MELTING POT D&D

Like every gamer, I have my favorite games and even versions or “editions” of games. As far as D&D goes, I have played every edition—little brown books to 5E. As I have aged my tastes in RPGs have changed. I once enjoyed crunch. The more crunch the better. I was that annoying— “Rules Lawyer”, “Power-Gameing-Min-Maxer”, “Epic Storyteller”, and “Homebrewer” at one time in my now over fifty years of existence. Nowadays I like things basic, easy to run, exciting, and dangerous, and most importantly the roll-playing (dice mechanics and logistics) is as relevant to me as roleplaying. I need a loose enough set of rules that allows for any kind of game I feel like playing— Theater of the Mind, miniatures, dungeon crawls, hex crawls, city, planar, even social encounters and play. For D&D that brings me to B/X, but Moldvey Cook Basic-Expert mixed with BECMI and a dash of AD&D and any other OSR game system I want to shove in. 

This is a melting pot-style D&D I play so I can have what I like about gaming. Morale is an awesome rule that keeps things exciting and lets the dice determine things, not the DM. It gives me the combat rules I like, and the best character rules for my needs (yep race as class is my favorite). B/X also throws game balance out the window and leaves that to luck of the dice and the decisions of the players. To this, I add BECMI for more player options, spells, some different gear, and higher-level options to keep the game going if I want it to go beyond 14th level (well for humans). I also get more monsters and magic items. This is where AD&D adds to it—Classic Monsters and Magic items. I also get an expanded equipment list and on and on. If I need Greek Fire, I dig into AD&D 2nd Edition and I get Greek Fire. Nothing is beyond stealing, adopting, or modifying to make my game world what I want it to be. Also, I homebrew stuff if I can’t find what I like. 

This Melting Pot D&D takes trust between DM and players. It takes an ever-changing reference document to keep things “fair” so players know what rules we are using. I try to keep it as much B/X as I can. I like a little more healing options than straight B/X. I think not allowing multiple chances of picking a lock until a new level is gained is dumb. I think Magic-Users should all get Read Magic along with their other starting spells. I think scrolls and potions need to be available or even can be crafted through some pain-in-the-ass or pricey ways, but still available if a Player wants to have their PC jump through the hoops to get them. I Think Ability Checks should be under a d20, under 3d6, under 4d6, under 5d6, and under 6d6 depending upon how difficult it should be for the PC to make. I think Save or Die is kind of badass and where a +1 Sword “feel” magical. I like every hit point counting and where teh risk equals a reward. I like every PC has a job and role in the party—not everyone can see in the dark, cast spells, heal, and still can fight better than a goddamned fighter or be a better caster than a wizard. I want wondrous PC races “feel” wondrous—a dwarf, elf or halfling feels different than playing a human and there are tradeoffs for those cool abilities they get. 

So play the game your way and let everyone else play how they like. No company can tell you how to play or what edition to play or what rules to disregard. The OGL is here to stay and we that love older editions and the OSR should be grateful. No D&D is bad D&D, but that doesn’t mean it's Good D&D.

As for me, I’ll always be a Dungeon Master no matter what others call it and I also really only need Cleric, Dwarf, Elf, Fighter, Halfling, Thief, and Magic User and a set of funny dice to be happy.

Recently I have had the pleasure of joining in on a Holmes D&D game. The guys who are in the group are great and very inviting. While Holmes is not my preferred version of D&D (that is tied between B/X or BCMI) It does scratch my particular gaming itch. This is the first group game I have been in since the start of the pandemic has stretched on. While I play a Solo-Version with my buddy Phil (who is also in the Holmes game) this group game is something I was really needing in my life. While we only play 2-3 hours at a time online, it still feels like a gaming table—chatter laughs, and rolling some bones with like-minded folks. I’m grateful to the gents at Fortune & Glory Facebook group for letting me in. If it sounds like something you would like, check out the group and ask to join. Fortune & Glory - A Holmes Basic D&D Group

