The return of Elric?

It looks like the multiverse of the Eternal Champion Elric will be returning to the world of in-print role-playing games thanks to Goodman Games:

“Goodman Games is thrilled to announce a licensing agreement to publish official tabletop role-playing material based on Elric of Melniboné, the iconic sword & sorcery character and setting created by legendary author Michael Moorcock! 

The Classic Era of Elric will include a line of sourcebooks, adventures, maps, and additional supplements, all designed for compatibility with both Fifth Edition and Dungeon Crawl Classics role-playing game systems. The project is scheduled to launch via crowdfunding in 2027. Products will be released following the successful campaign and will be available at game stores worldwide.”

Despite the influence that the early Elric stories had on me (and I remain fond of them to this day), I have to confess that I’m not all that excited about this. One reason is that the setting will use 5th edition Dungeons and Dragons and Dungeon Crawl Classics – two systems about which I have decidedly cool feelings. DCC was a poor fit for another cherished fictional setting – Jack Vance’s Dying Earth – and I doubt that it will be appropriate for Elric (at least not without some heavy reworking). 

A second – more decisive – reason is that I already own a lot of "Elric" role-playing books: three editions of Chaosium’s Stormbringer (including Elric!, which is the same system as 5th edition Stormbringer), and a lot of supplemental books for those editions, as well as all the Elric of Melniboné books that were published for Mongoose’s Runequest II (MRQII) system. (MRQII, as many readers no doubt know, eventually evolved into Mythras.) So I already have more than enough Elric material – as well as some Hawkmoon and Corum material – to run multiple campaigns, all using RPG systems that I much prefer to both 5e D&D and DCC.

But who knows – maybe the new material will be good! Time (and funds) permitting, I may check out what Goodman Games produces for everyone’s favourite melancholy albino. 

What roleplaying games are you playing now? What games do you want to play?

I've been writing this blog for almost seventeen years now. Yet I've rarely addressed any questions to you, the human beings who look at these posts from time to time. But I'm curious about who actually visits this place (aside from the bots). I'm interested to know what game(s) you play. 

As I explained in my previous post, the roleplaying games that I've been playing have shifted over the past two decades. Early on, I was focused primarily on "Old School Renaissance" games like Swords and Wizardry (and developed some house rules for it, many of which were later integrated into Crypts & Things, which I also played back in the day) and 1st edition Advanced Dungeons & Dragons/OSRIC. I also occasionally ran Call of Cthulhu. 

Then, in spring 2011, I started playing in a "Young Kingdoms campaign" that used the Runequest II (MRQII) rules. (How could I refuse? The Gamemaster was one of the co-authors of the system!) This started a long period -- continuing to this day with Lyonesse -- of playing versions of the game that is now called Mythras (MRQII and Runequest 6 were the immediate ancestors of Mythras -- all written by Lawrence Whitaker and Pete Nash). I also continued to run Call of Cthulhu from time to time (winding up a sporadic campaign in 2017). And in 2017-2018 I ran an Adventures in Middle-earth campaign.

For a few years I ran a campaign using Dungeons & Dragons 5th edition in the "Gygax version" of the World of Greyhawk. (I eventually switched to the 5e-based Into the Unknown system, but ItU is close enough to 5e that I regard the whole campaign as my "5e" one.) I wanted to properly "try out" the current version of D&D and we ended up continuing until the characters reached 6th level. While that campaign was fun, I realized by the end of it that I had no desire to ever run 5e D&D again, at least for an extended period of time (I did run a couple of sessions of 5e for some kids last fall -- one of my few "charitable acts" as a RPGer).

Over the past few years, as GM, I've primarily run Against the Darkmaster. One campaign, set in Middle-earth, wrapped up a few months ago (although I have a "epilogue" set of adventures planned for the same characters sometime in the future). The other, set in my homebrew world of "Ukrasia," is still going strong. 

So these days, I mainly GM Against the Darkmaster and I mainly play Mythras (I'm leaving out various "one shots" of different systems here). I would like to try out Dragonbane sometime, as it strikes me as similar to Mythras in many ways but is much "lighter" in terms of both rules and tone (the similarity shouldn't be that surprising, since both games are descendants of the "Basic Roleplaying" system created by Chaosium almost five decades ago). 

What about you? What games do you play these days, either as GM or player? What game(s) do you want to play?

There and Back Again: My Circular Role-playing Journey

I’ve talked about my personal history with the ‘Old School Renaissance’ or ‘Old School Revival’ (OSR) in the past at this blog (e.g., see this post from 2022). But some reflection on the games that I’ve been playing in recent years has prompted me to scribble some further thoughts. (My apologies for being a bit self-indulgent here …)

[Saruman by Angus McBride]

It’s been an interesting journey. I was ‘floating around’ at various role-playing games fora during the early days of the OSR over two decades ago. Disappointment with 3rd edition Dungeons & Dragons – and nostalgia for my early days of gaming – led me to dig out (and in some cases repurchase) my old Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, Basic/Expert Dungeons & Dragons, Rules Cyclopaedia D&D, and other out-of-print RPG books. I was excited – and later disappointed – by Castles & Crusades in its early days. (I wrote positive reviews at RPG.net of both the C&C box set and Players’ Handbook, but eventually came to find the atrocious editing by Troll Lord Games intolerable.)  

I started this blog in 2009 in order to post some rules ideas for Swords & Wizardry (S&W). Some of my ‘swords and sorcery’ house rules for S&W appeared in early issues of Fight On! and Knockspell. Eventually, many of those rules were incorporated into Crypts and Things. So I guess that I contributed – albeit in a small way – to the creation of OSR “stuff,” at least early on. 

