Welcome to /osrg/, the Old School Renaissance General! Here we discuss editions of Dungeons and Dragons from the TSR era, as well as retro-clones of those editions and other games and material compatible with them.
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Have you ever used monsters from the 3e+ era for OSR? How do you back-convert them?
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Thoughts on this hit points / permanent injury system?
What would you change?
What are the differences between the revised and non-revised handbooks? Is it errata?
Also Greyhawk will always be my favorite DnD setting.
How's this for a hexcrawl hex format? Do the hex entries contain enough info to be useful without being too long? Entries are draft, obviously. Some details and links and reference will be added.
>Have you ever used monsters from the 3e+ era for OSR? How do you back-convert them?
Just look at hit dice, mostly. Add some special traits from their 3E abilities and attacks, but monsters in OSR in the end are just a chunk of hit dice with (sometimes) special traits attached to them. It's easier to filter down to the "low-res" OSR stat blocks than the "HD" later edition blocks, I think.
Having read your posts this feels EXTREMELY redundant. You could wing most of this shit. Is this meant to be notes at your table?
>00.01 basalt. claustrophobic. olm sump. 2 guards prepping food. ring of levitation
Is DCC OSR?
more osr than ur mawm lmaooooo
Of course I could wing most of this shit. I'm trying to help people who can't.
Then you have run into the same issue as when you answered the 20 questions.
udan-adan.blogspot.com
Ok, how's this?
What are your opinions of players being flung to the far future for an adventure?
For instance, this is The City of Greyhawk for the Greyhawk2000 campaign setting in Dragon.
But I tend to make it Greyhawk1000 and take a millennium off all the dates, brings it closer to the 570-600 campaign era.
...
How do you prepare to run a module, and do it well? I know that preparing a module isn't easier than writing your own adventure, just a different kind of preparation, but how do you do it?
How do you feel about class progression, /osrg/?
Should classes have a few linear progressing bonuses? Is it ok for classes to have levels where they get nothing but hit points? How do you prefer your classes in your games advance as they level?
I've been experimenting with removing additional proficiencies with int on character gen and instead giving them additional slots as they level with int determining how many out-of-class proficiencies they can take.
Devilman/Demon, henceforth referred to as the Biodemon class for LL/B&X. Spirits from a savage time come forth to destroy the god-bothering humanoids of the present, but for class balance have to start from scratch.
Biodemons Save, Fight and Progress like Elves, but cast no spells and must be of Chaotic Alignment.
They utilise Blue Energy like the Blue Mage, hackslashmaster.blogspot.com.au
Azure Consumption: The Blue Mage can attempt to learn attacks, passive or defensive abilities from creatures by eating them. They must save versus poison after consuming a corpse to learn the ability. Otherwise they are sick and vomit up the corpse which is ruined. A whole corpse must be consumed and this takes 1 turn.
Each of these attacks and abilities counts against the total number of abilities the Blue Mage can learn. However unlike the Blue Mage, the limit of abilities a Biodemon can learn is restricted to the number of Hit Dice the Biodemon posses, they may swap out an attack or ability for a new one at any time, but once done that ability must be relearned.
Examples of Azure Consumption:
Eating a Fire Beetle, will grant the ability of biolumisence. The caster can cause a part of their body to glow, casting light out to a distance of 10'
Eating a Displacer Beast, will grant the ability of displacement, subtracting 2 from all opponent's to hit rolls and giving a bonus of +2 to all saving throws
After battle, the DM should delineate the complete abilities available for the Biodemon to learn, and allow them to decide if they want to learn them or not. It takes 1 turn to learn an ability. The ability is a magical effect which means, for example, the Biodemon doesn't actually have to fly around opponents to confuse them.
Conversions should be made so that the Biodemon can have useful abilities of the opponents in the spirit of the original ability. Dragons can use their Breath weapon 3/day, and so can the Biodemon, with damage based on the Biodemons HD. The stinger of the killer bee doesn't kill the Biodemon, but does hurt him.
Weeb stuff is not OSR
Losing an eye is not just -1 to ranged.
Either make it worse or change it to ”damaged eye (dislodged cornea)” or something.
>First: read the module.
Knowing what's coming as a GM is important, especially as older modules often put ancillary information to the room you're in later (Lookin' at you Thracia)
>Second: Rewrite it in real people talk
This is kind of just a nice thing to do rather then a must, but I find that breaking down rooms into their base descriptors makes it a hell of a lot easier to do at a glance then the gygaxian turn writers sometimes take.
