From the vault: 4 years ago!

The second series I ever made, Island Of Stars.

I've come a long way since this!

Since the original version of my OSRIC errata document is now effectively obsolete (unless you're using a legacy edition, of course), I've a created a new one for use with the current release.

I'm pleased to report that not only is it a heck of a lot shorter, it's also fully "official" and benefits from the approval and cooperation of the publisher, Mythmere Games. Thanks, guys!

I've been playing Jeffrey Talanian's Hyperborea and getting really into it, so I created a subreddit for it since there wasn't one. If you're a fan of the game then feel free to share whatever you feel is relevant there: your favourite adventures to run, play reports, questions, fan art, duscussions of sword & sorcery fiction, mighty thews, etc. If you are interested in sword & sorcery as a TTRPG genre but haven't checked out Hyperborea or the adventures written for it, I encourage you to. It certainly has a lot of AD&D bones.

https://www.reddit.com/r/HyperboreaRPG/

Harken adventurers!

Below is the fourth issue of the Dungeon Almanac Volume I, a release from the Architect discussing different elements rumored to be in the Dwarven Dungeon. In this edition, the Architect ruminates over ancient dwarven recipes and crafts, examines the dangerous pestilence of invisible stamina leeches, and urges adventures to take care around dungeon staircases--for not all are as mundane as they seem.

The Architect humbly presents his notes, annotations, and eyewitness accounts for explorers and lorekeepers alike. He has been hard at work compiling adventures and lore to show you soon!

You can get Issue IV (as well as I-III) for free by joining our Patreon today!

Hey guys, my new adventure, Escape From Zombie Island, is now in pre-release over on Kickstarter.

Escape From Zombie Island is a survival‑horror adventure designed for 4–6 characters of levels 3–5 and written for use with AD&D 2E, 5E, and Shadowdark RPG.

Explore the island of Gravatos and uncover its dark, archaic past as you investigate the undead plague consuming the land. With over 17 locations, including cave systems, dungeons, villages, ancient ruins, and a large town and a host of new and reinterpreted undead creatures to encounter, will you escape from Zombie Island, or are you brave enough to thwart the evil plans behind the undead hordes?

Link: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/gravityrealms/excape-from-zomebie-island

Hello!

Here is a slightly out of left field question for DMs (and self-aware players, too): has there ever been something your players requested (e.g., more action, more realism, more titanic monsters, more treasure, etc) that they ended up realizing wasn't to their liking? The expression of this reaction can range from a quiet statement to vehement rejection, but the important thing is that perception did not live up to reality.

I'm looking for the files for the minis from First Quest. Can anybody help?

We have changed our rulings on this spell so much over the years. I think RAW it is just much too powerful.

24 hour duration clarified in high level campaigns book is mandatory. I also think it should be self cast only

Logically enemies should have to beat your dex/magic AC to remove a charge although I think RAW just removes one charge per attack, regardless of roll. This doesn't make a lot of sense but given how OP it is its not a bad rule.

I'm interested in hearing about how your table thinks about and rules this spell. There's lots of OP wizard spells but this one is particularly egregious.....don't even talk to me about Slow.

(2e) I have always denied a caster their dexterity adjustment to AC until after their spell has been cast. I imagined them casting their spell in the first few seconds of the round, waving their arms in a particular way, holding the material component just right, and mouthing the words precisely until the spell goes off. Only then can you manage the acrobatic dodge of a sword or the leap over that polearm attack or whatever, and apply your dexterity adjustment to AC.

Does anybody else rule it this way?

Hi everyone. Anyone here uses PVC cover for your books? I’m using now and I am satisfied with the results who I share with you.

Hi folks. I have been working on something for the past 4 years and now it's (almost) done, and I want to share it with you.

In 2022, my daughter was diagnosed with cancer, which led to 13 months of treatment until she eventually passed away. During these months, one of the things that kept me sane was worldbuilding, and I ended up with a campaign setting that was my escape from reality.