But I haven’t really been that engaged with the OSR for about a decade now. I still follow it to some extent. I mean, I have Dolmenwood and Shadowdark, as well as the more recent versions of S&W, and a few other things. I’ve backed the forthcoming ‘3rd edition’ of OSRIC (the original “retro-clone,” in this case of 1980 AD&D). While I regret some of my purchases, overall I find that there are still interesting things being produced. But I don’t really use any OSR (by which I mean here ‘TSR D&D-derived’) systems anymore, and haven’t for years. They just don’t appeal to me that much these days. I think that, given my tastes, there are superior alternatives available. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised by this. I sort of thought the same thing about AD&D/D&D around 1985.

Almost all my gaming these days involve either Mythras or Against the Darkmaster (but sometimes my groups will play ‘one shots’ of other things, e.g., Mothership or Delta Green, and I’d like to run some Dragonbane someday). I find these systems more satisfying overall than any version of D&D (TSR, OSR, 3e, 5e, whatever). I guess I’m not a ‘rules lite’ person after all. In retrospect, I think that I thought that about myself only because I found running 3e D&D to be such a tedious chore. 

Of course, both Mythras and Against the Darkmaster are descendants of other ‘old school’ systems: Chaosium’s Basic Roleplaying (Runequest, Stormbringer, and the like) in the case of Mythras, and Iron Crown Enterprise’s Middle-earth Roleplaying (itself a simplified version of 2nd edition Rolemaster), in the case of Against the Darkmaster. So, I guess they're kind of ‘OSR’ systems as well (but not if we adhere to the “OSR = derived from TSR AD&D/D&D” definition). 

I can’t help but be struck by the extent to which my personal gaming history has repeated itself: dissatisfaction with AD&D/D&D led me to move to Middle-earth Roleplaying (MERP) and Basic Roleplaying (BRP), including Call of Cthulhu, Hawkmoon, and Stormbringer, in the mid-late 1980s. And about three decades later the same thing happened with OSR D&D and 5e D&D. Hopefully I've learned my lesson and won’t go through this cycle again.

As an aside, one thing that makes me think of the old MERP campaign modules as "old school" in nature is that – whatever their other faults – they were effectively “sandboxes” (as I explain here). They described a number of locations, some in detail, and provided advice for GMs on how to provide "hooks" for players. There were a few “adventure modules” for MERP – books with 3 adventures (usually aimed at levels, 1, 3, and 5) – but even those were pretty loose for the most part (generally they provided a setting and a situation), not “railroad” adventures. So, after my first several years with AD&D, a lot of my GMing involved using and running Middle-earth “sandbox” campaigns, although of course that term was not used in those days (at least to my knowledge). Indeed, I vividly recall comparing my MERP modules to TSR's Dragonlance series around 1986 or 1987, and noting how little room for improvisation or player freedom the latter allowed.

Anyhow, to the extent I was still involved in the hobby during the 1990s, the games I followed were those that came out earlier, especially MERP and Stormbringer (the latter revised and renamed Elric! during that decade). I remember visiting gaming stores in the 1990s and being a bit baffled and even put off by all the “goth” stuff. I never got into Vampire and the like (just as I never got into the Magic craze.) When D&D 3e came out, I was excited by it because it seemed to “improve” D&D by including certain things from other systems that I liked (e.g., skills). In play, though, I came to loathe the system after two year-long campaigns, and so was primed for the OSR when it happened.

Of course, had I been sensible, I would’ve just kept playing MERP, Call of Cthulhu, Stormbringer, and similar older games – and just ignored the hype around 3e D&D and the “d20” universe in the early 2000s. These days, for the most part, I’m happy to stick with my “d100” games, Mythras and Against the Darkmaster. Wisdom, I hope, comes with age.

My grievances concerning 5th edition Dungeons and Dragons: a final statement

Let me start with some background about what “fantasy” means to me and hence what I generally look for in fantasy role-playing games (FRPGs).

I saw The Lord of the Rings animated movie when I was 9 or 10 at a repertory theatre. Then I read The Hobbit. That got me really interested in fantasy stuff. It’s what motivated me to then ask my parents for the Dungeons and Dragons Basic Set for my birthday. (It was the one written by Dr. Holmes – hence it had those annoying chits instead of dice.)

As an adolescent I became interested in other works of fantasy – especially, in the early-mid 1980s, Michael Moorcock and Robert E. Howard (along with a lot of related pastiche “Conan” stories) – because of D&D and AD&D. The “Melnibonéan Mythos” in the Deitites and Demigods was one of my favourites in the book even before I read anything by Moorcock. 

 

Given these influences, I would say that Tolkien, Moorcock, and Howard had the most influence in shaping how I interpreted D&D/AD&D when I got into FRPGs in the early-mid 1980s. (I eventually would go on to play games directly based on the writings of Tolkien and Moorcock; indeed, these eventually supplanted AD&D in my high-school group.) Perhaps this is why – more than any particular set of rules – the more recent Wizards of the Coast versions of the game leave me cold. Over the past 25 years the game has felt more like “fantasy superheroes” than the kind of fiction that I had associated with it – and, I suppose, still do, when I think of “classic D&D.”

Turning to my experience running a “World of Greyhawk” campaign using the fifth edition rules – and leaving aside the game’s overall “ethos” and “aesthetics” (including its unfortunate recent turn towards “twee”) – there are three elements of the game that especially came to vex me:

a. Its “superhero” “no-wounds-are-serious” system of rest and recovery; 

b. Its “unmagical” magic system; and

c. Its flavourless, often tedious combat system.

(For further explanation of each of these points, go to the posts to which I’ve linked above.)

