I'm curious: what do you think were absolute gems of D&D rules, modules, accessories, whatever?

I'm really liking Tom Moldvay's module B4: The Lost City, which is both a dungeon excursion, and also a "community dungeon" where there are different factions scheming against each other. I'm also impressed with Mike Carr's B1: In Search of the Unknown, which appears to be very well-thought out, with an emphasis on exploration rather than killing things. Douglas Niles's CM1: Test of the Warlords so far looks to be pretty innovative at showcasing "Companion-level" play, with an emphasis on building dominions and using mass-combat rules. None of these are perfect, and I'm such a nerd that I'd pretty much want to re-write all of these before using them in play, but I can see what the authors are trying to do, and I approve mightily.

One book that gets a lot of bad press is Douglas Niles's Dungeoneer's Survival Guide. The hostile reaction is understandable: a lot of the book is devoted to a Skills system that AD&D arguably doesn't need, and other portions involve figuring out whether a Half-Orc with 3/4 encumbrance is able to slither through a hole in a cavern, and if so whether he would suffer a -2, -3, or -4 penalty to attacks. Pages and pages of this. But it does contain some nifty stuff that I rather like:

• First, it's all about caverns. My experience with the underground environment is practically nil (hey, a word I learned from D&D!). So it's really neat to see a book that talks about how caverns form, and what kind of hazards await spelunkers.
• Second, it's got rules on operating a mine. Yawn! OH WAIT, not-yawn! Niles, or whoever wrote this section, clearly imagined a campaign where the players were mine-owners/operators/claim jumpers, trying to wrest treasure from the Earth the old fashioned way, getting in over their heads by bursting into the Underdark, dealing with selfish Dwarves, trying to keep the Royal Tax Collector out of their hair, and out-smarting the Thieves Guild… It's actually a pretty unconventional idea for a game, I'd like to try it sometime.
• Third, there's some material on the Underdark here that's kind of interesting. Anything with Aboleth, Drow, and Mind Flayers can't be all bad.
• Fourth, it's got some fairly useful advice on structuring campaigns, at least for its day and age.

How about you? Any favorites from the TSR days, or even later?

But third, and more germanely: being in huge caves and tunnels is pretty cool! But also: God damn, I could not be an adventurer because I would spend all my energy soiling my armor.

It is DARK. Really dark. If you've never been in utter darkness before, it's a humbling experience. I couldn't see anything, even my hands. There's this irrational fear that you're going to walk right into a wall, which makes it very hard to move.

It's also slippery. I always forget that caves occur because of running water; in this case, waterfalls which flow through parts of the cave in a spray of freezing-cold water, collecting in ankle-deep pools. Water flows down the walls, and makes the floor slick in some places and muddy in others.

Oh: and when you're in total darkness, groping your way, in the slippery muddy gunk, and suddenly you hear a bunch of rats chittering and squeaking and running away, it's unreal.

August 19 is a Tuesday
August 30 is a Saturday (this is Labor Day weekend)
August 31 is a Sunday (this is Labor Day weekend)

If we can't get a quorum, that's fine too.

The problem is: (a) it's really heavy, (b) it's the kind of thing that would attract attention from the more religiously-inclined populace, and (c) it's possible that the Great Builder would look upon such looting with disfavor (that is: it's a non-Lawful act, which in conjunction with other acts might shift your alignment over time).

I wasn't clear on what the party decided re: the bell, so if there's a consensus in this thread, I'm willing to roll with that.

There's a ton of social-level action here, where if there are terrible mistakes I'm making, odds are an on-line conversation can't help matters much. (Feel free to e-mail, though, and if you really need to talk about something, I'll give you my number.) So if you really are annoyed by Player X, well, damn, I can try to help you, but odds are if I haven't perceived the problem I probably lack the skills to solve it.

But at the level of game-related matters - a bit of the setting, an NPC, or some rules-call - an on-line thread is probably a pretty good way to vent criticism and offer suggestions. I promise to take every piece of criticism in the best possible light, and to deal with it in good faith.

Some things from 8/2 which I wish I'd handled a bit differently:

1. My initial reaction when Doug wanted to haul that halfling out of the pit was to roll for damage. This was simply a bad habit; I'm glad Doug called me on it, and we instead declared that he was contused and dazed, but not dead. I'm usually like this in the first 5-10 minutes of play, and usually snap out of it; I'm not sure why it happens. I don't think I did anything quite that heavy-handed and dumb later in the session, but please correct me if I'm wrong.