HUNTING FOR THE DAYS OF YORE

As I write this eBay notification pop up on yet another hard-fought bidding battle for a replacement piece of my gaming history—the Combat Shield for Basic D&D. I—armed with a meager purse of funds—try to get copies of my lost D&D collection on a budget. Only a few years ago such an endeavor as buying only Basic D&D, and AD&D books, while it might have been time-consuming, would not have been nearly as expensive. With the boon of players to our hobby and the rise of the OSR movement, the old is now coveted. Luckily for old gamers like me who want old editions in place of new editions, there are many a retro-clone to give the feel or a cleaned-up/reorganized/clarified version of the favorites like OD&D, Holmes, B/X D&D, BECMI, and AD&D thanks to the open gaming license. OLD-SCHOOL ESSENTIALS, WHITE BOX, BLUEHOLME, SWORDS & WIZARDRY, and OSRIC are my favorites.

How playing old-school D&D and retro-clones came to pass for me was a few things. Firstly, I became burnt out and somewhat disillusioned with the current edition of my beloved game. The older I get, the simpler I like my gaming experience. I also like pulling off nonsense by my wits and not what I chose for my character skills. The skill thing is for one big reason, that being is many DMs In have encountered of the current edition don’t know how to use them or just plain don’t use them. The passive rules are not optional. Such rules are made to smooth out play and move the game forward. I think the rules work great—if you don’t want players to use their own wits and rely on skill choice. If you choose to play 5E, then use the rules. I’m not talking about a bit of hand-waving to add fun to the game, I’m talking about DMs not using them because they don’t fit the story they are telling. They don’t like it when you can defeat most things by being smart, taking your time and using your passive stealth, or avoiding the guards and just taking out their big bad with the right combo of spells and skill use when they had envisioned this knock down drag out combat encounter. 

The current edition seems to breed Storytellers rather than Dungeon Masters. A Dungeon Master rewards smart play. A DM cheers for players’ victories and morns with them when they lose. Dungeon Masters don't tell stories, they provide a stage for players to tell the stories of their PCs. So Storytellers take note: If you want to tell epic tales, write a damned novel. Your job as a DM is to give challenges, provide feedback and make judgments to keep the game using the rules. Your creativity is used for world-building and adventure writing. You are better served to reward players for epic ideas, cheer for crits, grimace at nat 1s, and let the dice fall where they may instead of trying to be a low-rent Tolkien running a railroad to keep your epic on your chosen path. This rant is what I felt in many of the last 5E games I played. I play for fun. 5E is not really fun for me anymore. New monsters are cool. New magic items are cool. A hundred PC races and dozens of class choices… I don’t need or really like such choices. I don’t like every class feeling like a spellcaster and most of those are more powerful than the wizard? Too much darkvision, “balanced encounters” and pretty much not feeling like my kind of D&D to me. I didn’t realize how much I felt like this until I, on a whim bought a PDF copy of Moldvey/Cook Basic and Expert and ran a game. The old feeling was back as I played some modified Solo-style rules with my buddy Phil, each of us playing three characters, using random dungeon charts, and foolishly using hex crawls at basic level. Our characters were less than legendary with their 3d6 straight-down-the-line generation. We even randomly generated our class and making the six characters took all of fifteen minutes (mostly because of us laughing and having a good time at what a motley crew we had made). He used some websites to randomly make a hex map and a starter dungeon map after rolling the Exploring the Unknown scenario, which through a series of charts and yes/no rolls turned out to be the sunken temple ruins of the draconic cult. We initially were set upon our path after hearing rumors of a fabled sword lost in the underground ruins and multiple sightings of torches and or fires near the entrance of the place every night for the last three weeks in the far hills. We gathered our meager funds together and gambled with an unlucky band of adventurers for the map that lead to the place. My dwarf was the big winner of the map and a fair-sized pot of coins. To not make enemies, we spent much of the coin on booze to ease the egos of the losing gamblers. Our first night's adventures were glorious. We got ambushed by a handful of bandits (which we trounced and got a few coins and a couple of extra weapons), found a dead goblin hunter, had to twice hide from a black dragon that was flying overhead, got lost, had to forage for food and water while we traveled—so we didn’t go into a dungeon with no rations, until finally getting to the shattered entrance of the sunken temple, only to find a band of evil acolytes—one them we recognized from the tavern we first heard the rumors in—beat us to the place. 