I recently managed to sell most of my WotC 5e D&D collection (I kept the core rules and a few books I liked, such as Saltmarsh and Yawning Portal). I used a local used bookstore for the sake of convenience. It felt good to free up the shelf space. I don't know why I bothered getting most of those books originally – even when I was playing 5e, I barely used most of them. (I stopped buying WotC stuff years ago when I realized this, as well as the declining quality of the line.)

I will say this for 5e D&D: it’s far better than 3e was. I mean, if 5e D&D were the only FRPG available, I would play it – whereas I would just abandon the hobby if 3e was the only option. And I would not rule out occasionally playing 5e D&D in the future (say, running a game for a friend’s kids or something like that). And I would be happy to play the Middle-earth variant, The Lord of the Rings RPG (indeed, I greatly enjoyed that game’s predecessor, Adventures in Middle-earth, having run a successful campaign about seven years ago).

But as for my “main” FRPG, I’ll never use 5e D&D again. Hence, I don’t have any interest in the new 2024 books. There are just too many superior alternatives (including, of course, earlier editions of D&D/AD&D, and related “retro-clones” and “near clones”).

Combat should be interesting

Combat obviously is an important element in most fantasy role-playing games. At its best, it’s exciting and dramatic. After all, the protagonists’ lives are at risk! And surprising things can happen – either because of chance (the rolls of the dice) or because of players’ inventiveness (or even inspiration on the part of the Game Master in the midst of a session). 

In the two campaigns that I currently am running – both using the Against the Darkmaster (VsD) system, one set in Middle-earth, the other in my home setting of Ukrasia – I rarely have more than one combat in any given session. Thanks to its “critical hits” system, combat in VsD can easily become quite deadly or debilitating, so players tend to avoid it when possible. Hence, two or more sessions (if not more) typically will pass between combats. I like this kind of pacing, as it ensures that when combat does take place, it is noteworthy and memorable.  

The two games that I play the most these days – VsD and Mythras – both have involved and colourful combat systems. While VsD has vivid critical hits, fumbles, and the like, Mythras has hit locations and exciting “special effects” (previously called “combat manoeuvres”) that allow for a wide range of tactical options, including defensive ones. They definitely are not “rules light” systems! 

Almost two decades ago (!), when I finally realized that I disliked 3rd edition Dungeons and Dragons, I thought that that was because I disliked “rules heavy” FRPGs. But that wasn’t really the case. I’ve always liked certain “rules heavy” – or at least “rules medium” – systems, like Middle-earth Roleplaying and Stormbringer. What I disliked was how tedious the rules for 3e D&D were – both in terms of prep work and its combat system. Running and playing 3e D&D involved a lot of work – and there was very little pay-off for that, as combats in 3e were frequent but usually quite boring. For the most part, characters and their opponents were “blocks of hit points” that would be chipped away during combats that involved a lot of rather flavourless options (and ubiquitous, bland “attacks of opportunity”). 

The problem isn’t nearly as bad in 5th edition Dungeons and Dragons. But it’s still there: the game assumes that combat is common (which the DM can ignore, of course) and that it rarely threatens the lives of the characters (thanks to all their abilities, inflated hit points, “death saves,” and the like). (Yes, there are options to make the game more “gritty” and deadly hidden in the Dungeon Master's Guide, but the default mode is very much “fantasy superheroes,” wherein player characters rarely face serious risks.) Combat in 5e D&D is pretty dull in my experience – at least when compared to the alternatives with which I am familiar, such as Mythras and VsD.

So what my recent 5e D&D campaign taught me was that what I dislike are “rules heavy” or “rules medium” systems in which combat is insipid and (usually) not that risky (at least to the characters). I had to work hard to ensure that at least some of the combats in my campaign were novel. In contrast, no such work is needed for Mythras or VsD, given the intrinsic qualities of those combat systems. Even an encounter with some “vanilla” bandits or orcs can be risky and interesting.

That said, sometimes one doesn’t want to engage in a lot of book-keeping when running a game. That’s certainly fine. This is where older (TSR era) editions of D&D and AD&D shine (at least when one isn’t using all the rules outlined by Gary Gyax in the AD&D rules – which almost no one ever did or does). In old school D&D (and associated “retro-clones” like Swords and Wizardry, OSRIC, and Crypts & Things), combat is fast. So while it lacks the colourfulness and tactical depth of other systems, at least it rarely takes more than 20 minutes to resolve (unlike even trivial combats in 3e or 5e D&D). And of course, combat can be more deadly in older versions of D&D, given the lower hit points of characters, the absence of “death saves,” the relative rarity of healing spells, etc.

In short, my view is that combat should be either interesting or fast. One of my gripes with 5th edition D&D is that combat typically is neither (although sometimes it can be), at least in comparison to the other FRPGs that I play.  

Dungeons and Dragons 2024: the Twee Edition

This picture of the Dungeon Master’s “tracking sheets” for the forthcoming 2024 version of Dungeons and Dragons (edition 5.5?) pretty much confirms that this incarnation of the game is not for me:

A happy cute pink beholder adorning a “Campaign Expectations” sheet, which includes “Potentially Sensitive Elements” and “Player Hopes and Expectations.” Ugh.

Okay, to be fair, not all the new art is “twee” like this.  

But as I’ve said before here, I'm done with the current version of D&D. I had a fun time running a 5th edition D&D campaign – but that was despite the system not because of it. (And I ended up using some significant house rules to make it tolerable.) However, I will give 5e credit for being a lot less tedious than 3e.

