OSR vs. Newer Games (3.5e and 5e D&D)... doesn't need to be so disparate

 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.

Tornadoes, craaazy vids

 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

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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

• Right after the hit, here is aftermath. Clem shows up at 6:52. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SfcF5mHmL4c
• More pictures of the same Rochelle Fairdale one: https://www.reddit.com/r/tornado/comments/1tj4s86/rochellefairdale_gets_talked_about_a_fair_amount/

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El Reno escape by Dan Robinson. Might be a repost: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MxgU1QcFMJM

• quote  daishi3050 "When the camera switched to rearview, at first I thought I was only seeing the rain, until I realized the whole screen was the tornado behind him."

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The one by the overpass. Also Rochelle Fairdale. HUGE, right next to him: 

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OEqJ2HKR5sE
• Better quality, no crop: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RGmJCB0x21s

Thundarr in RPG

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lQtR4IHkJxI&pp=0gcJCQkLAYcqIYzv

• Via BobThemagicOne’s yt. 
• About The Scientific Barbarian.  
• Good point, Thundarr fits right in to MCC. Didn’t know it was the same guy doing this pdf, zine, whatever it is.  

OK I bought it. O_o  impulse buy, but hey. 

Used Bob's link. 

Main site: https://mudpuppygames.com/games/

And it sent me an email... saying it'll email me again later when the order is ready. 
So I'll get the real book in the mail... I GUESS they'll email some link to dl the pdf. ???

The No ai artman, great

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ldNOZktEmEA 

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

Gary Gygax interesting Quotes from after year 2000 I think.

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

Isometric vs. bl press

 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. 

Tolkien’s goblins come from two older books

 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".

Bone Javelin - AD&D 1e, Page121, could it be the origin of the Diablo 2 spell?

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. 

• Diablo 2's Necormancer (game release year 2000) had Bone Spear. Sounds super similar. I bet this spell was first. From the TSR Spell Compendium (1e?). 
• Page121 said it'd go through doors depending on door material. 
• Can hit others if it misses orig target. 
• Spell Description and Stats - Bone Javelin
• Level 7 spell
• Roll to hit. Range 10 yrds per lvl of caster. 
• Lasts 1 rnd per level of caster. 
• Can pause attacking with it one round to cast other spells, etc. 
• Twists and turns and finds target. Speed 30 (yards or feet?) per round. 
• Can target undead, other planar, etc. creatures. 
• Does 1d4 + 1 pt. per lvl of caster in 1e. 
• DnD 5e, I'd change to something like 3d6 + 2 pt.s per lvl of caster. Needs something else, like stuns or easier to hit or something to use a level 7 spell on, something major. It has to be WAY better than Cantrips at level 7. So let's compare
• at level 17 how much does firebolt or eldrich blast do? This is a level 7 spell after all. 
• Firebolt is 4d10. 
• Eldritch blast is what... 4d10 plus dragging them into thorns or AOE. Or maybe dropping them from high (fly) for extra 2d6 dmg. 
• In the Book of Shangalar the Black (Male Lich) https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Shangalar_the_Black
• Ah ha! 1990 this spell came out in Dragon Mag. https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Dragon_magazine_164

BTW. Bones of the Earth were also in this old 1e book. Wizard Spell Compendium. 

Next time Our campaign

 BX style ooze- only blunt or fire does good dmg. Even magic swords don’t rly hurt. 

ACTUALLY via the real module, green slime(s) on ceiling!

• Use some of this. https://2e-d.fandom.com/wiki/Slime_Creature
• or maybe the 3.5 SRD: https://www.5esrd.com/gamemastering/hazards/green-slime/ but with like double or triple dmg???
• Ultra deadly, 1d4 rounds to resurrection. 
• Ignores armor AC, only dex matters, basically.
• Eats through plate armor in 1d3 rounds. 
• Remember, he has wish and limited wish. 
• Paint the scene, description can be:
• You enter an area that seems to have less foot traffic based on the dust(?) and pebbles. 
• While the troll area had tons of bones, this area seems devoid of animal remains. 

Drow stuff.

Room 15 of level 3 of G3. 

LOOT

-dont give +2 shields +3 shields.

-alter the FIghter stuff to be:

+2 sh sword

+2 mace

+1 shield

-do give the fighter/MU stuff as:

+2 Ring of Protection

+2 short sword (disolves in sun)

+3 Dagger (disolves in sun)

Wand of Viscid globs. 

-ignores armor AC (just use Dex AC and magic AC)

Moldvay Basic print on demand

 https://zenopusarchives.blogspot.com/2026/04/moldvay-basic-finally-available-in.html?m=1

I rly want Companion tho

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

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Loot gotten: ring of regen from elite drow warrior on lizard vs. tsunami in troll cave. 

 Loot Future. 

• Logan's Idea - Item for mage, on an enemy failed save of natural 1, 1/3 of the dice are max dmg. 
• +2 ring protection?
• Ring of Blasting   - once per Turn (fight) a cantrip will hit other monsters too, within 5 or  maybe 10 feet. (I'll say eldrich blast wont pull more than 1 tho)
• https://www.dandwiki.com/wiki/Apprentice_Ring_of_Blasting_(5e_Equipment)
• Many more ideas https://www.dandwiki.com/wiki/5e_Magical_Rings
• Grey + Black Bracers +1 AC (only magic users can wear, like warlocks and druids)
• Obsidian Ring of DEX to 21. 
• Nekron ring https://www.dandwiki.com/wiki/Black_Lantern_Ring_(5e_Equipment)
• Reduce Necrotic Dmg ring - i say, it'll give you resist to necro spells. 
• 
  

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  

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_serow

Gnolls from Gnoles

 https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=EHcyq2rKYKg

Says from old fantasy books by Lord Dunsey

https://grognardia.blogspot.com/2024/07/a-very-partial-pictorial-history-of.html

https://pdsh.fandom.com/wiki/Gnoles

green

 chatgpt green cloak on my guy

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. 

 Dnd cartoon, the one with the super evil one… lightning tornado looking thing.  

They go to the underworld (think underdark).

DM uses all his power, nearly.

Venger is even scared.  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7KB2ekD0UeM&t=840s

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.

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

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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.