Lost World Island Life, Part 1 - Running (Some of) X1 The Isle of Dread in OSE

I asked our group what D&D adventure module they wanted after B4 The Lost City. D&D module X1 The Isle of Dread was the strongest contender. We're about a quarter of the way through it. Seeing a long series of sessions between where we are and any possible end point, I put a pin in it. We'll be taking a break from the fantasy tropics for awhile and come back fresh later in the year.

My working folder, some notes, a previously owned copy of X1, and my copy of the OSE Referee's Tome. Note the price tag on the module. Remember when Half Price Books had TTRPG stuff for dirt cheap?

Conversion from D&D to OSE

The stats for most of what's in X1 The Isle of Dread are already in Old School Essentials. And converting between the two systems is as straightforward as it gets. I'm not sure it will continue to be this easy when I start adapting AD&D adventure modules.

My conversion was incomplete when I starting running the module. I concentrated on getting everything in the waters around the island done first. Next came everything in the southern half of the island. I left the northern areas, including the plateau, for later. This turned out to be a good thing, since I'll be adding a few things to the north and central areas in response to what the players are engaging with. More on that down below.


Preparing to Depart

I linked the two adventure modules together with the party's need for an active volcano. The party killed Zargon, B4 The Lost City's big bad boss monster, but needed to destroy his horn to keep him from regenerating a new form. Immersion in lava was the only known method, but I ruled that no sources were available in the area of The Lost City. (There is the option of placing an active volcano in B4 The Lost City as written. I choose not to for this campaign.) Fortunately, the party learned from their trusty Gnome contact Wigglewort that a newly discovered island to the south might have exactly what they needed. And he just happened to be organizing an expedition there, but sure could use the aid of an adventuring party to map the place and look for trading opportunities...


Sea Cruise

Roped in by Wigglewort's offer to help solve their problems in exchange for going on a hex crawl, the party boarded his ship for a more than three hour tour. The few small islands sighted along the way were ignored in favor making steady progress towards the mysterious isle. The couple of random encounters provided little challenge for the party of dungeon-hardened adventurers. The ship did sustain light damage from the weather, but nothing that the crew couldn't repair once they found a place a source of wood and a place to beach the hull.

The party choose to circle the isle rather than immediately making landfall. Wigglewort suggested making contact with the villages marked on his map. The indigenous people might make good trade partners and their villages would be a useful base to explore the isle. The party agreed and the ship sailed down the eastern side of the isle. This was uneventful, as the party cautiously avoided all the tempting opportunities to leave the ship and get into trouble.


Pirate Bay

The ship and party were welcomed by the indigenous people of the southern peninsula. Wigglewort found that they were already prepared for trade with the wider world. Bargains were struck between the Gnomes and villagers as the party collected rumors to guide their next moves.

The indigenous people told of pirates raiding their villages. The raiders came in canoes, wielded weapons of steel, and carried off many villagers to a fate unknown. "Sure would be nice," they didn't quite say, "if some adventurers would come along to track the pirates down to their island base, crush them, and save our fellow villagers."

Not being the types to ignore an obvious hook, the players began planning the operation. The villagers were able to supply the rough location of the pirate encampment. The plan was to have Wigglewort drop them off away from the pirate camp and scout the place out. The adventurers would then determine if a siege, infiltration, or assault would make the most sense.

The party was able to slip on the island, avoid pirate patrols, and approach the camp from the landward side. The first attempt to infiltrate the camp at night was successful in giving the adventurers a good idea of the layout and defenses. It also quickly escalated into full blown battle after they were discovered. The party gave much better than they got and pulled out before taking too much damage. They spent the next day resting, healing, and laying low from pirate attempts to locate them.

The next night saw the party launching a determined assault on the camp. The pirates, having failed to find the party during the day, were clearly making preparations to leave with their prisoners. The party wiped out the pirates and rescued the prisoners.

The party used a pre-arranged signal to summon Wigglewort and his ship. The rescued villagers and everything of value were packed up. A giant squid attack interrupted the trip back to the villages. The beast was driven off, but more damage was done to Wigglewort's ship. It would definitely need repairs before sailing back to the mainland.