>Third, write the list of characters
Make sure you have a summed up list of every character players are likely to interact, including motivations. Modules have an obnoxious tendency to have write ups for one or two characters, and then put the rest in the flavor text of a given area. Even just restating what the module says all in one place saves you flipping and searching
>Four, Ask yourself what the players goal will be and see if it matches what the module wants them to do
Sometimes, what the players should be doing (saving the princess) and what the players will want to do (beat up the asshole townguard who wouldn't let them in when werewolves were chasing them) are two different things. Keep an eye on that shit.
Running T->A->GDQ Modules as an Adventure Path.
If we replace Zuggamony with Lloth as Gygax originally planned under the Temple of Elemental Evil, with the party accidentally letting her out. What could her goals have been to dupe the Cult of the Elder Elemental Eye?
FOE, SYM
Letting it out to weaken the other gods with the struggle to put it back in its prison.
Co-opting the Drow CotEEE to destroy the heresy.
A0 -> T1 -> T4 (First 3 levels) leading to Lloth's release (replacing Zuggtmoy) -> A1 ->A2 -> A3 -A4 -> T4 (level 4 and elemental nodes) -> G1 -> G2 -> G3 -> D1 -> D2 -> D3 -> Q
>Greyhawk1000
That's not the "far future". That's "Greyhawk but with guns"
>Devilman nameslap on an edgified Final Fantasy class
False Japanese Media Enthusiast, get ye gone.
FOG GOD
A0 Danger at Darkshore Quarry conveniently has a EEE cult in it.
So you do that, get redirected to Homlet, clear out the top 3 layers of the Temple, then flee from letting Lloth loose. The Temple goes quiet as they take stock of loses.
The party gets called back to the coast as a breakthrough on the Slavers has been made, do A1-4, see Edricva or whoever, connecting Drow and EEE.
They head back and clear remainder of Temple to try and defeat human cultists. Then they settle down or whatever to build strongholds and gain xp till they can start G, where we meet Drow and EEE shrines.
In D3, they arrive in the Drow city and learn that Lloth's manipulating the cult for reasons, killing Edricva. Therefore the EEE subplot is concluded and now they must clear the Fane and kill Lloth in Q.
Honestly? I would add a bit more. Not everywhere, just in some places where things could be expanded upon.
Of course, as-is, I could run it. But as-is, it's just notes, not super interesting.
Both look good to me; I like the first one better, though. I understand what the other guy's getting at, but fuck it, really, it's not that long.
I guess you could provide a separate abbreviated key for quick orientation.
...
>different people have different preferences for descriptiveness of prose
I'm not sure why this surprises you. I like to have the little mini-scenarios sketched out myself, but I know people like the other guy exist; that's why I suggested a separate abbreviated key.
>sperging out because of paragraph
The real problem is unaesthetic and overly large font.
No, but I've been meaning to backport some of the later MMs from 3.X. Wouldn't be much harder than DCC, especially since I actually know how to play 3.X.
I think labyrinth lord is my favourite retroclone, and I have no idea why
What are some good LL adventures/supplements
Where can I find LL podcasts
How can I convince people to play LL
Mutant future is also pretty rad
>I think labyrinth lord is my favourite retroclone
d1u5p3l4wpay3k.cloudfront.net
>What are some good LL adventures/supplements
Anything by Faster Monkey (F)
Stonehell
Black Streams
I like it and have used something similar. You might add a few more permanent effects: for variety, at least one for each attribute, etc. Maybe have a bad tier and a worse tier. Maybe include the instantly dead possibilty along with the permanents all in the same table, where you shift a tier for a good Con.
Something like:
1d24
---
1-6/really, really dead
---
2-12/still dead
---
13/worse permanent Str result
14/worse permanent Int result
15/etc
16/etc
17/etc
18/etc
---
19/bad permanent Str result
20/bad permanent Int result
21/etc
22/etc
23/etc
24/etc
---
Or, like yours, do a save v. death ray/poison then a tiered effects table if they make it. You could also spread the table out with columns for hit location, but I prefer to improv that at the table based on the particulars of the situation. Either way, don't let a good Con shift them off the table and never have a "just knocked out" or "now I'm mad" result:
The font I can fix; I've got people for that.
I figure I'll try to get as much info I can into the space I've got. 10 hexes per page is nice because I can fit 1 entire row onto 1 page.
>2-12/still dead
should be *7*-12/still dead
derp a derp
I think the Red Tide stuff is LL. Though the author has an... interesting... way of doing things some times.
Sorry, what handbooks?
Surely, osr =/= old school rules. Simply because you can use 'original, classic' rules to play incredibly 'un-OSR' games, plot heavy pseudo-railroads and worse. OSR has be a culture.
