Why Wandering Monsters Mattered

 

Wandering monsters were never just random fights. In D&D, they created pressure. They drained resources. They punished wasted time. They stopped players from resting after every encounter and reminded everyone that the dungeon was alive.

Hopeless Characters, Aren't Hopeless..

 

Can a character with bad stats still matter in D&D? In this episode, I talk about “Hopeless Characters” in old school D&D, using the Holmes Basic blurb and AD&D as the starting point. Bad ability scores do not always mean a bad character. Sometimes the weak fighter, the fragile magic-user, or the average nobody becomes the one everyone remembers. This is about 3d6 character creation, survival, risk, and why old school D&D did not need every character to start as a hero.

Wow, 12k Subscribers on Youtube! Thank you! Here's my story...

 

Around May 27th, I received this notification from VidIQ, about reaching 12k subscribers on Youtube and I was super excited to share it, but I wanted to wait a little bit until I had reached a little over 12k before celebrating. Would suck if I announced it and then a few people decided to unsubscribe for whatever reason and it dipped me back under 12k. Thankfully that didn't happen.

Does Low Intelligence Make Evil Stupid?

 

Low Intelligence does not make evil stupid. It changes how that evil shows up at the table. In this AD&D episode, I talk about why low Intelligence monsters and characters can still be dangerous, organized, loyal, cruel, and effective. Not every evil creature is a mastermind. Some are enforcers, raiders, followers, guards, and brutes who understand power, fear, orders, and punishment well enough to be a real threat.

Seriously, Gnolls Are Creepy as Heck

 

Gnolls in AD&D are more than just hyena men with axes. They sit in this strange place in the game where people underestimate them right up until the moment the party realizes they are being hunted. In this episode, I break down what makes gnolls work so well in old school play, where they came from, how Gary Gygax shaped them in AD&D 1st Edition, and why they feel different from orcs, goblins, and other common humanoids.

Free League Announces Legends of Stormbringer RPG Based On Dragonbane Mechanics

 

I just caught wind of this news, and well, frankly, I am kind of excited about this... As I've been reading Dragonbane. The game really impressed me, and I am thankful to those that pointed it out and highly suggested I read it. 

AD&D Magic Resistance Is Not What You Think...

Magic resistance in AD&D fundamentally changes how magic-users approach combat and how the table experiences tension. It is not a saving throw but a flat chance that a spell simply fails, which comes before any other effects or rolls. Lower-level casters face worse odds, as resistance scales against the standard of an 11th-level caster, making a 50% resistance actually 80% against a 5th-level magic-user and only 30% against a 15th-level one. At the table, this creates pressure and uncertainty. Players watch their spells fizzle and begin thinking in terms of probability, adjusting tactics: some double down and waste resources, others shift to scrolls, utilities, illusions, or non-magical options.

Lawful Evil isn’t Stupid..

 

Lawful Evil isn’t stupid. I’ve run a lot of villains who were smart, but I’ve also let “lawful evil” drift into cartoon territory. Iron-fisted tyrant. Obsessed cult leader. Someone the party can just stab and walk away from. But the truth is, a real lawful evil force plays the long game. It doesn’t waste resources. It bends the rules without breaking them. It thrives because people let it.

Dancing Lights Spell, trouble?

 

Colorized?

I saw this and thought about how often this spell gets ignored. Most players use it to see in the dark. Boring. I want it to feel dangerous. I want it to make someone pay.

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

I heard You. I'm Back. Let's Try This Again...

 

One month ago I said goodbye to the channel. Since then, I received emails, messages, and a lot of support asking me to come back.

So I heard you.

Justice League Unlimited #18 Review

 

Last week, I visited the comic book store to pick up my regular comics. While chatting with the staff member behind the counter, he recommended that I take a look at the new Justice League Unlimited series, saying how it was just like the old cartoon of the same name. Interested in it at that point so I decided to give it a shot.

Rumble Channel you say? Yes I have that.

Rumble channel you say?

Why yes I have one! Its located here:

The Evil Dungeon Master on Rumble

As you may or may not know, I recently found out why my YouTube channel was not being shown around or to folks, even those with the bell icon turned on. YouTube told me that a flood of people marked my channel as spam, and it's been that way for a long time. It’s hurt the algorithm for me, and YouTube support said they can remove the flag, but it would be like as if I was a channel with little to no subscribers before the algorithm saw me as a viable channel. The age of the channel is another factor; I opened it in 2013ish and did a few videos, let it sit dormant until 2017, did a few videos, and let it sit. 

In 2018, I started doing videos full time after work, and I grew the channel. Then the flood of people came into  play, and it killed the channel. So I ditched it and made it into a podcast channel for my podcast, the Black Notebook & Roll High or Die's actual plays. 

But then I remembered I had a Rumble channel that I was updating all along... so why not continue videos over there? Rumble doesn't give a crap if a bunch of people flag the channel; they are all about free speech as long as it's not inciting violence, which I don't do. So expect to see me over there!

The Maze Ledger 'Zine Issue 1

 As you may or may not be aware, I am the author of an OSR clone called Mazes & Perils, which was a clone of Holmes D&D, which won a Gold Ernie award. I followed up with Mazes & Perils Deluxe edition in 2016.

Over time, I released some new classes and ideas on my Patreon and through Drivethrurpg.

Today, I released a zine I hope to produce monthly, which will give GMs some ideas for their campaigns. It’s a small zine that was created by me with no AI. No AI art at all as well. I used icons from Games-Icons.net only. The simple front cover was designed in Photoshop and then in Canva. I have no real funds to hire an artist, and when I used AI, people complained. I could easily add AI art to help, but it’s probably just going to annoy people. So until I can afford to pay artists, it’s just going to be a simple zine to fit the simple old-school RPG I created.

My Patreon is filled with ideas and giveaways from anything to AD&D, M&P, to Palladium fantasy.

Links:

• Mazes Ledger Issue 1
• Mazes & Perils Deluxe
• Patreon to support me

I am Home.

Well, I'm back.

I started here on Blogger many, many years ago, and it feels funny to say because I've spent so much time trying to get away from Blogger because of what it kept changing into. And Blogger does have its advantages and has a lot of disadvantages, but overall, I think I enjoy the ease of the environment of Blogger.

Skinwalkers in D&D, Let's Discuss it!

Skinwalkers make better D&D monsters when you stop treating them like Doppelgangers.

That was the thought behind the video. At first, it feels like the same idea. Something takes a shape. Something replaces someone. Something gets close to the party and causes trouble. Fine. But the more I thought about it, the more I realized that is not the same monster at all.