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OD&D
Jul 5, 2017 12:52:42 GMT -5
Post by Scott on Jul 5, 2017 12:52:42 GMT -5
3rd session coming up Friday. The party members should start hitting 2nd level after this week. They'll probably make their first foray to the 2nd dungeon level. It's been fast and fun, but after playing AD&D for so long it would be hard to maintain for a long term campaign, but it's been an enjoyable experiment.
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OD&D
Jul 16, 2017 0:44:10 GMT -5
via mobile
Post by Scott on Jul 16, 2017 0:44:10 GMT -5
I was reading through some old posts where EGG was detailing the OD&D games he was running. He had the.ayers roll up 2nd or 3rd level characters. I totallly get that now. Starting a group of 1st levels characters has been a slog. They haven't played very well, which doesn't help, but it really doesn't matter. Any die roll could end it. My nephew sis joking the group, so that should help bring the level of play up, but I think we'll be switching editions after the next session.
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OD&D
Jul 17, 2017 9:43:21 GMT -5
Post by GRWelsh on Jul 17, 2017 9:43:21 GMT -5
I think playing older editions explains some things. For example, when Ernie would talk about going into melee a lot with his magic-user, I always wondered how he survived. But in OD&D a fighting man and magic-user aren't that different, stat-wise. Damage with a weapon is d6, right? Hit rolls are the same. The 1st level m-u has 1d6 hit dice and the 1st level fighting man has 1d6+1 hit dice. The only big difference is in AC. But if the m-u has a shield spell, then he might be just as effective in melee as the fighter, or possibly even better. Playing OD&D also helps explain the power creep for player characters in later editions, to make them a bit more survivable and fun to play at 1st level, to take away that 'slogging through it' feeling of "you're basically farmers with rusty weapons, until very gradually, you're not." One of my first and best DMs saw right through this and started player characters at mid-levels. And it may have been because EGG made some provision for this in AD&D DMG Appendix P: CREATING A PARTY ON THE SPUR OF THE MOMENT.
I've always wanted to do what you're doing, play some games across the editions as a survey of how things progressed. But my idea was to start with CHAINMAIL Fantasy Supplement, then move onto OD&D which initially uses the CHAINMAIL combat system, but then switch over to the alternative combat system which is the basis for what we all came to use later, all the while making use the OUTDOOR SURVIVAL gameboard as a local environment map. The next step would be to add in the OD&D Supplements, one by one. OD&D plus all Supplements doesn't look significantly different to me from AD&D, and I've always thought of the MM as a border product that still feels a lot like OD&D plus Supplements... The S1 and G modules have that same borderline feel. When people would say dragons are too weak in 1e, I always think of this borderline period when these dragons would be much more dangerous to OD&D characters who were holdovers from the old days with their d6 hit dice and d6 default weapon damage...
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OD&D
Jul 17, 2017 10:53:42 GMT -5
Post by geneweigel on Jul 17, 2017 10:53:42 GMT -5
Technically, 1d12 can still roll a "1". The rolling of the dice (DMG page 11 methods)is also a factor in AD&D. The biggest difference in CHAINMAIL era and AD&D is probably the accumulation of TSR product's new magic (spells and items).
I think the way to have them exist in real time is to think:
CHAINMAIL: war mode OD&D: meat grinder mode for playing non-veteran characters roll up on the spot for everything AD&D: vet characters who want every possible advantage tactically to keep their saga going.
Bringing them back and forth is just character modes that always go forward to AD&D.
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OD&D
Jul 17, 2017 12:59:46 GMT -5
Post by Scott on Jul 17, 2017 12:59:46 GMT -5
I don't think I'll add the supplements to the OD&D game; I want to keep it as distinct as possible. But the evolution of the game campaign does sound like something to consider in the future. For now I plan on rotating in other systems too, like WHFRP and Mythus, plus different genres.
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OD&D
May 4, 2020 15:42:24 GMT -5
Post by Scott on May 4, 2020 15:42:24 GMT -5
Does OD&D state how many milestones the hex when using the Outdoor Survival map?
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OD&D
May 6, 2020 6:59:57 GMT -5
Post by Scott on May 6, 2020 6:59:57 GMT -5
I found it, 5 miles/hex.
