We’ve had a lot of dungeon-crawling in my AD&D campaign. This can be attributed to my love of the form, but also to it being the easiest way of entertaining a group of players whose membership changes from week to week. In the dungeon, you don’t need to be so worried about little details like “plot”, you can just enjoy each encounter as it comes. … Continue reading AD&D: Marching Order in the Dungeon
My AD&D campaign, which I run on Saturday evenings, has now been running for 2¼ years with no sign of stopping any time soon. The last session involved me as DM and nine players(!) and the numbers for this week’s session may be similarly challenging. The group has returned to Rappan Athuk, which they’re now tackling with much more experience. In total, we’ve played over … Continue reading AD&D Initiative
Michael and I played through another of the Operations Magazine scenarios today, the first to combine two different starter kits. This game was set in Stalingrad, during the battle of 1942-3. It was quite a surprise to be back in the heavy industrial centre – and with the Russians – after playing through nine straight scenarios without them, as SK#2 has no Russian troops in … Continue reading Advanced Squad Leader: S18 Baking Bread
We’re back with the Advanced Squad Leader Starter Kits, and Michael and I were playing S17 A Ridge Too Far this time around. Set on the 8th of June, 1944, it takes inspiration from Lt John Alderson of the 1st Special Service Brigade’s 6 Troop, whose men ran into a lot of Germans as they defended a road junction. Historically, they routed the German troops … Continue reading Advanced Squad Leader report: S17 A Ridge Too Far
When you get down to it, the mechanics of D&D are firmly based around combat. This was a truer in the earliest versions of the game, where there were very few other mechanics, but there’s still a kernel of truth to it. The relationship between hit points, armour class, attack bonus and weapon damage is so key to the game. The relationship has been expressed … Continue reading Combat and the Fighter in D&D Next
One of the best kickstarters I backed last year was that for the Dwarven Forge Dungeon Tiles. The final product looks amazing and – amazingly – was on time. They said it’d be ready in October, and I got it in October. Fantastic! Their next kickstarter is perhaps even more interesting… Caverns. These things aren’t exactly cheap, but the material they make them out of … Continue reading An interesting Kickstarter: Dwarven Forge Caverns
The British contribution to Dungeons & Dragons is quite distinctive. UK2: The Sentinel is the first of a two-part series, which has the party recovering a magical artefact, a glove, designed to protect a keep from being destroyed by its evil counterpart, a gauntlet. Yes, it’s quite an unusual set-up – and on a pretty small scale as well, which fits in with the character … Continue reading AD&D Review – UK2: The Sentinel
The adventure in Temple of Death is the second and final part of the Desert Nomads series. I mentioned in my review of the first part, Master of the Desert Nomads, how that adventure felt very much like a classic Swords & Sorcery tale. This adventure continues in that vein. However, whilst Master was primarily set in a barren desert, much of this adventure is … Continue reading D&D Review: X5 Temple of Death
This isn’t a brand-new review; I’m just archiving it on my blog for those who missed it in my original posting on rpggeek.com The third part of the D (Drow) series brings the pursuit of the drow to a close. Finally, in this adventure, they find from where the drow originated – and it’s an astonishing place. Unfortunately, the execution of the Vault does not … Continue reading AD&D Review – D3: Vault of the Drow
A couple of weeks ago I noted that our numbers had been dropping. They surged back this week with a vengeance; two new players and a lot of returning players meant we had three tables each with a DM and six players. That’s 21 people playing D&D! Logistically this was a challenge, because the store also had (unusually) people playing Attack Wing and Magic, taking … Continue reading D&D Encounters: Scourge of the Sword Coast, session 6