I was once again hooked on D&D… This kind of D&D. The kind with reaction rolls, group initiative, hex crawls, random (sometimes far from balanced) encounters that require plans, cunning, luck, hiding, and sometimes running for your life. The kind that finding a silver dagger on bandit chief after a hard-won fight feels like a true treasure. The kind where a black dragon is part of the world and if your 1st level PC is in the wrong place they can get eaten by it. The kind of D&D I first played when I was ten. The kind of D&D I first fell in love with 40 years ago. The kind that has me weekly hunting for old books in all corners of the internet and used book stores. The kind that has me buying POD from Drivethrurpg in amounts that makes my wallet scream. The kind that has me rebuilding my collection and expanding it to retro-clones and OSR creators’ efforts in print and PDF just because they seem to be my people and to love the kind of D&D that I love. It seems adventures never have to end, they just may have to be done using old rules rather than the newest and shiny rulesets to feel like my kind of D&D. 

REALIZING THAT I AM INDEED OLD

I now see that I am…old. Old because, popular, music has passed me by. Old because the hobby that I have loved for four decades and counting is no longer really being fully supported for my taste of the game.  While I find merit in the latest edition of D&D—having played it till I was sick of it and the power creep of a few previous editions began to show up—it isn’t really “MY D&D” anymore. I can run it. I can play it. Hell, I even get paid to write it on occasion, but it does not feel like 5E is truly meant for me. I’m a simple old grognard at heart. I like my dungeons deadly and my dragons fierce. I don’t want my encounters balanced—more than what level of the dungeon I currently am on. For me, fair is a term that should refer to some place you visit and not so everything is stacked in the PC's favor. I want the threat of death lurking around every corner, through every door, in the next hex, or hanging on a single die roll. I don’t really give two shits about any catfolk warlock, bard combo builds. I can’t sit through another game with a 1st-level PC that has a fourteen-page backstory—how? You are 1st level, what have you done to merit more than—I was a poor dirt farmer that needs to earn money to save the farm. Maybe, orcs killed my village and I only survived because I was a coward and need to redeem myself. Maybe I really like treasure and am not afraid to risk my ass getting it.

I like my rules simple and vague. I’m cool with DM discretion, random reactions, random encounters, and character death. I like letting the roleplaying and story develop naturally and not on some railroad rehashed version of an adventure I played thirty years ago that they had to expand and now price at $45-50.  I don’t really need more races than—dwarf, elf, halfing, and human in my game (If you want to include the 1st edition choices that’s cool too from time to time as a nice half-elf, half-orc or gnome is always good to mix things up). In my game, everyone does not need to kind of be a spellcaster. Clerics. Elves and Magic-users don’t need cantrips. We need no Feats or point-buy stats. In my brand of the game, a death save is save or die—and you don’t get three chances to make it! A +1 weapon can mean the difference between life or death if it takes magic to even hurt some monsters. Roleplay is a part of roll play and feelings don’t get hurt by imaginary characters. Surprise rounds matter as does winning initiative. Wander in the wrong hex or too deep in a dungeon and you can meet a dragon at 1st level, and it won’t be nerfed to an appropriate challenge rating. Players need to be smart, crafty, or damned lucky. I find no enjoyment without character risk. I need to fear my monsters—not have them toned down or be my traveling companions. I like when a scroll or potion is a valued item of loot. I want to pack what I think I need for an adventure or wilderness trek and worry that we might get lost and have o try and survive. I like more the 5 rooms in my dungeons. I like magic being precious. Counting arrows, rations, water, torches, and oil matters. I like feeling I earned my rewards and survived the skin of my teeth. If the current edition is your kind of D&D, well good on you. I hope you have the fun with your game, as I have had with mine my entire life. This is the long and rambling way to say for me, I’ll take the old ways nowadays. I want my hex and dungeon crawls. I want to live by my wits, luck, and the aid of my boon companions. I want XP for loot. “MY” D&D it seems is of the Basic/Expert or OSE variety with a dash of 1st edition peppered in to expand spells and magic items. I like my race as class. Give me a dwarf rolled up 3d6 down the line—hopefully with more than 5hp, with a few pieces of equipment—including at least one large sack for loot, his trusty hand axe to go with a shield, and the best armor I can afford. As far as backstory… My name is Ferris Hammerheart, have axe, will travel. Now point me towards adventure!

