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.

Classic Fantasy vs OpenQuest

The short answer;

"Class" vs "Open"

The Long Answer (explained);

As Newt Newport mentions in his introduction to OpenQuest's rule set, the "Open" in OpenQuest refers to the ability to create fantasy settings and characters in a completely unrestricted manner. This is in distinct difference to Mr. Leary's approach to the genre with "Classic Fantasy", a Chaosium monogram. Classic Fantasy attempts to model Dungeons & Dragons directly to the Basic Role Playing D100 system.

Both authors accomplish their goals well and demonstrate how well Basic Role Playing (BRP) responds to "Homebrew" creation and game play.

Leary hews closely to the Dungeons & Dragons canon by first identifying the types of characters players are able to play. A characters "Class" is all enveloping in the world of Gygax, its game function mainly concerned with resolving the characters combat interactions and whether or not the character survives encounters. Each class has the requisite limitations which define these capabilities as compared to those of other classes. A players choice of race also carries the same net of limitations which further narrow the scope of capabilities, and therefore define the player character.

Newport's fantasy mash up, on the other hand, begins character creation with a brainstorming session, requesting each player to come up with a character concept. As the author explains; "A character concept is a one sentence summing up of what the character is all about." The rule set continues on as a guideline in how to translate the character concept into your fleshed out character sheet.

I love this type of game experience myself where the initial player character, while not all that powerful yet, is still a product of my imagination. This is the element I felt was always missing from D&D; the inability to play a character concept completely of ones own imaginings.

I was quickly able to come up with intriguing character concepts off the one sentence rule. It started to become a game of interest and brevity; Disturbed Wizard, Searching Sailor, Cashiered Ranger, Disgraced Warrior, Hunted Magician, Retired Gladiator, Etc... If you are manic about gaming all the best aspects of fantasy found in literature, or being open to new inspiration you can do this well with OpenQuest

But if you are looking to go Gygaxian, you should go with Classic Fantasy because, well, Leary has already gone through the trouble of converting the standard classes, races, and spells. A lot of hard work, I assure you. Unlike Dungeons & Dragons retro-clones, launching a D&D campaign with BRP's Classic Fantasy does allow much more in personal customization of your character class, mostly do to the use of a skills list, and the players characters are more robust overall. Running some friends through TSR's B10 Night's Dark Terror proved Classic Fantasy characters can chop through goblins and minor undead well. Proper tactics assure swift death to surprised opponents. True to BRP form, once these tables are turned on players, swift death can ensue. All in all, Classic Fantasy will give you a great D&D game without the garbage mechanics of Old School, retro or otherwise. Those who do not like a d100 system should not even bother.

And that is why I use OpenQuest. If you are looking for a great system for your own fantasy creations, classic or otherwise, OpenQuest gives you the tools to go right at it! It does put more weight on the Game Master. The GM will have to be invested in the brainstorming session during character creation with the players. Or the GM can offer pregenerated characters. Either way, it means more hands on time by the GM.

For me, this takes the form of ripping off literary sources, as well as available game aids to create classic "styled" fantasy adventures based off of what the players come up with characters. In case the players come up with character concepts which suggest other genres it is good to have several flavors of opening adventures to plug them into. Like I said, OpenQuest will demand a great GM if the group is role playing complete homebrew campaigns. Otherwise you will be practicing the time worn tradition of converting published adventures to your game :)

OpenQuest 2 now available for pre-order

Everyone should be well aware of D101 Games releasing OpenQuest 2 and you can pre-order the game at the company's web site here!

Get it, love it, play it!

Here is a link to a review of OpenQuest from way back in 2009.

OpenQuest and why I'm using it...

My first gaming years were spent under the magic and poor game mechanics of AD&D.  This led to the rest of the TSR line; Gamma World, Top Secret, Boot Hill, and GangBusters. While the different genres afforded great flights of fancy for my regular teen game group, there was always the nagging disappointment that I was unable to create a player character to my exact tastes.

This led first to Space Opera, Flashing Blades, and Pirates & Plunder. Then GURPS and Champions. The only thing which increased was complexity while game opportunities shrank and shrank. I eventually found my way to Chaosium and Elric! which introduced me to the D100 system for the first time. But by then it was too late. Gaming was now just an interesting shelf on my bookcase. Or instant death to dating if left out!

So this OSR is flaring up everywhere and my discriminating taste has landed on OpenQuest, from D101 Games.

This is the game which gets fantasy role playing right. It has won me over. It has resisted every attempt to tinker with the mechanics. When I mean resisted I mean after some reflection I would abandon the proposed fix which would pop into my opinionated GM head. Studying the rule set (as there is no one yet to play with) I could not help but feel I was being well cared for as a player. Hopefully this means the Game Master load should be very manageable, because I am positive I will have to shoulder this burden as I attempt to uncover RPG players in the rural Rockies.

It is an excellent introduction to role playing games for newcomers as well as the long dormant player. This is because of the simple entrance point provided by the insightful author by "Starting Character Generation with a Character concept. A character concept is a one sentence summing up of what the character is all about."

Anyone can do this!

The only issue I have yet to resolve is Literacy. A required eighty percent or higher is required to be literate in the specific language skill. This means many illiterate magicians with a maximum of 75% in any starting skill.

Otherwise I'm going with no House Rules!