RPGs

Online RPG’s vs. Tabletop RPG’s

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It is sort of like the imitation RPG feel I got from massive hours invested into LOTRO online. I rarely found a group that wanted to do some of the things I wanted to do, so I did a lot of stuff solo. The one reason I got into it is that I wanted to be able to satisfy the desire to play RPG’s, since I did not have a group. Since I got on Roll 20, I haven’t logged into Roll 20, so I don’t miss it. It is a worse time sink than tabletop RPG’s ever were, because it is so easy to lose track of time, and have lulls in the action. I had more unintentional all nighters with an online RPG or a video game than I did with a tabletop RPG. With a tabletop RPG the all nighter was usually determined before play began. It was only ever assumed because that’s the way the group liked it.

As gamers age, they go for fewer all nighters. I can still pull an all nighter, but it takes a lot longer to recover than it did a decade or two ago.

While it is possible to find a group and make friends in an online RPG, it has not been that easy. It requires so much time, that if you miss certain events, you fall behind and can’t keep up with the friends you have made. Some people spend so much time at it that they blow through regularly and have many multiples of characters in multiple accounts that have maxed out their levels. My way to play online RPG’s does not seem to fit with how most others in my experience like to do it. I like to figure things out and understand, and most players just want to blow through and get the next cool item. I want the item, but I like to have a chance to know the big picture. My desire to go at my own pace does not fit in with many others.

With tabletop RPG’s you have a more direct interaction that does not allow for one player to ignore the wishes of the others without any intervention by the DM and other players. In online games, I have seen some pretty crappy behavior, and that is not in the one on one area where you go up against other players. In a table top RPG, there are ways to keep things together. Unless the DM has no skill to keep the players on task. The awesome question of, “Are you sure?” is a good way for the DM to get the players’ attention, and the DM can easily impose consequences on unruly players that make their character feel the pain they are causing the other players. I don’t mean in a malicious or vengeful way.

The DM of my Roll 20 game does not let player thieves steal from party members, and encourages working together. This avoids hurt feelings and keeps the players moving forward.

My point is that while online RPGs can help fill a desire to game, it is not near as good as the collaboration of players interacting with the worlds designed by DM’s. Both the players and the DM learn about themselves and the world. A good DM will build things the players do into the world. The wild guesses and side chatter of the players is fertile soil.

 

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Thoughts on the OSR

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I have seen a lot of interesting ideas from various “members”
of the OSR. Some ideas I can potentially use, and some I know I will never use. Some just give me ideas to flesh out my own way of doing things. Some really cool ideas I would like to use, but can’t do it without a railroad to get current players into that situation or running a one-shot that specifically has that idea.

I suppose that really means that I need to DM more in the various ways of doing that, whether face to face or online.

The OSR is like a buffet, enough of everything to gorge on the stuff you like and ignore the things you don’t like.

It isn’t just the free stuff other share on blogs or in PDF’s, but it is buying PDFs and physical copies of modules, supplements, rules, new games. I have an abundance of stuff I keep grabbing because I might use it someday, or is an idea I want to remember.

I keep telling myself to slow down and quit adding to my accumulation of RPG materials. I have mostly done this, but finding the time to organize all the digital media so that I can truly find it when I want is the challenge. I do have a system that mostly works. But stuff I like so well that I think I would actually use it in play, I have dumped into one directory with minimal subfolders.

In some ways, just collecting ideas and imagining how they would be used in play is a fun exercise, but sometimes becomes the closest to roleplaying that I get.

I don’t think that I will ever stop gathering ideas and information, even if I never use it.

So, I guess it is about time to put this stuff to use.

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What Is The Most Impromptu Game You Have Ever Played?

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Way back in college, I don’t recall if it was over one of the breaks or over the summer. I was home at my parent’s, it was late in the evening. I was talking with my two younger brothers, when R showed up.

