Fixing B4 The Lost City

B4 The Lost City was my favorite classic TSR Dungeons & Dragons adventure module and another one (much like B3 Palace of the Silver Princess) which vexed me to no end. See, the problem was for this eleven year old was the upper tiers didn't make any sense. How the different factions lived in an uneasy alliance within its halls, and how the traps all remained unsprung, and what the hell are a bunch of Sprites doing hanging out in the fireworks closet?

But the whole package of buried pyramid and underground “lost” city and its mysterious inhabitants was just magnificent. I thought if I can figure out how to run this adventure I would be a true Dungeon Master!

This week I sat down with my PDF copy of the module and decided to solve the problems I had with the upper tiers once and for all. And it didn't take much.

First off, the whole upper tiers as the Old God factions personal club house just had to be chucked. If there were going to be cultists on the upper levels they were going to be groping around blindly just like the PC's, almost. Here is the set up I used to justify the various cult member's activities in the upper tiers; a search for a McGuffin. In this case the McGuffin is an artifact, a magical weapon which can slay Zargon. Say a “Flame Sword” capable of sheering off the monsters horn and destroying its regenerative properties. It will naturally be buried somewhere in the upper tiers. I'll make the Magi of Usimagaras and the Brotherhood of Gorm collaborating on the search. The Priests of Zargon suspect its existence but have never found a way into the upper tiers. They anxiously search the city for evidence of the Old God factions and its members.

For example; in the module the PC's find entrance into the pyramid because a Hobgoblin was shot down opening a trapped secret door. This has no rhyme nor reason. But replace this corpse with that of a Cyndecian and put the bolt in the victim's back. Struck down just when uncovering a great secret, of a portal to the outside world! Perhaps he still draws breath and carries a piece of parchment with ordered pairs of symbols? The fact that the unfortunate cultist triggered the door trap it is no small leap to decide now all the traps are now armed in this room. That the cultist was unaware of the proper sequence needed to perform with the doors to pass through safely. With just this simple musing the rest of the upper tier now starts to snap into shape. The Old God cultists are attempting to deceive the Priests of Zargon. While one band leads the Priest's loyal acolytes on a merry chase through the upper tiers another group penetrates the tombs of Alexander and Zenobia to secure the legendary sword. So I replace any of the other dead bodies found on these levels with Gorm, Usimagaras and Zargon cultists. The bees are not guarding any treasure on the second tier, no they are a clever trap uncovered by the collaborators and used against the acolytes. Perhaps these cultists fight a desperate battle on the second tier against the acolytes while their companions are dying beneath the traps found in the hidden tombs? Ancient plans exploding into action and the PC's stumbling into it all.

I've changed the Wandering Monster Tables to reflect my preferred assortment of crypt vermin and the cat and mouse game being played out by the warring Cyndecians. The temple on the fifth tier needs to opened up as well. While the statues of the Old Gods have been pulled down and many of the corridors are still neglected, the Priests still bring sacrifice to Zargon and hold worship in the horrid lower tiers. This is also how the Old God cultists penetrate the upper tiers. They know of secret doors which lead to the upper levels. They have secreted their agents among the acolytes and travel to these entrances under darkness and stealth.

So I included only two of the Old God cults as being involved in the search. The Warrior Maids, while the strive against the power of Zargon, are not in others confidence. This can help illuminate the mistrust and infighting among all the factions. This will require the emptying of the Warrior Maid's club house and restocking but much of the other rooms on this tier, tier 3, can be left as is. Oh, and those lycanthropes running around secretly living in the upper tiers. They got to go. Another nonsensical addition to the antics of the dungeon.

For me this set up creates a world pregnant with possibilities. At the end of the day the PC's need to secure enough supplies to escape the danger of the desert or secure long term lodging in the city below. How they can leverage the goings on in the upper tiers to achieve survival and eventual securing of loot in which to enrich themselves now has a handle. A DM's deft handling of the cults, each with a clear mission being attempted at the outset of the adventure, will create a much more dynamic dungeon environment. This approach also helps me envision the lower tiers which the priests of Zargon continue to use. Not only are these crude lower chambers the source of the Priest's power but of their greatest fear. They sit on a literal powder keg of evil. They attempt to keep the terrible creatures inhabiting these lower levels in check with sacrifice and magic. In this role the Priests of Zargon are not insane bloody zealots, but wise stewards protecting a deranged populace. Ah yes, the rabbit hole goes deep on this one.

AD&D Rules I Never Used

I remember penciling in all the pluses to hit AC per weapon type, but I don't ever recall the DM paying any attention to it. I think we had to dig into the Monster Manual to identify our opponent's armor class and push the issue. You added strength bonuses if you had it and yeah boyo magic weapons was how you improved your chance to hit. 

I do know for a fact we never played surprise as outlined in the Dungeon Masters Guide. Too bad, it would have added a layer of deadliness, a quickening of combat which the drag out nature of "did I hit, yes 6 points of damage" and the DM would make some notes on paper would sometimes bug me about D&D combat. We were teens so combat really only became cinematic when fireballs were unleashed or the monk PC tried something stupid.

But I pulled out my 1e DM Guide cause, well, there are so many things which delight and frustrate me about the AD&D system I like to revisit the 1e books and figure ways to enhance my B/X games or port the flavor of the classic D&D magic system into BRP. And so I was reading the surprise rules on page 61 getting the usual bemusement. That is a necessary mechanic, providing a rules for a combat event I would want to have in my game, but man they are worse than the los rules in Wellington's Victory. I think they are a confusing mess.  I can see why my DM in those heady days just passed them up.

On page 62 though the rules on surprise made me perk up and get interested. And I quote; "Because the party surprised is (relatively) inactive, the surprising party will be able to attempt telling blows during each segment of surprise as if the segment were an entire round!" Okay, now there is a reason to figure out those fiddly segment rules back on page 61. A chance to land more than one telling blow before an initiative check. But here is the combat game changer I never saw at my early game table; "Even if distance prevents striking with weapons, the discharge of arrows, bolts or hand-hurled weapons is permissible at three times the normal rate..."