Thankfully, neither of my two gaming groups is that interested in playing 5e (or 5.5e or whatever the 2024 “revision” ends up being called) D&D. One group includes a few people who actively dislike D&D (all versions) while the other group includes people who like 5e but are happy to play other things instead. So, unless I end up running some contemporary D&D as a favour for someone outside of my regular gaming groups in the future, I’m done with the Wizards of the Coast versions of the game. 

I haven’t bought a new WotC D&D book in a few years now, as their quality seemed to decline sometime after Ghosts of Saltmarsh. The 2024 revisions look pointless to me. I understand the need to make $$$, but the changes (to my knowledge) move the game even further away from what I want.

(I'll confess that I’m mildly curious to see what is done with the “World of Greyhawk” in the Dungeon Master’s Guide. But I certainly don't "need" any more Greyhawk material.)

Anyhow, if you want some more information about the new versions of the core rulebooks, this article provides an overview (it includes some of the new art as well).

Greyhawk to appear in the 2024 Dungeon Master’s Guide

Eight months ago, I wrapped up a campaign set in Gary Gygax’s version of the World of Greyhawk (specifically, the version found in the 1983 box set).* I used the 5th edition rules for Dungeons and Dragons for the campaign (initially the rules more or less “as written” in the 2014 books; later, the Into the Unknown variant of 5e D&D, with some house rules for sake of continuity and the Greyhawk setting). Although the campaign was great fun, I realized about halfway through it that I did not care at all for the 5th edition rules, and hence concluded the campaign much earlier than I had originally planned (although it still ended in a satisfying way, I think). 

Since I don’t plan to run the current version of Dungeons and Dragons ever again, I have no interest in the “updated” 2024 editions of the core books. (According to Wizards of the Coast, this is not a “new edition,” so it’s not “6th edition” – I expect that it eventually will be called something like “edition 5.5,” but we’ll see.) In fact, I’m planning on selling off (or giving away) much of my 5e collection.

But to my surprise, the 2024 version of the Dungeon Master’s Guide will include an overview of the “World of Greyhawk” – along with a poster with maps of the Flannaes (the main region described in previous versions of the setting) and the City of Greyhawk. I had thought that we would not see any “new” version of the World of Greyhawk for the current incarnation of D&D (beyond adventures like those included in Ghosts of Saltmarsh and Tales of the Yawning Portal). However, it looks like I was wrong.

I still doubt that I’ll get the 2024 DMG. But now I’m not ruling it out entirely – it depends on how good the new Greyhawk material is. If the maps are nice, and the overview of the setting is interesting, perhaps I’ll consider picking up the book. 

* I have yet to write up the final installments of the campaign. I hope to do this over the next month or so. I also plan to write a post reflecting on the entire experience. Stay tuned!

My RPG Foci: Fantasy and Eldritch Horror

Recently someone over at the RPG Pub asked what genres people preferred in their gaming. Reflecting on this question, I realized that over the past twenty-five years or so, almost all of my role-playing activity has been focused in two genres: fantasy and horror. 

Fantasy

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the vast majority of my gaming has involved various flavours of fantasy, especially the following sub-genres.

High Fantasy

By “high fantasy” I mean the kind of fantasy that you find in the writings of J.R.R. Tolkien and the like. High fantasy worlds have a clear distinction between “good” and “evil” – even if there are morally ambiguous characters and difficult situations between the two extremes. 

I’ve mentioned before here that I was an avid player of Middle-earth Roleplaying back during the 1980s. Indeed, I probably played as much MERP as I did AD&D during my high-school days (it eventually became my group’s “main game”). And when I first started playing RPGs semi-regularly again, around 1999, I naturally started with MERP (before, unfortunately, moving to the Rolemaster Standard System, which despite its obvious mechanical relation to MERP [MERP was derived from an earlier version of Rolemaster], was not nearly as smooth or fun to use in practice).

A lot of the games that I’ve run over the years have been in this subgenre, including past and present Middle-earth games. My current “Court of Urdor” also falls within this category. 

The brilliant Against the Darkmaster FRPG – which is heavily inspired by MERP – is designed for precisely this kind of fantasy campaign. Indeed, it builds the “Darkmaster” conceit into some of its core mechanics. As the name indicates, the struggle against the Darkmaster is assumed to be a central feature of any campaign, even if only in the background. 

Swords and Sorcery 

Another familiar sub-genre. Robert E Howard’s Hyborea and Atlantis, Michael Moorcock’s Young Kingdoms (and “multiverse” more generally), Fritz Leiber’s Nehwon, Karl Edward Wagner’s “Kane,” and the like, are all exemplars of this sub-genre. I would include Jack Vance’s Dying Earth corpus, and many of Clark Ashton Smith’s stories (especially those set in Zothique, Averoigne, and Hyperborea), as members of this family as well.

After rereading REH’s Conan stories – and reading for the first time his Kull and Bran Mac Morn tales – fifteen years ago (when they were republished in nice volumes by Ballantine), I came up with a number of house rules for Swords & Wizardy in order to run some “swords and sorcery” flavoured games. Those house rules are still available here – and seem to attract regular visits to this day. Many of them were later integrated into D101 Games’ Crypts & Things role-playing game, which I highly recommend. 

In addition to running my modified version of S&W (and later C&T), I also was a player in a wonderful campaign set in the Young Kingdoms (of Moorcock’s Elric tales), using the Mongoose Runequest II system (the grandfather of the excellent Mythras RPG). 

Dungeons & Dragons

Blend the above two sub-genres together – and add some quirky monsters (e.g., beholders, mind flayers), novel twists on old ideas (e.g., drow elves, planar cosmology), and some innovations (e.g., dungeon-delving, wandering monsters) – for the singular “Dungeons and Dragons” sub-genre. I regard “D&D fantasy” as its own thing, even though it obviously draws heavily on a wide range of sources (not just fantasy). 

