Dungeons and Dragons is the Best at What it Does

   The Fun Lads Four and I are prepping for what we call "The Season" - in late Summer and early Autumn we tend to play a lot of RPGs. We're also talking about the various systems we're using: AD&D 1e and 2e; HERO; 5e; Pathfinder; the various D% system books from FFG's Warhammer 40K line; and we are all knee deep in WEG's D6 Star Wars.

The second weekend of August in 1990 a friend from a gaming group introduced me to a brilliant, beautiful woman. On our first "real" date we played WEG's Star Wars. Next weekend our sons are hosting a WEG Star Wars game to celebrate 30 years of being in love.

We started discussing how D6 is an excellent universal system and it has a cinematic feel, making it perfect for recreating movie worlds (which makes sense as the D6 system grew out of making the Ghostbusters and Star Wars RPGs) and that HERO, another cinematic universal system, is likewise really good at "imitating" a setting from fiction.
But discussed the limitations of GURPS, HERO, and D6 to do "generic" fantasy smoothly. As Nick said,
  "Sure, you can make a HERO Fantasy setting, but it can't be 'Europeland in general'; it has to be distinct and frankly a little gonzo to really feel right. I think D6 is like that but more."
  And from Jack,
  "And none of them dungeon crawl well. In the end the best system for a good dungeon crawl is still AD&D with a scant handful like Rolemaster, T&T, and, yes, even Palladium right on its heels."

  Which is why I am writing this - it was my turn to opine. Later I will discuss Rolemaster as an under appreciated universal system.

  HERO is one of my favorite systems of all time because with just a bit of thought you can do anything. Want to be Green Lantern? I know 3 approaches in HERO. Want to duplicate Traveller? HERO can easily do that, too. Want to make a Kojak/Beretta/Starsky & Hutch crossover? Sure! It is amazingly flexible.
GURPS is likewise supremely flexible (and let's face it, we all know GURPS is a HERO clone). D6 is likewise capable of doing about anything and has a few great ways of adapting dice pools to reflect scale (HERO 6e Damage Reduction rules are probably derived from D6's scaling rules).
  But these games share a problem that you also encounter in D&D 3/3.5/5e, Pathfinder, and some others and to a lesser degree in some others - "breaking the system".
What I mean by this take a little lead in, so bear with me. In these you have to make sure that people have reasonable limits on their dice pools/point allocations/feats that are essentially the GM not just laying down guidelines but also vetting every character and adjusting the villains and even campaign to match specific character builds. Here's an example from HERO -  a character I made called Basement Dweller/Shadowman. Without getting into the mechanics his powers allowed him to stay in bed at home while beating up someone on the other side of the world. All strictly RAW, all properly configured, not even a high points guy. But Shadowman forces the GM to specifically make villains, scenarios, etc. just to counter him.
In a oversimplified shorthand, IMO in a system where you need to seriously discuss, limit, inspect, and react to "character builds" a large amount of (for lack of a better term) gameplay occurs away from the table. And I am when I say 'gameplay' I don't mean getting supplies, talking to an innkeeper, etc., I mean 'deciding the outcome of traps and fights and such or forcing the GM to build them for you'.

And there is nothing wrong with this. After all, if I thought this was "bad" why the heck have I been playing HERO for 35 years, right?

  But I think AD&D is best at dungeon crawls because that isn't the case in that system. Here's the contrast:
  1) I have an underground adventure I made for HERO back in 1986 that I have used maybe 12 times. Every time I run it I must adjust it for the specific characters that have been built and brought.
  2) I have a similar thing in my AD&D 1e campaign that I also made in 1986 (same weekend, in fact). I have run it about 10 times and I never need change anything.

  Yes, personal anecdote, but I hope it conveys a bit more of what I mean. To sort of boil it down a bit, here is my core conceit:

To a very real extent AD&D is much more dependent upon what you do during play at the table vs what you do in character design and out-of-play metagaming. This leads to more emotional buy-in and tension during a dungeon crawl. Consequently, AD&D is "better" at dungeoncrawling than other systems.

