My second message-based game, “Beneath the Pinnacles of Azor’alq” (BPAA) began as a 1e AD&D Pre-Wars World of Greyhawk campaign, set in 579 CY (Common Year). As a dedicated First Edition “old timer” and eschewer of the 2e core rules, The last thing anyone expected me to do was look at the 3e rules when they were released. Which is exactly what I did. No one expected me to like the newer rule set. Which I did. I polled my players, then began converting my undersea adventure to a 3e D&D game.
3e D&D World of Greyhawk advances the timeline to 591 CY, a difference of 12 years. Obviously, I could simply rule that the campaign was set in 591 CY the whole time. This is not the case. In Chapter 49, the presiding roster of characters was turned to stone. They remained inanimate for the missing 12 years.
My hydrimera; part dire shark, part dire squid, and part feline sea lion, emits ink clouds which turn victims to stone. I devised the critter well before the arrival of MM2 and the chimeric template. Besides, of what use would an aquatic creature have for a goat’s head?
Since message-based games are run in a less rules-oriented environment, I still allow players to use the 1e rules, so long as they peruse the
Conversion Manual and familiarize themselves with d20 and the
System Reference Document . Though generated using 1e AD&D rules, the PCs will advance and be treated as 3e D&D characters.