I am seriously considering using Original Dungeons & Dragons, the three Little Beige Books, as the baseline for my new not-quit-named campaign setting. I definitely want a system in or near the direct line of D&D descent, with all the attendant clichés. The other primary contenders are BasicExpert D&D/Labyrinth Lord, 1st edition AD&D/OSRIC, Castles & Crusades/C&C Collector's edition, the Rules Cyclopedia, MERP/RoleMaster, and Holmes Basic/Advanced Holmes. Any of those games would work for what, at its heart, is just another DM's rearrangement of the familiar elements of orcs and swords and such. And I'm not ruling out running session set in the World of [insert name here] with those or any other systems that catch my fancy, like Forward... to Adventure! or Encounter Critical or some Palladium mishmash.
OD&D has my eye right now for several reasons. That's where all this dragoning and dungeoning nonsense began and if I'm going to build an old school sandbox from the ground up, why not start with the tools that my predecessors wielded back in the day? And unlike my beloved Moldvay Basic/Cook Expert combo, I can approach the rules without nostalgia. Seriously, I have trouble finding any flaws in the '81 Basic/Expert rules and that's an unhealthly attitude to have towards a system you actually intend to run. And the wide-open, not-ready-for-prime-time nature of the original books really appeals to me. I can tack stuff on from 1st edition Advanced or some old magazine article or another system entirely and not feel like I'm daring to disturb the universe. In fact, I want to add a bunch of other stuff. I'm not looking to be an OD&D purist.
Another reason why I want to go with OD&D is that chargen is super easy. 3d6 in order. No swapping stat points around. 3d6 x 10 gp and a short equipment list. 3 classes. 4 races. 3 alignments. That's about it. I want players to be able to bring a friend and start playing as quickly as possible. This ties into another reason to go with a lighter incarnation of D&D: for this project I'm not interested in the concept of "rules mastery", whereby dominance in the game is achieved through knowledge and deployment of intricate rules. I want players to succeed by judiciously and imaginatively interacting with the fantasy environment. I don't want the players to look for rules-based solutions, I want them to do cool stuff! For this campaign I'm working within the context that the rules are there primarily for when imagination fails. OD&D supports that approach. All-encompassing editions work against it, in my opinion.
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Assuming you are going for standard fantasy here, you might want to consider what you want PC wizardy-types to be capable of doing. Different systems will give you very different results there.
ReplyDeleteAs an unconventional thought - have you considered using FASERIP rules? The start-up time there is pretty negligible, as you know.
Well I understand your goals by wanting to use the OD&D rules. But I think that BasicExpert D&D/Labyrinth Lord might be a little better. If nothing else that everyone can get the rules for free. I know you dont want the game dominated by rules. But for me I would find the rules that little bit more familiar. So it would flow better for me. I wouldnt have a problem sticking stuff in front a magazine or another source though. Course I'm pretty frewheeling. So your mileage may vary.
ReplyDeleteLove the old school. My homebrew in progress gets its feel from this style of pure and simple D&D format.
ReplyDeleteI will have to modify the magic/spell system to stop the rule benders though.
Familiar yet, new. Good call,
I want players to succeed by judiciously and imaginatively interacting with the fantasy environment. I don't want the players to look for rules-based solutions, I want them to do cool stuff! For this campaign I'm working within the context that the rules are there primarily for when imagination fails. OD&D supports that approach.
ReplyDeleteDoes it?
To me, it feels very limiting - I associate it as coming from a wargaming perspective. Thus, where OD&D is concerned, I see the rules as an outer boundary for PC abilities rather than as a starting point.
My own personal view is that 3d6-in-order stat generation sucks when you have some feel of what you'd like to play. Rolling 3d6 and assign the order is much better.
ReplyDeleteIf your fighter only has an 8 Strength to back up the player's imaginative interaction with the game world, that's not going to equate to a great deal of fun.
If your campaign is to be an exercise in working with the cards you've been dealt, then why not use the original Traveller system with a low-tech system? Then your PC's characters will have a chance to perish during CharGen. ;-)
I'd go with C&C, personally.
I dunno, man. A first level wizard in OD&D throws one magic missile. Then he either (1) hangs around doing nothing while his player gradually sinks into major boredom, or (2) pulls out his staff, charges into combat, and dies the first time he gets hit.
ReplyDeleteObviously there are a lot of ways to fix this. But that's just it -- you have to fix it.
Doug M.
My thoughts are a bit contra to all of the above. I think what you're aiming for is an 'immersive' ROLE playing game.
ReplyDeleteWizards die young. That's why there's not many about.
The 'rules' are a guide for the DM, not a map of action for the players.
I know when I've dragged a MU up through to mid level in hardcore role play game, the utmost satisfaction. I'd agree that one need not be bound by chargen dice. If you want to be a fighter, you should be strong. More fun.
Hi Jeff,
ReplyDeletehave you thought of using either Tunnels & Trolls or Basic fantasy (not Chaosium's but the one on http://www.basicfantasy.org)?
Basic Fantasy is a revision of Moldvay/cook with a few extras...
All the best
I don't quite remember the OD&D rules (it's been too long) - but is there a penalty for "Fighting Men" with low strength?
ReplyDeleteIf you've got a goal of having people be able to bring friends and start quickly, any stats they roll up should be useable as a fighter. One house rule to think about is to have them assign 3d6 in order and then swap their highest score into whatever the prime attribute is for the class that they want to play. Still simple, but you don't have to tell the guy who really wanted to play a wizard that his character is too stupid to cast spells.
Also - if I were doing this I'd think about switching up the saving throw system for one like the one in "Mazes and Minotaurs". Especially the "Athletic Prowess" and "Danger Evasion" saves - those give you an easy way to call for "skill checks" without having the mess of a whole skill system to dink around with. I might change the mechanics to be a bit more "OD&D-ish", but in concept I think it fits with an old school OD&D feel pretty well.
I agree that OD&D supports the approach you want. I disagree with most of the criticisms in the comments. Not that I'm interested in arguing them, I just want to put in my $0.02 in support of your use of OD&D.
ReplyDeleteRandom note -- Playing with any of the old rules sets (say, The D&D Cyclopedia) is made easier for those who don't have the rules by the fact that you can pick up the PDFs for five bucks a pop at DriveThru RPG.
ReplyDeleteI still cherish my hardcopy Cyclopedia, though. Everything in one book.
I think OD&D would be perfect for what you're thinking about. Go for it.
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ReplyDelete