This is one of the reasons I prefer to not abstract things like ammo, lighting, encumbrance,  and such any more than they already are - those 'precision counts' elements, IMO, add to the emotional buy-in at the table.
  Another illustration. When the Fun Lads Four did their very first dungeoncrawl as a team in years gone by (man kids grow up fast) they got lost underground. They had to keep careful track of every bit of food and water. They limited their use of light sources and carefully tracked every turn of light left. They were getting negatives for hunger and were worried the puddle they drank from got them sick and had only 20 minutes of candle left when they ambushed kobolds and got - a ham! Tension and anxiety followed by rejoicing!
To my mind that immersed them into the game much more than,
  "Roll to see if you have more illumination"
  "A 4; we do."
  "OK, roll to check for supplies"
  "A 13, but Betty has allocated an extra encumbrance zone, so with her +2 we make it."
  etc. ever could.

  In the end this is one of the main reasons I like AD&D so much and still play it.

The Feel of Different Games; an emotional post

  If you aren't aware, I run and play a variety of game systems. The list of current game systems I alone run is:
  AD&D 1e (with house rules)
  AD&D 2e Skills & Powers
  Champions 6e
  Rolemaster FRP
  (this week) Warhammer: Only War, etc.

The systems I play in currently are:
  D&D 5e
  CoC
  Warhammer: Only War, etc.

We also have a casual 'Traveller, anyone?' game, a Starfleet Battles tournament, and an addiction to Dominion, Scythe, and Seven Wonders. I'd mention Catan, but my wife has an unbroken 21 game winning streak, so....

  Recently someone asked me,
  "Why so many different systems?"
  At the time I gave my usual reply,
  "Different systems excel at different things."

  I think I was wrong. Here's why.
  I played D&D 5e and had an epiphany.

  My oldest son is running a tight 5e game and we had a raucous session full of ambushes, raids, surprise, and fighting with a side of politics. Afterwards I said,
  "Reminds me of Jim Henson's game."

Note: Jim 'The Muppet Master' Henson was an army comrade of mine at Ft. Bragg in the 80's. No relation to the puppeteer.

  Thing is, Jimbo only ever ran one system. Palladium Fantasy.

Note: once when I was very sick I spent 3 months converting my AD&D 1e campaign (started in 1979) to Palladium FRP out of the boredom of being cooped up.

  That's when it hit me.
  5e is a lot like Palladium FRP: Odd, silly races; goofy, unbalanced spells; oddball classes; math that doesn't quite work; still a ton of fun.
  Mind you, I think this is a compliment!

  But many of us talk about the 'feel' of a particular system. I love HERO system for superheroes; I can make any hero I can imagine, the action feels superheroic, and the flexibility is unmatched. But no matter how many times I try I don't like HERO for fantasy.

Note: I also converted my AD&D 1e campaign to HERO once with the idea of only playing one system. Nah.

  I love Traveller, but have no interest in using it for anything else. D6? Amazingly flexible system and I love Star Wars, Ghostbusters, etc. But....

  So I talked about it with the lads and we compared it to books. Writing is writing; English is English. But a crime novel is different from a caper book. James Bond is worlds apart from The Destroyer.
  It was when we compared it to movies, too, that is gelled.
  Want to emulate the old pulp fantasies or ERB?
  AD&D.
  Want to emulate JRRT?
  Rolemaster.
  CJ Cherryh?
  Traveller.
  HPL?
  CoC.
  you get the idea.

  But then we talked about how much 5e emotionally "feels like" Palladium FRP and I got it.
  Beastmaster.
  Palladium FRP and 5e are Beastmaster. Kinda' goofy, kinda' nonsense, but a rip-roaring good time.

  So pop some popcorn, get ready for monstervision, and play some Beastmaster.

Blackstone: Massive Update

  Time for a dump of all the adventuring done in Blackstone since Christmas!

The Fever Lands
  Two groups of PCs went to the Fever lands.

      In the East a tough team of PCs crept down the Viper River, passt the ruins of Tamoachan (where they saw the ancient city swarming with megalocentipedes), and scouted the foreboding Jade Tower.
  They were forced to be very careful because of the winged apes that hunt throughout this area, but eventually learned that the last surviving leaders of the Necromancer Cult were hidden in the Jade Tower, led by an Ogre Mage chieftain. A judicious  use of illusions and misdirection and they successfully ambushed the Ogre Mage. It was a fierce battle, but the badly-bloodied party prevailed.
  They threw down the tower and left.