2. I felt that I didn't give enough spotlight time to Joti's Thief and Mike's Magic-User. They're hard characters to highlight, since their "special abilities" are unimpressive at Level 1.

3. At one point I asserted that Doug's Fighter (with Charisma 3) had a foul odor. This is probably not true. He's just the kind of guy that - looking at the reaction rules in the book - about 1 in every 3 people, upon meeting him, wish to attack him or run away, and even the most good-natured, saintly, kind-hearted people find themselves disliking him rather a lot. So, no bad odor… but almost supernaturally aggravating.

(Here's where I'm coming from with this: as I see it, there are "three strands" of D&D
#Tolkien-inspired high fantasy
#Howard-inspired pulp fantasy
#1970s-inspired acid fantasy

Each of these strands is awesome in itself, but it's really hard to have a setting that hits all of those notes at once. Replacing Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser with Legolas and Gimli doesn't quite work, because their roots in Christianized Germanic folklore clashes a bit with alienation and titillation of sword & sorcery fiction.

So I've been thinking about these different kinds of settings, and brooding over the opportunity costs. When I got interested in some under-used parts of Middle-Earth…)

Last week I got all hopped up on crazily detailed Tolkien fan sites, and became fascinated with the idea of adventuring in the far east of Middle-Earth, around or past the Sea of Rhun. Very little is known about this place from Tolkien's writings, so I pose the question: "Folks of RPG-Net, if you were jamming on this, what would you do?"

With that in mind, here's what's known

• The Elves and Men both "awoke" in this area thousands of years ago, and gradually made their way into the western regions of Middle-Earth

• Mainly, this is where the Easterlings live. They're pretty much Tolkien's human fall-guys: they show up in the West every few centuries and mess up the joint, only to get their asses kicked by the Northmen and the Westrons. They live in "cities of stone," and apparently have many different divisions and factions, including the "Wainriders" and the "Balchoth." The Easterlings are apparently irredeemably evil, and may worship Morgoth (Tolkien's Satan figure, and Sauron's mentor).

• During the Second Age, the men of Numenor traveled along the coasts, even to the inland seas of Rhun etc., and conquered much of this land.

• One of the Ring-Wraiths was a king of the Easterlings named Khamul during the Second Age.

• The area is still populated by "dark elves," (Avari / Moriquendi) who refused to heed the call to go live among Tolkien's god-angels. It's supposed that Morgoth may have harvested these Elves to create the Orcs.

• The area is also populated by four of the seven Dwarf clans, who live in the Orocarni ("Red Mountains").

• The Variags, or the people of Khand, may live in this area too; like the Easterlings they're pretty much Evil Men.

• Most famously, the two "Blue Wizards" traveled into this area and never show up again in the story. These were Maiar, named Alatar and Pallando. Their nature is unclear. At one point, Tolkien wrote, "I think that they went as emissaries to distant regions, east and south, …. Missionaries to enemy occupied lands as it were. What success they had I do not know; but I fear that they failed, as Saruman did, though doubtless in different ways; and I suspect they were founders or beginners of secret cults and "magic" traditions that outlasted the fall of Sauron." Later in life, he changed his mind and they apparently play a pivotal role in defeating Sauron (somehow).

• Bilbo briefly mentions the "were-worms" of the "Last Desert." Maybe that's for real; maybe that's just Shire superstition.

• Sauron spent the first millennium or more of the Third Age lurking in this area, rebuilding his power.

Some speculation

• Ungoliant, the archetypal evil spider, allegedly fled into the uttermost south, where she starves to death and withers away. This is a lame way for Ungoliant to go out. Maybe instead she is worshipped by forgotten cults or monks, and there are cities of great spiders in the East. (Easy way to drag in Lolth and the Drow if you're inclined to go that way.)

• The Numenoreans may have set up cities along the coast - which fell into the hands of Morgoth-worshipping Black Numenoreans.

• In the Silmarilion, there's a brief mention of vampires. Whether this is really the undead, or simply giant, intelligent bats, it's not clear. But they don't show up anywhere else, so maybe they're a factor Out East.

