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I think this is the basic concept behind the snadbox, but for it to work I think one also needs to lay down a few piece of infrastructure. A) Connection between overworld and underworld (dungeons). Why are the PCs inclined to go delving in different places, how do they learn about them, what...

It's funny how this first definition has grown since the collapse of the OSR as a specific scene - roughly post 2020 and the end of G+. Having been associated with what would eventually be called the OSR since about 2011, I see it as a revisionist definition of "OSR" that derives from a...

I've intentionally used "twit" as it's the vague language of insult and invective that avoids the issue of vexatious ligation or threats of it. I am sure you can find details on why exactly one might think Pundit is a twit. Or you could read the more bizarre things he's said on his forum. There...

Not entirely sure, not spending long enough looking or running anything through Tine Eye etc. I don't recognize the paintings offered, but given they have a "digital fantasy art" thing and a smudged quality that is more concept art then Franz Hals, I don't really think any of them are...

Ummm. I looked at the sample...Not my thing and from a designer who has spent a decade earning my disrespect. Seems like a typical Urbanski product: overwritten, derivative, bland aesthetically, and lurching toward the worst sorts of 1990's design excesses ... like busy fake parchment...

I tend to agree both that this describes the intended campaign well enough (or perhaps the setting) but and that titles are helpful ... but I don't know how helpful. E.G. In the example I gave about the new players and the owlbear - the near instantaneous deaths of a fighter and MU (Why an MU...

Absolutely - I think the story from Blackmoor illustrates this sort of attitude and I've noticed it when running older style games for players coming from newer play styles. For example, when I was play testing Tomb Robbers of the Crystal Frontier my group included 3 new players that had only...

I haven't really been following the discussion here of lethality in older systems, OSR mythologizing and your own awful 5E lethality experience. What I have seen feels like a discussion that's been going on since the 1970's. Your 5E experience with the TPK bandits gets my sympathy. Bad...

I agree to an extent with the observations - not however with all the conclusions. In my personal experience 5E dungeon crawls were boring and I also note they are not popular with the culture of play around the game. But I think this is because they aren't supported by the products, design...

Castle Amber is rather unique - not Hickmanism like Pharoah (ugh that module ruins pyramids), and not Saltmarsh's experimental English style D&D. I think it really does a good job. What I find interesting from Coleville's argument and to an extent his inclusion of Castle Amber, is that I...

Of course - few things take as long as 250 page WotC tome. Adren-Vul? I still find it funny that Coleville picked Castle Amber of all the 1E modules to make his point. It's far closer to the modern epic then most. An entire secondary world/portal adventure with several chapters rather then...

On topic, but departing from the current Deck discussion (Decks are a fun item, they can really upend a campaign - sometimes in bad ways, often in good ones - and are fun to write. I wrote a short "hobo" themed one once I think). The Science Fantasy (for ASE) hobo's "Deck of Several Things" is...

I generally like Colville, his joy at playing RPGs and his knowledge of older systems make him (and Chris Perkins - largely same reason) my favorite contemporary design guys. What he's saying here is also think largely correct. Especially: A) Playtesting is important B) Shorter, largely...

Yes, it's precisely that B5 is a post 80's TSR product. I don't think AD&D does much better given the general disorganization, though as you say there are some good passages in the DMG about running less linear games. Unfortunately the circumstances of AD&D's production (as a collection of...

I don't know about a good thing. Many people enjoy the contemporary play style and it's not my place to say they should enjoy the one I like instead. But for me the main issue is the mechanics of 5E don't work very well dungeon crawling, even as they manage to preempt the areas where...

So I think this may be a misconception. Though a lot depends on the adventure and the edition. Certainly it's true that some of the later 1E, most 2E - 4E adventures often have a combat focus, early 1E and prior adventures, which are the ones that generally get praised and talked about, aren't...

So others have discussed the magic item issue, but I think what you are running into here is two-fold. First, and a minor issue, "Fighter's Challenge" isn't a very good adventure... it's part of the 1992 2E glut of content, and because of era and specific goal of creating a two player...

Agreed. Random equipment (especially a 3D6 set of options for each class) can both speed up character generation and if you add a few bits of color really help build the setting. Here's a general example from Necropraxis' wonderful post on basic equipment geneeration...

The Caves of Chaos/Keep on the Borderlands are not a single session adventure. Despite the adventure's size it's a sprawling place. The way to make things into a one shot is to make it into a very directed mission. "Recover X from the goblin lair", "Meet with the orcs of the X tribe, and not...

In the other thread on this I had some similar capsule observations on the B series to yours here - agree that best of isn't exactly great always... Horror on the Hill's specific issues (and it's pretty good overall) are specifically related to the type of games I like to run. That is the...