      In the West a very different party went to the colony established by the King of Blackstone two decades before and right into the middle of political intrigue.
  The military governor was Baron Addan, formerly an independent nobleman whose domain was annihilated by a dragon (an adventure the players had in in 2009!). Forced to appeal to the King he has been the military governor of the colony for almost a decade. Under his leadership the sleepy village that cost money to own was turned into a bustling trade town making the King great wealthAddan's triplet son Arran, Bordann, and Eamonn, were great assets. The soldiers were 50/50 retainers of Addan (and fiercely loyal to him) and royal recruits (who worshiped the triplets).
  But the king had sent his cousin, Count Farnorr, to the town to become the new noble ruler. Farnorr had brought his own sizeable group of retainers. The triplets were openly bitter and Addan had focused on building a sturdy walled village 2 days South into the jungle and was openly manning it with those most loyal to himself.
  Count Farnorr met with the adventurers (who were there for the Inquisition) along with the local bishop and Farnorr's daughter, Faella. They discussed the search for cultists, the dangers of the Fever Lands, and more.
  Addan left for the remote village the next day. And 2 nights later the PCs were summoned in the middle of the night - the triplets had kidnapped Faella and fled South, taking some of Addan's most loyal with them! As the Count prepared an actual army he begged the party to pursue, and pursue they did.

  things got weird almost immediately. Just 3 miles outside of town they found one of Addan's men beheaded next to a lame horse. The ranger was able to piece together that one of the triplets had had his horse tumble and go lame and then seemed to kill his own soldier and take his horse. They later found the rest of the troops, all killed in melee. But no sign of the triplets or Faella.
  The party forged on with horses, slowly losing ground to the triplets who were switching between 4 horses each.Then the party saw smoke on the horizon.
  The arrived to the village in flames. The dead were Addan's own men and the royal soldiers with Addan himself dead at the door to the main keep. The palisade and keep were burning allowing the ranger to deduce that the soldiers loyal to the triplets had ambushed their father and his men, then the triplets had killed the survivors before setting off South on foot (no horses beyond the village). Faella was still with them.

  The party buried Addan, placed the other bodies in the fires, and briefly rested before continuing on foot.
  Faella was slowing down the triplets and the party hoped to catch them when they were suddenly ambushed by a tasloi warband, including tasloi on giant wasps dropping nets.
  The fight was very tough, especially one the chieftain showed up armed with a Ring of Blinking, a Potion of Invulnerability, Bracers of AC 4,and a poisoned spear. But after a very, very tough fight the party prevailed, killing the chief and shaman and scattering many survivors.
  Pressing onward they were approached by a pair of jungle elves. Impressed that the party had defeated the tasloi warband the elves exchanged information about the terrain and the tasloi village for some arrowheads. The jungle elves referred to the triplets as 'the ancient evil' and reluctantly told the party where to find them.

  The party is soon ambushed by another tasloi warband... and the chieftain?! The fight was rough and the chieftain was insanely tough. And when they killed the chief? He turned back into he normal form.
A doppleganger.

  The party was able to track down Where the warband came from and found "the chieftain" exhorting another warband! The pary ambushed the warband, for once, and when the doppelganger was killed the tasloi fled.

  Following the directions the jungle elves had given (finally!) the party found an ancient Jade Empire (Mayincatec) building. As they approached the 30' stone dwelling two Faella's emerged! There was a bit of a standoff trying to figure out which was which until the mage cast Sleep and they killed the one who was confused, THEN fell down (the mage has a Ring of Mind Shielding).

  Looting the building they learned a lot, including that the dopplegangers had been living there for at least 3,000 years. The found a map to the Flint Skies (the mythical capitol of the ancient Jade Empire). Now, there are 6-7 maps to the Flint Skies but they are all proven inaccurate. This one, though, was complete enough for them to figure out why all the maps are broken - the map gave directions based on the stars and the map was so old the stars have moved.
  The party stashed the accurate map (they can adjust!) and took Faella home.