R was drunk, mad as Hell, and pissed at the world. He had been unceremoniously dumped by his girlfriend, and got drunk before coming to our house. He had murder on his mind and in spite of his inebriation, had the idea that it was better to kill monsters in a game of D&D than actually kill someone. I think he was just looking to find someone to fight to help deal with the overwhelming feelings, and realized after he was drunk that wasn’t the way to deal with it. R’s exact words, when we opened the door were, “I need to kill something.” In a menacing tone as he swayed.

My brother, Robert was our DM, and is close enough to me in age that we were in the same grade through school. Robert is a big guy, about my height but broader. R was a year behind us in school. R is bigger than Robert. Once in high school, R said, “Hey, Robert, how’s it going?” Robert was having a bad day, and grabbed R and tossed him across the hall and R hit the lockers and slid down them landing upside down. Or so all the witnesses, include Robert and R later said. I was down the hall when this happened, so I missed the actual event. R is a pretty chill guy, and said something like, “So, having a bad day?” So it takes a lot to get R to the point of being ready for murder.

Robert acquiesced to R’s request and we set up in our usual spot in the basement/garage area. We had an old couch and some other things down there. I believe we were already there when R showed up, so my parents did not know anything about it. Our parents trusted us, new R and R would listen to them, if they had known he was there.

It was a good game as I recall, and got better as R sobered up. Robert was great at running stuff on the fly and he had a huge sandbox with lots of ideas and things planned out, and we sat down with three players, R, my youngest brother, Kent, and me. It was probably something we would have done anyway, so it fit in and worked well for the spirit of the campaign. The good guys, that’s us, were always killing orcs, and other baddies, so that’s what we did.

After it was over, Robert made clear to R not to do that again, i.e. show up drunk, pissed, and want to play. At the time, agreeing to the demand was the easiest way to keep him from getting back in his truck. (Our paternal grandfather was killed by a drunk driver when we were 6, 5, and 3, after he was almost home from driving out 3 or 400 miles to visit and meet our baby sister. So we have no tolerance for that. )

Other than the drunk part, if R had just shown up, we probably would have played anyway.

I guess there might be worse reasons to play RPG’s than as an excuse not to mangle someone. RPG’s can be therapeutic, in that sense, as you can mangle monsters and bad guys with the kind of payback you wanted to dish out to someone in real life.

That was the weirdest beginning to a session of D&D of my life. What about you?

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Finally Started Reading 5th Edition Player’s Handbook

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I finally started reading the 5th Edition Player’s Handbook I got a while back, that I first mentioned a couple days ago.

I Had a crazy buzy day following a day where I had to drive three hours, train a client all day, then drive three hours home. It was a beautiful, if a bit chilly day with sunshine. I set up my hammock and read for an hour or so after work. It was very relaxing.

I only made it to page 18, where the first race, dwarf, is discussed. I did not keep going. I was reading every word and soaking it in. there is no rush.

I was pleased that in natural light, the pages are not shiny like they are indoors in artificial light. This made the pages easier to read than  anticipated.  I found that I could read at most angles and distances that it was comfortable to hold.

So far, I like what I read. That was on Tuesday, and as I write this after my Wednesday night AD&D game, in the after midnight hours of Thursday morning, I have not read any more than the first 18 pages. There’s about 300 pages to go. This week is very busy with work, and the weekend will be busy with yard work and weeding my garden, if it isn’t raining. If it rains, I’ll definitely make time to read more. If I was not so tired I could read more. My plan is to read each page, not just blow through it. I want to read it with understanding, as I have a feeling I will play it.

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ConQuest in Kansas City

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I was going through some old game information and found a caricature of myself that I got at ConQuest 16. [I was looking for a science fiction book with information on different ships and ideas from science and TV shows and movies. I can see the cover in my mind, but don’t recall the name or author. I still can’t find it! I have moved and rearranged my home office several times over the years I have lived in this house, and didn’t find it in the box that I thought it HAD to be in…. The search continues….]

