D&D 1E What system pick to run Tomb of Horrors 1E

[Cthulhugh]

So DTrpg has Tomb of Horrors available as a POD:


http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/176871/S1-Tomb-of-Horrors-1e?src=sub

I was wondering if you were going to play ToH and you were picking a retro-clone what system would you pick? I have a few retro clones on my shelf and I've heard around the traps that the original 1E can be hard to work out from a rules perspective.

I'd want a system that is easy to understand and would require minimal conversion.

l look forward to your thoughts.

Thanks.

 

[pemerton]

So DTrpg has Tomb of Horrors available as a POD:

http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/176871/S1-Tomb-of-Horrors-1e?src=sub

I was wondering if you were going to play ToH and you were picking a retro-clone what system would you pick? I have a few retro clones on my shelf and I've heard around the traps that the original 1E can be hard to work out from a rules perspective.

I'd want a system that is easy to understand and would require minimal conversion.

l look forward to your thoughts.

Thanks.

Some of the effects in ToH assume you're running AD&D - eg they reference particular classes, spells etc. In retro-clone terms that would be OSRIC.

However, if you're looking for a more elegant system I'd suggest B/X - which, in retro-clone terms, is (I think) Labyrinth Lord. Swords & Wizardry should also be fine.

Both will require you to ignore (or reinterpret) some of the spell references, and also those pregens who have classes that appeared only in the later supplements and were then consolidated in AD&D (eg I'm pretty sure there is a pregen paladin), but I don't think that will do any harm or be a very big deal. Converting pre-gen F/MUs (I think there's probably at least one of them) to straight elves will be easy enough. Likewise making sense of the spell and item references.

This is because, when all is said and done, ToH is fairly light in mechanical terms (to the extent that it used mechanical resolution, a lot of the time it makes its own stuff up). So the difference between systems don't matter much, as far as ToH is concerned.

Also, if you're interested, I think this thread was a pretty good discussion of ToH.

 

[RedSiegfried]

Hackmaster. If you're familiar with the system, you'll understand why ToH is the perfect adventure for it.

 

[pming]

Hiya!

Hackmaster. If you're familiar with the system, you'll understand why ToH is the perfect adventure for it.

What he said... And, just to be clear, the above adventure module was written for use with "Hackmaster 4th Edition" and not the newest "Hackmaster" you find on the core Kenzerco page ( www.kenzerco.com ). If you want an RPG that doesn't coddle the players, and where the DM actually is "out to get" the players...without being unfair or cheating!... then the HM rules (either edition) is your game.

I *love* Hackmaster (4th Ed...still haven't really accepted, or played, the newer version yet).

^_^

Paul L. Ming

 

[Lurker Above]

Yeah, you probably have to go with 1st edition AD&D or Hackmaster 4th edition, unless you want to do a lot of fiddling. The traps and effects are pretty system-specific to my mind. Let's just say the party needs at least one good thief. Leave your rogue at home.

Incidentally, the "Return to the Tomb of Horrors" done by Bruce Cordell in the late 1990s (1998, I think) is pretty good; and really expands the context and storyline, making it a bit more epic, if that's your thing. Much better than the boring hack and slash dungeon crawl that was the 3rd edition "Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil."

 

[pemerton]

Yeah, you probably have to go with 1st edition AD&D or Hackmaster 4th edition, unless you want to do a lot of fiddling. The traps and effects are pretty system-specific to my mind.

I don't think so. 1d6 damage, for instance, works pretty much the same in any version of pre-3E D&D. So do the stats for most of the (relatively few) monsters in ToH, or the free descriptors for many of the traps/tricks.

 

[DM Howard]

Man up and use AD&D!

Seriously, you could probably use Swords & Wizardry Complete pretty easily, and even Basic Fantasy if you flip the AC. If you don't have access to AD&D books or the reprints, check out OSRIC.

 

[Ralif Redhammer]

My vote would be for Labyrinth Lord, but really, Tomb of Horrors could work in any system. Many of the challenges require player smarts rather than anything rules-based to beat (the demilich himself could be the exception, if one were to go with his listed weaknesses as written).