  They met the Count at the village. He was very happy to see his daughter. Over the next few days the truth of Addan's loyalty, the evidence that his son's had been murdered and replaced a year previously, and his tragic death, believing he was betrayed by his own sons, had a profound effect on the Count.

  The party rested, re-equipped, and headed right back out. With scouting they located the tasloi village and staged an attack that killed a few, but fell back, planning guerilla tactics against the number humanoids.
  But then a massive green dragon landed. At first the tasloi greeted it warmly, saying they were under attack and asking 'their master' to kill the intruders.
  But the dragon grew angry. When he learned that the magic items he had loaned to them had been stolen he bellowed,
  "You have failed me! You are TOO WEAK to be my servants!"
  And he killed them all before flying away.

  The party left, fast, and warned the count of the dragon just 4 days away!.

Next entry - catching up on Seaward.

Blackstone Campaign: The Cult That Waits

One of the overarching plots in my AD&D 2e S&P campaign (which is 13 years old already) is about M'Andry V'Heve've, a term in an ancient, almost forgotten language, that means She Who Waits.

Spoilers Follow: My Players Stop Here

A Host of Swords

  I infrequently post about magic items unique to my games (see Magic Item under labels) but I rarely talk about swords, especially powerful ones.

  But I have them! Here are a few:

Seaward Weapons
A almost 40 year old AD&D 1e campaign

Mor Altach: Long sword of Wounding. +1 to hit (only). Intelligence of 12-14, Chaotic Good. Speaks a few languages. Can be used by barbarians. Doubles the chances of a barbarian that wields it to go berserk. Can emit light as a lantern (this can be varied or turned off). The following special powers are 'secret' and must be learned through use and experience.
  Once a person that wields it as their primary weapon has leveled up twice it acts as a Ring of Free Action. Once its wielder has used it to kill a Devil it is +4 to hit devils. Once its wielder has fallen 21' or more while holding it, it acts as a Ring of Feather Fall. Once a person that wields it as a primary weapon has leveled up 6 levels it becomes +4 to hit and damage (if the Devil ability is activated, it is a total of +7 to hit vs devils). Once its wielder has failed a Petrification save while holding it, it grants a +4 on all saves vs Petrification.

Rupert's Blade: +3 broad sword. Wielder can boost their strength to 18/00 once a day - this lasts 5 rounds. Wielder also has a +2 save vs poison while holding it. Anyone wielding Rupert's Blade can instantly recognize an undead on viewing by type and kind (i.e., a master vampire, a frost zombie, etc.) and are immune to characteristic loss, level drain, etc. from any undead they can see.

Lawbringer: +4 longsword. LG, Int 13, can communicate with emotions and vague imagery.  The wielder can Detect Evil as a paladin. It is a holy weapon: in the hands of a paladin it is +6 and doubles the range of the paladin's Detect Evil ability and grants all powers of a holy sword as listed in the PHB. Lawbringer cannot be Cancelled, Disjoined, or otherwise disenchanted unless the being doing so is a Lawful Good cleric of 18th or higher level.

Thresher: Two-handed sword. +3 to hit, +6 to damage. It doubles the number of attacks versus low hit dice creatures to a maximum of 30 attacks/round.

Drachenbane: +3 two-handed sword. It does double damage to all drakes, dragons, and such creatures and versus chromatic dragons it does increased die as well (i.e., versus a dragon turtle it would do 6d6, but against a red dragon it would do 6d8).

Blackstone Weapons
From my 12+ year old 2e campaign.

The Seven- seven two handers of unmatched power. The ones seen by players-

Gatekeeper: +4, +5 versus extra-planar/summoned creatures. Once a month it can automatically permanently seal any Gate by touch. Wielder has a +1 on all saves, +2 versus Summoned or extra-planar creatures.

The Paradigm: +7. It's pluses do not get reduced by planar travel, etc.

Staredge: +4 to hit only. On a natural 18 or 19 to hit it does double damage. On a natural 20 it does double damage and will sever an extremity as a Sword of Sharpness.

Swords that are not of the Seven.

Death's Sting: +7 long sword, does double damage. (Destroyed).