I want to track down my old DM, book in hand and wave it around saying WTF?! This rule never hit our table. I generally prefer my Moldvay B/X rules over AD&D. Clarity, brevity, and well organized the first rpg rulebook I had was really helpful. But this rule is kind of a tactical combat game changer. It incentives setting up surprise situations, ambushes you know. Also a place to dump all the gold your PC's are accumulating; bow-wielding henchmen.

The Dungeon Masters guide is a thick book with rules scattered pell-mell so I know there are many more my early gaming group never used. And generally when I peruse my old books I don't really care. The new retro-clones available now clean up the rules mostly to my satisfaction. But the surprise rules, there is something there to like. 

B/X Magic & Retro-Clones

Reading Moldvay/Cook edition of Dungeons & Dragons regarding magic I came to this conclusion; the magic-user's spell book cannot be read by anyone else, even with a Read Magic spell, because a spell book is not inherently magical. A close reading of how Scrolls operate and the text in the Read Magic spell description brought me to this conclusion. My previous two blog posts go into more detail on my study of the B/X magic rules as written, and why I bothered.

In this post I'm going to take a look at my favorite B/X retro-clones and see how they've house-ruled magic-users, spell books, and Read Magic. My initial assumption is the authors assumed Read Magic allows reading of another magic-user's spell book, that spell limits enforced by character level don't translate to spell limits in a spell book, and spell books and scrolls are treated as if they are similar magical items thereby rationalizing, in my opinion, an incorrect reading of Moldvay/Cook rules. I know my head has never been on quite straight on the relationship between learning spells, the character's spell book, and spell limits. And I don't think I'm alone in this. Hence every game I've run or played in has their own house rules regarding these issues. And if I don't understand something I'm not going to want to play it so much. The magic-user was for me always the character class of last resort. If I wanted a magic wielding character I always choose cleric.

Cleric's are easy to understand. Doing this close reading of the rules I've decided the cleric really benefits from the Spell Research rules found on X51. Just think, with enough gold they can continually expand their initial spell list and put them into play the next day. Your Light spell not turning you on so much, maybe you can get the DM to go for “Religious Fanaticism” as a first level spell. The cleric can go all day pulling nonsense out of his ass and putting it into play with a willing DM. Not so the magic-user/elf. Their spell research can only benefit them when they have the opportunity to learn a new spell. Having a magic-user play strictly by the rules found on B11 some might come to the conclusion the cleric is an unbalanced class!

Lamentations of the Flame Princess

This is the first retro-clone which turned me on to retro-clones. It opened my eyes to a smart, polished “house-ruled” system can be done without trashing overall game design. Reviewing magic rules the author's description of a spell book is near perfect in how I see Moldvay/Cook's vision of a spell book. From the Grindhouse Edition; “Each spell notation is a combination of reference notes, philosophical debate against the universe, and gibberish scribbling; all of which serves one purpose: To trigger dream-state understanding within the Magic-User's mind. Nothing contained in a spell book is a 'how to' guide so much as an individual recipe for self-induced hypnosis.” But there similarities end. The beginning spell user gets a total of three spells in their spell book plus Read Magic. There is no limit to the amount and/or level of spells which can be added to the spell book, even if the Magic-User has not reached a level high enough to cast it. Other spell books can be read with Read Magic spell and copied. Scrolls can be created from spell books.

I asked James Raggi, the author, if the Moldvay/Cook rules influenced his magic rules at all. James answered: “I was introduced to D&D through the Mentzer red box, then AD&D very shortly thereafter. I didn't even see the B/X rules until 2008, 2009, somewhere in there, and it's definitely not internalized. I can't tell you without looking it up what the differences might be between Mentzer and Holmes. (hell, I bet I don't even remember Mentzer's rules correctly... and hell, I've been using a completely new spell system in my own games for the past few years, so the LotFP rules haven't seen use in my own campaign in awhile. :P But I still agree with the blog post, pretty much. Don't need Read Magic to read your own spellbook, but can use it to read other spellbooks.”

So that explains the LotFP retro-clone. It is similar to the Mentzer interpretation of Dungeons & Dragons magic not Moldvay/Cook. Cool to know for a nerd like me. So no validation will come from this splendid corner of the game world whether my interpretation of the magic rules from Moldvay/Cook holds water. Of course I had to curse and damn Raggi's black soul to hell, because now I need to thoroughly review Mentzer Basic/Expert rules to see if I like them! What is clear is Mentzer is not Moldvay and the magic rules are significantly different.

Basic Fantasy Role-Playing Game

This quickly became my favorite retro-clone when I started looking into the entire line of retro-clones for the game which was going to hit my sweet spot. It obliterates the race as class distinction while still running on an all too familiar B/X chassis. And yeah, compared to AD&D, a simple book of rules appealed to my limited gaming time as an adult-man-child-working-nerd. Modern upgrades like ascending AC and attack bonuses, all the while maintaining the clean organization found in Moldvay/Cook. The robust community support, cheap price, and free content closed the deal. 

The author Chris Gonnerman specifically states that BFRPG is intended to emulate the 1981 edition of Dungeons & Dragons so let us see how he interprets the Moldvay/Cook magic rules. Not like B/X at all.  As will be found common in retro-clones, a magic-user can have any number of spells written in their spell book. Character level only limits level and number of spells which can be cast on any given day. Unlike B/X, BFRPG directly calls spells in a spell book "magical script" which can be read by another magic-user by casting Read Magic on the book. Furthermore, Read Magic "is so ingrained that a Magic-User can prepare it without a spellbook." BFRPG considers this spell so foundational to the use and learning of magic the character can always cast it. The author also makes it clear the cast spell "is permanent with respect to any given magical work (spellbook or scroll)." It is not even included in the list of spell descriptions. It is not so much a spell as it is one of the class's natural abilities like, say, the Thief's ability to climb walls. Bravo for BFRPG and the other retro-clones out there for their clarity. There really is no way to misinterpret how magic-users learn new spells and the relationship between spell books, scrolls, and how Read Magic is used. 

