Dungeon entry -- as a OPD it's a stunt, but a fun way to test out side-view maps and a 90's style jewel tone palette (faded for proper 2020's retro vibes). I think it would make a decent set of companion tombs for Along the Road of Tombs, or a small Crystal Frontier location set along the descent from the Maiden Tombs.
Down in the Dungeon / Exploring Zarakan's Dungeon, 1981, but art was late 1970s says AZmountaineer. Absolutely awesome stuff. So inspirational, I gotta use it soon.
This artist/author combo loved reptiles, I approve. Maybe b/c they (the company making this) were from Texas?
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=--XFX2U4PJE&t=382s
https://www.vintagerpg.com/2020/05/down-in-the-dungeon-1981/
Better views of art at monsterbrains https://monsterbrains.blogspot.com/2010/10/down-in-dungeon.html?m=1
Found art via https://unwinnable.com/2022/12/05/down-in-the-dungeon/
Orcs at Time 6:25.
BTW, buyer beware here, but seems to host some free 1 page dungeons: https://alldeadgenerations.blogspot.com/p/pdf-adventure-archives.html
Need Burning Hands... note my CL is 2 instead of 1 due to Varisian Tattoo. SO I can't use their default calculation, eh? And I get +3 per die dmg (on fire spells, it'd be +2 per non-fire).
&{template:default} {{ Burning Arc=Insert an image or flavor text here }} {{ Range=[[ [[ floor((@{Selected|caster1_level}+2)/2)*5 ]] + 25 ]] ft. }} {{ Save=Reflex }} {{SR=[[ 1d20 + @{Selected|caster1_level} ]]}} {{ Primary=[[ [[@{Selected|caster1_level}]]d6 ]] Fire **DC** [[@{Selected|caster1_dc_level_2}]] }} {{ Second=[[ [[floor(@{Selected|caster1_level}/2)]]d6 ]] Fire **DC** [[@{Selected|caster1_dc_level_2} - 2]] }} {{ Third=[[ [[floor(@{Selected|caster1_level}/4)]]d6 ]] Fire **DC** [[@{Selected|caster1_dc_level_2} - 2]] }} {{ Note=All targets must be within 15 ft. of each other }}
&{template:default} {{ Burning Arc=Flames Erupt!}} {{ Range=[[ [[ floor((@{Selected|caster1_level}+2)/2)*5 ]] + 25 ]] ft. }} {{ Save=Reflex }} {{SR=[[ 1d20 + @{Selected|caster1_level} ]]}} {{ Primary=[[ [[@{Selected|caster1_level}]]d6 ]] Fire **DC** [[@{Selected|caster1_dc_level_2}]] }} {{ Second=[[ [[floor(@{Selected|caster1_level}/2)]]d6 ]] Fire **DC** [[@{Selected|caster1_dc_level_2} - 2]] }} {{ Third=[[ [[floor(@{Selected|caster1_level}/4)]]d6 ]] Fire **DC** [[@{Selected|caster1_dc_level_2} - 2]] }} {{ Note=All targets must be within 15 ft. of each other }}
WORKS NEEDS MODIFY (remove SR, fix DC):
&{template:default} {{ Burning Hands=Flames Erupt!}} {{ Range=[[ 15 ]] ft. }} {{ Save=Reflex }} {{SR=[[ 1d20 + @{Selected|caster1_level} ]]}} {{ Fire Dmg =[[ [[@{Selected|caster1_level}]]d4+6 ]] Fire **DC** [[@{Selected|caster1_dc_level_2}]] }} {{ Note=Burn baby burn }}
GOOD:
&{template:default} {{ Burning Hands=Flames Erupt!}} {{ Range=[[ 15 ]] ft. }} {{ Save=Reflex }} {{SR=[[ 1d20 + @{Selected|caster1_level} ]]}} {{ Fire Dmg =[[ [[2]]d4+6 ]] Fire **DC** [[16]] }} {{ Note=Burn baby burn }}
/me raises forth a hand, palm down with fingers spread, and utters, "Oth Zevrill"!
&{template:default} {{ Burning Hands=Flames Erupt!
}} {{ Range=[[ 15 ]] ft. Cone }} {{ Save=Reflex }} {{SR=[[ 1d20 + @{Selected|caster1_level} ]]}} {{ Fire Dmg =[[ [[2]]d4+6 ]] Fire **DC** [[16]] }} {{ Note=Burn baby burn }}
BASIC:
Fire Dmg =[[ [[2]]d4+6 ]]
INSIDE THIER THING, just CLICK NAME OF SPELL:
[[{(1*@{2}),5}kl1]]d4+6
[[{(1*2),5}kl1]]d4+6
[[{(1*@{caster1_level}),5}kl1]]d4
[[{(1*@{caster1_level}),5}kl1]]d4
[[{(1*2),5}kl1]]d4+6
WORKS:
/me cups his palm as though he were standing on a mound in a field and chants the verbal component "Uncto"!
[Grease]
DC[[14]] Ref Neg | SR:No
[[10]]ft. radius or single object for [[2]] minutes
/me raises forth a hand, palm down with fingers spread, and utters, "Oth Zevrill"!
[Burning Hands]
DC[[16]] Ref Neg | SR:Yes
[[15]]ft. cone
Hit:[[1d20+5]] for [[1d6+3]]dmg.
Hit:[[]] for [[2d4+6]]dmg.
============================================================
To calculate the Spell DC:
10 + spell level + ability modifier (e.g. Wizards use INT, Clerics use WIS, Bards use CHA)
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