Magekiller: +3, +5 versus arcane spellcasters or creatures with spell-like powers that mimic arcane spells. Grants anyone holding or carrying it a +2 on all saves versus spells or magic items and reduces damage from all magical attacks by -1 h.p. per die (minimum of 1). When in-hand it gives it wielder a 50% Magic Resistance. While intelligent and strong-willed, it rarely communicates. It can Detect Magic within 10' (automatic), Detect Arcane Spellcasters (and if they are good, neutral, or evil) within 60' (automatic), and can Dispel Magic at 18th level once a day. It will pass along what it senses to its wielder telepathically.
  Magekiller was forged to slay evil arcane spellcasters. It grants an additional +2 to save/-1 h.p. per die against spells cast by arcane spellcasters.
Once per week Magekiller can act as a Rod of Cancellation; the sword will decide when this power is used.

New Spell: Mordenkainen's Mediocre Motel Room

From the Lads-
Mordenkainen's Mediocre Motel Room (Summoning, Alteration)
Level: 2                                                      Components: V, S, M
Range: 0                                                     Casting Time: 1 round
Duration: 1 hour/level (see description)    Saving Throw: None
Area of Effect: 7'x7'x7' cube

Explanation/Description: When cast the magic-user summons a Mediocre Motel Room, a wooden shelter that is roughly 7' wide, 7' deep, and has a very slightly pitched roof that reaches 7' at its highest. The Motel Room is of average-to-poor construction (the roof and each wall have only 2 Defensive Points each when resisting siege damage) and is usually painted in a distinctive, even garish, manner (such as teal walls and an orange roof, or pale beige walls and a bright, cherry red roof).
  The Motel Room has a single door (1 defensive point) that has a simple lock (+15% on lock picking attempts) and an interior bolt. Next to the door is the front window, a 2' x 2' opening with shutters (1 defensive point when shuttered and barred). The window is not glazed and has no screen or curtain, allowing free passage when unshuttered.
  The interior has a worn wooden floor throughout. There is a simple bed (rope suspension, straw-filled, lumpy mattress, no linens), a very small table with an oil lamp by the bed, a small closet (2' wide, 2' deep, no door) a small room for a chamber pot (2' wide, 2' deep, no door, no chamber pot, has a small grill for ventilation, 3 inches by 3 inches, near the ceiling) and a built in desk between the closet and privy with a wooden stool by it.
  The Motel Room provides the same protection from the weather as a poorly-made, small, wooden building. It is drafty and in heavy rain the roof leaks in a place or two. There is no fireplace or hearth, but a brazier or field stove could potentially be placed on the floor. The Motel room is as subject to fire, lightning, earthquakes, etc. as any other poorly-made, small, wooden building.
  The bed is sufficient for 1 human, although it can just barely fit 2 humans in a pinch. There is enough floor space for another human and a gnome or halfling could potentially curl up under the desk. If someone is sleeping on the floor you cannot enter or exit the bed without stepping on them unless you fly or levitate.
  There is a vague, pervasive odor to the Motel Room that cannot be identified or removed. This odor makes animals uneasy so that only familiars or highly trained creatures (such as war dogs) will sleep within.
  The oil lamp burns dim and smokes a lot. While it sheds enough light to navigate the room it is too dim for reading. By command the caster can cause a light to shine from the ceiling over the bed (another command turns it off). This ceiling light is bright enough for reading, but it flickers off and on briefly at irregular intervals; studying spell books to memorize spells takes 30% longer than normal if reading by this light.
  When anyone is within the Motel Room roll encounters as normal with the exception that if two or more creatures are encountered at once there is a 50% chance that they begin to fiercely argue within earshot of the Motel Room. If this occurs the creatures will scream at each other, pound weapons on shields, roar, etc., making as much noise as possible for 2d4 turns, after which they depart for the closest tavern. Such a fight will automatically wake anyone sleeping in the Motel Room and prevent them from returning to sleep until the argument is over.
  When the spell ends the Motel Room and its furnishing vanish, unceremoniously dumping anyone and anything within on the ground.
  Despite the listed duration of the spell, no matter how much time has passed since it was cast every Motel Room vanishes at 10 am local, on the dot.
  The material component is a small key with an attached horn disk inscribed with runes and a number (costs 5 s.p.), a tiny bell (costs 1 g.p.), and 1 gold piece. To cast the spell the caster rings the bell, stands still while tapping his foot and whistling for 1 round, then tosses the gold piece in the air, where it vanishes. The key and tag vanish when the spell ends. The bell can be reused.