• I kinda like the "Blue Wizards go off the reservation" type of deal. Of the five Istari sent to Middle-Earth, Gandalf opposes Sauron, Saruman is seduced by Sauron, and Rhadagast is too disinterested or intimidated to do much. So what in what ways can these guys fail in their relationship to evil? Maybe one of them becomes so militant in his opposition to the Enemy that he becomes a danger?

• Somewhere, there's a notion that the Istari have genuine human bodies, but are made "magical" by the Maia spirit. This would imply that the Istari can father children… so maybe there is a bloodline based on one of the Blue Wizards…

• Perhaps the Entwives migrated East… strange mushroom-women with hallucinogenic spores, dwelling in forgotten swamps and caverns…

(I'm toying with the idea of fitting the Black Peaks in here, as it's pretty much a Tolkien rip-off as it is. I haven't made up my mind yet, but am open to suggestion.)

Tadmarsh's steel-work is clumsy and slow; he wasn't great even when his master was around, and now the quality of work has fallen completely.

• All metal armor made by Tadmarsh is 2 AC lower than usual: Chain is AC 7; Plate is AC 5. Leather is still AC 7.
• Shields haven't changed at all, and still give you a 1 point improvement in Armor. "I like shields," says Tadmarsh; "they're round."
• All metal weapons made by Tadmarsh are one-die smaller, with a minimum of 1d4. (A long sword does 1d6 damage, for example.)
• This does not affect existing equipment, which was either imported or scavenged

This is nothing short of a disaster; Belrain the Sword-Singer is disgusted with this state of affairs: Threshold is desperately trying to rebuild, and there are still monsters and bandits lurking all over the place. Tyrfing the Dwarven Hero is an accomplished blacksmith, but is unwilling to assist with Lord Stefan's "occupation" of Dwarven territory.

Some options for adventurers:

• Recover works of lost Dwarven smith-craft, so Tadmarsh can learn his trade
• Persuade Tyrfing and Belrain to reach a compromise
• Kidnap (or escort) a more competent blacksmith and escort him to Threshold
• Scavenge higher-quality work and sell it, driving Tadmarsh out of business and earning Belrain's gratitude
• Do nothing. There are rival adventurers in Threshold; if they have inferior gear, they'll be easier to kill

I'm in a procrastination-heavy mood lately, so I'll probably be tweaking some Black Peaks material as we go on, adding a bit of depth to Threshold and the surrounding area.

I'm tempted to include a few of these in the Black Peaks game as the unfinished lab-notes and screwy experimental spells concocted or half-assed by the Wizard's Cabal.

Here's my favorite:

Omar’s Mistake (Arcane)
Level 3
Range: 60ft
Duration: 1d6 days
The subject’s eyes glow, and glass rattles when he is within 20ft. Dogs flee from him, cats are attracted into his presence. Members of the opposite
sex have a 1% chance to be affected as if by a charm person spell, and members of the same sex have a 1% chance to attack him for no reason. The > spell’s subject finds the color blue objectionable, and he may steal shiny items.

It screams Cugel. The book is very much like this, and aside from the levels being a little out of whack IMO, it's good stuff.

If a specific time helps make it happen, I'd propose Thurs July 3 - Sun July 6. (For those who have seen me look for games in that window in other threads, yes I could run this one night & play in other games another of those nights).

The specifics of the game would be up to y'all, with these being the two main choices:

1- A tournament adventure with 4th level pre-gen bard, barbarian, monk, and druid characters (homebrewed). This is designed to run in a two-hour time slot, but we could easily get an evening's worth of entertainment by redirecting the focus away from the grab-the-treasure tournament scoring.

2- A session of making characters and then coming up with a single-session adventure to suit them. The hype is accurate insofar as DMing 4E is simple enough that I could whip something up in the same time it took folks to make PCs, although making characters is much more time-consuming than Red Box.

Some ideas for that single-session adventure follow, although other suggestions are encouraged!

- A paragon-level (11-20) or epic-level (21-30) party questing on another plane of existence, perhaps inspired by "A Paladin in Hell"
- A party of monsters reacting to an invasion of their dungeon by pesky adventurers
- A party made of a single character class - maybe a thieves' guild assignment, or a clerical suppression of heresy…
- A conversion of your favorite classic old-school adventure

Note that, in my experience, we're unlikely to get through more than one combat situation and some roleplaying, so temper your expectations accordingly!