Since this setting needed a rules system, I first tried 5e but quickly realized it would not be a good fit. After experimenting with others (like YZE, Fate, etc) I got back to the one that got me into RPGs back in 1993, and started adapting it to 2nd Edition using For Gold & Glory. However, I wanted to change a few things in the mechanics (like AC, weapon speed, spellcasting...) to try to come up with the "2nd Edition I would love to play nowadays" - so it started as a retroclone but I believe it went slightly beyond that.

Anyway, during this process I made a promise to myself to share this game for free once it was done, as a way to thank the universe for giving me something that definitely kept me whole while I was dealing with a father's worst nightmare. So, here it is!

https://swords-and-darkness-wiki.vercel.app/

It's still a work in progress, and I would love any feedback. I plan on having the three books ready as soon as I get the funds to pay for an illustrator (I refuse to use AI for this).

This project has saved my life. I hope you all enjoy!

Thanks for your attention.

=)

PS: English is not my first language, so forgive me for any mistakes here.

Hello. Im reading the PHB 2E and don't clearly understand a few things. English is not my native language and I have problems with reading.

1. Proficiencies (Nonweapon Proficiencies) - "Refer to Table 38. When a player selects a nonweapon proficiency from those categories listed under "Proficiency Groups" for his character's group, it requires the number of proficiency slots listed in Table 37. When a player selects a proficiency from any other category, it requires one additional proficiency slot beyond the number listed.

This means, if PC a fighter, he can choose Skills from Warrior and General Group for 1 skill point, and choose, say, Spellcraft from Mage group for 2 skill points? Or he can't choose Spellcraft at all?

1. "If a proficiency check is required, Table 37 lists which ability is used with each proficiency. Add the modifier (either positive or negative) listed in Table 37 to the appropriate ability score. Then the player rolls ld20. If the roll is equal to or less than the character’s adjusted ability score, the character accomplished what he was trying to do. If the roll is greater than the character’s ability score, the character fails at the task."

Warrior have modifier -6 to Running and Constitution is 16, 16 - 6 = 10, he roll 11, and he fail in running?

So, most of the areas of Cerilia have a real-world analogy as - at least as far as the names - both personal and location.

Rjurik is Scandanavian and Nordic, so you can draw on Old Norse, Norwegian, Swedish, Danish, and Icelandic for inspiration.

Vos is Russian or Slavic. Brecht is broadly Germanic (Germany, German, Anglo-Saxon, etc). Khinasi is broadly Arabic or other associated areas. The Elves are Welsh.

But, I've never really been able to pin down Anuirean. It's neither English nor Anglo-Saxon. It's got some Celtic names in the list on the page in the box set, but most don't fit that, either.

I like making random list tables when I run and picking out appropriately flavored names for PCs and NPCs. This is pretty easy in these other regions, but Anuirean eludes me.

We've mostly played in the Rjurik Highlands, but might do a thing in Anuire, so... I'm trying to parse this again.

Thoughts? Experiences? What do you use? Resources?

I recently discovered dragonsfoot and there’s a vast catalog of adventures and other stuff for older editions of D&D. But the site looks pretty dated. Do people still submit new content there? Or is it just a library of fan-made stuff?

the whole question is in the title.

Consider the fact that the entirity of old school game consist of DM vs player where you're expect to waste at least a big package worth of A4 paper just to get to level 9... and expect to waste even more A4 packages to get to level 10 if you don't play cleric.

Also, by the time you hit level 10 for the very first time, you're more than likely to drop the idea of backstory altogether because of how pointless it is by this point and even stop bother calling your character name and just call it "Fighter" because it's easier and faster so why bother remember the name if they gonna die very soon, anyway?

Do old school D&D even have roleplay to begin with, let alone actually invest in their SHEET?

For realism in your campaign, look at Zipf's Law for population city size, and why that matters.

If you were going to make a D4 out of a blank D12 (3 faces each for 1, 2, 3, and 4), for more satisfying rolls instead of drops, how would you arrange the numbers to make the fairest die possible?