However, my experience running and playing post-TSR D&D has not been that great. I ran two 3rd edition games – one 3.0e and one 3.5e – just over two decades ago. The system was new and shiny, and seemed to “fix” all the purported “problems” with the earlier versions of the game. Both campaigns lasted about a year but became quite tedious to run once the characters reached 3rd or 4th level. I came to find that being a DM for 3rd edition D&D was simply a chore. After the second campaign, I vowed to never run the game again. I subsequently ran a few sessions of Castles & Crusades, AD&D, and played a bit of the Warhammer RPG (2nd edition). All of those games I enjoyed far more than 3rd edition D&D (although I probably would only bother with AD&D again today).

I skipped 4th edition D&D altogether. After reading halfway through the Player’s Handbook in fall 2008, I realized that it was just not for me. 

Years later, I ran a few one-shots of 5th edition. At first, I thought rather highly of it – at the very least, it seemed to be a vast improvement over 3rd edition. I quite liked some of the books that were published for it (namely, Tales from the Yawning Portal, Ghosts of Saltmarsh, and Goodman Games’ updated versions of classic TSR modules – not coincidentally, books that all contained a lot of “Gygaxian" Greyhawk material). 

More recently, I ran a campaign set in the World of Greyhawk, much of which took place in the legendary area around the village of Hommlet. It was great fun! But it was fun despite the system (at least for me as the Dungeon Master). The ubiquitous, often “free” magic, and almost absurd “superhero” quality of the characters, came to grate on my nerves. I’ve explained some of my problems with 5th edition D&D before (see here and here) so I won’t say any more about that here.  

After these experiences, I conclude that I definitely prefer “old school” D&D within this genre – specifically, the more challenging and flavourful 1st edition Advanced Dungeons and Dragons and Basic/Expert Dungeons & Dragons (and related “clone” systems, like OSRIC and S&W). I like magic to be at least somewhat rare and at least somewhat costly to use. (Endless cantrips and ritual spells? No thanks!) It’s clear to me that the post-TSR versions of the game just are not my thing. I certainly have no interest in the recent offerings from the Wizards of the Coast.

There is one honourable exception regarding 5th edition D&D: the Middle-earth adaptations of the 5e system, as presented in Adventures in Middle-earth and The Lord of the Rings RPG. I thoroughly enjoyed the AiME campaign that I ran a number of years ago. But those games don’t feel like “D&D” at all – the magic system is entirely different, the classes are entirely different, etcetera. They also import a number of mechanics from The One Ring RPG. And of course, those games belong to the “high fantasy” genre discussed earlier.

Historical Fantasy

As a player, the bulk of my gaming over the past decade has been in historical fantasy settings. I suppose that this is unsurprising, given that I’ve played a lot of Mythras (and its predecessors, RuneQuest 6 and MRQII) during this time.  So, I’ve played in long-running Mythic Britain and Mythic Babylon campaigns, as well as some one-shot sessions in other settings. 

Both Mythic Britain and Mythic Babylon are excellent and highly recommended!

Horror

After fantasy, I’ve mainly run and played in “Horror” games. But in this category, it’s been exclusively “Lovecraftian” horror, that is, “Cthulhu Mythos” stuff. 

I’ve run a couple of short Call of Cthulhu campaigns set during the “classic” period, in Toronto and Massachusetts, as well as a number of one-shots. I have material for other eras (e.g., Rome, medieval, and modern, including “The Laundry”) but have never run a campaign or even a one-shot outside of the default 1920s-30s period.  

As a player, I recently took part in a long-running Mythras campaign, using the classic Beyond the Mountains of Madness sourcebook. (Our last session was today. My character survived – and was even more-or-less sane!) I’ve also taken part in one-shots of Trail of Cthulhu, Delta Green, and other related games over the years. 

Other genres?

 

I took part in a few Mythras sessions years ago set in the Luther Arkwright universe. I’m not sure how to categorize that setting (“science fantasy”?). They were fine but not the kind of thing I’d likely run myself. I also have played a few other one-shots here and there, but nothing really worthy of mention.

I haven't been remotely interested in playing in a “superheroes” game in recent decades (unless you count 5th edition D&D – I joke). It’s a genre that simply doesn't appeal to me. I’d be open to a “modern” game (say, espionage) but I have no idea how to run one myself. Likewise for science-fiction.

Back in high-school, my group tried all kinds of different games – including superheroes (Villains & Vigilantes, Marvel Superheroes), historical (Gangbusters, Bushido), and especially science fiction (Traveller, Star Frontiers, and even Space Opera – or at least I bought and tried to read Space Opera). We had a lot of time and energy back then!

Wrapping up...

These days, now that I’m an old man, I generally try to stick to what I know I like. So, I guess I’m a pretty limited gamer: I play and run almost exclusively fantasy and horror games. Maybe I’ll broaden my horizons when I retire. 

Looking back, I regret all the time I spent trying to get myself to like 3rd and 5th edition D&D. I should’ve just spent that time playing MERP or Stormbringer or Crypts and Things or whatever. At least I’ve learned my lesson: life is too short to try to force myself to like a game when there are other games available that I much prefer. So these days I’m happy to focus on Mythras and Against the Darkmaster – although, of course, I still pick up the occasional new system that catches my eye. 

 

Art credits (from top to bottom): Angus McBride, Andrea Piparo, Michael Whelan, Dave Trampier, David Benzal, Erol Otus, Angus McBride (again).

Second Edition Advanced Dungeons and Dragons

Over at his Mythlands of Erce blog, Anders H* has a couple of amusing polemical posts defending the honour and goodness of second edition Advanced Dungeons and Dragons (part one concerns the rules; part two addresses the ‘culture’ of the game).