Like Mr. Raggi, I wrote to Chris asking how the B/X Moldvay/Cook magic rules influenced his own. At this writing he hasn't responded yet, but reading some of his own blog posts at the BFRPG site demonstrate he is very thorough, that he puts a lot of thought and playtest into his products. So I'll assume he looks at the Read Magic spell and a spell book much like most of us have house ruled it through the ages. His writing of Basic Fantasy literally bears that out. If he tells me otherwise I will update this here blog post.  But the quest still stands; does my reading of the rules have merit? I like to think Tom Moldvay and David Cook were pretty thorough guys as well. That what they wrote they meant. Read Magic is for empowering scrolls and runes. That magic-users and elves must be taught their new spells or they must research new spells by spending time and money.

Labyrinth Lord

Goblinoid Games goes to great lengths to let the reader know this game attempts to replicate Basic Dungeons & Dragons of 1981. And it does a bang up job. None of those fancy-smanshy modern touches are found. This is Descending Armor Class as god intended, and Daniel Proctor, the author, most likely has a Tom Moldvay tattoo on his body somewhere.

Buuut, the rules do not adhere to those clearly stated rules found on B10. Much like Basic Fantasy above, magic-users can copy spells from spell books into their own. They can copy spells from scrolls into their spell book. Of any level. A beginning spell caster will have more spells in their spell book than they can cast. Unlike Basic Fantasy though it leaves Read Magic as a separate spell and includes the maddeningly ambiguous spell description as found in Basic Dungeons & Dragons. So it is a faithful reproduction of B/X with a few of the more popular house ruled aspects of magic hard coded, but doesn't go all the way like Basic Fantasy did.

For example; the rules state you need to cast Read Magic to utilize a scroll as a spell. But the rules are mute on whether you need to cast Read Magic to record the spell into a spell book. And I quote: "Scroll spells of any level may be copied to a spell book, but the spell disappears from the scroll. Characters may also copy spells from one spell book to another, and this process does not erase spells from a book." Kind of wishy-washy on the whole subject. These house rules leave the players with some more house ruling to do.

Like Mr. Gonnerman and Mr. Raggi, I emailed Daniel on how he reads Moldvay/Cook. Taking the writing of Labyrinth Lord at face value I feel he was undecided like most of us when we first used Basic and just went with what felt right. If he gets back to me I'll update this post to reflect his thoughts more specifically. So it appears the debate still has room to rage.

In closing on my personal magical navel-gazing on this topic; I think there is sufficient textual support for my interpretation within the B/X books and this reading of the rules creates a vastly different magic-user class than any of the retro-clones published does, and creates really interesting implications for the campaign world. And if you are in a B/X game I run you know how I plan to handle magic-users and elves!

B/X Spell Casting by the Book (cont.)

I'm going to finish my research on how magic-users and elves are able to learn and acquire spells per the rules as written for the Moldvay/Cook edition of Dungeons & Dragons. In my initial post I examined the text to find out what the authors actually say on how these two classes use magic.

My examination, as it has in the past, leads me to a lingering question, to what the authors don't say about magic-user spells. Specifically spell books. The all important, never without item of every magic-user and sword wielding elf. Within the spell book is all the spells these characters know. It is indeed the beating heart of these two classes and without a spell book the character does not have the ability to re-memorize spells each day. 

If a spell book is stolen, lost or destroyed, if it needs to be replaced it comes at a tremendous cost in time and money as detailed on page X11. This has always led me to assume the spell book was inherently magical, but no where can I find in the books rules supporting this assumption. I'm sure I'm not alone when turning to the description of the spell Read Magic hoping to find how you utilize Read Magic to use another spell caster's spell book like they would a scroll, or add new spells to your own spell book. But no, the rules are silent on the matter. 

Here is what (yes I am taking another stripe off this beaten horse) the spell (page B17) actually says in regards to spell books; 

"...spell book is written so that only the owner may read them without using this spell." 

If you are like me you have always made the leap that if you cast Read Magic on someone else's spell book you can read the spells written therein. But it doesn't say that. Taken the words as written it is just saying you don't have to cast Read Magic to read your own spell book. And that means, while expensive to replace, your spell book is not inherently a magic item. Casting Read Magic on someone else's spell book would have the same effect if they cast it on a book on pig farming, that is, nothing. The spell book is nothing more than a notebook of complex formula and instructions in a custom cypher so as to imprint a known spell to memory. Think of a spell book as a recipe book while a scroll is a frozen dinner.  As a magic item the scroll needs to have Read Magic cast on it to activate. It  needs to be "popped into the microwave" before the imbued magical energy can be released. Mmm, Hot Pockets. The spell book on the other hand is inert. Put it in the microwave and you get nothing one can eat. A magic user cannot just read from it and cast magic. They actually have to spend time memorizing the spell, to in fact become imbued with magical energy. The spell book is just a necessary tool to accomplish this.

And it shouldn't be lost on a player that there is no restriction on making additional copies of the spell book to prevent future downtime in the event of a destroyed or otherwise lost spell book. Well, I'm not real sure on this point, but I have not found it written in the rules that there is a limit to the number of spell books which can be manufactured. Someone please correct me if it is in there. 

Now, you may not like this arrangement, and the legion of house rules which have sprung up around how magic is done in B/X seem to indicate many players and DM's don't, but I believe this is how it works for Moldvay/Cook.

So, magic-user spells by the book, cont.: 

1. Spell book limited by spells known. 

2. New spells can be taught to the magic-user per the rules on page X11, and

3. New spells can be created per the rules on page X51. 

and add;

4. Spell books can only be read by the one who wrote it.

From these maxims I can deduce to my satisfaction the author's clear directions for spell acquisition and as a DM decide if they fit how I want magic to work in my game world. 

As written though here are my thoughts on B/X magic. It is straightforward and clear, it gives a wide range of customization for the player, it gives real purpose for the accumulation of wealth, and bakes in wonderful plot hooks and adventure ideas for both player and DM.

[Footnote] Here is a link to a post on the Ode to Black Dougal blog which originally got me thinking on how players and DM's bastardized the original B/X rules for magic.

