Why B/X Is My Favorite #9

9. Complete but small subsystems for adventuring in dungeons and the wilderness

The near-boardgame nature of B/X means that it has tiny subsystems that cover exploring dungeons and the wilderness. Many of these come directly from OD&D's The Underworld & Wilderness Adventures but are either more clearly written or more discrete.

Examples of these subsystems are:

Exploring Dungeons
1. Resting - After moving for 5 turns, you must rest for 1 turn. (B19)
2. Opening stuck doors (B21)
3. Finding secret doors (B21)
4. Listening at doors (B21)
5. The whole "Order of Events in One Game Turn" (B23)
6. Wandering Monsters (B53)

Exploring the Wilderness
1. The "Order of Events in One Game Day" (X23)
2. the Evasion Table (X23)
3. Foraging (X51)
4. Becoming Lost (X56)
5. Castle Encounters (X59)
6. Wilderness Encounters (X57)

Many of these subsystems may defeat verisimilitude (something I rarely if ever strive for in my games). Why are all of the doors in the dungeon stuck? Why did the patrol of medium horsemen chase us from the castle?

Because the rules say so or because I rolled it on a table.

Why do you have to pay $350 rent if you land on Park Place? Because the rules say so.

These rules/subsystems make the game very easy to run.

To the Core

I am going to be honest with you...

I own a number of 4E books.

I find the whole philosophy and structure of 4E interesting. I have mentioned a number of times that I love the gameist nature of B/X - the fact that it is unabashedly a game and not a theatre improve session - and I see many of the same things in 4E. I can also appreciate the math behind the system - call it a by-product of all of my years of investment banking.

However, I do not like the business model that goes with 4E. I understand that the Character Generator available on the DDI service will begin to have pieces of the Players Handbook 3 available this summer. PHB 3? Already? Didn't #2 just come out? And these are "Core" rules?

Now, I don't blame Wizards of the Coast for how they are trying to generate revenue but from a consumer perspective 4E is unlikely to get any more of my gaming budget. I know there are a bunch of gamers that are more than willing to spend money on the latest rule book available and I do not begrudge them their fun one little bit.

As time goes on, I find that it is not so much the "old school" rules I enjoy but the fact that they are "rules light" games. The mass that will quickly become the core rules for 4E just does not appeal to me. I have found a number of new games over the past year that I enjoy including Savage Worlds, RISUS, etc. B/X is still by far my favorite but it is nice for some diversity.

Why B/X Is My Favorite #8

8. A tight power scale with a max of 14th level - I know this one is serendipitous given the unpublished Companion Supplement but I think the power level of the Expert set is about perfect for my games.

Basic & Expert D&D requires a different play-style than later editions. It is not a game of heroes doing superhero things. The power level doesn't ramp up like that. It is a game of exploration and discovery. Imagine if you, yourself, were thrust into a D&D adventure - you would take all steps necessary to ensure that you survived. You would investigate for knowledge of what you were up against, you would make sure that you had all the resources necessary and available to overcome obstacles and you would make sure you had enough muscle to survive. Instead of Superman think Dr. Livingstone.

Fight on! #5 Released

The announcement is on the OD&D Discussion Forums.

I can now place my lulu order.

I also added the Spellcraft & Swordplay books.

A Holmes Alternative to High Level Combat

A while ago I made a post here regarding Geoffery's post at Dragonsfoot regarding the potential of a "Holmes-only" campaign.

While browsing some old posts at Dragonsfoot I came across this one: Holmes: Looking better with each reading

The thing that struck me is that, as pointed out by Thorkhammer, under the Class descriptions, pages 6-7, Holmes clearly states that Fighting Men,

"after they reach the fourth level of experience, they also increase their ability to get hits on an opponent..."

Fighting Men includes Human, Dwarf, Hobbit and Elf. There is no such reference for Cleric, Magic-user and Thief. I know that Holmes says to go the AD&D for higher levels and that the intent is that everyone improves at combat. I, however, like the idea that Fighting Men (and their derivatives) are the only ones to improve at combat. Why should a magic-user get better at attacking with his dagger?

If someone wanted to run just the Holmes book and expand it to higher levels (there are a number of excellent examples on the net) there could be another way to handle improvement at combat.

The thought that came to me is that you could reflect the improvement of Fighting Men to "increase their ability to get hits" by giving them extra attacks per round instead of expanding the attack tables. Allow an extra attack per round. Fighting-Men get 1 attack / round for levels 1-3, 2 attacks / round for levels 4-6, 3 attacks / round for levels 7-9, etc...

Dark Sun One-Shot is Proceeding

A handful of players I know have indicated that they want to participate in the Dark Sun one-shot I am working on. I ultimately decided to use Castles & Crusades as the rule system. I decided this for ease of conversion. I have told my players that I am not going for a 100% accurate mechanical conversion but instead a "thematic" conversion. It will follow a lot of the thoughts I have mentioned here - no psionics, no defiler/preserver classes, etc.

I am keeping a bunch of the races and classes that I would eliminate if it were a B/X game but, once again, not straight conversions.

When did Secret Doors become so hard to find?

I was reading through "The Underworld & Wilderness Adventures - Volume 3 of Three Booklets" today and noticed on page 9 that, "secret passages will be located on the roll of a 1 or a 2 (on a six-sided die) by men, dwarves or halflings. Elves will be able to locate them on a roll of 1-4."

On page B21 of Moldvay we see that, "Any character has a 1 in 6 chance of finding a secret door; any elf has a 2 in 6 chance."

Honestly, this is the first time I have noticed that it is tougher to find a secret door in B/X than in OD&D.