"It starts with honesty and self examination....God must be there or our actions are for nothing." -Father Eric Gami

I'm probably a little more loosey-goosey about this than most people would expect. Don't get me wrong, I keep most kinds of magic items pretty rare; however, I do try to keep in mind the requirements for allowing higher level PCs/NPCs to make many of the low to low intermediate tier magic items. Mainly, _Enchant an Item_ as a 6th level spell, and _Permanency_ as an 8th level spell. That said, and with a strong element of homebrewing involved, I also think of the section from the AD&D 1e DMG regarding magic armor, where it just says that +3 armor is made from meteorite iron, +4 is made with a mithral (sic) alloy, and +5 is made with an adamantite alloy. In some other materials, TSR usually had +1 or +2 armor and weapons equate to being quasi-magical in reality. So, I do tend to give out that level of item at a rate that by level 2 pretty much everyone in the party will have obtained something that has a "+" bonus, which will function as a magic item when required. Although, for example, I don't let such items have the "virtual weightlessness" of truly magic armor, etc; I mostly see them as items of the highest quality, and that have been associated with legendary deeds, people, etc., so sort of magical by association. Finally, I did let a magic user of at first level 15, then level 16, create a level 5 spell that would result in a permanent +1 weapon or piece of armor, then a level 7 spell that did the same for +2 items. In both cases, no extra magic features were possible, and the spells were set up to be pretty costly in terms of time and materials. EDIT: On a related note, I'm not too stingy with basic potions, or low level spell scrolls either.

My players have yet to realize that each “zombie” defeated and left behind will eventually rise again. Will be an even sweeter reveal when the tomb they “emptied” will come back to the nearest village to bite them back.

Years ago, I ripped off a house rule from "Dragon" that stated minor, skeletal undead takes half damage from piercing and stabbing weapons. This one little house rule have given groups who played in my games an entirely new level of respect for a random pile of bones. 🤣

Most modern systems don't really feel magical, due to removal of "cannot do/cannot affect" situations in the game (like you're saying... magic weapons, even silver or silvered, good quality magical spells that are actually magical and impactful rather than a bunch of auto-daily powers). 👊🤓

I have never played by post, although I can see that it could work well enough to be fun. I think I would still want to see at least one day every couple weeks where the majority of participants would pay closer attention to, and make faster replies to, the posted declarations. For pure play by post, with 24-48 hours allowed for every player response, then I think something more akin to a Braunstein would be better than an old fashioned dungeon/hex crawl, especially if the players all have the ability to exchange private messages between themselves. I never played any of those play by mail games that used to be advertised in the back of _Dragon_ and other magazines. Some of the startup and per turn costs always seemed way too expensive for what they could possibly offer playing out written turns at the pace of snail mail. I probably still have some bias against the idea left over from the days of "$8 USD to start, and $5 USD per turn."

Depending on how crunchy the system is, it can work, I'm sure. I tried running one once, but it failed due to players not disciplining themselves to respond in anything like a timely manner, nor follow up well with everyone else or to me. 😕

Good topic. I haven't done play by post often or recently. It is an interesting way to do some gaming for sure.

I figure play by post is just another evolution of the old play by mail that was popular in the 70s and 80s. I've played solo adventures, play by mail, game books, play by post, etc, etc....If you enjoy it is valid....Gaming is gaming.

Hey, that's useful when the wee ones bring back tabletop miniatures from their Trick or Treat excursions! I know the finer details come down to lack of awareness on the part of the company; but, I always wonder if some of those decisions aren't born out of wanting to reuse parts of a sculpt in making other toys. I'm definitely guilty of just using the common, usually generic, parts of names, like Deinonychus or Iguanodon. As groups, I tend to favor the Ankylosauria, Stegosauria, and Ceratopsia. My real love though is for the Synapsids, and especially the Therapsids. Best!

Cool looking little critter

Cool mini of that T-Rex, Rex! 😋👊

Why do you have chew in both cheeks?

Kentucky Rex: "There's a cool mechanic that allows your players to be captured rather than killed. You should consider employing it." Lordmatteus: "No. I don't think I will." 🤣 In all seriousness, 7th Sea recommended something like this as well. In fact, it was built into the system as 7th Sea was designed to be a swashbuckling adventure game. Thus, the good guys were to be captured rather than killed. This, in turn, would set up the next session (or episode) to be a daring escape encouraging the players to use all their accumulated drama dice to effectuate their escape. Good points, Rex!

But...if they make decisions that lead to their capture, and complain that's tantamount to me taking their agency away from them, then I get to kill them, right? I jest, of course! No player characters were harmed during the making of this comment.... It can be a bit of challenge to think of ways to deal them after capture. The more intelligent and forward thinking monsters might just ransom them back to the Keep, using the Caves of Chaos as an example. On the other hand, some of the other monsters might just think they look delicious, and add them to the dinner menu. One little trick might be to have them get rescued by what turns out to be a rival party operating out of the Keep. The cost of getting captured, in that case, might be that they have a new long-term challenge stemming from continued competition. Of course, that rivalry could be downgraded to "frenemies" or worse, depending on how things play out. Cheers!