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OD&D
May 6, 2020 14:05:40 GMT -5
Post by GRWelsh on May 6, 2020 14:05:40 GMT -5
In 1973-1974 EGG, RJK, Ernie, Don Kaye, and others were playtesting D&D which led to EGG listing the Outdoor Survival board as recommended equipment in OD&D when published in 1974, and I've always wondered how exactly it was used. For example, were there any particular castles, towns, dungeons and player character strongholds located on that game board? Was it in proximity to the City of Greyhawk, with that fens being northeast of the city? Or was it just a hex crawl across an unexplored wilderness with sites and encounters randomly determined? A combination of all of the above? If so, it might be fun to plop this down as part of the Cairn Hills geography near Greyhawk. The five (or alternately six) miles per hex scale suggested for mapping endured all the way into AD&D, as zoom-ins for the 30 miles per hex scale such as on the Darlene maps.
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OD&D
May 6, 2020 15:02:03 GMT -5
Post by Zenopus on May 6, 2020 15:02:03 GMT -5
RJK has indicated more than once that he remembers which particular landmark was Castle Greyhawk on the Outdoor Survival map and that he would write about it, but AFAIK he has not yet published this. I will see if I can gather up some of his quotes on this. Here's the first one I came across: lordofthegreendragons.blogspot.com/2009/03/first-living-campaign.html(bolding added by myself for emphasis) Here's another good quote, from ODD74 on 7/17/10, where Rob describes their original system for using the OS map and also indicates he has recreated a map with the locations indicated: odd74.proboards.com/post/52947/thread (Rob has since deleted his account) Here's a reference to this project a few years later (11/7/12) on Dragonsfoot: www.dragonsfoot.org/forums/viewtopic.php?p=1295838#p1295838And a more recent (2/17/18) post on the R.o.M. forum where he mentioned continuing work on this project: ruinsofmurkhill.proboards.com/post/21929/threadEarlier this year Rob was writing columns for EnWorld of all places, but since February has been silent there as well as on FB. I can try asking him about this project when he resumes posting again. But at this point it does seem likely to remain vaporware like so many Original Campaign projects.
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OD&D
May 6, 2020 16:10:05 GMT -5
Post by Scott on May 6, 2020 16:10:05 GMT -5
It might me worth asking Ernie. He may be able to remember a few locations, Tenser’s castle at least.
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OD&D
May 7, 2020 1:02:48 GMT -5
Post by Zenopus on May 7, 2020 1:02:48 GMT -5
Yes, that would be useful, to see if he remembers anything. I can try on FB. I also remembered that I asked Gronan about it in his Q&A thread on ODD74 (he's since deleted his account): odd74.proboards.com/post/203677/threadI found he had said in an earlier thread that: I posted an image of the board and asked whether he meant he meant the only village (buildings on the OS Map per OD&D Vol 3) on the far left edge of the board. Instead of affirming my guess, he instead replied: There's no village "just" south of the fold in the center panel, but I assumed at the time he was talking about the one that is about six hexes south of the fold in the center panel. I followed up by asking if this was the location for the village and the castle ruins (which should be Catch Basins aka Ponds per OD&D Vol 3), but he didn't respond.
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OD&D
May 7, 2020 22:47:33 GMT -5
Post by Zenopus on May 7, 2020 22:47:33 GMT -5
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OD&D
May 7, 2020 23:03:42 GMT -5
Post by Scott on May 7, 2020 23:03:42 GMT -5
Yeah, Rob always had the better memory. And based on the proximity of the ruins to the city. I would guess they were in the same hex.
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OD&D
May 8, 2020 13:22:07 GMT -5
Post by GRWelsh on May 8, 2020 13:22:07 GMT -5
Thanks for posting those quotes. They are a tantalizing glimpse into how those guys used to play outdoor adventures... wander around, maybe get lost, have some encounters, find a castle, engage in some jousting, or maybe slap an evil wizard. I love it.
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OD&D
May 8, 2020 15:38:50 GMT -5
Post by Scott on May 8, 2020 15:38:50 GMT -5
When Doug and Mike (from my current campaign) were kids, they loved the random wilderness crawls. They would ask me to DM every day, and if I ever said I did t have anything ready, they would say, “We can just explore the wilderness”.
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