...
Don't give shitposters (You)s
Player handbooks and Dungeon masters guide. Is there a difference between the 2e regular and revised editions, or do they just have a different cover?
Is Maze Rats good? I know it's 2d6, but any useful tools in there I can use?
As far as I know they only corrected errata. That's it.
Anomalous Subsurface Environment is officially a LL module, as are Chris Kutalik's stuff: Slumbering Ursine Dunes, Fever Dreaming Marlinko, and Misty Isles of the Eld.
I like them. But what do you mean useful tools? It's pages of good random tables and the spell generation is a lot of fun.
Homebrewing and mixing and matching rules that other people have made to customize your game is a big part of OSR culture though and having roughly compatible rules helps that, plus OSR culture is conducive to certain kinds of rules. I am fascinated on what people would design if they didn't care about compatibility though
>I am fascinated on what people would design if they didn't care about compatibility though
We've already hit that point, and Its becoming very obnoxious.
The problem is shit design, not ignoring cross compatibility
It isn't anything special, it doesn't do anything particularly well and it isn't really compatible with older modules, plus the author is a sycophant.
>I am fascinated on what people would design if they didn't care about compatibility though
OD&D + Chainmail is the most fun base for homebrewing. My planetary game is pretty much entirely incompatible with "OSR compatibility", but I love the shit out of making stuff for it. Honestly, you can't let yourself be restrained by stuff like that or you won't be able to create anything really new or worthwhile. My idea is, you should take the *spirit* of the Greyhawk supplement and just take the bits and run with them wherever your ideas take you. I wrote my own psionics system, mutations, robot PCs, subclasses...
Instead of equipment restrictions, why not have max AC per class?
For example; Wizards are always stuck at a maximum AC of 12. So you can have a Wizard going around with a cap and a shield if he wants, or maybe he equips some metal greaves or just a big old metal skullcap, or whatever combination of armors in your eyes could get him to his max AC. Wearing any more armor then that isn't helpful.
>Op's Picture
How THAT came from an Illithid, I'll never know
Praise Thoon.
To risk sounding like a shitposter, that's even more dissasociated than equipment restrictions. I would just do it LotFP style ("soft" equipment restrictions tied into encumbrance)
my biggest beef with modern games is that past level one and two in say 5e (its what I am used to), You are never in any real danger. The push for You're heros! is so big that you can reasonably expect to throw yourself headfirst into any situation and still win. I was discussing encounter balance with someone else and they said to me "if your encounters carry the risk of knocking (a single) player out you are around the right level" like not kill, just knocked out. I don't want to kill players but I do want them to think, to be creative, but if there is no danger, they will literally just room clear by the numbers.
I'm gonna chime in and make the claim that you can't really "continue" on in the spirit of a particular version unless you've spent a ridiculous amount of time researching Gary and Arneson; very few OSR authors have actually done this and it's brutally obvious.
Explain?
>To risk sounding like a shitposter, that's even more dissasociated than equipment restrictions.
Not really. For starters, not only does this open up equipment restriction, but it simply means that the character isn't skilled enough to dodge and use their protection effectively. Someone without combat training may easily get knocked down in a suit of plate and get stabbed through the eyeslit, where as a trained fighter could be better protected with a simple chainmail shirt.
Also; more importantly you need to fuck off with this disassociated mechanics thing. Every game has disassociated mechanics.
Gonzo fantasy is, and it's not gonzo fantasy if you don't put everything and the kitchen sink in it. Barbarians today, gorillas tomorrow, necromancers and weeb shit for next week.
Difficulty wise death should be a real possibility but something within your players control, dumb decisions should have consequences but your players should have enough information and resources that they can do better than just a blind guess on the important decicions
That's a western game series that the Japanese loved so much that when it faltered, they bought it out.
I'm not a big fan of the generic anime aesthetic and setting but I don't see the harm pilfering certain things from anime that are actually good
Errata, switch to two-column layout, removal of boxes around some rules (XP for gold is in a blue box in the originals, but is appended to a paragraph in the revised), and additional art. And a disclaimer in the front that says "Thus us not AD&D 3e.
The big issue is that you're not saying anything you didn't already say in the culture write-ups. And, unless I'm missing something, you intend for people running this to have read (or at least skimmed) those.
>dissasociated mechanics
>ascending AC
FOE GYG
That's a mix of rules and culture though. I've played a 3.5ed game where the DM was putting us up against demonic mind-flayers and ancient red dragons despite those encounters being far too difficult for our level. We blew the dragon up with several dozen barrels of gunpowder. It certainly wasn't a an osr campaign but it's the DM not the rules that define the challenge of the game.
