OSR This tells me OSR is alive and well.

[DarkCrisis]

Last time I ran B/X for people new to it they were surprised plate was so cheap. Start with 3d6x10 gold and plate is 60 gold. Yeah. Pool a few coins to kit out the fighters so they can keep everyone else alive.

LL uses a different tier. Possibly from BECMI? Plate is 250. Best starter you can get is AC 4 at about 75 gold plus another 10 for a shield for AC 3.

 

[Reynard]

I often wonder if people actually play the various B/X games as intended (dungeon and hex crawling) or if people use them more broadly for "fantasy adventures." I know when I was a young BECMI player and DM, we did a whole lot more wilderness exploration than dungeon crawling, largely driven by us getting the Basic and Expert sets nearly simultaneously. The Isle of Dread taught us what real.D&D adventures were and that's what we stuck with mostly.

 

[Mark Hope]

I've had the same experience - ran a BX campaign and the group was full immediately with added players coming along all the time.

As for the thief, we use the 2d6 version by @Dyson Logos - it's excellent:

d6 and 2d6 Thiefin’ for Basic Dungeons & Dragons

While I am a fan of the B/X D&D Thief, I am not as enamoured with the percentile skill system. In general I dislike percentile systems because the granularity is just too fine. I also tend to p…

dysonlogos.blog

 

[Jahydin]

And let me tell you, I've been enjoying the heck out of a B/X dungeon dive. Though I think the Thief needs help. Man do they suck at the start. Need to figure out how to make the Thief useful at level 1.

Agreed.

Personally, I use the rolls for "automatic success" in secret. If the roll fails, they can still roleplay their way to success depending on circumstances.

Also, for climbing, stealthing, and such, I make note that's for extraordinary circumstances. "Normal" circumstances should probably just succeed.

 

[Jack Daniel]

▯

 

[MuhVerisimilitude]

Fun fact- the original thief concept (that Gygax, um, borrowed) was from Gary Switzer & Aero Games. In that version, the thief was based off of the Magic User, and had abilities based on a modified spell system that could be "used" without fail instead of spells.

Can you point me to a rulebook covering this original thief? It sounds extremely interesting.

 

[Mark Hope]

Can you point me to a rulebook covering this original thief? It sounds extremely interesting.

It was originally in a fanzine. The Playing at the World blog covers it well:

Gygax's "The Thief Addition" (1974)

As I make my way to GenCon this week, I can't help but think back to thirty-eight years ago, to the first GenCon after the release of D ...

playingattheworld.blogspot.com

 

[Wolfram stout]

Can you point me to a rulebook covering this original thief? It sounds extremely interesting.

Tunnels and Trolls also did this where they had a Rogue class (sub-class?) that was a Rogue Wizard. I forget the specifics but I am sure someone could fill in the blanks.

 

[CapnZapp]

In my current game the Thief decides to Hide/MS and scout ahead. She failed the check of course due to sucking at her job, 6 Goblins got the jump on her and she died. Luckily her sister was nearby to take her place.

Stacy?

(See, I remembered more than that Labrador guy)

 

[TwoSix]

Stacy?

(See, I remembered more than that Labrador guy)

Two rogue sisters?

Man, Stacy's mom has got it going on.