Next year, I'm back to running AD&D

[(Psi)SeveredHead]

Reactive Dungeons: I've never seen EGG's thoughts on this. Where could I find that?

 

[ExploderWizard]

...no Unearthed Arcana. The basics will be just from the PHB.
...no psionics

Wise moves. UA adds so much power creep to the game that all the monsters need adjustments to remain challenging.

...possibly no training

Cheers!

Just be careful about removing this if you are still going to use treasure as xp. The PCs will become very wealthy quickly. I do think the training costs need adjustment though. Adventuring without xp gain just to gather enough cash to train blows. I think a middle ground with reasonable training costs can work.

Report often once this gets running.

 

[grodog]

Reactive Dungeons: I've never seen EGG's thoughts on this. Where could I find that?

My guess is that Merric's thinking of the section entitled "MONSTER POPULATIONS AND PLACEMENT" starting on page 90 of the DMG, but he could be thinking of some other sections too.

 

[Spatula]

* Reactive Dungeons

Likewise with Reactive Dungeons. Actually, it's less of a system-specific thing than a DM thing. Gary writes about them in the AD&D DMG, where he discusses the different approaches of a lair to being attacked, then being attacked a week later after resupply. (I've a feeling that running a reactive lair is much, much easier when you've designed it yourself than when you're running from a published adventure).

I bring up Wandering Monsters and Reactive Dungeons precisely because I think they're the two biggest elements for stopping the 15 Minute Adventuring Day. We'll see how that goes...

Have you seen the Project Slaughterhouse guidelines by Angry DM? I thought they were an elegant and easy-to-use solution to deal with a monster lair getting resupplied. I'm not sure how to adapt it to AD&D, but I'm sure it could be done, perhaps by counting bodies instead of XP.

Schrödinger, Chekhov, Samus | The Angry DM: D&D Advice with Attitude

 

[mmadsen]

Then too, there are certain parts of AD&D that have de-emphasised in later editions, and I'd like to play them up in this game. In particular:

* Henchmen
* Wandering Monsters
* Reactive Dungeons

[...]

I've a feeling that running a reactive lair is much, much easier when you've designed it yourself than when you're running from a published adventure.

When I came back to the game as an adult, those three elements became central to my DMing style, but they were way beyond me as a kid.

Running a module meant looking at the room number, reading that room, and then running a fight -- with no reference to anything else at all.

 

[Corathon]

Good luck & happy gaming, Merric

 

[Treebore]

I went back to old school gaming because I got so burned out it was do that or get out of gaming all together after 20 years. Even so, I think after you go back and apply some ideas you have learned from 3E and 4E as house rules, you may never go back to 3E and 4E.

Just don't be afraid to do so, though. 3E and 4E have come up with some great ideas and clearer rules, use them when you see the need. I think your biggest challenge with your players is when the game becomes much more realistic again. They will be dealing with "save or die" again. I had players who had, and still have, a hard time dealing with that kind of intense realism. I have others who love it. So I hope your 4 can deal with that. Plus traps are going to become a serious threat again, since finding and disarming won't be so easy anymore. Plus they can kill you if you don't. So the adrenaline is going to get going much more, and much more intensely. Which I think is a good thing, but it can be hard for some people to deal with.

Good luck, and have fun!

 

[Mallus]

We're shooting to play the 4th session of our new AD&D campaign --set in our old 4e homebrew-- this week. So far, it's been fun!

The group hasn't hired any henchmen yet, unless you count their war-dog currently being drained dry by stirges. I'll imagine that will change once the PCs square off against the Thieves Guild they've been hired to take down... hopefully.

 

[Agamon]

Reactive dungeons are an early D&D thing? Darn, I never got the notice....

 

[MerricB]

My guess is that Merric's thinking of the section entitled "MONSTER POPULATIONS AND PLACEMENT" starting on page 90 of the DMG, but he could be thinking of some other sections too.

Monsters and Organisation, page 104.

It's not a purely AD&D thing, as I noted above, but it'll be easier with DM-designed adventures and with shorter statblocks.

Cheers!