AD&D Back in Print!

This probably isn’t new to any of you who read this blog. But here it is: Wizards of the Coast is reprinting the AD&D Core Books (that’s the Player’s Handbook, Dungeon Master’s Guide, and Monster Manual) with commemorative covers. These books will only be available through hobby channels, so you should be able to find them at your Friendly Local Gaming Store (but not at Amazon.com). The interior will be exactly the same as the original books from the late 70s. A portion of the sales of these books will be donated to the Gygax Memorial Fund, established to immortalize the “Father of Roleplaying Games” with a memorial statue in his & TSR’s hometown of Lake Geneva, WI.

I’ve made no secret of my distrust and sometimes contempt for Wizards of the Coast in the past, so I will also make no secret of the fact that this is the most exciting thing (to me) they’ve announced in the last 4+ years. Bravo!

You can be darn sure I’m going down to my FLGS ASAP to make sure I’ll be able to get my copies there.

Gary Con IV

Next Sunday, January 29th, Event Registration opens up for Gary Con IV, the annual celebration of gaming in Lake Geneva, WI held in honor of Gary Gygax. Convention attendees are like a Who’s Who of TSR staffers, and the events range from OD&D (run by Tim Kask no less!) to Pathfinder and D&D 3.5 (some of which are being run by Skip Williams). Frank Mentzer is running AD&D, Jim Ward will run Metamorphosis Alpha and Gamma World. It’s fantastic. As you might infer, there’s a focus on Old School games.

Actually, that’s kind of misleading. “Old School” means many different things to people, but one common definition is “Let the dice fall where they may!” or killer GM! At Gary Con, it’s more like an out-of-print game convention. One of the official groups affiliated with Gary Con is the Dead Games Society, who focus exclusively on out-of-print role-playing games. Of course, there are more than just role-playing games being played at Gary Con. I hear Frank Mentzer plays Ticket To Ride every year on Sunday morning with folks. There’s a 4-table Grand Prix run over the weekend complete with a track that takes up those four tables. There are wargames aplenty.

I am running four events this year:

DGS Presents: Ghostbusters – Bustin’ the Con

Event ID : 120301 DM Name : Hans Cummings Game system : Other Ghostbusters Game Type : Role-Playing Game Duration : 3 hours Start Time : Thursday-8:00pm Maximum Players : 6 Tickets Left : 6 Description : Ghostbusters International has just opened a new office in Indianapolis. To drum up business, the main office has the boys (and girls) in grey doing promo work at a Gen Con! It was supposed to be easy, boring: signing autographs, hosting a Q&A, but some pesky poltergeists showed up and the last thing they want is an autograph from Doctors Venkman, Stantz, and Spengler (or even Zeddemore). Event Cost : 4 Points Date Added  : 11/14/2011 Table Number : Unassigned

DGS Presents: Paranoia – Soylent People are Green

Event ID : 214403 DM Name : Hans Cummings Game system : Other Paranoia, 2nd Edition Game Type : Role-Playing Game Duration : 3.5 hours Start Time : Friday-2:00pm Maximum Players : 6 Tickets Left : 6 Description : Former HoloVid Star-turned News Anchor Teena-O-MLY has been taken hostage by a group of traitors who have assumed control of a section of the Food Vats. Your task will be to eliminate the traitors, return control of the Food Vats to the Computer, and rescue Teena-O-MLY. Your friend, The Computer, will ensure you are properly equipped to deal with all obstacles in your path. Event Cost : 6 Points Date Added  : 11/14/2011 Table Number : Unassigned

DGS Presents: Star Wars – Imperial Entanglements

Event ID : 314402 DM Name : Hans Cummings Game system : Other Star Wars (WEG D6, Revised & Expanded)) Game Type : Role-Playing Game Duration : 3.5 hours Start Time : Saturday-2:00pm Maximum Players : 6 Tickets Left : 6 Description : General Airen Cracken has been captured by the Empire! While the Star Destroyer transporting him was seriously damaged by a Rebel Strike Force, they were unable to effect a rescue. The Star Destroyer limped to the nearest port, the Nebula Star Resort and Casino. Your Strike Team has been assembled to infiltrate and rescue General Cracken while the Stormhammer is vulnerable. Event Cost : 6 Points Date Added  : 11/14/2011 Table Number : Unassigned