Second edition AD&D was an edition that I almost entirely skipped. I say “almost” because I played very briefly in a 2e campaign one summer around 1990. However, I never owned any 2e AD&D books during its lifecycle (I bought a few books for the Greyhawk and Planescape settings years later). I had drifted away from AD&D by the late 1980s and did not play role-playing games that regularly during the 1990s. To the extent that I did, it was stuff like MERP, Rolemaster, Call of Cthulhu, Hawkmoon, GURPS, and the like.

I eventually did “play” a lot of 2e AD&D, but only via various computer RPGs, namely, the “Infinity engine” Baldur's Gate games, Icewind Dale, and Planescape: Torment (the latter game motivated me to learn more about the Planescape setting, hence my subsequent purchase of the box set and a few other things). It didn't seem that different from 1e AD&D, at least in terms of the rules (the addition of “kits” seemed to be the main difference).

The hatred directed towards 2e by adherents of 1e AD&D (primarily from grognards grumbling on the internet – not that there’s anything wrong with that!) always struck me as primarily flavour-based. And I share their irritation with 2e’s “purging” of things like assassins, half-orcs, demons, devils, etc., (all things that eventually crept back into the game, however, during the 1990s). Also contributing to this sentiment was some bitterness about TSR’s treatment of Gary Gygax, and the unavoidable fact that 2e AD&D was the first “post-Gygax” version of the game. 

There are some rules differences between the two editions, of course, and in my view some favour 2e (e.g., the way thief skills were handled), others 1e (e.g., the presence of a distinct "illusionist" class). 

I much prefer the art in the original 1e AD&D books, especially the classic Dave Trampier Player’s Handbook cover. Overall, the 1e art seems “grittier” and less “family-friendly” than the 2e stuff. Trampier’s pictures often looked like etchings from some mysterious past (as did David Sutherland’s epic “Paladin in Hell”). Erol Otus’s pictures looked like visions of an alternate reality.  

But in terms of rules, I’m fine with 2e AD&D. I certainly prefer them over 3e (which I’ll never touch again), 4e (which I never played after reading halfway through the PHB), and 5e (which, admittedly, is the “least bad” of the post-TSR versions of AD&D/D&D, but still not my cup of tea). I'd be quite happy to play in a 2e campaign. But if I ever run an “old school” AD&D campaign again, it almost certainly would be (a house-ruled version of) Gygaxian 1e AD&D.

(*Note: Anders H is the author of the excellent Into the Unknown RPG, an “old school” variant of the 5e rules. Check it out! If you’re curious, I go over some of the main differences between ItU and 5e here.) 

Eyes of a Catoblepas, Wings of an Owlbear (Greyhawk campaign)

PART 10: EYES OF A CATOBLEPAS, WINGS OF AN OWLBEAR

10.1 The Wood Elf Camp (Richfest 2nd – 3rd)

Our dauntless adventurers — Erik (the mountain dwarf fighter from the Lortmils), Althaea (the high elf wizard from the city of Tringlee), and the brothers Godric (the human rogue from the Barony of Shiboleth) and Cedric (the human cleric of St. Cuthbert) – journey to the Wood Elf camp after successfully exploring the Tomb of Serten. 

Erik decides to give the legendary Helm of Laga Vulin to Cedric. The dwarf is sad and reluctant to make this decision. Finding the helm had been his dream ever since he learned of its existence and its ability to cure the wearer of the effects of all poisons and toxins – including alcohol. He had hoped that finding it would enable him to indulge in hedonistic drunken excesses without suffering disabling hangovers. Alas, the helm also impresses a commitment to LAW in those who wear it, something that Erik ultimately could not accept. He figures that it would be far better for one already devoted to dour order, like the warrior priest Cedric, to make use of it.

After two days of journeying through the northern reaches of the Kron Hills (with their loyal mule Vick), the party reaches the Wood Elf camp. There the party meets with the band’s leader, the beautiful half-elf Tomyria.

Godric explains his quest to find the Manor of Quesse (a legendary half-elf roguish mage, and distant relation of Godric and Cedric). Tomyria informs the party that she knows where the manor is located, but will divulge this information only if the party recovers one of three items for her: 

- A gryphon egg (from a nest located somewhere to the southwest, in the Kron Hills).
- The eyes of a catoblepas (from an abandoned farmhouse to the south).
- The wings of a unique (mutant?) flying owlbear (likely nesting in some hills to the southeast).

She explains that her band is looking for these items for the reclusive mage Master Nyv (of the Mage Tower, located roughly 9 leagues north of Nulb).

That evening, the party makes merry with the high-spirited elves. Tomyria and Godric hook up, as do Althaea and the wood elf scout Urth. Cedric tries to share the wisdom of St. Cuthbert with the elves, but is roundly mocked by the boisterous followers of Rillifane Rallathil. Erik, free from the discipline of the Helm of Laga Vulin, drinks until he passes out in an unwholesome puddle. 

10.2 Some Harpies, a Catoblepas, and a Ghost (Richfest 4th – 7th)

The party decides to recover the catoblepas eyes after Tomyria offers some additional platinum pieces as an incentive. The half-elf band leader gives them a magical glass container for the creature’s deadly eyes.

The adventuring quartet then journeys to the abandoned farmhouse, which lies on the northern side of the High Road, a mere two leagues away from the accursed Moathouse. En route, the party is attacked by a trio of vicious harpies. Erik is momentarily charmed by their music, but a magic missile blast from Althaea knocks his senses back into him. Eventually, the party is triumphant over the monsters.

