Search results

If I recall correctly, it was a Rules Cyclopedia clone, but seems to be gone from Drive-Thru now...

I own both BECMI and Rules Cyclopedia and prefer ACKS II because of the cleaner layout, updated rules (including AD&D material), and the extensive campaign rules (building and running). Also having hardbound books chock-full of kick-ass, full-color art is worth the price as well: @Desdichado...

Oh, another touch I really liked was a section on when to "fudge the dice"; quite the blasphemous topic in the OSR! 😮😄 But I couldn't agree more, it was all in the spirit of saving time and moving things along if nothing of note would come from the result, like the last creature getting dropped...

I have an entire closet full of them. I've been fascinated/obsessed with them since I received my first copy of Heroquest as a kid. My absolute favorite is Quest for the Pixel which I talked about in my thread here. Just a straight up, dice chucking dungeon crawler. Almost every dungeon crawler...

It absolutely can and has lots of optional rules you can use to make that happen. For instance, there are separate treasure tables for Classic campaigns (standard OSR) or Heroic campaigns (High-Fantasy). ACKS II is an improvement in just about every way IMO. While ACKS was a cleverly houseruled...

From the bottom of my heart, I love the Trolls, but they absolutely are the worst when it comes to editing. I thought they were going to put more effort in this front once they started reprinting everything for Reforged, but doesn't seem like it unfortunately.

One of the reasons I like OSR combat more. It's not really roll to "hit" as much as it's roll to "kill". Makes encounters a lot more tense and missed rolls more manageable IMO.

Ooh, I love that coffee. Typically, I see this used: Despite being made in New Orleans, I always see it in Asian markets. The chicory might be that dark chocolate you were tasting. Here's a cool article on the history if you're interested.

I included Castles and Crusades because the entire project (when it evolved past just their houserules) was an effort to clone (as close as they thought they could get away with it back then) AD&D specifically so Gary could write material for them.

To me, going by what I've read, Hyperboria leans heavily into how Gary would have created D&D without the outside pressure to add Tolkien elements. Since that's the primary vision that drives all the other mechanical decisions, such as leaning into "Apendix N" and having a human eccentric world...

@Sacrosanct Terrific observations. I agree with pretty much everything you wrote. I too think the primary reason AD&D is so loved is because it's Gary's timeless vision of what D&D is. Castles & Crusades, Hyperborea, Adventures Dark & Deep, Dragonslayer, and OSRIC all market themselves on how...

Never heard of this one. Interesting read, thanks.

Great write up! I started to get interested in running my own D&D games in the early 90's and my parents wouldn't have any of it. Satanic Panic concerns were the primary reason, but my dad (who graduated High School in the early 80's) was concerned because everyone he knew that played were...

You can't just go toe-to-toe with the monsters like in 5E, but it's more forgiving then early D&D. Here's a free adventure by Free League you can look through to get an idea of what they're like.

Very cool. The new expansions that keep coming out look like a lot of fun. I have an entire closet filled with dungeon crawl games thanks to Heroquest, but the only one that comes close is Dungeon Saga Origins. The rest are fun too, but overly complicated IMO. Also, I looks like there's an app...

@aramis erak Good call with Heroquest. For us with parents that were caught up in the Satanic Panic, it was a great affordable alternative ($20!). Funny enough, same reason I played Palladium games too...

From the players’ and the PCs’ standpoint, any role-playing game is a group endeavor. Individual success is secondary to the success of the group, for only through group achievements can the quality of a campaign be measured. - Gary Gygax

This is also why Castles and Crusades sees a lot of play in my house too.