As you may have guessed, all three are being run under the banner of the Dead Games Society. It was kind of cool to have my events listed in the same section as all the VIP games. Maybe it’s because I got them in so early, but I think it’s because they’re affiliated with the Dead Game Society and I have built up points in the system for having come to Gary Con three yaers and run several official events each year. It’s a smaller convention, more intimate than Gen Con, and far less intimidating for people (or spouses) who are curious about gaming, but shy away from getting involved with Gamer Mike, the guy running Brandar the 80th-level Vampire Barbarian god-King who will DEVOUR YOUR SOUL ARRRR GRRRR YOUTOUCHEDMYDICE DIEDIEDIEDIE.

Not that any of us know anyone like that or have ever encountered Gamer Mike at Gen Con.

Gary Con is my “play” convention. That is, I get to play more games and spend the entire convention having fun. That’s not to say Gen Con isn’t fun, but it’s more of a working convention for me now. I still get to play a game or two, but I can’t spend the whole four days of Gen Con gaming anymore. As Submissions Coordinator & Publisher Relations for the ENnie Awards, I have work to do at Gen Con. Part of it is just walking around the Dealer Hall, talking to various publishers. Wednesday afternoon I have to help set up the booth. Friday afternoon and evening are tied up with the ENnie Awards Ceremony. The last two years, I’ve been behind the curtain, running the slideshow trying to keep up with Kevin Kulp’s jokes (yes, anytime the slide advancement gets screwed up, that’s my fault). Sunday morning and afternoon I have to walk the Dealer Hall some more soliciting submissions from publishers who wish to submit products for the next year while they’re at Gen Con (it saves them shipping costs and gives the new judges something to work on right away). After that, I have to tear down the booth. I also feel I should work at least one booth shift. With the average length of a convention game being four hours, that leaves me time for an average of a game a day, ’cause (and here’s my dirty little secret) I schedule time for meals, sleep, shopping, and bathing.

There’s very little shopping at Gary Con. There’s no ENnie Awards duties for me to perform, so it’s my Play Convention and Gen Con is my Work Convention. I highly recommend coming up to Gary Con. It’s a nice little vacation, especially if you have fond memories of the older games. The first time I played AD&D with Frank Mentzer back in 2009, I realized that even though the game was old and out-of-print, that was no reason not to play it. It’s the GM that makes a game good. Good GMing transcends any system problems. Give it a try. You’ll be surprised.

New Header Graphic

It should be self-evident since it’s one of the first things you see upon reaching this site, but I have a new header graphic.

Wesley K. Hall, the man responsible for the naming of this blog, whipped up a suitable header graphic. While the camel & pyramids were nice, they were the default for the template I chose to base this blog on, so this new, custom graphic is much more suitable. Sadly, I haven’t figured out yet how to get the tagline to NOT cover up his helmet.

If you don’t get the reference, it’s an homage to Major Kong riding the atomic bomb from Doctor Strangelove.

To Gazetteer or Not To Gazetteer

As I impatiently await a solution to the very heavy question of “How will I move the furniture I don’t want out of the game room?”, I struggle with an equally weighty question: “Should I offer the Gazetteers as a player resource during the Basic D&D phase of this campaign?”

The various Gazetteers (of which I only have the five pictured…maybe six if I’m forgetting one) were released as Known World supplements giving DMs greater detail about the Mystara Campaign Setting for Dungeons & Dragons. They, the ones focusing on Dwarves, Elves, and Halflings, in particular, also gave alternate character classes, such as a Dwarven Priest. The Orcs of Thar offered rules for running an entirely monstrous humanoid campaign.

Obviously, The Orcs of Thar is outside the scope of the Doctor Strangeroll campaign. But for players not used to the restrictions of Basic D&D, i.e. having their class be “Elf,” or “Dwarf,” or “Halfling,” the additional options in the Gazetteers might make them a little more comfortable with the older rules. I don’t know how it’ll affect the power level of the game, though. I’ve never known anyone who used the Gazetteers. By the time they came out, I was pretty much only paying attention to AD&D myself, so I ignored them. Of course, now that I’m going back and looking at them, acquiring them for the first time from the secondary market, I know what I’m missing. There was a lot of good fluff in those old books. I could easily see myself running several campaigns of Basic D&D using the nothing but the Rules Cyclopedia and the Gazetteers. It’s still a very good game.

