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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Reynard" data-source="post: 4671760" data-attributes="member: 467">One thing that is often forgotten or misunderstood, I think, is that there's a difference between "wandering monsters" and "random encounters" -- and there's room for both in a campaign."Wandering monsters" are exactly that -- monsters that move about an area rather than stay in their lair. If level 3 has a displacer beast on it, chances are the displacer beast should be a wandering monster.  It's lair might be a hard to reach cave in the dungeon, but if the PCs encounter it, it's likely because it is on the prowl for food. And if the PCs are familiar with the concept, after encountering the beast, they likely know enough to go hunting for its lair (where its treasure is going to be found).  this serves to motivate continued exploration of the dungeon level, rather than just looking for the most direct route to level 4."Random encounters" on the other hand are just that -- random. Whether it is a dungeon or a wilderness area, random encounters represent the most commonly encounters found in the area -- and not all are monster encounters. Random encounters along a road includes peddlers and pilgrims, encounters in dungeons include other adventuring parties, and encounters in cities include trollops and strumpets. The old school "% in lair" raiting gave the DM an extra dimension to work with when an encounter came up, aside from the basic "number appearing" -- did the PCs run into an orc raiding party, or have the stumbled upon an orc village? Is the dragon out hunting for food, or do the PCs catch it sleeping atop its hoard.I was re-reading my 3.5 DMG in preparation for the campaign, and I was heartened to find all the random encounter charts therein.  I hadn't read the 3.5 DMG in some time and had been reading the 4E more lately before I decided running it just wasn't for me.  I had forgotten that while many aspects of the PC creation/advancement and the combat minigames of D&D changed in 3.5, much of the "traditional" D&D flavor is still in there.Ultimately, I think the key to running 3.5 with a "1E feel" is, as others have suggested, to simply run it like 1E.  That, and keeping things close to core plus some 3rd party stuff that might feel like the "old school"*, will probably be my most efficient tools, rather than trying to house rule in 1E-isms.*Speaking of, anyone have any experience with Mongoose's "Classic Play" series -- I was particularly interested in the book on dominions and such.  Also, what about EGG's series of hardbacks?</blockquote>

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