B/X Spellcasting by the Book

I have a couple of Magic-Users in play which have now achieved second level, and house rules aside, I wanted to know how the Elf/Magic-User develops per a strict reading of the Moldvay/Cook red and blue books. 

I know this has been done to death, but I want to write it down for my own edification and invite debate on the practicality of the Rules As Written in play here on my blog.

The Basic rule book states on page B10, in regards to the Magic-User class;  "through study and practice, have learned how to cast magic spells." Part 3: Spells found on page B15 thru B18 describes what "study and practice" actually look like mechanically per the rules. The spell is "a memorized set of words and hand motions". A character can re-memorize spells once a day, and the spell caster may memorize the same spell twice. That there are the basics of spell casting and straight forward enough that these ideas are hardly debated. Same with; Magic-Users and Elfs may only memorize spells they know unlike the Cleric which can cast any of the spells found on the Cleric's spell list. This basic mechanic is well understood by players of B/X rules.

The Basic rule book also states the Magic-User's spells are stored in large spell books. "As magic-users and elves gain levels of experience, the number of spells they may use also increases." (page B16). So far so good except the Spell section here in the Basic book does not call out how a magic-user actually learns new spells beyond what they start with at the beginning of their adventuring career. There is the pointed statement that "A first level character will only have one spell in the spell book. A second level character will have two spells in the spell book; a third level character will have three spells in the spell book. The DM may choose which spells a character has in the book, or may allow the player to select them." This has come to be understood as an actual limit of spells a magic-user can have in their spell book. It is here on this point players will find a common house rule in most B/X campaigns, that is the DM allows first level characters having more than one first level spell in their initial spell book. That the first level magic-user actually knows more than one spell, but may only memorize and therefore cast one spell a day per the normal spell casting rules.

The final item from the Basic book I want to reference for this discussion on spells can be found in Part 7: Treasure, and this is in regards to the magic item known as Scrolls. Here a spell casting character can cast a spell without memorizing it and can also be of a spell level beyond their current ability. The magic-user/elf classes are restricted by needing to cast Read Magic on the scroll in order to understand it so that it may be used later. While this blog post is not about the importance of the Read Magic spell in B/X, for an up and coming magic-user by these rules it is pretty important.

So far, in light of the Basic rules, how a magic-user learns new spells is not explained. Maybe the Expert rule book will deal with this satisfactorily. Kind of. On page X11 we have these well known directions; "Magic-users and elves must be taught their new spells. Most player character magic-users and elves are assumed to be members of the local Magic-Users Guild or apprenticed to a higher level NPC. When player character gain a level of experience, they will return to their masters..." Blah, blah, blah. The paragraph even finishes with once again making it clear the amount of spells known and the number of spells found in their spell book are the same. Thus a 4th level elf will have a spell book with only two first and two second level spells. But what about player characters which are not like most? Are there other ways in which spells can be learned when leveling up increases the amount of known spells?  

Yes, if you look at Part 8: Dungeon Master Information, Magical Research And Production on page X51. I'm looking at the paragraphs for Spell Research. "New spells may be researched by any spell caster."

So, magic-user spells by the book: 

1. Spell book limited by spells known. 

2. New spells can be taught to the magic-user per the rules on page X11, and

3. New spells can be created per the rules on page X51.



Does this mean magic missile, web and the other standard spells on the spell lists need to be taught to be known? Not neccessarly. Call your researched web spell something else, give it its own "special effects", and duplicate the range, outcome and duration.

In essence being taught a new spell only requires one week of game time while researching requires two weeks and substantial money. This doesn't preclude the teacher who is teaching the new spell not exacting some cost for the newly leveled spell caster, gold pieces or otherwise.

In closing; adding a new, known spell to a spell book per the B/X rules is a time consuming venture which also requires the DM to establish how magic is taught in the campaign world. It also requires the DM to come up with, in conjunction with the player, how their new magic wielding character  came about his or her ability and how this relationship defines how new magic can be learned moving forward. It is easy to see why house rules sprung into existence to eliminate these hurdles for the gaming group sitting around the table ready to go. But I think there is some charm, some internal sense to these rules as written which can make for some great gaming fun and opportunities for PC's to contribute to the DM's game world.

Tales from the Classic Portal Yawning Wide

Tales from the Yawning Portal, is the new book announced recently by WotC promising "seven of the most compelling dungeons from the 40+ year history of Dungeons & Dragons. Some are classics that have hosted an untold number of adventurers, while others are some of the most popular adventures ever printed. For use with the fifth edition Player’s Handbook, Monster Manual, and Dungeon Master’s Guide, this book provides fans with adventures, magic items and deadly monsters, all of which have been updated to the fifth edition rules."

I can't but help wonder how the Classic Modules Today project launched last February with WotC's permission on the DM's Guild web site contributed to the release of this book? Probably just good timing. At 38 completed conversion guides (and growing) of classic 1e modules released to date at DM's Guild I've definitely seen first hand the thirst for original adventures for those playing with 5e rules. Individual ametuer authors just going for it are a much more nimble crowd and the amount of conversion guides we've been able to release in the last year is proof of that. It will be interesting to see how the cheap conversion guides continue to compete with high dollar, professionally published hardbacks, but more importantly I see gamers are getting more choice. You want to go cheap you can get a PDF of the original module plus a conversion guide instantly. Heck, now you are starting to be able to get POD copies of the original adventures at a modest price. Or if you are really stoked about these adventures you can get a super polished book with original art. 

Combined this treasure trove of adventure content with all the original stuff being released daily by the DIY OSR community (Broodmother, MotBM, Yoon-Suin, DCO to name a few...) 5e D&D looks to become one of the most popular editions of the world's greatest role-playing game ever. 

5e Initial Thoughts

When I ran a 5e session on International Game Day I didn't have any of the 5e books myself. I just ran it cold with some cheat sheets I generated from the free rules pdf. One of the young players had the PH and the MM. I also had my 5e conversion guide for B2 so I was able to run the Keep on the Borderlands for a few hours without any issues. But I also didn't come away from the experience with a feel for 5e. Did I like it? Is this a version of D&D I could enthusiastically play and run? 