Have any of you ever experienced D&D with the Gazetteers? Or known anyone who has? I’m interested to know what people’s experiences are.

Dungeons & Dragons, Fifth Edition

First, the New York Times announced it. Then, Wizard of the Coast confirmed it: the fifth edition of Dungeons & Dragons is in development. I’ll get to my personal feelings in a moment. First, for this blog and the Doctor Strangeroll project, all it means is a little bit more built-in longevity. I expect 5E to be available by the time I run a group through three Classic adventures using Basic D&D, AD&D, Pathfinder, and D&D 4E. If it’s not actually out yet, then I’d wager playtest rules will be available at the very least (and yes, I signed up for playtest info). If they’re not, well, we’ll just revisit these adventures when 5E IS available.

Now, I’ve never made any secret of the fact that D&D 4E wasn’t my favorite edition, and I don’t hold high hopes that D&D 5E will reclaim the Favorite RPG Crown of my heart. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve come to prefer more rules-light systems. Honestly, I don’t see D&D moving in that direction. I’ll bet most people who play D&D and love it enough to actively participate in a playtest prefer systems with a lot of “crunch.” Those who don’t have probably already moved on to other systems and Hasbro/WotC will have a hard time getting them to switch back.

There are myriad website that are going over the various announcements line-by-line and interpreting them for you. I’m not going to do that because I’m not a news analyst. If the new game is good and fits my needs, I’ll probably play it. If it’s too complex, or I otherwise just don’t like it as much as an older edition, I won’t. It’s that simple.

How I Got Started

While I put together a gaming group and my gaming room, there actually isn’t much to talk about regarding the old adventures I might run, since I don’t know which I might actually run. I can talk about how I got started playing role-playing games.

It was around 1982 (yikes, 30 years ago!). One of my friends rode the bus with me. His mother was a nurse who worked the early shift, so she’d drop him off at our house on her way to work. As I recall, the bus didn’t show up until about 8 AM in those days and he’d get there at 6 AM. I wasn’t a rude kid, so I got up early enough to spend that time with him. One day, he told me about this game to which one of the kids in his neighborhood introduced him. He showed it to me. It was in a magenta box and had a picture of a warrior and wizard facing off against a dragon. The game? Dungeons & Dragons.

I was hooked.

My recollection is we played it every morning and whenever we got together on the weekends (I’m sure it was actually more infrequent than that). We tried to get all our friends in on it. As soon as I saved up enough allowance, I ran out and looked for my own copy. This was in the days where you could find D&D in toy stores, hobby shops, and even grocery stores (I think I bought my copy of Monster Manual II at Kroger).

I couldn’t find a Basic Set right away, or thought I didn’t need it since we had his, so I bought the Expert Set. Eventually, and the time scale is really fuzzy after 30 years, I bought my own copy of the Basic Set once the Library copy (yeah, we had the D&D Basic Set in our Public Library) I kept checking out started to fall apart. The Basic Set I have pictured was out of print though, so I ended up with the Mentzer Revision (the red box upon which WotC based their new starter set for D&D 4E).

Purists will say I was mixing and matching two editions, but there was really so few differences in play between the two, we never noticed. In fact, we also started buying up the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons books and mixing those in, as well. On some level, I understood they were different games, but it all looked the same to me. I didn’t understand things like encumbrance or even how experience points worked. I interpreted 100 XP + 1/HP to mean that your character gain hit points from defeating certain monsters.

You know what? We had a hell of a lot of fun playing those games we didn’t fully understand.

To this day, I find the artwork of Erol Otus and Larry Elmore to be far more evocative than the modern D&D artists. There was something weird, something organic about Erol Otus’s stuff, something fantastic.