...
>At 10th Level, the Lizard Lord comes into possession of a magical Sunstone- a rock with powers related
to the sun, and a holy object for reptiles.
Reminder that Paladins have to obtain their special mount and holy sword.
Yeah but that's sort of their level 10 bonus. I make level 10 my name/max level and try to give every class something cool. Fighters get forts and an army, Rogues get to start a thieves guild, Wizards get a tower and magic stuff, so why not a Sunstone?
>ascending AC
>two page-pdf for half a page of crunch
>Someone without combat training may easily get knocked down in a suit of plate and get stabbed through the eyeslit, where as a trained fighter could be better protected with a simple chainmail shirt.
The issue with this logic is that plate armor is a hard physical barrier to weapons. It tangibly deflects blows even if you don't move whatsoever. Plate giving no additional protection over chain mail because you don't know how to "use" sheet of steels that are custom-fitted to your body is stupid. Also, if "just hit him in the eyeslit" was that easy, no armor that didn't make you blind would ever be worth it because people would just hit each other in the eyes all the time.
Do they vomit it up like a hairball or something? Is forming a Sunstone what initially sets them apart from normal lizards?
OSR is full of disassociated mechanics, you've just convinced yourself that they're not.
The fuck? Are the hipster grogs in such full force that anything that has ascending AC is automatically bad despite it being literally personal preference with no actual difference in gameplay?
It's two pages because the picture was big. Fuck off.
Maybe, that could be an interpretation. I'd say they can just find it, or are perhaps given it in their dreams by a magical lizard lady or something.
Why Ascending AC Makes Me Butthurt
An Essay by user
because there is already something called AC they should have named it something else
>The fuck?
I suppose you missed the last two threads full of ironic shitposting? Some folks are just mad that there can be things that aren't OSR, and so they're mocking what they see as exclusionism. It's just "funposting" nonsense, ignore it.
There always grog fetishists that balk at ascending AC. You can ignore them. To be fair, some of them are just trolling / being ironic.
Does anyone have S&W continual light?
Where did poor beef boy go
Why would I ever play anything else than OD&D, and maybe supplements if your players complain about lack of classes
Yeah, for the actual Veinscrawl PDF, about 1/3rd of those articles are going to be turned into this table. It's not going to be 1:1 duplicated content. All the faction writeups are being trimmed down and harmonized.
Just make them some classes.
If you can't homebrew and aren't already homebrewing your game, you aren't a real referee.
You've been begging for the past five threads, it's time to pay $2.50 for it and move on.
Some people like to use an actual game system for their games.
It depends on your campaign, generally AD&D plays heroic fantasy better than OD&D.
So this is is probably a stupid question, but is there an OSR "sacred prostitute" class?
>You've been begging for the past five threads, it's time to pay $2.50 for it and move on.
No
>OSR is full of disassociated mechanics
This again. Citation needed.
And while you're at it...
Yeah, this again. You never explained how a mage bringing home one lousy gold coin and stuffing it under his mattress with 4,999 others he took from goblins causes him to suddenly gain a new spell.
Explain that in-world. All you did was kind of vaguely wave at the optional training rules that only exist in AD&D.
How did Skerples manage to get his little module to the bestsellers?
Did he bribe the DriveThruRPG people? Sleep with them? Was it a slow day in the office?
I think it's just because a whole bunch of people bought it at once. The formulas then say that it's bestselling. It doesn't mean much.
Yeah, but getting it to the front means that more people will see it.
I'm not even saying his module is bad, but there are dozens if not hundreds of other modules that would be left beyond and nobody would care about them if they weren't on the bestsellers. Skerples is very fortunate that it ended up on there, he probably made a fortune on it.
>only exist on AD&D
>optional
AD&D's training rules are not optional and everything that isn't AD&D is literally either an incomplete version of the game or simplified AD&D
What is this creature?
I have no idea. Probably G+ humans, mostly. It got a tiny bit of exposure on reddit, but not enough to account for the sales numbers. It seems people actually like it. Anyway, I just crossed the 1/2 way mark to breaking even the other day, so the budget for bribes still isn't there.
I'm just pleased it sold at all. The PoD version will be up once I get the proofs back.
Specialty Priests of Bastet in 2e
And www.rpgnow.com/product/207191/PC10--The-OSR-Beguiler covers regular prostitutes
>suddenly
Leveling up takes weeks after you meet the requirements. Your assertion reveals your falseness, return ye to /5eg/
It's only a copper seller.