For Christmas my girlfriend got me a copy of the 5e Player's Handbook so I've had an opportunity to roll up a PC as well as digest the contents. I like it. I like it a lot. If I was to run a regular face-to-face game this is the edition I would run. I think I would do it with just the PH and the MM for books. 

When I first started writing 5e conversion guides for 1e modules I was thrown off and scowled at the quick level progression listed as well as the high XP for monsters defeated. "What the hell, where is the long slog of treasure acquisition and the folder of dead PC's before one hits 2nd level?" I thought. Let the young breed jump on the 5e bandwagon I'll stick with my B/X retro-clones thank you. But the PH won me over. This looks fun to play. I could even resist modifying the rules here and there and live with Death Saves, the mildness of poison, and all day long cantrips which do 1d10 damage. As a DM I can see where I would have more work to do keeping track of all the NPC's abilities, but they are all essential in making them deadly to PC's. Prepping adventures would have an initial learning curve until I distilled what I needed handy at the table. Forgotten Realms will do for a campaign setting. I would make it mine of course, but I find it time saving to have some underpinnings of the game world to work off of. I'd probably also beat hell over the head of PC's and their retainers with the exhaustion rules just to slow the bastards down. Tieflings, Dragonborn I might draw the line there, but go ahead play a gnomish bard I won't mind.

Roll 3d6, in order. I would make my PC's do that. I have some roots which are buried deep...

X1 The Isle of Dread 5e Conversion Guide has been birthed

I completed Classic Modules Today: X1 The Isle of Dread 5e  and it is now live. What a monster. There is a decent sized list of Notable NPC's and New Monsters which make up the meat of this conversion guide. Not too many Magic Items and Spells needed conversions and the traps were relatively straightforward.

I did add notes on my thoughts on why I've changed the modules level recommendations from 1e, change in Challenge Ratings and XP awards, as well as why a 5e Dungeon Master should consider dialing down the cash value of treasure.

Like all the rest of the conversion guides being produced by fans working this project I sincerely believe use of the guide will relieve hours of prep work and let the DM focus on using these classics for tons o' fun at the table!

X5 Temple of Death 5e Conversion Guide Now Available

I've just uploaded Classic Modules Today: X5 Temple of Death 5e, your latest conversion guide to dmsguild.com. My next four titles I have reserved for conversion guides are X1 Isle of Dread, EX2 Land Beyond the Magic Mirror, CM1 Test of the Warlords, and M1 Into the Maelstrom. X1 should be completed this month,but don't expect the others to be available until January-April time frame. 

In other conversion notes; I've updated Classic Modules Today: B3 Palace of the Silver Princess 5e with monster statistics for the Decapus. Previous versions recommend using the Octopus stats from the 5e Monster Manual with some modification. Being the signature baddie of the adventure I decided it deserved "Special Monster" status, enjoy!

Here is the link for the Classic Modules Today web site for a complete list of current and upcoming conversion guides being produced.

International Game Day...

was recognized at my local library, and it is not anything I would have given a second look. Truly it is an event for young kids and not a grizzled old grognard like myself. Cold pumping a session to strangers, kids no less, is not the game experience I'm looking for. But I ran a game of D&D 5e this afternoon nonetheless, with a bunch of kids and it was a great success.

About a month ago a gentleman contacted me through a game forum looking for someone to play D&D with his son. I responded that I was an adult and his son would need to get a game group started with his peers. A few more emails went back and forth between us and that was precisely the issue at hand. His son hadn't been able to get his friends to want to play. I sympathized. I informed good old dad that I had spent some time over the years trying to get a local game group together myself and our mountain town just didn't harbor folks with the interest. Aspen is all about the super athletic, the super rich, and those chasing the super rich. I could only wish his son luck and encouraged the two of them to keep on trying. Once he got his friends to play a session he would have no trouble continuing play.

Then a couple of weeks later I saw the library advertising International Game Day and I new what I needed to do. I got permission to run D&D at the event. I emailed the dad and said I would be running a game at this public event for kids and we should have a go of it. The hopes were, of course, whatever local kids joined in would be the kernel of a game group the kids would continue on their own.

Well the young tike padded the playing field and he got four of his friends to come along. This new player was going to make a fine DM, I thought. He has gone to great lengths to pursue his ambitions. I was also immensely pleased to see a girl was part of the group. He had a Monk, the rest of the group I handed out pregens. I brought B2 The Keep on the Borderlands. It worked for me when I was eleven. Why mess with success? I had my B2 conversion guide for 5e and there was a 5e Player's Handbook and Monster Manual available so I had all the tools I needed to drive this candy caffeinated train down the tracks for the next three hours. They went into the forest, they went into the swamp. Eventually they pushed forward on the main plot hook which brought them to the Caves of Chaos. Death saves were made, critical hits were scored, the shouting and disorganization mushroomed. It was awesome.

*Bonus points for Jay; near the end of the session a couple showed up. They have been living in the area for a year and had not found anyone who games. They were desperate enough for some D&D they had to take a chance, so I made some new contacts!

EX1 Dungeonland 5e conversion guide now available!

I have just uploaded my latest conversion guide of 1e D&D modules for 5e rules to DMsGuild.

EX1 Dungeonland is chock full of special creatures and unique NPC's so I think any Dungeon Master will get their dollars worth with this particular conversion guide.

Please note that the Classic Modules Today products are not the original module. You need a copy of the original 1e adventure module to use these conversion guides.

This is my fifth guide completed and I've adjusted Challenge Ratings and XP awards to reflect the ramped up level progression found in 5e. In an attempt to mimic the old-school flavor of 1e characters will not provide as much XP as straight treasure.

My conversion guide for B2 The Keep on the Borderlands is the first one I did and needs a major overhaul to reflect my inclinations on XP awards. It also needs a major overhaul on "Spell Conversion Notes" and "Magic Item Conversion Notes". If you have already purchased this particular guide look for the 2.00 version going up Monday morning.

