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Old School Campaigns

I have been writing a campaign for about 2 decades, but can't really get a group to stay focused enough to play to go through it. I usually grab parts of it out for little games but the whole thing has yet to be run. It is meant to span at least two generations of characters with some overlap to allow the younger characters to go on adventures with their parents prior to full retirement by the parent PCs. If I could find a dedicated group that isn't wishy-washy and always wnating to trade in characters for new ones then I might be able to refine it one day while the books are still paper not dust or powder.
 

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I'm running a BECM game right now; we're having a lot of fun. I ran them through a little bit of "Night's Dark Terror," and the siege of Sukiskyn was one of my all-time favorite gaming moments. It was bad a$$! They've arrived at Specularam, and I'm running them through a slightly modified version of the Veiled Society while they're working on some of their own mysteries.

That said, it's not a very old-school style game as far as mentality. I've adopted some 3eisms (I don't have them do the exhaustive describe their searching techniques, and I've implemented some house rules to get around 'save v. lose'). I just love the simplicity and elegance of the Mentzer/RC stuff.

And I LOVE the Known World.
 

I am trying to get an RC group together right now, but not much progress yet. That is my only old school campaign. I am planning on sticking to the RAW to start with, but old school D&D was made for house ruling, so I'll probably venture with some at some point.

I don't plan on new classes. One thing I'm toying with at the moment are "professions", which is sort of like an AD&D Kit but for non-combat options only. Right now professions I have in mind are Noble, Ranger, Priest, Scoundrel and Mariner. I'm sure others will come to me. I haven't worked out what exactly they would allow a PC to do, and how you'd get better as you level.

One of the things I'm thinking though is that "Thief" is more of a profession than a class. The Thief class in RC would really be some sort of "Swashbuckler" class (like the Arcana Unearthed Unfettered) plus the Thief profession.
 




I'm always a little jealous of the people in these type of threads. I've never played any version of the game prior to 2e (which I miss very dearly some days) and have always been curious about how previous versions of the game actually played given all the things you hear.
 

Just imagine elf as a class, and a whole lot of pre-requisites and half of your stats must be 16 to be a ranger, and you can get a little idea of it. There should be plenty of copies out there to try an older edition. I would suggest the red book set, or the Rules Cyclopedia myself. Your group may find it fun to try at least once to see what changed to get to 2nd edition AD&D and beyond.
 

I'm always a little jealous of the people in these type of threads. I've never played any version of the game prior to 2e (which I miss very dearly some days) and have always been curious about how previous versions of the game actually played given all the things you hear.

Except for my very first gaming session ever (which only lasted that one session), I've never played pre-2E either. That's why I bought the RC at RPGNow and am trying to get something set up.
 

I'm always a little jealous of the people in these type of threads. I've never played any version of the game prior to 2e (which I miss very dearly some days) and have always been curious about how previous versions of the game actually played given all the things you hear.

I too started on 2nd ed and then of course moved to later editions. I found out about
retro clones and made me interested in the old school systems. Now, BECM is my
game of choice (used to be C&C).
Why don't you download Labyrinth Lord or OSRIC and recommend them to friends. Its "in print"
and easily accessible (free). Gathering new players should be no problem. Stop
being jealous and start rolling 3d6 in order ;)
 

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