Me-ConQuest16
Me-ConQuest16

I did a search and ConQuest is still a thing and I just missed #46, so 30 years since I think was my last time there. I only went two, maybe three years in a row and that was it.

Ah, yes, from the About Page “annually on Memorial Day Weekend in Kansas City, MO.” Life happens and I forgot about the specifics, I even had trouble remembering the name of the con, until I stumbled upon this caricature. It’s on a clear sheet of plastic, like for an overhead projector. It even has a sheet of white “tissue” paper to make the image show up better.

I have family in the suburbs, where I grew up, so I might put this on the radar for next year. I might be able to go with some friends I went with back in high school/college.

In checking the site, it looks like there were no “official” OSR game slots. As I recall, gaming was not as big a deal for this con. They did have an AD&D tournament that I played in one year. I remember seeing a VHS bootleg showing the Enterprise being destroyed from The Search for Spock, before it was in theaters. It was just the explosion and not good quality. We went up to this one guy’s room who had it. He showed the first episode of Dr. Who, which was like 20 or 25 minutes, then shared this one bootleg. I remember being shocked by the destruction of the Enterprise, and thinking, they can’t do that, they wouldn’t destroy it? I don’t even remember how we found out about it, just striking up a conversation, I think. I always wondered how someone who knew a guy that knew a guy, who knew a guy with access to a guy who knew somebody or something. How many of these leaks were real leaks, and how many were pre-internet astroturfing? The world may never know….

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AD&D Manuals Online

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WotC has gone back and forth with the availability of the core manuals, and others, for AD&D since they re-released the PDFs after all the hullabaloo a few years ago when some people put the PDFs online for all to take without the copyright holders getting their cut. Many agree that WotC overreacted, but a year or two later, they relented.

When they re-released them, they made them available on a new site affiliated with OBS, D&D Classics. All the materials you buy at Drive Thru RPG, RPG Now, and D&D Classics all share a common library, and once you buy them, you can download them whenever you want, even if those titles are no longer for sale.

I like AD&D, it is my preferred, go-to RPG. I want to be able to get others interested in AD&D, or parts of it. Those involved in the OSR know about how great a resource the Dungeon Master’s Guide is. There are only so many hard bound copies available, so without a means to get a legal PDF, people do without, or break the law. While the DMG and the Monster Manual are not needed for players, it is difficult to have players that don’t have access to the Player’s Handbook.

OSRIC and other clones are close enough to AD&D that you can get by without the original rules, but there are differences to be aware of.

For in-person play, it is not an issue, as I have multiple copies of the Player’s Handbook. I also add to my collection by buying all the 1e PH’s I see when I visit my FLGS. With online play, one needs players with their own copy of the PH or OSRIC or pick another clone for the rules.

I understand that 5e is the current latest and greatest, but I would like to be able to run things in an online game and have legal access for my players. I’m not going to make available my copy of the Player’s Handbook, because it has my name and account number on it. Right now, 3e is available as PDFs, and the AD&D 1st Edition books other than the big three are available.  Until the Player’s Handbook is available, I will make do with OSRIC.

I also would like to get Chainmail and the OD&D PDF’s. I’d buy the OD&D wood box reprints, if I could find one priced at the level that it came out. WotC’s website is not a commerce site, you can’t buy direct from them, at least not that. I’ll just have to make do with clones, like Delving Deeper.

EDIT – As Requested, here are the links to the OBS sites for obtaining manuals and modules. Just search for the one you want.

DrivethruRPG – http://www.drivethrurpg.com/index.php

RPGNow – http://www.rpgnow.com/index.php

D&D Classics – http://www.dndclassics.com/

EDIT – in 2015 WotC released the PDFs for OD&D and Chainmail in 2016.

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Fate/Fudge Dice

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I had to run up to the big name hardware store just over a week ago to get some stuff for a home project. On my way, I had to pass my FLGS. I decided to stop in and picked up some new dice.