At the farmhouse the party hunts down the terrible catoblepas in a mire. It is a difficult battle, but the party slays the creature and recovers its malevolent eyes. Althaea places them in the magical glass container. The party also slays a giant spider that attacks them in the barn, and some giant centipedes in the cottage.

Later in the old cottage, the adventurers are approached by a silent ghost. The ghost attempts to possess Godric but fails. Cedric figures out that the ghost is not in fact hostile but is trying to communicate with the party. When Cedric invokes the name of St. Cuthbert, the ghost looks at the cleric with hope, and then leads the party to a withered corpse hidden outside. Apparently, the ghost was once the farmer here, but was slain by vile brigands and not given a proper burial. The party builds a cairn for the body, which Cedric consecrates with holy water. The ghost thanks the party and disappears, having crossed over to its proper afterlife. 

After this good deed, the party naturally decides to loot the place. They uncover some bloodstones, a potion of healing, and a slightly magical dagger.

On their journey back to the Wood Elf camp, the adventurers again encounter Darr the druid. Darr learns of the party’s plans to eventually go to Nulb, and tells them that Otis is an ally, and that Mother Screng is actually friendly and helpful, even if she does not seem so at first. Darr also confirms that there is a flying owlbear in the region – such creatures are unnatural, and the druid encourages the party to destroy it if they are so inclined.

Darr travels north with the party along the High Road but leaves them when the adventures head west back to the Wood Elf Camp.

Tomyria is profoundly grateful for the catoblepas eyes and tells the party where Quesse’s ruined manor is located. She provides additional “rewards” to Godric later that evening. 

10.3 Some Ankhegs and the Wings of an Owlbear (Reaping 1st – 5th)

Tomyria offers the party forty platinum pieces if they will perform another job for her. The greedy adventurers agree to obtain the owlbear wings. The half-elf then provides the party with two large sacks for the wings, along with a vial of preservation fluid. 

The party heads back into the Gnarley Forest to find the lair of the flying owlbear. During their search, they are surprised by some vicious ankhegs, but manage to defeat the burrowing beasts. 

As the party nears the hills within the dark woodland, they are attacked by the winged owlbear! It swoops down a number of times to attack, and the party at first has a hard time responding. But Althaea manages to bring the savage brute down using a “Web” spell to entangle its wings. Erik then somehow disembowels the owlbear with his staff of striking. The wings are removed, covered with preservation fluid, and placed in the great sacks strapped to Vick the mule.

The adventuring quintet explores the owlbear’s lair. Within, they find hidden amongst the vile debris and waste a gold ring. The ring turns out to be magical – it enables its wearer to magically jump great distances. Erik is thrilled by the item and implores his friends to let him have it. Since they pity the dwarf for how the helm turned out for him, they agree to his request. 

The party also finds a secret door at the back of the cave. Beyond is a smugglers’ den, long abandoned. The adventurers recover some unruined bolts of silk. A cask of fine dwarvish brandy also is obtained, but Erik drops it while drunkenly stumbling down the hill, and the fine liquor is lost forever. 

Upon returning the Wood Elf camp, Tomyria rewards the adventurers for the wings. She also gives them a key to the band’s cabin on the outskirts of Nulb. And once again, she grants Godric a “special reward” later that night.

10.4 A Visit to Nulb (Reaping 6th – 8th)

The party spends a couple of days in the nasty village of Nulb, staying at the Wood Elves’ cabin and doing their best to remain inconspicuous. 

While in the village they overhear some cultists speaking Abyssal in the Waterside Hostel. They also interact positively with Mother Screng – who reveals herself to be Canoness Y’dey of the Church of St. Cuthbert, assisted by the Elf Murfles. (Apparently the druid Darr had informed them of the party’s efforts in the Moathouse during his previous visit.) Y’dey fills the party in on their mission (namely, spying on the activities of the agents of the Temple of Elemental Evil within Nulb and the surrounding region) and the general activities of the “Iuzians” in the area. She also gives the party a jar of “Keoghtom’s Ointment” to help them in their fight against the forces of Chaotic Evil.

The adventurers then make contact with Otis, who is acting as a smith in the village. After discussing the sad fate of Otis’s brother Elmo, the four learn that Otis is an agent of Viscount Wilfrick of Verbobonc. Otis makes tea for all and mentions that he uses two owls as spies in the area.

Finally, the group visits the Curio Shop run by the mysterious half-elf Elris. They find a map of an ancient tomb (located somewhere in the Vast Swamp), a tome on the “History of the Free City of Greyhawk,” a rusty barbute helmet, and a gnarled walking stick with a crystal on the top. They purchase all these items. Later, Althaea discovers that the crystal is an “Ioun Stone of Sustenance” – a wondrous item that enables its user to survive indefinitely without food or drink. Erik is repulsed by the item – food and drink give meaning to his life – whereas Althaea is delighted by it.

The four decide that their next destination will be the Tower of Master Nyv. 

Notes:

• The characters reached 5th level while resting near Nulb.
• The picture of Tomyria is by Kim Sokol (found online). The monster pictures are from WotC. The map is from Goodman Games’ Temple of Elemental Evil book, with my additions. 
• There are only two more log entries left for this campaign! (See the full list here.)

Gaming Update: Mythras, Against the Darkmaster, and farewell forever to 5e D&D

I’ve been quite busy at work lately, hence the lack of posting here over the past month. But thankfully, I’ve managed to keep up with my gaming (more or less). 

1. It looks like the Mythras campaign I’m in, Beyond the Mountains of Madness, will soon be reaching its climactic conclusion – and my character, the palaeontologist Dr. Klaas Klassen, is running dangerously low on tenacity (only 5 out of 14 points left)!

