AD&D 1st edition
In the AD&D adventure A1: Slave Pits of the Undercity, there are two areas on the upper level that have no doors or openings providing ingress for the players. This is probably a good thing, as a wight and a pair of basilisks lair within, but I’ve been asked by a friend what they’re doing there are how the players are ever meant to find … Continue reading The Strange Case of the Wight and the Basilisks
There seems to be a trend starting of Old School products advertising themselves for D&D 5E on DriveThruRPG despite the author spending no time to familiarise themselves with the 5E rules or, indeed, even offering any 5E-compatible rules. Starter Adventures, by Tim Shorts, is in that category. The rules are pure Swords & Wizardry, a variant of original D&D. Interestingly, it bears the copyright date … Continue reading OSR Review: Starter Adventures
The World of Greyhawk boxed set originally came out in 1983, a few years after the original folio edition of 1980. At the time, it was a really impressive product. Two big poster maps showing the world, and two softcover booklets – one 80 pages, the other 48 pages – detailing the world. The first book, the Guide to the World of Greyhawk, described the … Continue reading AD&D Review: The World of Greyhawk Fantasy Game Setting
Revelry in Torth is a campaign sourcebook and adventure written for the OSR that purports to also be compatible with D&D 5E. It evokes the Sword & Sorcery works of Howard, Leiber and Vance, and is set in a fallen world, one that once had high levels of magic and technology. The old civilisations are gone and adventurers seek treasures in the ruins that remain … Continue reading Adventure Review: Revelry in Torth
My AD&D campaign is in trouble. After three years of play, it’s getting towards the stage of being an elderly campaign and – quite frankly – I need a break from it. Yes, I know some AD&D campaigns go for year after year after year and by those standards this campaign has only started, but this particular campaign is feeling tired. There are many reasons … Continue reading The trouble with unbounded accuracy
The third module in the Competition series was The Lost Island of Castanamir, a 32-page adventure by Ken Rolston for 5 to 8 characters of levels 1-4. As a competition adventure, it gives guidelines on how to score various teams playing through the adventure. I wonder if they were ever used by anyone who bought the adventure? Ken Rolston is a significant game designer. His … Continue reading AD&D Review – C3: The Lost Island of Castanamir
The original version of Dungeons & Dragons did not have a thief class. It only had three classes: the Fighting Man, the Magic-User and the Cleric. They have expanded on their capabilities greatly over the years. Gary Gygax introduced the thief in the first supplement, Greyhawk, which has very little to do with the actual World of Greyhawk and a lot to do with the … Continue reading Day of the Thief
In the Dungeons of the Slave Lords is the final adventure in the four-part Aerie of the Slave Lords series. It was originally written to be the final round of the AD&D Open Tournament at Gen Con XIII in 1980. There’s no doubt that In the Dungeons of the Slave Lords was a tournament module; it begins with the party, having been captured at the … Continue reading AD&D Review – A4: In the Dungeons of the Slave Lords
After the first two modules in the series, it is a pleasant surprise to consider Assault on the Aerie of the Slave Lords. This is a module that rather exceeds the design of what has come previously. The first part of the module is the fifth of five opening tournament rounds, and involves the heroes making their way to the Aerie through a set of … Continue reading AD&D Review – A3: Assault on the Aerie of the Slave Lords
Dungeon Module A2: Secret of the Slavers Stockade is the second adventure in the “Aerie of the Slavelords” series. As I mentioned in my review of the first adventure, they were originally designed as tournament adventures for GenCon XIII. This adventure consists of two parts of the first round, but (somewhat confusingly) also follows on from the other adventure which would have been taking place at … Continue reading AD&D Review – A2: Secret of the Slavers Stockade