I really do mean to stop buying new dice, but Fate/Fudge dice are basically the only RPG related dice I did not have. [Just wait, someone will point out some other type of die I haven’t heard of….] They are easy enough to emulate with d6’s, but losing the need to think about what two numbers are what result, +/-/0, is a plus.

I’ve been watching Red Dice Diaries’s  Fate series on YouTube, where he explains various features of Fate, and it intrigues me. It removes the need for leveling and training, and your character already knows some cool stuff. I have a free PDF of the rules, but have yet to make time to read them.

I don’t know if I will ever play Fate. I know that Roll20 supports Fate dice, so it has a certain amount of popularity.

Fate dice can also be used in other RPG’s when you need to quickly generate three choices. For example, if you are chasing a goblin in a dungeon to stop him from alerting the other goblins. If there is an intersection, does the goblin go straight, or pick right or left?

Rather than a random encounter that appears out of nowhere, the DM could have a monster or group of goblins that are in room X in the dungeon when the characters arrive. Use the Fate dice to determine which way they go if and when they leave that room. It might be a bit more work for the DM, but it adds an interesting variation. There will only be an encounter with this monster or group, if the players are close enough to attract the attention of same.

If you are generating a random dungeon, city street map, or paths in a forest, this can help you decide which direction to continue generating first.

Very simple reaction rolls, positive, negative, or meh, no need for a chart. Roll one die if it should be a 33.333% chance of a given result, or roll more dice and determine possible variations on just how positive a positive reaction is. For example, roll the standard four Fate dice and get four pluses, and that’s an overwhelming positive reaction. Roll four blanks and it is the grandfather of all meh.

Using a single Fate die with another die roll can get more out of that roll. 1d6 could now be 0-7, if you use the + as adding one and the – as subtracting one, and the blank as zero. This gives two more options to any die. With the d6 example, there are 8 possibilities, 0-7, so a d6 can emulate a d8. With a d10, one can emulate either a d12 or a d30. With d% you can get 102 options, or use the Fate die as a modifier for 1-100, or add 100, or add 200.

The trinary options of yes, no, and maybe make an interesting option. How many syllables in an NPC’s name? How many minutes, hours, days, weeks, months until an NPC show up?

As with any other single die, you can come up with all kinds of uses, as many have come up with d8, d12, d20, and d30 tables, or all the dice tables, or dice drop generators.

I like the challenge of trying to figure out ways I could use various dice, and seeing the ideas of others. Whether or not I actually use the idea in a game, just having the exercise helps me to think of possibilities I might not have considered otherwise.

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The 5e Plunge – Manuals Arrive

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There was a half off sale on the new D&D 5e manuals on Amazon, so I went ahead and ordered all three of them, plus a DM screen. I already have the starter set and the free PDF’s, that I still have yet to read.

Serendipitously, these manuals and my DCC dice arrived on the same day.

I was surprised that the manuals were not wrapped in anything to protect them from rubbing against each other in shipment, or packed together so they did not slide. There was only one “airbag” on the bottom edge of the books to limit how much they moved, but there was still nearly two inches of empty space along the top edge and about two inches of space along the edge of the spine/edge of the pages. Not a lot of space, but enough room for them to rattle around in the box.

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The front and back covers, the spine, pages, and most of the edges look fine, but there is a small area that is roughed up on the pointy corner. It is minor, and if these books get read and used at the table, worse will befall them. I just prefer that a book be in good shape when I buy it new, and that I am the one who drops it or scuffs it up through use and abuse.