FREE MAP: SPIDER CAVES

Cheesy PC Pics for the Taking!

THE CALL OF THE DM

For many who play RPGs there comes a time that they wish to take on the mantle of running the game. For myself, it didn't take long before not just a call, but a demand to be the DM happened. I’m not sure if such is the case with the newest crop of gamers, but back in the old and crusty days the “So Who’s going to run?” question was asked plenty. Eyes would swivel about the group and settle on an unlucky gamer and they would be “elected” Dungeon Master. While in my youth this felt like a chore, it did teach me some valuable skills to come up with an adventure on the fly:

1. Build a DMs ToolKit—Repurpose old maps, encounters, NPCs, dead PCs, and published adventures to build resources.

2. Think Small Story rather than Sprawling Epic Tale.

3. Table Fun over Rules.

4. Let the Players do some of your work for you.

5. STEAL like a master thief!

6. Everyone just wants to play.

BUILD A DM’s TOOLKIT

This can be accomplished in three easy steps:

1. Get a folder: Any cheap ass folder will do. You just need a place to stuff all the crap you collected so you can carry it with you when the need to dig into it arises.

2. Get a notebook or journal: this can be as fancy or basic as you like (I use spiral notebooks for the most part). It just needs to be something you can keep notes during the session that you're running by the seat of your pants. It is also a place to jot down ideas that will eventually make their way into your folder. 

3.  Be a hoarder akin to a dragon: By this I mean save anything you come across. Last week's hand-drawn graph paper temple map your buddy used and is going to toss out becomes a ruin three weeks later under your time behind the screen. A trail map from a state park just became the path to the bandit king’s keep. The bandit stats you wrote on a 3x5 card become next week's wild elf helpers with only a little tweak. A 6th-level Dwarf that met his end because of failing a poison save, gets renamed and may return as the Thane of the Ironheart Clan you must beat in single combat to convince the dwarves to aid in a coming orc war. The map from X2 Castle Amber becomes the Keep of the Blood Reavers in one session only to come back around months later as the Fortress of the Eyeless Monks. In all honesty, I can’t tell you how many times I used the maps from B7 Rahasia and B9 Castle Caldwell and Beyond in my early days of gaming. 

THINK SMALL STORY RATHER THAN A SPRAWLING EPIC TALE

Most of us are not Tolkien—especially when we are throwing together an adventure in ten minutes. While some dream of running long ruining epic campaigns, I tend to lean towards one-offs or episodic play. In my opinion, simpler is better—The reason I have recently returned to B/X or other old-school versions of D&D or D&D retro-clones over 5E. The “simpler is better” idea should be taken to heart when making an adventure in ten minutes. In-depth plots are not likely to be what you go for when you have ten minutes. Stick with:

The PCs are (Chart A) by (Chart B) to (Chart C) (Chart D) for the reward of (Chart E)

(Chart A/1d6):

1-3 Hired/Bribed/Lured

4-5 Asked/Begged/Tasked

6 Forced/Bullied/Compelled

(Chart B/1d10):

