OD&D Advice wanted going back to a OD&D game for nostalgia

[GX.Sigma]

Christ, just go play Tiddlywinks if you are going to do that. Go big or go home. And if you do not rip up their character sheet on the spot when they die, you are not doing it right.

This is pretty much the page I'm on too. If you don't want to play a high-lethality game, why are you playing OD&D?

 

[Storminator]

Christ, just go play Tiddlywinks if you are going to do that. Go big or go home. And if you do not rip up their character sheet on the spot when they die, you are not doing it right.

We used to take the sheets into the drive way and light them on fire. After looting them, of course.

PS

 

[howandwhy99]

Death at -10 is really a good idea for players who are new to the game.

Also, B1 is not a finished module. You as a DM need to complete it before it's ready to play. That should be fun. Enjoy it and put in some cool stuff.

The world should have wilderness and town too, not just dungeon. Players are going to need a safe place they can go back to to heal up, buy equipment, hire help, find rumors about what's going on around them, and so on. The dungeon shouldn't be everything or the PCs will quickly run out of resources and the monsters will overwhelm them.

There are a number of things in B1 from the wax statue(s?) to the bat cave to the secret rooms on level one that can all be customized by you so they follow your game. All of it needs to make sense to you if your players are going to have any chance of exploring that when you run the game.

Don't worry about character creation. Go through it yourself and iron out any difficulties so your players can do it quickly. Have the answers ready for their questions. And let them make characters on the spot. That's part of OD&D and it's very quick. Purchasing equipment takes most of the time and you can suggest that be done together with you telling them the kind of dangers they believe they will be facing (i.e. B1).

 

[Lord Vangarel]

Nostalgia can possibly sustain a one shot. Thats not gonna cut it for regular gaming. Either you enjoy the gameplay experience or you don't.

I played OD&D for a year or two before going on to 1st Edition and enjoyed it a lot. My concern was the players are more used to 3E and Pathfinder where the power curve of characters is so much higher. It could well just be a one shot for nostalgia's sake but who knows?

 

[Lord Vangarel]

I also highly reccomend B2 - Keep On The Borderlands as a really great starting adventure that lasts for a long time.

Mr Greengoat, some great advice thank you. I got both B1 and B2 from dndclassics and planned on locating them both near the starting town so the players could choose either or both with me intermixing elements to tie them together.

 

[Lord Vangarel]

I don't think you should put a lot of effort into increasing survivability. Bob the Fourth was a staple of OD&D for a reason.

I well remember one of my original players from OD&D had Eric the Cleric 8 (the previous 7 Eric's met an untimely end, some quite quickly)!

 

[Lord Vangarel]

Christ, just go play Tiddlywinks if you are going to do that. Go big or go home. And if you do not rip up their character sheet on the spot when they die, you are not doing it right.

I do plan on going big at some point but want to lull the players in a false sense of security, they are used to Pathfinder after all and being like superheroes compared to the OD&D characters they've created. One of them has a 5 Strength and another a 3 Charisma.

 

[Lord Vangarel]

We used to take the sheets into the drive way and light them on fire. After looting them, of course.

I always remember one of my best friends getting really annoyed when his character died 10 minutes into the first session and literally tearing the character sheet into pieces in front of me.

 

[MasterTrancer]

R: Advice wanted going back to a OD&D game for nostalgia

Go RAW, with just max starting HP; otherwise, why bother going back?

If the players like it, there are 40 years of houseruling to choose from later...

 

[amerigoV]

I do plan on going big at some point but want to lull the players in a false sense of security, they are used to Pathfinder after all and being like superheroes compared to the OD&D characters they've created. One of them has a 5 Strength and another a 3 Charisma.

Just my 2 cents, but one of the charms of that play-style is to say you have a character that survived those low, brutal levels. If you start soft and then ramp it up, it kinda cheapens the accomplishment ("everybody gets a trophy!"). IMO, its better to go for the full effect and then ease off if there are certain things the players do not like than to try and ramp up to them.

Good luck with it!



I never played much before 1e. About 6 years ago my group did a one-shot with 1e and the caves of chaos (B2). Unfortunately, they picked the orc caved instead of a goblin cave. TPK in the second encounter. It was sweet.