Over the years, I switched to AD&D fully, but I still bought the D&D stuff. I don’t think I ever played an elf or a dwarf as a class once I figured out AD&D, but looking back, I appreciate the elegant simplicity in those rules. I treasure my copy of the D&D Rules Cyclopedia and wish I had a second copy so when I start this project in earnest, I could have a table copy. I thank my lucky stars I was able to get a PDF version of it before WotC pulled the plugged on all their PDFs. It’s been invaluable for adventure prep; I ran a Rules Cyclopedia D&D game last year at Gary Con with 6 enthusiastic players.

* None of them had signed up for the game. All my per-registered players were no shows. When these guys saw I was running basic D&D, they became excited and called their friends over to join in. Frank Mentzer even stopped by and watched a round of combat. I can only imagine what was going through his mind to watch a table of men play the game he and his friend Gary created so long ago.

Now, thirty years after I started to play D&D, I’m preparing to embark upon a new campaign, with the same (or nearly so) game I played then.  It’s going to be epic.

 

The High-Level Adventures

This one is a doozy. Basic D&D goes up to level 36. AD&D has no theoretical upper limit. D&D 3.X maxes out at 20 for normal play, then moves to Epic-level play at 21+. Pathfinder tops out at level 20. D&D 4E goes to level 30.

I don’t recall playing any game of D&D past the low-teens. Ever. There also weren’t a lot of adventures written for those levels back in the day. The highest-level adventure I own is for characters of levels 16-20 written for Pathfinder. Fortunately, each successive edition of D&D featured a power jump, so what works for 14th-level in AD&D is a cake walk for 14th-level Pathfinder or D&D 4E characters.

Conversion of these adventures will be more challenging, I think, so I’ll have to consider very carefully what to do to make it as close to the original as possible.

Coliseum Morpheuon (Pathfinder, 16-20)	Q1: Queen of the Demonweb Pits (AD&D 1st Edition, 10-14)
D1: Descent into the Depths of the Earth (AD&D 1st Edition, 9-14)	Queen of Lies (D&D 3.5, 11th level)
D2: Shrine of the Kuo-Toa (AD&D 1st Edition, 9-14)	R3: Rappan Athuk 3 – The Dungeon of Graves: The Lower Levels (D&D 3.0, 12th level+)
D3: Vault of the Drow (AD&D 1st Edition, 10-14)	S1: Tomb of Horrors (AD&D 1st Edition, 10-14)
EX1: Dungeonland (AD&D 1st Edition, 9-12)	S3: Expedition to the Barrier Peaks (AD&D 1st Edition, 8-12)
EX2: The Land Beyond the Magic Mirror (AD&D 1st Edition, 9-12)	WG5: Mordenkainen’s Magnificent Adventure (AD&D 1st Edition)
G1: Steading of the Hill Giant Chief (AD&D 1st Edition, 8-12)	D3: The Demon Within (D&D 3.5, 11th level+)
G2: The Glacial Rift of the Frost Giant Jarl (AD&D 1st Edition, 8-12)	J2: Guardians of Dragonfall (D&D 3.5, 11th level)
G3: Hall of the Fire Giant King (AD&D 1st Edition, 8-12)

As before, the adventures I’m favoring are highlighted in bold.

I’ve probably read these adventures more than any of the others I own. I’ve played parts of most of them. One brilliant idea I had for running Steading of the Hill Giant Chief is to build the steading out of my old Lincoln Logs. Also, my copy of D3: Vault of the Drow is signed by both Gary Gygax and cover artist Erol Otus. Gary signed it in 2007, at the last Gen Con he attended.

I’m not sure if I told Gary Gygax how influential his game has been in my life. I’m pretty sure I didn’t mention that every one of my friends I have because of D&D (my wife is my ONLY close friend I did not meet as a direct result of playing role-playing games). My life would have taken a very different path indeed were it not for D&D, and such a different path it would have been, I cannot even begin to imagine what it would be. I am very glad to have met him, though. That was one of the best Gen Cons ever.

The Mid-Level Adventures

This was a harder category to define than “low-level.” Low-level was easy: they start at 1 (or in one case, 0). But where does mid-level begin? 4? 6? 11?

