Back To Basics: Dungeons and Dragons.....

a reply to: MystikMushroom

S1 The Tomb of Horrors!

It was full of horrors all right! I think for any serious gamer out there, they've been through that one (and if not, hehehehehe, you need to get it and do it!).

It was different because you had to stop and THINK....or you and your party were dead!

As a mater of fact, it was so popular, they've redone it a few times, once for version rule version 3.5 and again for 4.0.

However, I actually don't have that one! Would love to get my hands on it!

Oooooooo! I DO have it!

I missed it because it's included in a multi module that has adventures S1 thru S4 and was called Realms of Horror. Open it up, and the first one is S1 Tomb of Horrors, the original old school one!

:rubs hands together while gloating in an evil way that only a DM can:

MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHA!

a reply to: eriktheawful

Imagination, you hit the nail on the head. This also applied to movies like the late 60's, 70's and 80's where they didn't have special effects instead relying on the viewer to mould the story as they saw fit in their mind (these days people are told what to think and watch and there is no room for one's imagination to go exploring).

a reply to: eriktheawful
Hey, man. I don't know if you've ever been to this site but they have a lot of modules on it. They have them for many different game systems. Also, things for taverns, inns, you name it. Some are free or pay what you want. I got some good ones like that. Others you pay what they want you to pay but they're reasonably priced. If you need a good mod, there you go.
drivethroughrpg

a reply to: Skid Mark

Actually yes, I've been to that site and they do have a lot of good stuff.

Thanks for posting it here for others to look at!

a reply to: eriktheawful

I find the game more enjoyable when it's a small handful of people who can balance byplay with actual decision making rather than a dozen players who take an hour and a half to make up their minds. The latter has been my more recent experience unfortunately.

a reply to: eriktheawful
You're welcome. I know that there are a lot of gamers here and I like to share.

a reply to: eriktheawful

You need to read "Ready Player One" ... that module plays an important part in the book ...

a reply to: eriktheawful
You've mentioned working with scouts. I have the perfect thing for you when it's rainy or cold and there's nothing to do. It fits in with D&D, too: Making game boards! It's something fun that the kids would enjoy helping with and then when the project is done you have something to play D&D on. I made a thread on it a while ago and there are several videos on there that might give you some ideas. It's fun, cheap, easy, and will keep them entertained.

www.abovetopsecret.com...

a reply to: eriktheawful

Awesome story, thanks for sharing.

Was huge into AD&D from about 15-19, when I DM'ed a weekly campaign for a handful of my closest friends. I directly attribute my time spent creating adventures and worlds into becoming the novelist I am today, so for me it was much more than a simple game.

I also collected a ton of handbooks/campaign settings, ranging from Immortal Adventures to Council of Wyrms to Psionics Handbook to Epic-Level Campaigns. I had Planescape and Dark Sun and Dragonlance and always wanted Ravenloft, but never got around to buying it before our weekly group fell apart and the campaign crumbled.

I've played at a convention before, but it's largely a hit-or-miss experience depending on the DM involved. One year at Marcon I got pulled into an adventure that went nowhere for about two hours (we did nothing and had zero viable options aside from running/hiding from an army of orcs). I got so bored I decided to Ice Storm the entire army and got everyone killed, after which people I was playing with paid real money to get me locked in Klingon jail at the convention for about twenty solid minutes.

Good times.

Was playing once with some friends and our group was in a forest, when we were attacked by some goblins. Our wizard (a new guy) let loose his Fireball.

He missed, but started a massive forest fire. We barely escaped.

A while later, DM rolled his dice, told us a very singed looking bear was walking towards us. He had on a hat and was carrying a shovel, which he used to smack our wizard upside the head and said: "Only YOU can prevent forest fires!"

I about died laughing.

Ahhh D&D.

I played my first module - B1: In Search of the Unknown in late 1978. Later in the early summer of 1979 I played a lot more extensively and explored B2: Keep on the Borderlands (Caves of Chaos). My older nephew DM'ed and me and a friend played through with 2 characters each. Man was that a learning experience and I was hooked after that.

Unfortunately that mostly ended my playing experience and pretty much from then on it's been me as the DM and rarely ever do I get to play. Something I regret.

I have played so many PnP RPG's over the years. Let me tell you though, it was a rough being a young D&D gamer during the years of BADD (bothered about Dungeons and Dragons) and all the Jack Chick propaganda. My mother got on the religion bandwagon and basically made me burn all my original material.

I later replaced some of it (much later) and I never stopped gaming - I just left my books and such with my best friend. I was able to keep some other materials at home - Boot Hill, Gamma World, Chain Mail, Star Frontiers, etc. after all, they didn't have devils and demons or magic.

So many good stories from over the years. I have some fond memories of these games as I introduced friends, family and acquaintances to them.

...and then helped the graduate to actually casting magic spells, summoning demons, worshiping Satan and the all important virgin sacrifices. Ahh, the memories...

oh wait. just joking there. hah hah hah! who typed that?! it must have been my crazy, evil, little brother...yeah, that's the ticket.

Seriously though...some of the best times in my life.

Strangely enough, I read an I09 article this morning about a Biography of Gary Gygax.

I09 - Gary Gygax Bio

It has an excerpt of some of the history of him and D&D. Very interesting if all of you aren't familiar with the story.

Up until his death he was also very active with message board posting on enworld.org as Col_Playdoh. He had some interesting insights later in life.

Anyway, on with the gaming!

a reply to: eriktheawful

Hahaha, awesome story.

See, that's what I really love about AD&D (and other pen+paper RPGs like Rifts). The memories you make there become real as anything else you do in life. I can still recall all those apex experiences (attacking pit lords in a campaign we waged in a friend's basement, staying up all night storming an enchanted tower, seeing my entire party perish to a lake-dwelling kraken from which they should've fled) with a level of detail that I couldn't reassemble from 1,000 nights spent drinking in bars.

In other words, nights spent playing AD&D generated way happier experiences and more memorable events than pretty much the whole of my college drinking career. That kind of tells you what truly matters in life... getting together with friends and pizza and sharing something that becomes quite real, even if it only exists within your imagination.