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Probably a tad too much goes to D&D stuff... I peruse eBay and Kijiji for stuff from time to time... which has lead me to having multiple copies of older (collectible) books that I don't need more than one of and don't want to overuse lest they degrade. These days, though, I do find myself...

Ooooh! Now you're talking my language! Must... resist... temptation to overdo... it... aaargh... Despite 1st Ed being my system of choice, I freely admit that it does require some individual tinkering. That's a feature not a bug! :D No alignment languages available automatically, but can be...

First and foremost resume my regular 1st ed campaign... which has been on hiatus since March due to the pandemic. That's a twice monthly (on average) game. Make a point of writing up some stuff for publication. Maybe start a podcast/webseries talking old school... been meaning to do this for a...

Trust me, this kid was textbook entitled. Granted he was at most 19 or 20 so hopefully a little life-experience knocks that out of him. I agree with you that being selective isn't being 'entitled.' But demanding that others adjust to suit his own whims certainly is.

Earlier this year, shortly before everything went to crud due to the pandemic, I was in a conversation with a young and new player who was insistent that the DM's 'job' was to cater to the players in his group and give them what they wanted. That they weren't allowed to 'exclude' expansions if...

Death is a very real threat in my games (1st ed), but it's not exactly a meatgrinder. My current 1st ed game is more than 7 years old now, and has seen many deaths and two near TPKs - first one had a single survivor, and second one had two survivors but they weren't present when the rest of the...

Player fiat, really. As DM I don't dictate what class complement the players choose to have. Personally I wouldn't want to be in a game where the DM says 'No, you have to play <insert class> because the group needs it' or 'No, you can't play <insert class> because another player is already...

For 1st Ed, I award xp at the end of each adventure, however many sessions that takes. I track the monster XP as we go and keep a running tally for the group. If some characters handle monsters on their own and others are absent, I'll divide that xp up for those players, but either way nothing...

1st Ed Ranger, bar none for me. My 1st ed game has always had a Ranger, and even moreso than a cleric, the players view the Ranger as highly valued. Most of them hope to stat for a Ranger if their current characters die - one other is even bringing in a Ranger/Cleric on the next go. (1e...

This is pretty much the one thing I do - rather than allow specialization at 1st level it doesn't become an option until 4th level, and even then you must find a mentor who can teach you. Bow specialists must spread it out over to two proficiency acquisition slots, so basically 7th level is the...

You actually have to wait until your Intelligence score changed, not when you gain a level, so rerolling for spells you fail to learn is far less common. (BTB at least) As for the 2nd paragraph, that's what the minimum and maximum spells known # with INT is for - you make the list of spells you...

90%+ of my rolls are in the open, but will roll behind the screen for details players should not know. Things like stealth, searching for or disabling traps, reaction rolls etc. Combat, monster saving throws, all of that is done where everyone can see.

They have them posted on their site - The Rules Much of it doesn't seem to me to be like D&D anymore...

Interesting idea. How about this (combining some ideas put forth upthread): A caster may concentrate on a number of spells equal to their Proficiency bonus. If they keep it at one spell at a time, it's simply btb. But for every concentration spell beyond the first, they must make a DC 10 +...

Here's the link to his site - A continually-run D&D campaign, since 1982.

He's in London as far as I remember. I read about him a few years back when browsing the web for somewhat local stuff. (I'm in Toronto myself)

My core house rule is that before each session, my players must ritually sacrifice some 5th ed material to the great Gygax so that he will bless our 1st Ed table. It has proven bountiful and our table has benefited from his boon. Well, except our last game where someone forgot to honour the...

Yay! I get to be the contrarian here! I say keep descending values and THAC0, it's a far superior system to the ascending ACs, and less work overall for DMs.

I'm sorry, but I just cannot get on board with this philosophy and always advise the exact opposite. Fudging anything is a fast track to players simply not trusting you as DM. Bar none. The story is partly generated by the dice, and attempting to control that diminishes the experience. Further...

It has really only happened once where a player reached the cap and stopped playing the character. He was running a single classed elven fighter, and made 5th level. The level cap didn't phase him but he wasn't having fun with a squishy archer and wanted a burly melee fighter so retired him and...