In most versions of D&D, it feels to me like mid-level sort of kicks off at 4th level. Even squishy classes like magic-users or wizards can stand up to a house cat or goblin. Fights can still turn deadly, but usually you’re not in danger of dying to one hit. The characters are no longer wet-behind-the-ears neophytes. Of course, in modern editions of D&D, the power level has been upped to where even a first level character is arguably more powerful than a 2nd- or 3rd-level character from Basic D&D or AD&D. Of course, with an increase in character power level comes an increase in (most) monster power levels.

So, for my purposes, I’m considering mid-level to start at level 4 for Basic D&D, AD&D, and D&D 3.X/Pathfinder. For D&D 4E, mid-level starts at the Paragon tier, i.e. level 11. Most of the adventures I own fall into this category, including many of the classic adventure series TSR published in the 80s.

Choose from this list is really challenging as there are so many great adventures here. It’s tempting to choose not just one, but an entire series to run (like the Slavelords series or the Desert of Desolation). I may have to remain flexible and if we choose to go through the first in the series, and the players want to learn how the story ends, just play through the rest of the series before moving on to the next system or tier. As before, I highlighted in bold the adventures at the top of my list.

A1: Slave Pits of the Undercity (AD&D 1st Edition, 4-7)	R2: Rappan Athuk 2 – The Dungeon of Graves: The Middle Levels (D&D 3.0, 7th level+)
A2: Secret of the Slavers Stockade (AD&D 1st Edition, 4-7)	Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil (D&D 3rd Edition, 4-14)
A3: Assault on the Aerie of the Slave Lords (AD&D 1st Edition, 4-7)	S2: White Plume Mountain (AD&D 1st Edition, 5-10)
A4: In the Dungeons of the Slave Lords (AD&D 1st Edition, 4-7)	S4: The Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth (AD&D 1st Edition, 6-10)
C1: The Hidden Shrine of Tamoachan (AD&D 1st Edition, 5-7)	Temple of the Half-Born (Pathfinder, 7-8)
C2: The Ghost Tower of Inverness (AD&D 1st Edition, 5-7)	The Banewarrens (D&D 3.0, 6-10)
Courts of the Shadow Fey (D&D 4E, 12-15)	The Night of Dissolution (D&D 3.5, 4-9)
D4: Hungry are the Dead (D&D 3.5, 6th level)	UK1: Beyond the Crystal Cave (AD&D 1st Edition, 4-7)
DCC50: Vault of the Iron Overlord (D&D 3.5, 7-9)	Voyage of the Golden Dragon (D&D 3.5, 7th level)
E1: Carnival of Tears (D&D 3.5, 5th level)	Whispers of the Vampire’s Blade (D&D 3.5, 4th level)
FRC2: Curse of the Azure Bonds (AD&D 2nd Editoin, 6-9)	X4: Master of the Desert Nomads (Basic D&D, 6-9)
Grasp of the Emerald Claw (D&D 3.5, 6th level)	X5: Temple of Death (Basic D&D, 6-10)
I1: Dwellers of the Forbidden City (AD&D 1st Edition, 4-7)	W2: River Into Darkness (D&D 3.5, 4th level)
I3: Pharaoh (AD&D 1st Edition, 5-7)	J1: Entombed with the Pharaohs (D&D 3.5, 6th level)
I4: Oasis of the White Palm (AD&D 1st Edition, 6-8)	J3: Crucible of Chaos (D&D 3.5, 8th level)
I5: Lost Tomb of Martek (AD&D 1st Edition, 7-9)	U1: Gallery of Evil (D&D 3.5, 8th level)
I6: Ravenloft (AD&D 1st Edition, 5-7)	D2: Seven Swords of Sin (D&D 3.5, 7th level)
Lost Coins & Flying Bones (Pathfinder, 5-6)	W1: Conquest of Bloodsworn Vale (D&D 3.5, 6th level)
OA5: Mad Monkey vs. the Dragon Claw* (AD&D 1st Edition, 6-9)	W3: Flight of the Red Raven (D&D 3.5, 4th level)
	D1.5: Revenge of the Kobold King (D&D 3.5, 5th level)

Are there obvious adventures I’m missing on this list? Classics I don’t have or may not know about? I might be inclined to seek out a few of them, though some are rare enough and expensive enough on the secondary market that it would require donations of cash or the adventure itself to get me to consider purchasing it.

