The AD&D Druid Was Never Just a Nature Cleric

 People keep trying to turn the AD&D druid into a forest cleric with a different paint job. That misses the point completely.

The druid in AD&D is strange. Isolated. Ritualistic. They are tied to old powers, ancient places, cycles, weather, stone circles, balance, and things that existed before kingdoms. A cleric serves a god through faith and structure. A druid serves nature itself, and nature in AD&D is not soft. Nature kills people every day. Storms drown villages. Wolves eat travelers. Winter wipes out the weak. The druid understands that balance matters more than comfort.

Scarred Lands for AD&D?

 

In 2002, Scarred Lands came out for D&D 3e. It wasn't an official setting from Wizards of the Coast; it was a third-party setting by Sword & Sorcery Studios. I remember at the time (2003ish), a guy was running AD&D 1e, using the setting books at the local comic book store, named Sarge's Comics in Connecticut. 

The AD&D Fighter Was Never Boring..

 

This is a look at what Fighters really did in classic AD&D, why they mattered, and why many modern players miss the point. If you enjoy old school gaming, Gygax era design, and practical talk about how these games actually played, this one is for you.

Morale Breaks Fights Before Hit Points Do

 

They do not fight to the death. Most things should not.

You roll morale after the first losses. Not at the end. Not when it is obvious. Early. That timing matters. One creature drops. Maybe two. Now you check.  

AD&D Encounters Aren’t Fair. That’s the Point

 

So AD&D was never built around the idea that every fight should be balanced, fair and "level appropriate". This is one of the biggest, I guess shocks for modern players when they come to the table to play AD&D 1e. You could enter a dungeon, turn a corner, run into a monster that is more powerful then you and get your ass handed to you as you finally realize running was a better choice rather then rushing in like a superhero. The correct answer is in most cases is learn how to run and come back later with a better plan.

AD&D is the Gold Standard...

 

I will say it plain. AD&D is the gold standard of Dungeons and Dragons and will always be...

Not because it is perfect. It is not. Not because every rule is clean. Many are not. Not because it is easy to learn. It is not that either. It is the gold standard because it expected more from you. 

Shadow of the Bat #1 (1992) Review.

 

This first issue knows exactly what it wants to be. It is not a bright superhero opener. It is a locked door story. A place story. A sickness story. Batman: Shadow of the Bat #1 drops Batman into Arkham Asylum, but the real focus is the people running it, the people trapped in it, and the thin line between treatment and cruelty.

White Dragons Are Meaner Than You Think

 

How mean are White Dragons? That's what this episode is about. We're looking at the dragon itself, what makes it nasty, and how you can use one in your campaign without treating it like a big white lizard with wings.

Ash vs Evil Dead: Baal write up for Unisystem

It's no secret that I enjoy the Cinematic Unisystem games, by Eden Studios, and I often will play games using them, and making Ash vs Evil Dead TV Show as the campaign setting. Well here is one of the write ups I did, for this Demon, Baal. He was a pretty cool demon, and in the Ash vs Evil Dead online game, he was fun to play. 

The Knock-Key Magic Item

I released a free Magic Item on my Patreon for use with any Old School RPG. I originally created it for Advanced Dungeons & Dragons back in the day. I decided to pull it out of my binder and use it for my Basic Fantasy game that I’m running at https://rollhighordie.com