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To resolve the anomaly of the repeated 20s vs. a net negative modifier, the DMG suggests adjusting the target's AC rather than the die roll (so the hobgoblins' net -3 to hit AC -4 would be effectively an attack against AC -7 -- if they can hit AC -7 on the table with a rolled 20 then they can...

1. You should have checked for surprise before determining the encounter distance :) 2. At the end of a charge, weapon length, not rolled initiative, determines first strike (however, see note under #4 below). 3. When fighting the goblins, Yrag's extra attacks aren't limited to the number of...

1990s (the Greyhawk Wars boxed set was the first thing I outright refused to buy) but in retrospect it should've been the 1980s (I could easily do without ever having owned WG7: Castle Greyhawk or Master Wolf...).

Hi Henry, Thanks a ton to both you and Hypersmurf for posting that fantastic map. I love how complex and open-ended it is; it really brings home the idea of the scale of the place. A couple questions: 1) where were the paper-breaks on this map compared to your original? 2) what is that "hump"...

They are. The 1981 Basic/Expert version of the game is pretty fast and simple too (and if reworked a bit could've been even moreso -- extend the Basic Set up to level 6, include more monsters and treasures and all the rules needed for dungeon/underworld adventuring and it becomes a complete...

IMO D&D needs to be comprehensible and accessible to the mainstream, so that those who are curious can pick it up and have a chance of understanding it, but shouldn't pander and risk losing/changing its essential D&D-ness in trying to appeal to the mainstream. D&D should try to draw the...

That's the spirit! Two down -- who's next?

Remember that most of the rules changes in 2E arose from widespread 1E house-rules (including THAC0, d10 individual initiative, d20 roll-under ability checks, f/m-us only being able to cast spells in elfin chain, class-based XP awards, and probably more I'm forgetting -- I haven't looked closely...

I've always prefered 3 1/3' squares to 5' squares, for all the reasons you mention. I don't normally use minis in my games, but when I do I use 1" = 3 1/3' scale. Regarding your issue III, OD&D and 1E AD&D had a "space required" listing for large weapons (flails, two-handed swords, halberds...

1E will have you back, but, in all honesty as a 1E-fan, you probably don't want to go back, unless you're willing to completely change your mindset and approach to the game (for instance, instead of coming up with a character concept and then attempting to model it via the rules, look at the...

I really don't like the "everything scales at the same rate" feel of games like C&C, where a 1st level character fighting a 1st level monster, saving against a 1st level spell, or trying to disarm a 1st level trap has the same chances of success as a 5th level character fighting a 5th level...

That's a perfectly rational philosophy that I have no objection to whatsoever. However, as a player, I find the act of mapping to be enjoyable and pleasurable just like you describe -- I like, for instance, wandering through mazy areas with lots of turns and intersections, knowing that if I...

Not to take anything away from Mrs. Gygax (whom I've never met but have never heard a single bad thing about, and whom I'm sure has the patience and forebearance of a saint) but she had to realize what she was getting herself into by: 1) marrying Gary Gygax, and 2) doing so in mid-August. I...

I've said about a thousand times, and will probably say about a thousand more, that D&D desperately needs a "casual edition" that comes in a single box including everything needed to play (1 or 2 rulebooks, sample intro adventure, dice, perhaps character sheet blanks), is streamlined and...

WotC put out much less material for 3E than TSR did for 2E. However, when you factor in the d20/OGL publishers, especially in the 3.0 era before publishers started branching off into their own systems, much more material was released in total for 3E than for 2E. So I guess it depends on your...

OD&D: Temple of the Frog, Tegel Manor (Judges Guild) Classic D&D (i.e. B/X D&D, OD&D 2+E): Keep on the Borderlands, Isle of Dread 1E AD&D: Tomb of Horrors, Village of Hommlet, Against the Giants, Ravenloft 2E AD&D: The Terrible Trouble at Tragidore :p 3E D&D: (dunno)

OK, enough mushy stuff -- let's get down to serious business: I want to know much more about these dungeon carts. How much did you have to pay for it (100 GP like the "cart" listed in the rulebook? that seems like a lot)? How much loot did it carry? How were you able to get it down (and, perhaps...

Fantastic! That story with the map (and how Gary blatantly suckered you into it) is hilarious :)

The Holmes Basic Set was in print from mid 1977 through the end of 1979 (though backstock was still sold through at least 1980). Note that the "Original Collector's Edition" of the Original D&D rules remained in print through the entire run of the Holmes set, and the Holmes set wasn't a complete...

I'd like to think that Greyhawk is finally officially dead, and that the setting which, IMO, actually died the moment Gary Gygax left TSR, will finally be allowed to rest in peace. However, knowing the dedication and vehemence of the necrophiliac Greyhawk fanbase, I strongly suspect that sooner...