tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4134750084087927747.post1670162934679550510..comments2023-10-15T06:44:30.195-06:00Comments on Ode to Black Dougal: If B/X was the only D&DP_Armstronghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12374589162025099763noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4134750084087927747.post-29529772494123250202009-12-07T12:50:33.021-07:002009-12-07T12:50:33.021-07:00Can't agree more!Can't agree more!Nicolas Dessauxhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03010015806129652185noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4134750084087927747.post-43502884746465428592009-12-07T09:49:39.070-07:002009-12-07T09:49:39.070-07:00Hunh; I'd always thought that alignment langua...Hunh; I'd always thought that alignment languages came in much later, around AD&D.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4134750084087927747.post-5222441817207433842009-12-07T09:27:42.312-07:002009-12-07T09:27:42.312-07:00@ Badmike,
I don't disagree with you. Afterall...@ Badmike,<br />I don't disagree with you. Afterall the B/X rulebooks are very upfront that they are just suggestions instead of set in stone rules.<br /><br />This is of course just a mental exercise for the fun of it. Thanks for playing everyone.P_Armstronghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12374589162025099763noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4134750084087927747.post-67800217670098276072009-12-07T08:33:25.649-07:002009-12-07T08:33:25.649-07:00Even had nothing ever been introduced, someone som...Even had nothing ever been introduced, someone somewhere along the way would have houseruled the books. Its in our nature to tweek rules and change things; I bet we'd be here talking about someone's specialized fighter class....<br /><br />As to the adventures themselves, even with only Isle of Dread and KOTB to go by, someone with some imagination would have created a village, town or city and the rules to randomly generate them, someone would have made a megadungeon, etc. It's too much to assume that as creative as most of our ilk are we would just have stood pat the last 30 years and still be running hte 100th version of Isle or KoTB.Badmikehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06199830751033032585noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4134750084087927747.post-57638877628822033432009-12-06T23:10:58.970-07:002009-12-06T23:10:58.970-07:00@P_Armstrong: I thought we were only talking about...@P_Armstrong: I thought we were only talking about the three first OD&D booklets. I'm not sure comparing B/X to OD&D with supplements is a useful comparison. Just IMHO, of course, but in either case I personally don't see too much in the magic items or most monsters that have a "Tolkien Feel" (except of course for some that are direct ripoffs). As for weirdness, I'd agree that the demons and other additions do add a kind of different feel to AD&D or OD&D + supplements (proto-AD&D). I guess I misunderstood what you meant by weird fantasy. I perceive weird fantasy as possibly including other genre elements like alien powers, alien artifacts, more Lovecraft influence, that sort of thing. None of those are particularly more present in any edition of the game with the exception of one AD&D module.Dan of Earthhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04957424338566461756noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4134750084087927747.post-22137000930051365752009-12-06T20:26:59.844-07:002009-12-06T20:26:59.844-07:00The first thing I did when I picked up Basic/Labyr...The first thing I did when I picked up Basic/Labyrinth Lord was do away with alignment languages. I guess I house ruled it right off.Narmerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08635665594860371230noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4134750084087927747.post-85525668720215354182009-12-06T20:13:42.387-07:002009-12-06T20:13:42.387-07:00Dan,
I somewhat disagree. The monster rosters and ...Dan,<br />I somewhat disagree. The monster rosters and magic items inventories differ somewhat if you include the OD&D supplements thus B/X lacking demons and some of the higher power and weirder monsters and the same with magic items.<br /><br />Rules wise I agree that B/X and OD&D are nearly identical (as I have mentioned a number of times on this blog) - just B/X is edited into a more coherent text. However, I think that it is this coherence that would make B/X less weird and a more holistic and consistent fantasy rpg.P_Armstronghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12374589162025099763noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4134750084087927747.post-30886254017278937122009-12-06T19:16:40.151-07:002009-12-06T19:16:40.151-07:00I still find it weird that so many people don'...I still find it weird that so many people don't realize that the rules in B/X are virtually identical to OD&D. In a very real sense B/X is simply a clarified and refined OD&D. Even in OD&D there were race-classes, they just weren't described as that exactly even though that's what they were. I don't buy the weirdness/Tolkien dichotomy at all between B/X and OD&D. There is nothing inherently different about the sort of fantasy between the two. There are no extra elements of "weirdness" in OD&D, it's just been sold that way recently by some people. It is what you bring to it, nothing more, nothing less.Dan of Earthhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04957424338566461756noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4134750084087927747.post-46736459167316191492009-12-06T18:21:15.290-07:002009-12-06T18:21:15.290-07:00If it had stopped at B/X I wouldn't be struggl...If it had stopped at B/X I wouldn't be struggling to understand the advanced physics textbook that is Pathfinder.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4134750084087927747.post-65752483428165949102009-12-06T16:02:03.887-07:002009-12-06T16:02:03.887-07:00I have been including a handful of house rules in ...I have been including a handful of house rules in my B/X games but this has me thinking I would like to try to go back to a by-the-book B/X game.<br /><br />I don't think B/X has many holes in its rules. I think it is very holistic and can easily be run for long campaigns with no house rules. Once again if viewed without the influence of other RPGs, it includes everything you need for game play. But I can see that in the context of other RPGs it may be viewed as missing a couple of things.<br /><br />Given that you like both OD&D and B/X how do you think they would differ in terms of feel and/or game play if they each existed in isolation?<br /><br />One big difference I believe would be OD&D would include more "weirdness" while B/X would be more straight medieval-esque fantasy. The old REH vs Tolkien argument maybe.<br /><br />Just given the differences in how the rulebooks are written and edited, I also believe that B/X games would be more consistent from table to table while OD&D would be a lot more varied.P_Armstronghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12374589162025099763noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4134750084087927747.post-52815827851969128642009-12-06T15:33:05.026-07:002009-12-06T15:33:05.026-07:00I like BX. And 0D&D. I think it would be an ...I like BX. And 0D&D. I think it would be an interesting exercize to play either as-written, although I truly believe D&D was meant to be house-ruled, as there are too many areas without rules.<br /><br />Going back to ground on either system would be interesting, in the way that participating in a survival weekend would be interesting. But I don't think i'd want to do that every weekend!Aaron E. Steelehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07789462075611254929noreply@blogger.com