mikeprinke - Network

Had a bit of a eureka moment messing with my TTRPG's rules. I found a lot more success writing out the procedures the game revolves...

Had a bit of a eureka moment messing with my TTRPG's rules. I found a lot more success writing out the procedures the game revolves around, THEN brainstorming character abilities and/or stats, as opposed to the other way around.

Whatever comes of the OGLpocalypse, I just hope the thousands of new competitors Wizards is inspiring don’t all stick “Powered by the...

Whatever comes of the OGLpocalypse, I just hope the thousands of new competitors Wizards is inspiring don’t all stick “Powered by the Apocalypse” on their books. I swear I never wanna see another Appcalypse World derivative as long as I live.

Boy, Wizards of the Coast really wants to self destruct D&D, huh

Boy, Wizards of the Coast really wants to self destruct D&D, huh

Still thinking about that Oldschool Essentials game I ran and how good it was. I haven’t felt so excited to run a #TTRPG in a long time.

Still thinking about that Oldschool Essentials game I ran and how good it was. I haven’t felt so excited to run a #TTRPG in a long time.

Ah, may Chaos take the world…MAY CHAOS… TAKE… THE WORLD!!!

Ah, may Chaos take the world…
MAY CHAOS… TAKE… THE WORLD!!!

This seems to happen more often lately.

This seems to happen more often lately.

Note that in writing this I'm not trying to disparage more modern rulesets or people who enjoy them. I'm absolutely a tactical...

Note that in writing this I'm not trying to disparage more modern rulesets or people who enjoy them. I'm absolutely a tactical combat junkie and Pathfinder 2e is high on my list of games I have a consistently good time playing. However, Old-School Essentials was especially refreshing to play as a much lower-maintenance, more improvisation-friendly game with a lot of creative opportunities I haven't had in a long time. I foresee more games of this to come.

#OSR #TTRPG #DND #DungeonsAndDragons

I had expected all of this to be the case, but wondered if it was just nostalgia goggles or if there was really something to it. It turns...

I had expected all of this to be the case, but wondered if it was just nostalgia goggles or if there was really something to it. It turns out, yes, there is something to it. Old-school D&D hits VERY different. As I've plotted out my own dungeon to try with this thing, I've found the mindset shifts IMMENSELY, from building tactical spaces like you would as a video game level designer to building problems to solve.

Stavros's player commented on that specifically. In all my years running modern games for him, he never actually got to interact with...

Stavros's player commented on that specifically. In all my years running modern games for him, he never actually got to interact with fairy princesses, ghost knights, trolls in wedding suits, ballroom dancing skeletons, or stone guardian hounds. It was always stuff appropriate for the characters' level, which usually ruled those things out, as power level stratification is much greater in modern editions. This stuck them as a much more imaginative adventure than usual.

Third, gold pieces for XP decoupled the game neatly from combat. It became a problem-solving and exploration game rather than a combat game,...

Third, gold pieces for XP decoupled the game neatly from combat. It became a problem-solving and exploration game rather than a combat game, which provided the adventure a lot of freedom in what it posed players with. Many traps had lethal consequences, but projected them enough that players could stop and think about them. Many monsters would have been out-of-the-question in modern games due to power level differences, but here the players were able to interact with these fantastical beings.

In this way, OSE is a lot less about specific rulings and a lot more about procedures, with room to interpret the exact nature of the rules...

In this way, OSE is a lot less about specific rulings and a lot more about procedures, with room to interpret the exact nature of the rules as makes sense for you and your table. While this isn't explicitly forbidden in modern D&D editions, they often do take pains to leave nothing un-ruled, and the number of situations that ARE ruled make it discouraging to improvise.

Another example was the ruling of torches vs. the mold. In rules-as-written, the mold procs a save vs. poison when disturbed. It's...

Another example was the ruling of torches vs. the mold. In rules-as-written, the mold procs a save vs. poison when disturbed. It's obvious that the players need to find a way to safely remove it or shield themselves from the spores. I felt fire was a reasonable enough way to remove the mold and spores both, albeit not completely safe, so I gave them a bonus to the save.