Thnx for the "shout-out". 😋 But yes, the whole Mormons don't worship the same Jesus Christ that you and I do, was the issue for me and, in love, I pointed that out in there and then subsequently left the group as well. Their group name and it's statement to join is contrary to/antithetical to Mormons, LDS, and others of other religions, and I cannot call them brothers and sisters with my faith, or the one they originally claimed to stand upon. It's not "mean", it's just truth, which can be shared in love, which I tried to do, but they didn't want that, so rather than fight, I just backed away. 😔

I hear you! Every word of it! I hate that you and Retro DM had to deal with this....Both of you have been nothing but friendly cordial to me. I HATE the casual "Christian Culture." As you said: The first martyrs did not suffer and die for this, nor did Christ.

You’re exactly right. Biblical truth will get you in trouble… however, Christ warned us of this. And man, I am right there with you about silliness in the church. There’s no way you picture a bleeding, whipped, and crucified Jesus Christ, who was not spared the furious and righteous punishment from God the Father for OUR sins, wearing a t-shirt with a crass or irreverent “funny” message on it. You did right in separating from the group. We’re commanded to be salt and light to a lost world, but we don’t call unbelievers and followers of false religions “brothers.”

Mixing religion with a hobby & thinking its not going to be a ruinous situation is the problem, so yes leave the group.

Another great one, Bro! Mimics exactly what I've been saying for 2 years now. 👏 👊🤓

Good topic. I think that one of the big differences between the newer style of game/play, and the older style, in where the focus lies. In older games the rules, the settings and differences between character types were the sources of challenges that needed to be met, and obstacles that needed to be overcome. Character mattered to the extent that it helped fill out the players' shared picture of how the rules, the setting, and the adventure fit together. In today's games all the players can do pretty much everything, and the setting only matters to the extent that it provides more ways for players to talk about themselves through the identity of their characters. Challenges are probably not going to be deadly, and are just protracted opportunities for players to talk about their character's thoughts, abilities, and personal "story."

Solid work, keep creating brother. Ravenloft is dope 👍

Absolutely 💯 spot-on! Glad to see you finally got this posted, Brother! Couldn't agree with all these more... and I've run new school for several years as well, so I can speak from experience! "More about the adventure and less about the mechanics "indeed!! 👊🤓🔥 "Sure, you can certainly try." 🎲😎

Startng with the lair is actually a good idea. Great video!

I'm a fan of Swords & Wizardry. It's my favorite of the OD&D clones, mainly because it uses all the bells & whistles that were added through supplements. I don't really have an exacting method for dungeon building that I use consistently. I tend to think first of why the "dungeon" was actually built, then why it stopped serving that purpose, then how and where it started breaking down, then based on the types of monsters operating in the region (which could include the deeper "underdark") I start figuring out where and when they moved in, and how/if they're defending it.

I have always enjoyed low level play. It seems more dangerous and therefore exciting as chance and dice can quickly snatch victory from defeat or result in a quick character death. Randomness is fun. Also I am reminded that a strength of the "old school" or classic style games is their interchangeable nature. Borrowing from one for use in another encourages creativity as you consistantly demonstrate. Cheers!

Hey buddy!

New apartment is pretty nice!

Wonder where the horses are

Those are both difficult questions to answer. For me, the easier one is saying why I started making KZbin videos. I was thinking about doing archaeology/anthropology public education through Google Classroom, and realized that adding live action video would be a good component to add, rather than just narrated "PowerPoint" presentations. I had next to no experience with using video editing software, and needed something to use as a practice niche. I thought of a couple possibilities; but, I had been getting back into TTRPGs, after a long time away, and thought I had something different to say about some aspects of the hobby. I've learned some about the editing side, and also that I don't want to try going into the archaeology niche (will still post them on KZbin, but not planning to promote that channel directly). I am a bit like you, in the sense that I've always like to tinker with things, and figure out how they work; the urge toward artistic creation is something that is in some way almost compulsory for me. If I don't write, then it starts to weigh on me pretty quickly. But, even beyond writing, music, and even drawing call to me...and, I'm not especially great at either one, especially not with physically drawing stuff. I do remember how it started. When I was five someone official came to the house, and told my mother to "put the baby somewhere so they could talk business." I was incensed! I knew I had a book with the word baby in it, so I sat on the floor in my room for an hour or so trying to copy the letters I saw on the page. I distinctly recall how frustrated I was that I couldn't make my hand draw the letters neatly, so I just kept trying. I must've written the word baby a hundred times. Somewhere in all that I stopped being mad about being dismissed, and started trying to write other words that I recognized. Over time, that interest in learning the words, and how to write them, became an interest in writing them out as stories. As I grew up. writing to keep from focusing on negative stuff, and even work through it, just stayed with me. Best!