Massive Update on Blackstone

  Sorry for light posting, but contracting 40 hours a week plus running your own business equals looooooong weeks.

  For those of you unaware, I have been running an AD&D 2e Skills & Powers campaign called Blackstone for about a decade with the same very dedicated players. Despite my dedication to jazz band adventuring Blackstone has 4 distinct adventuring groups that have never directly interacted. The 4 groups range from 3rd level to well inside the domain game.

  For the entire decade of gaming the parties have grown aware of multiple Big Arcs floating around. With some subtle maneuvering and the willing by-in and actions of the players we had a massive crossover recently! Essentially, the various parties' investigations finally intersected forcing the parties to meet.

BIG Spoilers, so no players read below

Magic Item of the Week: The Blanket of Mercy

From the Wife!
  This item is one popular with religious brothers and clerics, but can be found among people with the proper spells and skills.

Retro Adventures - Devil's Rock

  I have been DMing a looooong time. Like all DMs I worry about getting stale and predictable. You know, getting tot he point that the players know what to expect.

  So I dug into my archives and found - my folder of adventures from 1981! I am running one now called Devil's Rock

  Spoilers: Players Stop Here

A Challenge! - Notes on a New Setting

My oldest son and I had a real-life adventure yesterday. we had to drive 100 miles or so to pick something up for friends and on the way back the van stalled. One good samaritan Southern gentleman, a roadside assistance program complimentary tow, and a cargo transfer later and all was well .
The fact my oldest is also a certified mechanic means the total repair cost was zero, too.

During this 10 hours of driving, hauling, waiting, waiting, lifting, waiting, and waiting my son issued a mild challenge.
My primary campaign, Seaward, uses AD&D 1e in a setting that is a mish-mash of European fantasy with steam-powered horses, fire lances, and merchants from the moon.
My secondary campaign, Blackstone, is a very standard European fantasy setting with some Oriental, Middle Eastern, and Jungle settings.
He challenged me to make a setting that is totally "non-standard".
MY PLAYERS SHOULD STOP HERE

Magic Item of the Week: Phlothor's Carriage

  Little is now known of Phlothor the Artificer except that he was rather popular in the court of the Green Empress, contemporary writers praised his genius for creating magical constructs and vehicles, and that he was killed in a dimensional rift explosion that eradicated his personal magical library, most of his creations, and both of his apprentices.
  But one thing he created survived and was copied at least once - his Carriage

Losing Track: Rangers, Thieves, Monks, and What They Really Do

Many years ago my pal Joe Urban ran me, Lew, and a crew of players through some of the Slavers modules. Joe was relatively new to GMing, but we had a ton of fun. I had never read any of the Slavers stuff, so I borrowed Stockade to read through afterwards.
Reading it upset me. A lot.
Some of it was thematic (surgical alterations? Sure, sure, Island of Dr, Moreau, but - really) but the one that really torqued my cookies were the entries that read like this,

"This trap is a rope in the middle of the door on greased rail and cannot be detected by thieves"

First off, this is more of the railroad nature of the module in question. Second, it means the writers (yes, I know who they were) didn't understand what thief abilities really are.

Sure, sure, it seems easy to do. I have run into this situation myself,
DM: "The force of 150 brigands, all on horseback, seem to have dragged the 20 heavily-laden merchants' wagons across the open prairie towards the frontier."
Me: "We follow the tracks."
DM: "There is no ranger in the party, you can't follow."

The DM in this case didn't realize that rangers don't follow tracks like these

but rather tracks like these

Yes, anyone can follow the trail left by 150 horsemen and 20 wagons across the unspoiled grasslands - the grasslands are now spoiled, after all. But when an elven thief wearing Boots of Elvenkind sneaks across bare rock swept free of dust by a constant wind? A ranger can track her.

Monks can be seen as similar. Sure, your fighter can punch this guy until he goes down

but a monk can punch this guy until he goes down.