One example of this was how we applied INT rolls -- it's usually a "Roll Over/Roll Under" pass/fail kind of system, but I took...

One example of this was how we applied INT rolls -- it's usually a "Roll Over/Roll Under" pass/fail kind of system, but I took into account how high or low the roll was vs. the player's INT and made it more of a "fuzzy" roll. The higher above your INT it is, the less accurate the information you get. The lower below your INT it is, the more accurate it is. This proved useful with a lot of different situations. Other times pass/fail made sense.

Second, it's REALLY easy to resolve situations that don't have prescribed solutions or where players are trying something odd. In...

Second, it's REALLY easy to resolve situations that don't have prescribed solutions or where players are trying something odd. In many occasions I was able to do a simple modifier and have a lot of faith that it'd have the impact I wanted it to. It's less like there's discrete abilities prescribed for specific situations, and more like the stats are tools that you can apply in whatever ways make sense to you.

Notable observations:First, this whole session happened over one night's worth of play, starting at 6 PM and ending around 1 AM. If...

Notable observations:

First, this whole session happened over one night's worth of play, starting at 6 PM and ending around 1 AM. If I'd been doing this in Pathfinder 2e or D&D 5e, it would have taken at least one more session, if not two. The sheer expedience of Old-School Essentials cannot be beaten. Things that contribute to this are the lightweight nature of the rules, the relatively larger weight on exploration instead of combat, and side-based initiative.

In the end they delivered the ring to the faerie princess. I had sewn some seeds of discord in their motivations with Stavros wanting to...

In the end they delivered the ring to the faerie princess. I had sewn some seeds of discord in their motivations with Stavros wanting to take it back and get 5000 gp (and a bigger office), but they ultimately agreed to give it to the princess. While her heart only belongs to the fallen knight whose spirit resides in the ring, she gave them a generous reward. All in all it was a nice, lighthearted romp with a happy ending, engaging puzzles, and thousands of gold worth of treasure gathered.

The granddaddy nonsense moment of the game was when Stavros looked at the wedding feast that had been arranged and took a big giant bite out...

The granddaddy nonsense moment of the game was when Stavros looked at the wedding feast that had been arranged and took a big giant bite out of a drumstick from the faeries' food.

If you know faeries, you know never to eat the goddamn food.

He nat 20'd the save vs. spells. To not let this moment pass without consequence, I had Brother Leitwin get the bright idea to do the same.

He nat 20'd the save vs. spells. The stupid bastards ate of the faeries' food with ZERO consequences.

- A puzzle required them to learn the names of two stone hounds -- which they found in different parts of the dungeon.- Stavros got caught...

- A puzzle required them to learn the names of two stone hounds -- which they found in different parts of the dungeon.

- Stavros got caught up in a sword that makes people attack the largest thing they can see. He ruined a mural depicting a troll before Ivar directed him to attack a door, defusing his trance.

- They found a passage with a portal leading to the land of Faerie, where the princess was sealed in a tower. They gained entry because Ivar was "on the guest list for the wedding."

- A pair of ballroom-dancing skeletons occupied the tomb and waltzed around at regular intervals. The party opted NOT to raid their...

- A pair of ballroom-dancing skeletons occupied the tomb and waltzed around at regular intervals. The party opted NOT to raid their coffins.

- The party spent WAY too much time messing around with a mirror that freezes people, trying to figure out how it worked.

- Mold that releases toxic spores was a regular obstacle. When the party opted to torch it away to reveal a mural, I gave them a +2 bonus to their save vs. Poison, as the fire burnt away the spores. This was an improvised ruling.

I'm not gonna summarize the full exploration of the dungeon, but here's a few hallmarks:- While they couldn't open the tomb with...

I'm not gonna summarize the full exploration of the dungeon, but here's a few hallmarks:

- While they couldn't open the tomb with Ivar's raw strength, they were able to jury rig the horses to pull the door open.

- They encountered a set of sanctimonious animated objects that scolded them for entering the tomb. Because they had Brother Leitwin with them, the objects opted to quizz them on some of the lore of the world to prove their faith. This averted a battle.