OD&D for BRP

Here is my suggested hack of Chaosium's Basic Role Playing system for original Dungeons & Dragons.

Roll 3d6 in order for your PC's attributes, except Intelligence (2d6+6). These are the eight basic attributes to be rolled; Strength, Constitution, Size, Intelligence, Power, Dexterity, Appearance, and Education.

Additional attributes are Sanity, Effort, Stamina, and Hit Points. These are figured per the normal rules found in the Basic Roleplaying book.

Skill Category bonuses are assigned the full value of your PC's attribute. For example; Intelligence is the Primary characteristic for Mental Skills. A PC with an Intelligence of 13 would add +13% to all the skills base values. Whether or not a PC can use a particular skill is entirely at the discretion of the the referee.

After your PC's attributes are written down you can chose your character's class. They are Fighting Man, Magic User, Cleric and Thief.

The Fighting Man adds +25% to any one of the four Combat skills. The Martial Arts skill starts at (STR+INT+DEX)% base value for the Fighting Man

The Magic User has the ability to read magic, and this is reflected with a +25% to Knowledge (Magical) skill. This skill begins at (POW+(INT or EDU))%.

Clerics have the power to turn undead at 25% plus POW. They also receive the ability to cast divine spells when their Knowledge (Divine Magic) reaches 51%. This skill begins at (POW+(INT or EDU))%.

Choosing the Thief class grants the PC +25% to the Climb skill.

That's it. The details of a magical character's spells and capabilities will need to be hashed out with the referee.

If a player wants his new PC to be a race other than human consult with your referee to establish racial abilities and restrictions.

"Leveling" is handled via standard BRP rules. To improve your character's skills you need to use them during the game, learn them during the game, and find ways to get trained in them during the game, etc.

Holiday Gaming in the land of Mystara

Something sweet about spending an early afternoon gaming and no need to go to work.

Today I hosted a BFRPG adventure in a new campaign started a year ago. New because the last session, session #3?, was conducted exactly one year ago to the day. Only one player from that original group attended today, but it was enough to maintain a grasp on the continued plight of Eastern Karameikos and the struggles of its inhabitants.

Brother Benedict, in the service of Taras Sukyskin, was joined by Brand; a poor fighting wretch from the village of Corroc, Harek; a fighting dwarf from the Altan Tepe mountains, and Elkis; a hafling thief from the Dymrak forest. All free peoples of Eastern Karameikos was represented as all the new players were coming from communities wracked by demons, danger, and unnamed threats. Something truly evil moved throughout the land, threatening the peace and prosperity of all.

Brother Benedict easily rallied the adventurers around Taras Sukyskin's cause, to rid the land of the Black Mirror found beneath the temple on the island in the Lake of Lost Dreams. The party disembarked from the tombs on the hill and made the two day journey to the shores of the remote lake. There they found the lake shore and island invested with marauding goblins still intent on bringing their dread gods to life.

It took the aid of curse born pixies to slip past the goblins guarding the island temple and once inside the party destroyed the black mirror only to find themselves transported to an ancient ruin, a once noble palace now desolate and barren but for time eaten stone halls. Where once they were below the ground in the dead of night they now find themselves above ground during daylight.

Before they have much time to ponder their mysterious circumstances they are confronted by a yellow robed man accompanied by two fighting dwarves and a lady armed with a red crystal sword. The yellow robed man says that the party now stands at the very edge of time and that he has brought them here in part thanks to their mighty deeds. He states that the only way any of them return from whence they came is for the PC's to secure the "wand of light" and hand it over to him. The PC's try to wrangle out some more information out of him, but the obtuse stranger only  mocks their ignorance and assures them that they will all perish in the oncoming and inevitable dissolution of the cosmos in mere hours hence unless they aid him in his quest. That they best get moving and search the lower ruins of the ancient palace for the Wand of Light.

The PC's try and call the man's bluff, suggesting if they do nothing that he would be forced to take on this perilous quest himself. The man counters that he must use his considerable powers to maintain the structure of the world around them long enough for them to accomplish their task, and that his fate was tied to the success of their task just as much as theirs.

Rightfully dubious, the PC's reluctantly took up the quest. The yellow robed man's dwarven fighters are ordered to accompany the PC's and to see that they find the wand and bring it back. It is not apparent why the others serve the man, but they appear to obey his wishes without question.

The party breaks out torches, establishes marching order, and begins to penetrate the buried passageways of this once proud castle. After passing through empty halls and unlit chambers they stumble upon a grotesque three headed humanoid foul and terrible. The party throws themselves against the monster, but before they cut it down in howling anguish it delivers a devastating blow to Xyzom the dwarven bodyguard throwing the impatient warrior against the wall. Harek is rend limb from limb as Brother Benedict crushes one of the monster's heads beneath his mace. The many headed, many limbed monstrosity falls lifeless amidst the sudden carnage. After killing another one of the aroused three headed horrors the PC's spy a stairway leading to the lower levels of the palace.

to be continued...

What I like about my Carcosa Campaign

Well, it's not really mine, I just play in it.

I took the plunge a year ago to participate in a Google+ campaign based in Geoff Mackinney's Carcosa  setting to play a Sword & Planet game. The non-medieval geometry inherent to the Carcosan world at least guaranteed I would not be interacting with the usual drunken dwarves, bored innkeepers or goblin infested slime coated tunnels which I had hacked my way through since high school.

I hoped the alien environment would force me to approach my play different. What good is gold on a landscape absent of society, safe water, and food?

I hoped it would interest me.

I was curious how OSR rules would handle this kind of setting and I was anxious to try out one of these new retro-clone systems which seemed to be firing the engines of these online gaming opportunities.

As far as the Carcosa game material being offered by the DM through the setting book, this has been great. While bandits and wolves in the woods and along the trails of your average feudal realm can put me to sleep, I seem to really perk up and pay attention when my PC is a half naked savage ducking terrifying dinosaurs, and storm cloud sized amoebas trying to traverse the naked plain or navigate fern choked swamps. The game world makes me feel more threatened due to my lack of familiar reference. How much of the game material we adventure through is from the world book, what is created by the DM and what is hacked from other published sources I don't know. The DM is the one who knows that. But I can say I do feel like I am in a savage alien world racked by terrible powers beyond my PC's comprehension. Once again, mere survival feels like a tremendous victory day in and day out.