In the Jungle (and Other Terrain)

It was at this point that we finally got to the meat of the adventure - a hex crawl. The Isle of Dread is one of the first hex crawl adventure modules. This makes it notable, but it suffers from not incorporating lessons from later decades of TTRPG development.

The party would have plenty of time to explore the isle while Wigglewort and his Gnomes repaired the ship. The indigenous villagers took the party as far as the tar pits they used as a resource. The players decided to focus on the south. It was closest to their effective base of operations. They'd also sighted some active volcanoes in the area while on their way back from dealing with the pirates. Just the thing for dealing with Zargon's horn!

I'm not going to offer a blow by blow account of the party's explorations of southern isle. The highlights included chucking Zargon's horn in an active volcano after the cleric had a nightmare about his followers heading to the isle in pursuit of it. They also encountered a Living Iron Statue guarding some ruins, a patrol of Lizard Men, and some Phanaton gathering fruit. Things were capped off when the party ran into some Rakasta. Things were amiable enough for the cat warriors to take them back to their camp and begin laying down the groundwork for a trade deal with Wigglewort.

The Isle of Dread relies on random encounter tables. There are relatively few keyed encounters on the overland map. This does insure that every group's experience with the module is unique. However, results from the random encounter tables require some finesse. Since the tables cover huge areas of the isle, many creatures will end up in the wrong biome. It doesn't make sense to me for Lizard Men to be wandering around an open plain, for example. This could be addressed with more fixed encounters or tables for each biome, but either would add page count to what is a slim product by modern standards.

Sometimes the dice are cooperative and the results are underwhelming. I don't assume that any random encounter will automatically be hostile. I use the reaction tables to set the mood of whoever is encountered. Since our group doesn't simply charge everything they run across, this makes some encounters non-events.

Example #1:
"You see some animals in the distance."
"We avoid them."
"Cool. Next hex."

Example #2:
"You encounter somebody capable of talking."
"We talk to them."
*Rolls neutral or friendly reaction.* "They engage in conversation."
*Have a role playing encounter.*

There aren't necessarily bad results, but might not be what the module designers intended.

Worse, from the players' perspectives, non-event encounters don't really earn gold. Which means little XP from such encounters in Old School Essentials. I do give out some XP for RP, but the gold value of treasure is the main source of XP income in the game.


Putting a Pin In It

At this point, we were roughly a quarter of the way through the module. Things seemed to be running long and we decided to take a break. I wonder how many groups have made it all the way though this module? Is it a campaign killer? Do groups get part way through the isle and lose interest?

The lack of keyed encounters make the isle feel sparsely populated in a way that random encounters don't address. The place could easily support two or three times the number that are in the module. I'm using our break to add some fixed encounters to fill in some details that seem lacking.

The first are signs of the civilizations previously inhabiting the isle. There are hints in the module as written. Who built the stone wall separating the indigenous villages in the southern peninsula from the rest of the island? The Kopru are stated to have ruled a kingdom in the past, but the only remanent of it is on the "Taboo Island" at the end of the module. Adding ruins of defunct human and Kopru civilizations would add a sense of history to the place. Some of them could be mini-dungeons suitable for a single session.

Second are clues to foreshadow the final encounter with the Kopru. As written, they are just kind of hanging out in their lair at the bottom of the dungeon they are in. Without more context, players may not realize that they are more than random monsters. A few statues - defaced so the Kopru's appearance comes as a surprise - and some inscriptions telling their tale would build up suspense. These would be found to the north of the isle, closest to the Kopru encounter.

Finally, indications of prior visitors. Not all of the current inhabitants appear to be indigenous to the isle. The populations of Aranea and Phanaton seem too small to be self-sustaining. And the Rakasta camp is explicitly stated to be temporary. These folks and others had to come from elsewhere. Over the seas is the most plausible explanation, but a more fantastic one is suggested in the Manual of the Planes (2008, 4E). I'm still playing with the idea.

Comparing 4 TTRPGs on the Ides of March

This is not a serious post. Yes, I am making light of the assassination of Gaius Julius Caesar, Dictator for life of the late Roman Republic. Anybody trying to convince me that over two millennia is too soon is going to be in for a rough time.