1 A Wizard/Mysterious Stanger/Witch

2 A Mentor/Widow/Teary-eyed child

3 A Merchant/Sage/Craftsman

4 A Noble/ Mayor/ Elders

5 A Farmer/Hunter/Sheriff 

5 The Church/The Crown/A Guild

7 A Underworld Figure/Warlord/

9 A Ghost or Spirit

10 A Monster

(Chart C/1d4):

1 Find/Locate/Explore

2 Slay/Destroy/Capture

3 Retrieve/Rescue/Deliver 

4 Protect/Guard/Seal

(Chart D/1d20)

1 An NPC

2 An Animal

3 A Monster

4 A Mystical Item/Object

5 A Sacred Item/Object

6 An Item/Oject of Lore

7 An odd ingredient—plant/monster part/element

8 A Body/Bones/Set of Remains

9 A Key/Map/Box/Chest

10 Gateway/Portal/Doorway/Entrance/Exit

11 Location/Path/Structure/Settlement/Lair

12 Group of NPCs

13 A Group of Animals 

14 A Group of Monsters

15 A treasure

16-17 Roll Two Results and Combine

18-19 Roll Three Results and Combine

20 Roll Four Results and Combine

(Chart D/1d12)

1-7 Coin

8 Favor/Lore/Service

9 Non Magical Equipment/Mounts

10 Treasure Map

11 Deed/Membership

12 Magic Item

TABLE FUN OVER RULES

Remember we all just want to have fun and if the rules get in the way don't use them. You are throwing this thing together in ten minutes, you are not going to have everything covered. If a player gives you crap over some rule or another that is going to bog down the game or rob everyone of run—tell them they are free to run next time with no notice.

LET THE PLAYERS DO SOME OF YOUR WORK FOR YOU

Players will more times than not give you great ideas right at the table. There is a player that is sure to say “Man I hope there isn’t an Owlbear in here?” or “I bet this is cursed.” or “It would be cool if we found a magic sword” or anything of that nature. Your job is to just make those things happen (even if you planned them or not). That is to say, “Yes there is an Owlbear” or “The fountain is cursed” or “There hanging in midair within a beam of light is a glittering sword… seemingly there for the taking” 

STEAL LIKE A MASTER THIEF!

When in need of an idea steal it from a favorite book, movie, or other adventure you read or played in. You need to be sure to reskin the idea so it is not easily identified by your players. 

Your PCs are at a feast in a castle or tower and don’t have all their armor, weapons, and gear when a group of warriors, led by a warlord or a wizard storms in and takes the place over. Now the PCs that happen to be not in the main feast hall for one reason or another, have to keep out of sight, find weapons, and take out the invaders as best they can…D&D meets Die Hard.

OR

While traveling near a favorite NPC’s homestead the PCs find signs of hobgoblin raiders. They hurry to their NPCs house and find it ablaze, the NPC and their family slain.  Before the PCs can deal with this devastating news a rolling battle between a few guards and some noble folk greatly outnumbered by hobgoblins. The PCs fight clear, saving a couple of the noble folk, as guards are slain. Now the PCs have some people they must escort through the wilderness to the next settlement as they are pursued by hobgoblin forces…D&D meets Last of The Mohicans.

EVERYONE JUST WANTS TO PLAY

No matter how slipshod you running by the seat of your pants goes it still serves the needs of the players. Don’t worry if you feel the game is not great. It took ten minutes to make and if everyone got to roll dice and have fun you won’t hear many complaints… if you do, maybe remind the complainers that unless they want to step up and run next time they can keep their comments to themselves.