Resource management. From torches to ray guns, where to acquire these different resources which increase my chances of survivable can be very difficult to lay your hands on let alone use correctly. Everyone knows how to use a +1 sword, magic wand or a rare and valuable gem, or at least give it a relative game world value. Buzzing robot insect halo surrounding a glowing pylon? Hard to tell what it represents or offers. Once again, pushing me to be more imaginative in my game play than I might have.

This also applies to experience points. Treasure is rare. Items of wondrous power are hard to find. They are either already possessed by some bad ass, or are difficult to access. Mineral wealth is also hard to dispose of. Old Ones are hard to buy off. It forces me to create a different metric for success each game play beyond resource stock piling. I can't just loot my way to a flying squadron of Carcosan's mounted on telepathic bats equipped with stereo speakers blaring Zepplin and shooting lazer beams out of their eyes. I'm going to have to do some work.

Social interaction. It becomes more of a challenge to interact with NPC's when traditional motivations may not apply. What does a spawn of Fasha really want and what does that have to do with me? All good game elements which will encourage me to stretch my imagination a little bit further again.

These elements all conspire (and more I'm not recognizing right now I'm sure) to make me place my individual game session play as infinately more valuable than the accumulation of abstracted experience points and "leveling up".

Last RPG Purchase was Basic Fantasy from Lulu

Since TSR's Basic Dungeons & Dragons with the Erol Otus cover in the magenta colored box was my first rpg purchase way back in 1981, it seems fitting my last purchase was the wonderful retro clone Basic Fantasy Role Playing Game.

With all the free material of quality available online, including Basic Fantasy in PDF format, I've forced myself to be real frugal with actual cash expenditure on rpg books. But Basic Fantasy did it right for me. A free PDF led to a Lulu purchase of the perfect bound, publish on demand copy of the game. The cost of the book was, like ridiculously low, and with a shipping discount being offered it was a no brainer.

The game gave me the house ruled tweaks I wish I had thought of while retaining all the flavor of the great game I first came to love.

I have further modified my Basic Fantasy with the best aspects I find from LotFP (also available for free in PDF format), and all those folks making cool character sheets, free adventures, Game Master aids, etc. just make this product one of the best rpg deals going.

So I'm playing now

Instead of talking about how I want to play role playing games now.

Not truly face to face, but on line.

Outside of my face to face scrum of a railroad adventure mashing up B10 Night's Dark Terror with Chaosium game mechanics, I have not enjoyed face to face play since 1988.

But the live play via on line video chat has been really enjoyable, and has let me try these lovely games once again.

But answer me this. Why are people thirty years later playing D&D the same way I played it when I was eleven? Seasoned gamers wax poetically on player agency, sandbox play, collaborative story building, the thrill of open ended adventure and what if. Why role playing games are so off the hook when it comes to social entertainment compared to watching sports or pitching horseshoes with your buds. All sorts of heady stuff.

Finally, it seems to me, there are a plethora of experienced players loose on line available buying into the greatness of the medium. I find them blogging, playing, creating, publishing here on line.

While available technology such as video chat has allowed instant gaming opportunities gathering a good gaming group is still something to cherish, and takes work. I feel very lucky to meet complete strangers on line and get nothing but good vibes, good cheer, and a good time. Now lets play. Okay, we head to the caves. How many days travel? Okay, what do we hear? We rush in. What do we see? Faaack.  My first on line game with the OSR was a trip down eleven year old lane.

Yeah we were playing B2 Keep on the Borderlands, a well known adventure relic, but that whetted my appetite all the more. I looked forward to tackling a long ago played treasures with a more informed, and enthusiastic intent.

So I was completely mystified why most PC's were against any other plan than to march directly to the caves, charge in, and have to with whatever came our way. My PC has survived three hack and slash approaches. Just barely. Bumping and grunting against psychotic subterranean foes. Jabbing spears into each others vitals, letting the probability die fall where they may. It has left me with meager gains, and a character still breathing. Not much else. I ponder a better way to ring the caves like a blood soaked rag filled with diamonds. I ponder the absurdity of the economic system of the Keep itself. I ponder the validity of stumping into someone's home, slaughtering them and their family, and taking their valuables.

My mistakes in this situation are numerous. I've not asked other players around the virtual table what their expectations for the game are. I have not asked my DM what his expectations for the game are. I have not stated my expectations for the game at the outset. And I sure as shit did not think to make the Thief take a full wineskin of oil with him into the ogre cave. We could have easily torched the beast while he slumbered on his rancid bear skin bedding. Could have spared Anselm the retainer's poor life.

A lot of it probably has to do with going along to get along. Finding a game to play live, whether in the flesh or through the internet, with others which fits your time schedule isn't always easy. And I truly enjoy talking with all the players around the table trying to forge an exciting adventure.

But I find a lot of resistance from the group to. No one seems interested in, say, muck stables for three months at the Keep. Watch the coming and goings of the place. How many wagons of food a day does it take to keep people fed, how far do these goods come from, do the hired guards seem satisfied with their pay or is their a high turnover, is the Keep ever attacked by the monsters from the caves, do the people love their Lord, what relationships exist among the inhabitants of the Keep? Does anyone live outside its walls? If I'm working out of this place paying top dollar for food and lodging why doesn't the group start wholesaling to the Tavern, Provisioner, Smithy, etc? Why are players reluctant to approach the caves of chaos from above, and spend days watching the comings and goings of the place? To recon, gather information of the world in which our PC's inhabit so as to begin to find the tools we need to exploit our surroundings, satisfy our ambitions and goals? But I only find my character in front of some cave entrance trusting to the luck of a d20 roll.

It is most likely these interests of mine are just not the interest of anyone else in the group. Then clearly I am barking up the wrong tree. I'm sure I'm barking up the right game though :)

Just Received Basic Fantasy...