I look forward to meeting with you all with red book in hand.

Best,

Mike

The options before you are:

* Tuesday June 24
* Wednesday June 25
* Thursday June 26

Which will it be?!

Naturally there's a strong desire to be creative and run things; on the other hand, there's only a limited number of nights, and a limited number of players (unless everyone goes out and recruits two more people perpetually). Eventually, tracking 2-5+ separate campaigns would get unwieldy, and there could be growing pangs.

Does it make sense to try for a shared campaign with rotating DM's? That is, we all jam together to create a loose setting, and then just run the same cast of characters through the mill. I'm thinking this could probably be a pain in the ass to establish at first, but would enable everyone to participate as a DM without depleting our "natural resources" of players with available time.

P.S. I have never seen a rotating DM game before and conclude it is probably doomed to fail, but I thought I would throw it out there anyway.

• Cleanse the ruins of Threshold from Bargle the Warlock's gang of thieves, murderers, and monsters. These creatures have been living on the edge of town, and may in time challenge the local authorities. It seems that Bargle has exerted a malign, magical influence over Sir Froderic. Kristof the Snitch, rescued from the Lost Mine a few weeks ago, might be able to identify some hazards.

• Escape from the Witherwood - (this is an in medias res thing, perhaps a good way to introduce a completely different set of characters or maybe some henchmen) - you've been captured and held for ransom by Renata the Robber's gang of thieves, who prey on the local farmers and the trade caravans. Can you get out in one piece? Can you claim the bounty on Renata's head? Can you ensure Threshold's food supply for another perilous season by getting rid of these vultures?

• Investigate Flood Control Dam No. 3 - after the Dragon Army was routed, many goblin clans retreated to this area, dwelling within the Dwarf-built catacombs and machinery. Belrain the Sword-Singer distrusts the build up of Goblin forces, and needs a team of adventurers to reconnoiter the place and determine the goblins' full strength, so that Lord Stefan can mount a proper defense of the town.

• Rescue the Dwarf Lord Heimdall from the Steachwarrens - records taken from the [Lost Mine] indicate that Heimdall, the epic hero of the Dwarven people, is still alive and kept in captivity deep beneath the Dwarves' ancestral home, now a twisted and accursed underworld mega-dungeon. Rescuing Heimdall has become a cause celebre among the Dwarves of the river valley, who are massing in Threshold for the mission. Heimdall's claim of sovereignty over this region, however, might prove inconvenient to Lord Stefan but very helpful to his enemy Cardinal Ludwig.

• Use the Magic Portal within Rary's Tower: the leader of the Wizard's Cabal, Mordenkainen, was somehow transported to a distant plane through Rary's magic. If Mordenkainen could return, it would unify the Cabal and bring peace among the feuding magicians. Eyewitnesses say that Belrain the Sword-Singer decapitated Rary in the Battle of Threshold, but rumors persist of activity within his brooding fortress. Bargle once studied under Rary, and in his reduced circumstances he may try to fall back here to replenish his power.

• Travel to the Shrine of the Oracle. This shrine, once dedicated to the Great Builder, has fallen into sinister hands of the Chaos Cultists. Its divination magic could be helpful, either to adventurers or to political patrons. (Adventurers have speculated that the Oracle could point the way to the Ohnefrau Vault.) Elizabeth the Augur, a priestess of the Trickster, may seek escorts on the dangerous journey to the location.

• Return to the Lost Mine. After perpetual peril in the Grotto of Doom, a hardier band of adventurers might voyage deeper into the mine. (Warning: probably not a full night's worth of adventure left.)

http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?t=399163

Some of you may recall me mentioning a novel by J. Eric Holmes, the writer of the original D&D Basic book, based upon his game sessions and entitled "The Maze of Peril". Well, I got a copy and posted some initial info about it on the NerdNYC boards. It should have some interesting insights into how the narrative of the game was actually envisioned back in ye olden days.

It looks well-designed, but it also looks like the emphasis of play is somewhat different. I'm not sure if I'd feel the same sense of perpetual panic that I felt as Immortus.

Part of me wants to see what it would be like to update the Black Peaks game to 4e, but then I think: "Why?"