Let’s talk about the “BEST” version of D&D 

Being a gamer that has played steadily since 1980 and has played every version of the game at one time or another. I have Dungeon Mastered all of them, save the old 1974 OG white box version. It was before my time, but I did get the fun of playing a few games with a few older guys not so long ago. I have and currently do work in the gaming industry. I have written and run a few hundred convention games thus far, and probably will a few more before I’m carried off on my shield. I mention all this to try and show that I’m not just some old curmudgeon gamer bitching about the good old days. I think every version or edition of D&D has its place and fans, as well they should. I have loved one and all versions of the world’s most popular roleplaying game at one time or another. In my younger days, I had very strong opinions about what version was the best. In truth, it was more flavor of the week and me being an asshole than any great insight. Now being a more “mature” lover of RPGs, I have come to realize the truth everyone needs to come to grips with. That realization is —drumroll please— opinions are like assholes and everyone has one! HARSH? Not really. There are quite a few folks that just “LOVE” to tell everyone what and why their favorite version of the game is the best and why the other versions suck or aren’t—inclusive enough, enlightened enough, easy enough or some such pandering nonsense enough. While I will handily agree that every edition or version has its high points and low points. I have to say, in my opinion, folks need to get a grip and learn to talk up their favorite edition, without talking down other editions. Folks that talk down other edition need to learn this lesson, because the real secret is the edition you play at your table is the best version! If you and those you play with have fun, then that is the best edition of the game and what it was meant to do. The greatest thing about D&D is there are numerous versions, and all are still available at least in PDF form to choose from. Every version of D&D has a unique mix of crunch, fluff, complexity, and style. You should try and play them all. You should play with an open mind when you do. After you have played every version, done your research, and formed your opinions about which one is best, try and temper it with a bit of courtesy before you think to write about it. I ask this for the betterment of what is the fandom of D&D.  Please do talk up your favorite and try to get more folks to play and enjoy your favorite edition. Please don’t put down other editions, because they are the favorite editions of others. It doesn’t matter if you prefer theater of the mind play, using miniatures, or playing online. It doesn’t matter if you like roleplaying more than combat. It doesn’t matter if you are a murder hobo or a problem solver. It doesn’t matter if your dice numbers are colored in with a crayon or are rolled on a smartphone. When it is all boiled down, we are all D&D players. We all love the game and want to have others love it too. From the white box to 5E, you are a D&D player and that is the sacred club you are a member of. We delve dungeons, save towns, loot crypts, battle monsters, rub shoulders with deities, best villains, fight and lead armies, and cross sword and spells with dragons. It is a wonderful hobby and one we should all try and share. Though we should share it in a nontoxic way, by not belittling another player’s favorite version of the game. I don’t care if you gain experience points from treasure, use non-weapon prophecies and THACO, have prestige classes to go along with your character’s collection of thirty feats, or have never-ending cantrips and no class has d4 hit dice, all are D&D. Share your love, not your hate, because nowadays we have enough hate to go around. 

What it looks like to wake up a giant?

FROM THE DARKNESS IT SHALL RISE!

It’s time to get back on the horse…or dragon…or internet…or whatever. In not so short of terms, it is time to be proactive and productive. I “launched” this website six years ago. And by “launched” I mean threw some game stuff, articles online, and podcasts, all with my cheezy art, no edits and no real plan. It was just a place to put out into the universe anything I felt like. Well things have changed. By things, I mean I became a professional game designer and author. I helped create and launch a monthly gaming D&D OGL periodical for Lionforge Comics (now Oni Lionforge) called ROLLED & TOLD. I have written for animation, did some work on the upcoming Choose Your Own Adventure titles and was living my best life. Was, until R&T went on a semi permanent hiatus and I went to work for another area in the company (this is where the animation writing started). No issues, it’s still cool and new challenges and all. Then the pandemic struck and I, like may of my peers got laid off. House bound, unemployed, trying to learn the ways of a freelancer (luckily I have a great mentor in Andrew E. C. Gaska) it has been a challenge. To add to this challenge I with my partner Geoff Gerber have started a small game company Gainsage LLC. https://gainsage.com/ Gainsage will be something great one day, though now it is slow going and will take some time to really get a full and proper launch. I already have a gaming youtube channel Deathcraft Dungeon https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC9TJN-TZdhcHvAuZXOjDZSA with a pair of good buddies. Having all that and I’m still want to do more. I’m more of a shotgun, not a sniper kind of guy. So now I think I need to round out my collections of proverbial irons in the fire by relaunching Pipedreams Press. This go around it will still be where I can throw out some content that does not fit in the other niches or that just catches my fancy, but also be a hub for the rest of what I have going on as an independent author, freelancer, CCO of Gainsage, third stooge of the Deathcraft Dungeon crew. So do this old dungeon crawler a favor and check back every now and then and see what I have brewing.