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I also noticed that the edge of the pages were wavy. I don’t know if that is a manufacturing thing, or that the weather was extra humid the day the package arrived. After sitting stacked in the box on the floor in my office, the Player’s Handbook [Amazon Affiliate link] does not appear to have wavy pages on the long edge, but the DMG [Amazon Affiliate link], and Monster Manual [Amazon Affiliate link] do. The tops and bottoms of the edges of the pages of all three manuals had obvious “waves” in them. The Player’s Handbook was on top, with the DMG next, and the Monster Manual on the bottom, and that did not seem to press them out. I don’t know if that is a manufacturing issue or a weather issue. Again, this is minor enough that I won’t ship them back.

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The manuals have slick and shiny covers, except for the half of the back cover where one’s right hand fingers would grip it while reading. Each manual has this. I assume it is to give you a better grip on the book. I was surprised by this, and at first thought there was something amiss with the cover, until I realized it was intentional. The slick, shiny part of the covers is mirror-like.

The interior pages are black ink on a colored background with shiny paper. As long as you avoid bright light shining on the page at an angle that makes the text unreadable, the text appears to be easy to read. One should definitely avoid trying to read this in low light to avoid eye strain, and most likely a headache.

The illustrations are a mix of line art and full color pictures. A quick flip through reveals some very cool images.

I will review the contents of the manuals in subsequent articles.

DM Screen

As I was taking pictures for the unboxing, I noticed that the three books were all made in the USA, but that the DM Screen [Amazon Affiliate link] was made in China. The shrink wrap on the DM Screen was very tight, protecting it in shipping, but also requiring care in its removal to avoid gouging the screen. Once unwrapped, I discovered that it had a cover that has the same dragon as is on the screen and the inside is what I assume is a lich “poster” advertising the D&D Adventurers League.

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Unlike the AD&D DM Screen I am used to from AD&D that is two pieces with a portrait orientation and each section is approximately the size of a sheet of paper, the 5e DM Screen is one piece with four sections in landscape orientation.

One page has five tables for generating NPC’s: characteristics, ideals, bonds, flaws, and a name generator. These handy tables would work in any setting or set of rules.

A page and a half is dedicated to conditions. There are bullet points that summarize each condition. Some of the points indicate if the condition results in disadvantage or how saving throws are affected. I have not read the manuals to see any details in the manuals on the conditions, but the bullet points seem fairly straightforward. I am not sure that the conditions need spelled out here. I suppose for players that argue the rules and try to rules lawyer the DM? This section ends with a chart showing the effects of the six levels of exhaustion. Level six is death! From what I have read online about a short rest and healing, just take five and you won’t die. I’m curious about how all that works, so time will tell.

The other half of the page shared with conditions are five tables showing the DC for various difficulties, cover, obscured areas (AKA concealment), light sources, and skills and associated abilities.

The final page has five tables for travel pace, encounter distance based on terrain and how far visibility is both audibly and visibly, and damage by level and severity. Finishing the charts are two tables for something happens and quick finds. These last two tables are again something that can be used in any other game/genre.

The interior and exterior artwork of the screen is very cool.

The finish on the screen is shiny. If a light is shining directly on it, the DM side with the charts and information is unreadable. The shininess of the finish makes it mirror-like, and makes it hard to read. At normal distance from the table with it positioned like I would have it to run a game, I find that the print is small and difficult to line up my bifocals to read it without having to lean over or pick it up. Since most of the information on the screen is fairly common sense, and you won’t be generating a lot of NPC’s and events on the fly all the time, it should not be an issue for most DM’s. As a screen, it serves its purpose. The folds/creases of the screen are “tight” to begin with, so it wanted to fold up until I had it open a while. It seems too low to me, but that is because I am used to the AD&D DM screen. If one is worried about players seeing something, I think you will be worried no matter how tall your screen is.

Once I read all the rules, shame on me for not reading the quick start and the PDF’s sooner, and know more about it, I can give a better assessment of whether or not the charts and tables on the screen are the ones most needed in play.