My thoughts may or may not seem helpful. Creative outlets can be an amusement for ourselves and for others. Pursuit of the "creation" can be an informative, revealing and insightful experience, I think. The created thing can be informative for others and ideally, may prompt some creative process in others, thus completing the circle. Gaming and content creation are excellent examples I believe. Being creative is a gift that begs to be shared among friends to the benefit of all. Cheers!

Cheers for the response video! 🙌

Correction: Christian D&D Group, not Christian Dark Souls Group.

Right on!

Sound cuts in and out pretty often. You've got a delay as well in video too. Your fingers on the keyboard are really, really thumpingly loud. It's good to see you pop up a video, Bro, though. Just trying to provide good feedback for ya for this. Streaming on KZbin kinda sucks in my experience. You should look into a secondary source to stream through that connects to you KZbin. When I tried it without such, it was pretty bad... just FYI. Take care and God bless, Bro!

A subgroup of a subgroup... Always appreciate hearing your well considered thoughts, sir. Cheers!

I couldn't run a "rules as written" game if I wanted too. 🤣 It's been"rulings over rules for me for over forty years and I don't see me changing.

I had not yet heard the rumblings that dungeon ecology equates to agnosticism. I just see it as a form of game balancing. I would agree with those that believe GNS theory is an imperfect way to discuss what people want out of RPGing; but, I think that more G-focused players approach balance on a per encounter basis, whereas the more S-focused players approach balance on a global basis (global meaning the game world as a whole, not necessarily an entire planet). According to my thinking on this, the N-split is between a narrative that centers on the players as protagonists, as opposed to a narrative that simply follows the unfolding of events within a fictive world. As you mentioned, the biggest reason for the "rules as written" approach in AD&D 1e was to standardize the game for tournament play. That said, the reason Gygax and TSR stood more firmly behind the rules was that, while they had anticipated players would revise, add, and/or drop rules to fit their group's interests, they hadn't really anticipated that people would make those changes on bases other than keeping the game as a whole balanced. They also intended OD&D to stay as the option for those who wanted a more "no holds barred" type of game. A lot of that is mentioned in Jake Jaquet's interview with Gygax in _Dragon_ #28, especially in the blue background Q&A on pages 4-5. As for 1:1 time, I do have a fuzzy understanding that there is a group out there promoting it as something more than how to handle the progress of the game world between sessions. As you note, that can get a bit tricky when play leaves off mid-dungeon. Ultimately, I chose to let players decide, per session, whether to move things forward in 1:1, or to have a full pause until the next meeting. The answer isn't always easy; sure, players don't want to be attacked in the dungeon when they're not directly controlling their character, but there are times when they're waiting for a henchman or alternate character to finish some task, mission, etc. and are willing to risk spiking a dungeon door and living off iron rations until next week. Of course, during a session you can move things forward by weeks, months, or even years, just by talking through what happens in terms of calendar time. You can also slow time down to a crawl to discuss what's happening in excruciating, second-by-second detail. In all these case, including 1:1, the flow of time within the world should affect the characters within the world in the exact same way. Finally, the way I internalized the OSR initialism was as "Old School Role-Playing." For me, it was neither a renaissance or a revival. I simply did not play until I once again players looking to play in the style that I play. I suppose that might leave me closer to "revival;" but, in truth, I still think the majority are more like me...just coming back to these games because we can now more easily find people playing in a similar style to our own. I have nothing against the new style games in terms of their mechanics: they're written for a game that follows a plucky band of heroes through the derring do of their exploits. I'm just interested in the interaction between the derring do of individuals and how that impacts the world around them. I don't blame players for being centrally focused on their own characters; however, as the DM, my "character" is the global setting, not one just one monster, or BBEG, or NPC.

What's that Facebook group for Mystara, Bro?

Also, that Gygax quote is precisely how I've always approached dm-ing since 1979!! Some systems stress this, and in fact aren't built to be run any other way, but those are a bane to me as a DM, mostly. 😋 And I think they do harm to great, creative gaming! IMHO ONLY. 🤓

Brother, what sparked this or what's behind this? 🤔

Well that's two subjects I'd never thought would intersect one day, but here we are.

Great video! I watched this on my TV yesterday, but forgot to come back on the computer and leave a content, so I watched it again this morning. I enjoyed the mix of planning for town, wilderness, and dungeon. Glad you found something fiendish for Six-fingers to do! I had a friend who had a rough time with a brown recluse bite. The bite happened under a hat, on the back of the neck, above the hairline; it was a while before he figured out he'd been bit while out chopping some wood. He wasn't in the best condition to start off with, but ended up having some ongoing heart problems that lasted long after they'd dealt with the necrotizing tissue around the bite.

Rolling on a table for some random inspiration to then engage with our imagination is a great GM tool. The random result is just a suggestion and starting prompt. Thanks for taking time to post this video. It's nice to see your creative process at work. I think imagining our fictional world/setting for our game is one of the more enjoyable aspects of the GM's role. Of course not everyone will approach the game with the same assumptions or expectations, so "mileage will vary". Cheers!