Anyone can hide in these bushes so only a careful search may find you

but a thief can hide in this room so only a thorough, careful search can find him.

This looks a lot like this internet meme, actually

Likewise, anyone can spot this trap

but a thief can spot this trap

What I am saying is, the various special abilities of thieves, bards, monks, rangers, etc. are not 'stuff that anyone can do' but rather damn near superhuman abilities.

I have had people who are OD&D ultramontanists - I mean purists - tell me things like,

"Thieves? Hell! I just have my fighting man probe ahead with a pole and then tap chests and stuff! Same thing!"

Sure, my fighters on point use poles, too. But it isn't meant to be the same thing!
The writeup in Slavers Stockade that a thief 'can't find' a particular trap gets it backward. It should read 'only 'only a thief has a chance to find...' because the Find Traps ability of thieves is supposed to be like what the Grey Mouser or Nift the Lean can do - an almost mystical ability to find hidden traps no one else can.

"But Rick," you say say, "That isn't what I think."

The DMG says that thieves can climb a sheer wall that is slippery with water. Slowly, but they can climb it. I agree - anyone can climb this for 80'

but I think climbing this for 80'

 is almost a supernatural ability. And that is the difference between someone without the ability to Climb Walls and someone with it.

Like my post about people who want to do away with the cleric (and there are many!) I often think they don't understand what these classes really do, what they are really for, or the impact on play in some combination. That, or they are OGs ('Original Gamers') who want to play with just the 3 brown books and nothing else. Kask strikes me as one of these. Some of these types just like that basic feel, some think anyone who plays d6 thieves is a counter-revolutionary kulak whose badwrong fun proves they are mentally disabled and of poor character and they really should have been on the Taggart Comet.
Me?
I like AD&D 1e and 2e. They're fun.

DM Tips - Campaign Building: Of Cabbages, Kings, Languages, Trade Routes, Orcs, Pies, and More

In 1979 I started my own campaign world, called Seaward. It had a village (5 houses, an inn, and a trading post), a coastline, and where the pirates were. For 5 months that was it.
Thirty eight years later it is a 124 page book of rules, 5 active notebooks (1,000 pages), 14 GB of digital documents, and 4 GB of maps. Stuff out of rotation is about 20,000 more pages and 20 more GB.
But how much do you need to play a TRPG?

Your Party Had Better Have More Than Four People In It - Hints for Players and GMs

When I was just starting out as a wee DM of 11 years old I had to make due with the players I could find. Before too long I was good at recruiting and training players. I typically had 3-7 people at the table with me.
But I always had 6+ characters in the party. Sure, sometimes they were henchmen, but always 6 or more.
When I joined Lew Pulsipher's group he had a pretty firm rule - at least 6 'tough guys' (meaning PCs or close-to-PC-level henchmen) in the party. Eight full PCs and their henchmen is best.

Adventure Design Philosophy, Random Encounters, and Notebooks

Early in the week I started an adventure for the family. We hope to finish it tomorrow before the Easter Vigil. But the adventure made me think about my design philosophy.

So let me share a bit.

FORTY. YEARS. and a sale. And a prize

40 years ago today I sat down with a small group of college freshmen and rolled up an Elf. I was only 9 years old. The DM's girlfriend *insisted* that he let me play [thanks, Kim!].
We went into a dungeon - I went first. 90 feet in, I fell into a pit trap and I died.
Another player helped me roll up a replacement, and I rolled a paladin!

The Elf is long gone, but I still have and sometimes play that paladin.

I mentioned to the guy at the bookstore that I was playing. He ordered the books for me and pointed out Traveller, that had just arrived.
  I got the monster manual for Christmas.