No one at WoTC must wear bifocals or have vision that needs correction. While the manuals and screen look cool, their shininess makes them hard to use in the wrong angle and brightness of light. The target demographic is obviously one with younger eyes. This is similar to the issues with the original free PDF’s that were nearly unreadable with the full color backgrounds. Thankfully, they released the plain black text on a white background for printing, but it was also more legible. Thankfully, the actual manuals are much easier on the eyes, and easy to ready, provided you don’t have adverse lighting.

I was hoping to start reading these manuals over Memorial Day weekend, but two “quick” projects for Saturday ended up taking all day. Sunday, I played in +Roy Snyder’s DCC game. Monday, I rested up. I couldn’t keep my eyes open to read.

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2015 One Page Dungeon Contest – Winners Announced

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The winners of the 2015 One Page Dungeon Contest were announced a few days ago. Check out the 1PDC Google Community.

My entry, The Dire Druids of Delver’s Deep, was not among them. I did not expect to win. I knew that there were many who had massively better entries in look, layout, and more from prior years. My entry was an exercise to see what I could do with an idea.

From what I have seen of the winners of the last couple of years, one needs an idea that is solid and well defined with a great hook. The Artwork needs to be top notch, and the layout has to make it all “flow” and draw the reader into it.

I am curious to watch the recording of the Google Hangout with the judges [Link Broken, no alternative, August, 2017], to see if there are any “simple” dungeons that had ideas they liked, but due to art or layout, did not make the cut. Set aside about 45 minutes if you want to watch it all in one go. I missed the live hangout.

Out of all the submissions, there were 3 first place winners, 6 second place winners, 13 third place winners, and 5 honorable mentions. Based purely on first names in each category, it looks like there is one women in each of the last three categories. This makes 97 new dungeons. Since 2009, seven years, that’s about 700 dungeons. Not all are fantasy, not all are dungeons. Still, that is a lot of ideas if your creative well has ran dry. I like to grab and re-purpose the maps for my own use.

One blogger, +Aaron Frost,  of Wasted The Game, is going through all the 1PDC entries and giving his thoughts on them. He has a lot of material.

Daddy Rolled A 1 was a judge last year and again this year. Here is his take on the process.

After watching the hangout video there are a few things one can take away about how to approach this contest.

  • The Past and Storytelling are not as important.
    • What is going on NOW?
    • What situation will the characters encounter when you run it?
  • Brief yet Complete.
  • Set up well in the beginning with an answer to how does it end/get resolved?
  • White space/Imagery/Readable
  • The art is not as important as an idea that is presented well.
  • Spelling and Grammar – i.e. after you spellcheck and grammar check it, get a proofreader.
  • Put enough time into it to do it well.

I know that I had a lot of text. Paring that down to something that “pops” would improve it. That is, express the intent without requiring too much detail.

The hangout mentioned one winning submission that had excellent 2 sentence NPC descriptions that made for NPCs that could be plugged into any campaign.

I would suggest reading through the submissions and learning from them. What did the winners do well? What did the others not do as well that might best be avoided?

One more shout out, +Random Wizard [UPDATE: Random Wizard is no longer on G+. Check out his blog: https://www.kirith.com/random-wizard/] has sold off unused items in his personal collection to ensure that there are prizes for all 13 of the third place winners, a $25 store credit at Wayne’s Books! Talk about a class act! Not only has he given his time to organize the contest, he made sure that third place had prizes out of his own pocket!

There will always be grumblers who complain about things, and complaining is their ONLY “contribution.” It is easy to say that this or that wasn’t right, fair, or the way you would do it. If you are not willing to step up and add something of value to the hobby, why are you tearing down others who are? I don’t know who these complainers are about the 1PDC, they must be ranting on some forum to which I don’t belong. Of that, I am glad. I only know about it, because I saw mention of it on another blog. If the complainers would put forth the energy they spend complaining into making something to share with the others in the OSR, we’d all be better for it. It reminds me of my sons when they complained about doing homework or cleaning their room. If they would have shut up and just done the task at hand, it would have required less energy. Oh well, it is the loss of the complainers. Once we learn what an internet troll is, we know to ignore it, and it becomes as static. It is annoying, but we can learn to tune it out.