2. The Greyhawk campaign I’ve been running for the past couple of years has concluded. I’m very happy with how this campaign went. It was a lot of fun! But that fun was due to the colourful player characters, non-player characters, adventures (mainly T1 and surrounding areas), and ‘Gygaxian’ Greyhawk setting. The system itself – 5th edition Dungeons & Dragons – is one that I plan to never use again* (despite drawing heavily upon its superior ‘old school’ variant, Into the Unknown). It’s hard for me to put into words how much I came to dislike this system while running it (although I would still take it any day over the horror that was 3e D&D). But I still had a blast with the campaign, which just goes to show how important it is to game with fun people. I plan to finish up the log posts for the campaign over the next month or so. 

3. My sporadic Against the Darkmaster (VsD) campaign set in Third Age Eriador (Middle-earth) is still going. (It’s the “alternative” game for my Mythras group.) Hopefully we will have our second session tonight.

4. I’m still working on my Ukrasia setting for my forthcoming VsD campaign. I should have some additional posts about this setting in the very near future.

Game on!

* Note: Despite my dislike for the “standard” D&D 5e system, I remain quite fond of the Adventures in Middle-earth system based upon it (and ran a great campaign using it). The updated version, Lord of the Rings RPG, looks even better. I would be happy to run a campaign using the LotR system in the future. So, I will not be unloading my 5e rulebooks quite yet…

Moria Kickstarted x30

Not that the Free League needs any additional support for this – the project (at the time that I’m writing this) has exceeded its funding goal more than 30 times over – but since I’m a Middle-earth fan and write about it regularly here, I thought that I would mention the Moria Kickstarter.

The Free League is coming out with versions for both The One Ring (2nd edition) and The Lord of the Rings Roleplaying. The latter game (LoTR) is a revised version of Cubicle 7’s earlier Adventures in Middle-earth system. That system is based upon 5th edition D&D, but helpfully introduces many “Middle-earthy” elements from TOR – and thankfully replaces entirely 5e’s standard “rest” and magic systems (among other things).

The TOR 2e version is called Moria: Through the Doors of Durin, whereas the LotR version is called Moria: Shadow of Khazad Dûm. (For some reason, different names are applied to all the books in the TOR and LotR lines, even though the non-rules contents are identical, as far as I can tell.)

The One Ring 2e looks interesting. I have the core rules and the introductory box set. (I also have the LotR versions.) Going forward, though, I plan to stick simply with the LotR 5e line, so I’ll be getting Moria: Shadow of Khazad Dûm. I don’t have any deep system-related reason for doing so. It’s just a matter of familiarity and convenience. I ran a great campaign using AiME a few years ago, so I know the system reasonably well, and am happy to stick with it for my Middle-earth gaming. (At least when I’m not using Against the Darkmaster to run my old MERP stuff. Oddly, Moria is one of the few ICE Middle-earth books that I don’t have in my collection.)

The TOR 2e books do have better covers than the LotR books for some reason…

The Unmagical Magic of 5th Edition Dungeons & Dragons

Time for another “airing of grievances” with respect to 5th edition Dungeons & Dragons!

I previously complained about the way resting and healing work in 5e – as well as noting some options for ‘fixing’ these problems, including options from the 5e Dungeon Master’s Guide and the Into the Unknown 5e variant. (I suspect that 99% of 5e players either ignore or are ignorant of these options in the DMG. But it’s only fair to note that they are indeed there; the designers of 5e were not oblivious to the possibility that some groups might not like the default “cartoon superhero” mode of the 5e rules.)

My other big complaint about 5e D&D concerns the magic system. Magic, and spellcasting in particular, is laughably common and easy. Spellcasters can cast cantrips without end, as well as the “ritual” versions of spells, including ones like “Identify,” “Detect Magic,” and “Alarm.” Moreover, magic-users … er, wizards, recover a number of spells following a short rest (one hour in the standard 5e rules) thanks to their “Arcane Recovery” ability.

The upshot of this is a game in which spells are ridiculously common. In my experience, no magic item goes unidentified for more than a few minutes, characters communicate via magical iPhones (the “Message” cantrip), campsites are surrounded with “Alarm” spells (making it almost impossible for the party to ever be surprised, except for attacks from the air or from below), and so forth. I certainly don’t blame my players for using their characters’ spells in these ways – they’re making intelligent use of the resources available to them! I applaud their excellent playing of the game – it’s the game itself that annoys me.

Hence its spell system is another reason why 5e D&D does not resemble at all “old school” D&D or AD&D, wherein spells were a precious commodity (at least until characters were of very high level) and “short rests” did not exist. 

If I were to “fix” 5e D&D so that it had more of a classic feel, I would: 

• Either eliminate cantrips altogether or allow them to be cast only a limited number of times per day (perhaps equal to the character’s proficiency bonus).
• Require that spells with the “ritual tag” be cast as “rituals” (i.e., take 10 minutes to cast) and take up spell “slots” (so no endless casting of Alarm, Identify, etc.). 

I note (yet again) my positive experience with the Adventures in Middle-earth roleplaying game based upon 5e D&D (the second edition of which is called The Lord of the Rings RPG). That experience led me to have a high opinion of the 5e core mechanics. And I do think that the core of 5e can make for an excellent game. But the way in which 5e D&D handles rest, recovery, and spells – all elements entirely reworked by AiME/LotR – has made me conclude that I never want to run 5e D&D RAW again.

[Trampier's classic "Emirikol" picture from the 1e AD&D DMG]

[2023-08-01: Edited to add the reference to wizards’ “Arcane Recovery” ability in the third paragraph.]