  In the years since I have played and sometimes run:
2300 AD, Aberrant, Indiana Jones, Aftermath!, Alternity, Amber, Ars Magica, Beyond the Supernatural, BESM, Boot Hill, B&B, Bureau 13, CoC , Castles and Crusades, Champions , oWoD, Chivalry and Sorcery, Conan, CORPS, Cyberpunk and FNFF, DC, Elric!, EotPT, Fading Suns, FUDGe and Fuzion, Gangbusters, Ghostbusters, Space Opera, Godlike, HackMaster (both versions, early memebr of the HMGMA and early pre-orderer of books), HARP, Heros Unlimited, In Nomine, Jorune, Marvel, Mechwarrior, Mercenaries, Spies, and Private Eyes, Metamorphosis Alpha, MERP, Morrow Project, Ninjas and Stupid Guys, Over the Edge, Palladium, Paranoia, Pendragon, Prime Directive, Psiworld, Rifts, Robotech, RuneQuest, Sailor Moon, Shadowrun, Space 1889, Spacemaster, Star Frontiers, Star*Drive, Star Trek (most versions), Superworld, Bushido,Talislanta, TMNTAOS, TFOS, Timelords, TOON, Top Secret, TORG, Traveller (all versions, although the LBBs are best), Trinity, Twilight 2000, and, of course, D20, D6, and GURPS. And my favorite non-D&D game, Rolemaster.
  I am certain I missed a few.

  My wife and I spent our second date playing WEG's Star Wars. Half of all the Christmas presents I have ever received are RPG related. I have met amazing people at gaming tables and many a friendship has been forged over badly-photocopied character sheets.

  On the 16th and 17th (Thursday and Friday this week) I will be having a 50% off sale at RGNow.

  Today, though, is a special giveaway to celebrate!

  I will be posting this on Google+ under 'public' and my collection for 'tabletop roleplaying games' and in a few communities. Tomorrow morning the Fun Lads Four will make a list of everyone who makes a comment on one of these entries and my dear wife will randomly draw two names.
  Those two people will get a prize! The can choose from
1) A free copy of The Book of Seaward - my complete add-on rules for AD&D 1e that are never sold.
or
2) Free copies of all of my stuff on RPGNow.
or
3) A write up of the top four levels of Skull Mountain, including the sublevels
0r
4) I create a new, custom adventure for them in one of the following game systems: D&D 1e, 2e, 3e; Rolemaster; HERO; Classic Traveller.

  Good luck and good gaming!

Play Report/DM Report, Blackstone Record Keeping and the Domain Game

  Twenty months ago the party ended a 7 real-world year arc in the Blackstone campaign. The adventures were Big Deals and the loot was spectacular.
  In the approaching-two-years since we have played a lot of sessions, but the party never sat down to even divide the loot from this adventure! In the intervening time castles had been designed, built, paid for, etc. and a lot of Domain level diplomacy had occurred, but little nuts and bolts.
  I spent a little time doing a game-year worth of encounters and issued an update of what was going in in Blackdell, Doomsman's domain. Then we decided to sit down and settle some things.

Play Report and Adventure Review for A Baker's Denizen

  Howard Beleiff was kind enough to send me a pre-release copy of his adventure A Baker's Denizen for review.
Edit: It can be purchased here!

The Review
Layout and Such: I like the design and layout and found the page art very nice. He uses a classic illustration you better recognize!

Editing and Style: The adventure has a nice, conversational style that imparts a mood without overwhelming you. The writing is crisp and fun to read. The editing is great.

Content and Adventure: Try to come up with an adventure in an urban setting that is fun, engaging, able to be dropped into almost any campaign, and still has a unique hook. It is hard.
  Howard pulled it off.
  He uses rarely-seen monsters, a nice master villain, unusual layouts and floor plans, and a nice hook to craft a simple, fun adventure that is still capable of being adapted and changed.

My Score: Four out of Four

How I Prep For Games

  I mean, naturally, 'other than write the adventure and make maps'.
  If we have a quick pickup game, I don't do all of this, but for any game scheduled in advance - I do!

  Once the players tell me which characters they are taking on the adventure I go through my notes on each character to see if there are any hints, hooks, etc. I need to drop. Will Ember recover another lost memory? Will Brigid's sword tell her some lost bit of lore? Will Thorin's bracelet give him more orders?

What Is Going On With Magic?

I clearly remember a certain moment in 1980. It was about the 12th of August. I was at the desk in my bedroom working on an encounter and going through the various 1e books. Shine A Little Love was playing on the eight track (jealous?). I was taking notes on a sage when POW!
  "What is going on with magic?"