E.L. Thomas

https://twitter.com/DM_ELT

Pandemic TTRPG Gaming and how Roll20 saved and may have cursed it for me.

I love the hobby of TTRPGs. It has been an integral part of my existence for the past thirty-eight years. Three Saturdays a month (a few more days when my wife lets me get away with it) I would belly up to the 4X8 slab of gaming goodness that was my game table with a passel of my buddies and get my game on! In the last few years, it has been TTRPGs (5E, Star Wars, ICRPG, and Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay to name a few). Before that, i had a good mix of card, board games, and wargames in the mix too, but that has since faded to the rare occasion, but RPGs are a mainstay. Rolling dice, going on adventures, and socializing is a thing I need to keep me sane. Then the pandemic struck and gone were my Saturday nights of fun and camaraderie with my gaming buddies. I was already in a bit of a dark place and now I lost my outlet of gaming. Things were none too good in Ericland. So to try and fill the void, my technophobic self turned to Discord at first and then to Roll20. I was the first to bitch in true GRODNAR fashion that this online nonsense wasn’t going to feel like gaming! Also, you can’t replace sitting around a table with looking at everyone on a screen! Well as you might have guessed, I was way wrong. Discord and Roll20 give me my gaming fix. In truth, I think I’ve grown to like it far more than gaming at a table. I do miss using miniatures and terrain. I miss the dinner party feel of sitting around a table. I don’t miss the game being delayed because someone got stuck in traffic. I don’t miss, having to clean up afterwards. I don’t miss running everyone out of my house at 2 a.m. so I can go to bed. I don’t miss hosting everyone at my house every game night. I seem to not miss a lot about gaming around a table. When (or if) this pandemic ends, I will have to think long and hard about how I want to have my gaming. It might just turn out that online wins out over live and in-person table gaming. See saved and might have cursed me…

https://twitter.com/DM_ELT

ENDLESS QUEST BOOKS and why you need them in your gaming life!

When I first discovered Endless Quest Books was about the time I discovered D&D (I think 1980-81) and they grabbed me from the start. I had read Choose Your Own Adventure books, but these Endless Quest Books were officially part of my newest love that was Dungeons & Dragons. Luckily my school library had a few of them and that is where I first entered the Dungeon of Dread, steaded the Mountain of Mirrors, braved the Pillars of Pentegarn, made my Return to Bookmere, and stood against the Revolt of the Dwarves. I’ve read and owned at one time most all the Endless Quest Books. These $2.00 pocket sized volumes were a natural progression to the Fighting Fantasy Books and many others, by other monikers, but for me Endless Quest Books were the best. Sure they are cheesy. Sure they try and it you over the head with a moral choice. Sure they usually have a crappy sidekick character (Though I will always have a soft spot for Laurus the halfling from Dungeon of Dread). Sure many of the stories are not the most action packed of D&D adventures when look at through my nearly fifty-year-old eyes, but as a kid they pretty much rocked! They are chalked full of old-school artwork, can be read in under 30-minutes and most of the early titles still hold up and are quite fun reads. Best of all, during a pandemic they let you have a bit of a solo adventure, without a lot of time invested. If you have kids, I urge you to introduce these to them. If you don’t then you deserve a bit of nostalgia and some goofy entertainment. Digging them up take a bit of EBAYfoo and it will most likely cost you a bit more then th $2.00 cover price, but a few will be worth it. If you want grab one of the New Endless Quest Books and give them a whirl. I like the old versions better, but that’s because I’m a curmudgeon. I’f you can get it, grab a copy of DUNGEON of DREAD because that damned wizard Kalman isn’t going to kill himself!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Endless_Quest