Search results

Almost every word of The Keep on the Borderlands is flavor-gold -- if I started listing off cool/memorable fluff elements I wouldn't be able to stop and would eventually end up posting the entire module. Just a few (in addition to those already mentioned above): orc guard keeping watch from the...

What he said. I understood what a "rube" is, but couldn't figure out what the connection was between the goblins seemingly insulting/taunting the PCs (which they wouldn't understand anyway -- the players are either going to think the phrase means "we surrender" or have no idea what it means at...

Gygax's explanation that the true meaning of Bree-Yark is "hey, Rube!" never made a lick of sense to me as a kid reading this module (I mean, I was able to gather from context that the goblins who said it were calling for backup, but had no idea what that phrase itself was supposed to mean). It...

Gygax's Necropolis (which, ironically, has been widely derided in this thread for its boxed text) does something like this -- for major encounters it has a boxed section labeled SHADOWS telling what characters can detect via various senses: Sight, Hearing, Auras, Detection (magical), Odors...

As a DM I'm best at keeping the pace fast, the mood light, and all of the players involved and engaged (even if their characters aren't). I'm worst at thinking up clever and original tricks, traps, and puzzles (which is a real shame, because that's my favorite part of the game...). As a player...

PCs aren't born special. With luck and skill they may become special through play.

Here's probably my all-time favorite boxed text from a module (I'm not going to say which one, but most of you can probably guess): Of course it breaks all the rules of what boxed text "should" be -- it's far too long, it has assumed actions and assigns thoughts and moods to the characters, it...

You obviously have a far different view of the amount of game-mechanical info the players should have than AD&D assumes -- AD&D tells the players "you can do this" and leaves the details of exactly how they do it up to the DM. That's a completely valid approach that works perfectly well for...

The three page section of trick, trap, and joke ideas in the back of OD&D Supplement I (Greyhawk) is pure gold, and just as usable today as they were in 1975 (since they're not statted out or fully described, just a series of 1-2 sentence "idea seeds"). Even if you have no interest in the old...

Players in 1E AD&D were actually allowed/intended to read the Monster Manual. There are numerous "in milieu" passages in the descriptions that seem aimed at players as much or more than DMs (and the famous lie in the dark elf description -- stating that they are only legend). Plus, there are...

In B/X D&D back in the 80s we had instant level-ups, including mid-adventure (and even mid-encounter, which saved a character's life on at least one occasion). I always thought this was pretty cheesy even then, and was amused to discover many years later that it's actually the standard in...

I think you've sold me on a 1-day pass for Sunday. How does event registration work? -- I'd hate to show up rarin' to go and find the event had already filled up before I got there.

Is that 1976 GenCon D&D tournament dungeon being run with the actual 1976 D&D rules, or is it adapted to that "d20" thing all the kids today seem to like so much? If the former, I may just have to make the drive down after all. If the latter, I'll probably pass...

OD&D doesn't have training rules, and neither does Basic/Classic D&D, so in my experience groups that started with one or the other of those and then switched to AD&D were much less likely to use the AD&D training rules (and other rules which are different in AD&D from those versions -- surprise...

Eh, what am I supposed to know? :confused: In BtB 1E AD&D characters require 1-4 weeks of training to gain levels, determined by a subjective DM-assigned "performance rating." Low level characters generally require training/tutoring from a higher level NPC, but characters with good performance...

The idea of D&D being "four, four, four games in one!" is cool (even if I have no desire to play two of them) but is at least somewhat at odds with the standard "20 level campaign-arc" model -- the idea that you're not supposed to just pick the one game you like and stick with it, but are...

I really have no interest whatsoever in the 3rd or 4th categories...

Spring 1984: Started with the Mentzer Red Box; Got the Cook/Marsh Expert rulebook a month or two later (it was cheaper than the boxed set, and why would I want a second set of dice anyway?); Got the Companion Set when it was released that summer, but never really played it (my highest level...

I like kensanata's map best, but I'm confused/disappointed that no one used a hex-grid. Were you instructed not to, or did everybody just decide not to?

The encumbrance specifics were actually only in the revised edition (December 1979) of the 1E DMG -- if you had an early printing then the encumbrance values for everything except weapons and armor weren't in there at all. I'm convinced that this table should've been in the PH and was...