* The title alone would normally make me include it in my Top Choices list, but Oriental Adventures has a different class list and feel than standard D&D. I’ll probably stick to more occidental-style adventures.

The Low-Level Adventures

I currently own twenty-four low-level adventure from which to choose. I define low-level here as being designed for characters of starting level between 1 and 3, except in the case of D&D 4E, where I’m just including Heroic Tier (level 1-10). I doubt I’ll choose any D&D 4E adventures, however, because they haven’t been out long enough to be considered “Classic” by most definitions of that word.

One could make the argument that I should only consider modules from Basic D&D and AD&D since even D&D 3.X and Pathfinder could be considered too modern for any adventures achieve “Classic” status. I’ve also omitted Pathfinder Adventure path books from this list, though it might be interested to run an adventure path through the grinder of four different editions. Someday. That would be exhausting, I think.

I’ve bolded the adventures I’m leaning to choosing for the Low-Level Adventure. I’m basing my choices on what I think people have at least heard of, even if they don’t have first-hand experience with them, but not so common that most players could know all the important details (like The Village of Hommlet or Keep on the Borderlands). Ultimately, I’ll probably lay out half-a-dozen adventures, and let the group have a vote.

Arena of Souls (Pathfinder, 3-4)		T1: The Village of Hommlet (AD&D 1st Edition, Intro – Novice)
B2: Keep on the Borderlands (Basic D&D, 1-3)		The Sinister Secret of Whiterock (D&D 3.5, 1-3)
B3: Palace of the Silver Princess (Basic D&D, 1-3)		The Tomb of Abysthor (D&D 3.0, 2-8)
D1: Crown of the Kobold King (Pathfinder, 2nd level)		U1: The Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh (AD&D 1st Edition, 1-3)
FRC1: Ruins of Adventure (AD&D 1st Edition, 1+)		U2: Danger at Dunwater (AD&D 1st Edition, 1-4)
Keep Away from the Borderlands! (Pathfinder, 1st level)		U3: The Final Enemy (AD&D 1st Edition, 3-5)
L1: The Secret of Bone Hill (AD&D 1st Edition, 2-4)		We Be Goblins (Pathfinder, 1st level)
L2: Assassin’s Knot (AD&D 1st Edition, 2-5)		Wrath of the River King (D&D 4E, 4-6)
N1: Against the Cult of the Reptile God (AD&D 1st Edition, 1-3)		X1: The Isle of Dread (Basic D&D, 3-7)
N4: Treasure Hunt (AD&D 1st Edition, 0-1)		U2: Hangman’s Noose (D&D 3.5, 1st level)
R1: Rappan Athuk – The Dungeon of Graves: The Upper Levels (D&D 3.0, 3-7)		D0: Hollow’s Last Hope (D&D 3.5, 1st level)
Shadows of the Last War (D&D 3.5, 2nd level)		TC1: Into the Haunted Forest (D&D 3.5, 1st level)

Are there obvious adventures I’m missing on this list? Classics I don’t have or may not know about? I might be inclined to seek out a few of them, though some are rare enough and expensive enough on the secondary market that it would require donations of cash or the adventure itself to get me to consider purchasing it.

Searching for a Group

You’d think living in Indianapolis, it would be easy to find other gamers. This is the home of Gen Con, after all. It’s true that there are a lot of gamers here in Indianapolis, and when I was living on my own, it was easy to find people.

But when you have a wife and step-daughter living with you, there are other factors to take into account. The gamers I invite to join me I will be inviting into my home, sharing my personal space (to some extent) with, and giving them food and drinks. I don’t do that (especially the home invitation part) for just anyone. Since I’ll be inviting my wife to join me as a player, her opinion will count when it comes to adding someone to the group. It would count anyway since it’s her house too (technically, it was her house before it was mine), but her opinion weighs double now.

So, I’m starting with people we both know. Not everyone will be interested in this, though. I may have to recruit from outside my regular circle of friends and acquaintances, and that process is always challenging. Every time I’ve advertised for gamers at a gaming store, the respondents I get are the type of gamers you generally don’t want to invite into your home. We’ll see how it goes.