And had a blast creating some old school PC's straight out of the book. I printed out some of the BFRPG 8"x10.5" Notebook Paper Character Sheets, and got to rolling ye olde 3d6's!

My initial character rolls left me with Strength, and Intelligence as my two highest stats sitting at 11. If I understood the rules on Combination Classes on page 6 correctly I decided to go with a Human Fighter/Magic User. This would mean "Daegan Fiend Seeker" would need a total of 4,500 XP's to achieve 2nd level, but would enter the game world fully armed, armored, and sporting the ability to Read Magic, and cast Protection From Evil (this spell was rolled randomly)! I chose race Human for the additional 10% XP bonus.

For my second character the ability scores were all 12 or above with Wisdom and Constitution as the highest at 14, and Charisma garnering a +1 bonus as well at 13. Can someone say Cleric! "Lamithe Vor'gund, servant of Balach" looks to be a perfect companion for Daegan, a learned warrior dedicated to crushing fiends of darkness.

So, yeah, I'm showing my role play upbringing  was solidly based in D&D Basic boxed set, but I feel I could take complete newbies to role play and easily help them create satisfying fantasy adventure heroes with Basic Fantasy.

If I happen to be so lucky to gather a game group somehow someway here in the wilderness of the High Rockies I wouldn't hesitate to use this rules set as an introduction to role playing games.

Erol Otus' Map in White Plume Mountain

Is so evocative, so accessible, so ready for any fantasy hungry GM to put his stamp on it that I have to make my attempt. I feel like my three characters from fantasy campaign #1 are suited for the role. The campaign ideas I sketched out in the initial post are essentially story hooks seeking to set the party onto adventuring. A straight forward quest. I need only to shoe horn this intriguing destination into the campaign setting suggested by the three starting characters.

Hacking Hommlet

Other bloggers have taken an interest in revisiting this 1979 gaming classic and prompted me to adapted this module to suit my imagined dark fantasy campaign.

Reading the other blog posts has me appreciating more and more Gary Gygax's advice to freely adapt modules for your personal game. For example, in Patric Halter's post Moathouse Operational he comments on the difficulty, stat-wise, of this introductory adventure. Taken as a whole the module contains a wealth of stats, is stat deep. The miserable little village is spelled out in excruciating detail, and yes, the evil cultists which inhabit the moat house are a formidable bunch for a small group of beginning dungeon delvers to defeat.





That is if you assume the whole rotten lot can fight as a well trained, highly organized combat team. I don't see a cohesive, tightly drilled combat team inhabiting these grounds.


I imagine a squad of deranged men driven insane by the horrors in which they live.

For example, the bandits posted above ground seem to have to spend most of their time holed up in the tower with Giant Frogs inhabiting the moat and a giant lizard, snake, and spider sporting lairs in the ruins just outside their door. Once the sun sets it gets even better; shambling ghouls craving flesh roam about the swampy grounds along with the more active beasts described above. I don't see how this batch of guards could be anything but insane after enduring such nightmarish conditions day in and day out.

My point is, the "human" adversaries at the old ruined moat house would be under incredible strain, in my opinion, from the putrid rot summoned forth by their diabolical masters and I would have their combat effectiveness reflect this in game play.

In town, paranoia and superstition run loose through empty streets. The townspeople shut themselves behind their door for fear of the shadows at night. The church, the druids, and the town mage are all designed to be in collision course with each other and the outside threat to their town. Enter into this teetering goatscrew comes the player party.

Their coming should cause a tipping point which tilts the table and sets all npc parties into action. What these actions are, or could be, is not defined. Here the GM would need to give all the usual suspects their own agenda, and a plan they intend to follow. Here is where I would try and establish the conflicting relationships of the npc's, and carry them out.

For my dark fantasy campaign, if the player characters decide to pursue adventure opportunities in this part of the sand box, it is quite simple: The evil priest is commanding the ghouls to extend the catacombs beneath the moat house all the way to town. He has been extending them to the graveyard, abandoned wells, forgotten cellars, etc. When reached he plans on unleashing the undead hordes upon the village in a night terror of destruction. The priest of St. Cuthbert, and the town mage conspire to keep the true nature of the danger the town is in from the everyday citizens. They are in denial of the presence of dark evil closing in, and will attempt to silence any who would believe otherwise. The druids look for stout hearts to give them aid. The work on the new castle is slow, delayed. The foundations keep foundering in unstable ground. Sink holes appear in what should be stable ground.

Per Gary's command you are to utilized this adventure module, and any module you pick up, to help create the larger sand box you want for your characters to play. And the Village of Hommlet gives you plenty of "factions" in which to play off fantastic relationships in a heroic world.

X1 The Isle of Dread, a thing of beauty!

TSR's The Isle of Dread is probably the single adventure module I have played the most on a repeat basis as a kid. Getting the Expert Box Set for Dungeons & Dragons was an exciting moment, as the Basic Box was now a flattened mess and dice were missing. The novelty of the rule book was great for me as DM for it gave me ample opportunity to wax imaginative in search of great adventure ideas worthy of my players.

But what made the expert set from D&D truly exciting was the adventure module included; Dungeon Module X1 The Isle of Dread. Offered as an introduction to wilderness adventuring and a wider game world, it was the stabbing female warrior on the back cover which fueled more masturbatory  heroic wet dreams, for me, than any other piece of fantasy art I can remember.

I don't think I ever gave this red haired piece of dungeon meat a name. Just another adventurer soon to end up broken, bloodied, and dead. I yearned to save her from the perils of the island, the certain death that awaits. But the god of D&D demands blood and souls and X1 is no exception. Especially for the poorly equipped party.

I routinely penetrated the dense jungle after school with my friend Glenn with poorly equipped parties only to have them be devoured by the insatiable maw which is the Isle of Dread.

This is another old D&D module I would love to give the OpenQuest treatment. With multiple party failures using the original TSR system the Isle of Dread highlights the inherent problems with those old mechanics. The complex adventure problems presented in a dense jungle setting really call for out of the box thinking more diverse character concepts encourage.