I for one am interested to read through the entries. I also am interested in attempting a submission for next year. I may come up with an idea and start working it out to boil it down to the good stuff. Better yet, I’ll take more time on the layout and presentation.

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Review – Rob Kuntz’s Dark Druids

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Rob Kuntz’s Dark Druids was on sale a few weeks back. It arrived at the end of April. Since my submission to the 2015 One Page Dungeon Contest involved druids – The Dire Druids of Delver’s Deep, I waited until after I completed my submission to read this module. My planned postings got sidetracked, since I jumped on board the White Star bandwagon.

This module clearly states on the cover below the illustration: “For use with 1st Edition Advanced Dungeons & Dragons(R)”. Unlike others, it is not afraid to say this and also acknowledges that the name of the game is a registered trademark. It is one of three modules currently available from Chaotic Henchmen Productions.

The blurb from the back cover explains what this module is all about: “Dark Druids includes complete descriptions and maps for an outdoor area and a three-level adventure site, and is easily adaptable to most campaign settings. It also includes an outline for further adventuring, a selection of new monsters, spells, and magic items, plus Robert J. Kuntz’s historical context and commentary on this module’s relationship to his campaigns of the 1970’s”

This module is designed for levels 8-12, so it is not a low power adventure. It has the general look and feel of a module from back in the day. The cover can serve as a screen and includes the 1st and  3rd level of the dungeon. The 2nd level is on the last page of the module. This 56 page module has more maps for the outdoors area and illustrations to compliment the text.

After a forward and author preface, there is a section on Using the Module that discusses party composition and challenges, preparations before play, and how to read and interpret the module text. There is a player introduction, which is a lot of text to read. Lastly there is a half page of rewards and additional party resources.

After a page for the GM introduction, there are just over three and a half pages with the outdoor map, starting text, and key to the outdoor map.

The dungeon’s three levels are detailed on pages 9 through 35.

There are seven appendices, A through F.

A – Deals with further adventuring against the drak druids.

B – Is an article about a Dark God.

C – Discusses changes in this version of the module from the 2006 version published by Creations Unlimited.

D – Lists the 16 new magic items in this module.

E – Details four new monsters.

F – Describes the dark druid variant class.

The module was well sealed in cardboard and bubble wrap and sealed with scotch tape in a clear plastic magazine sleeve.

I like the look and feel of this. The maps are well done and easy to read. The text itself is laid out well and easy to read. However, the “Read-aloud text” is in italics. For some rooms this text is the first part of that room’s description, but for others it is later. Thankfully, while not like some italics fonts that I sometimes have trouble distinguishing from the normal font, there is nothing else to set it apart. When actually running this, it would be very easy to miss a key detail. If I were to run this module as written, I would have to use different colored highlighters and ink to note the important parts. I find this to be more of a concern as my eyes age.

When not in a live game situation and no pressure, it is definitely easy to read. There is a lot of information here, it is dense.

It is something that would require a lot of streamlining to run in a con setting. In a con setting it is bigger than can be handled in the average 3 or 4 hour session. There is enough in here, that it would take one massive marathon session to complete the entire module in one go. I can see this easily taking many sessions depending on the focus of the players, and the decisions and rolls they make.

One can easily place this on a list of possibilities, when players get to that level, and fit it into the campaign. AD&D is not that much different from OD&D and modern clones, that this could easily be used in nearly any OSR game. There is a lot in here, that it will take more than a casual reading to catch all that is in here. This could easily be part of a behind the scenes activity that builds up to this module, or it could be a new stand-alone threat. Because this is so dense, I have not managed to read the whole thing carefully, but I like what I see.

This is an interesting concept and ties in with my articles on druids.

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Ramblings of an Old Gamer