Anybody in the mood for salad?

Let's observe the Ides of March by examining four TTRPGs from my collection on the basis of:

• Does the game support stabbing as an in-game activity? What quality of stabbing can player characters achieve?
• Is assassination supported as an in-game activity?
• How savage are the politics in the setting? Are they brutal enough that assassination is seen as a viable and even legitimate political tool? What role does stabbing play in such assassinations?

The four TTRPGs I've selected have been previously featured on this blog. In no particular order:

• Old School Essentials Advanced Fantasy
• Mothership 1e
• Robert E Howard's Conan Adventures in an Age Undreamed Of
• Star Trek Adventures 1e

Stabbiness

OSE Advanced Fantasy
This should be a fabulous opportunity for player characters to indulge in real quality stabbing. However, stabbing is but one option available among many here. And those other options are often more efficient.

Mothership
Although guns are favored, player characters have options for knives and other stabbing weapons. The vibechete has great potential here, but does seem to be more of a slicing weapon. On the other hand, the player characters may not be the ones getting in the majority of the stabbing. Many of the things that lurk in the long dark have claws and pointy tails that put them ahead in the business of stabbing.

Robert E Howard's Conan
The genre is called swords and sorcery, but could just as easily be swords versus sorcery. With swords in the name, there's plenty of opportunity for stabbing. And the game offers a variety of options with all kinds of bladed weapons. It even supports viable archer builds for stabbing at range. Which is ideal for player characters who don't want to walk all the way over there to stab somebody.

Star Trek Adventures
Stabbing isn't really a strong focus of Starfleet. Although Andorians preserve it as part of their cultural heritage. Klingons, on the other hand, make sure to get in some stabbing on a daily basis. They stab their enemies, their still-living food, and each other. It gets even better during the Dominion War, when the Jem'Hadar show up with their bayonets and knives. A close quarters fight between Klingons and Jem'Hadar could quickly devolve into nothing but a stabbing match.


Assassinations

OSE Advanced Fantasy
The game literally has the Assassin class available. And the Thief can also work as a perfectly competent stealth killer. Even more so in some cases, since the OSE version of the Assassin lacks the ability to deal with locks, traps, and other security measures.

Mothership
Corporations and the greed they inspire are the real baddies in space horror. Quietly eliminating a corporate executive at the direction of a rival or to send a message are possible scenarios. Most higher ranking corporate officers with an ounce of sense will likely have security measures in place. There may also be complicating factors like something going wrong with their latest corporate-backed pet projects at the same time as the attempt. Nothing like cloned alien critters breaking out of containment to spice up an otherwise straightforward scenario.

Robert E Howard's Conan
It could be argued that a warrior like Conan would prefer to prove himself on the field of battle. Of course, Conan was never particularly scrupulous about how he made his money. And Conan was the target of assassination attempts when he became too much of a pain for somebody in power. There should be plenty of opportunity in the setting for those seeking employment as assassins or avoiding those employed as assassins.

Star Trek Adventures
Starfleet doesn't condone assassinations. Except for those dodgy Section 31 types. And Sisko that one time. And those times when Worf takes an interest in Klingon politics. On the other hand, polities other than the Federation have even less restraint. Klingons are perfectly content to send warriors with blades to strike their foes from the shadows, although using poison is a no-no. Romulans and Cardassians are happy to rid themselves of troublesome folks using a variety of means, including hired assassins. Solving the mystery of just who killed somebody with a long list of enemies could be a fun exercise in the Star Trek setting.

How about ordering pizza?

Ruthless Politics

OSE Advanced Fantasy
There doesn't seem to be an official setting for OSE, but adopting settings from other F20 games seems simple enough. Most published F20 settings are politically stable. Upheavals typically come around the time of edition changes rather than arising organically within the setting. However, internal conflicts that don't threaten the established order are another matter. A noble title could be made available with the removal of the current holder. In fact, this is routine business in the more chaotic and/or evil parts of F20 settings, such as the Underdark.

Mothership
Although the corporations themselves are too big to fail, individual corporate officers and their pet projects come and go. Sometimes right out the airlock. Corporate politics can get literally cutthroat when little things like laws, ethics, and morals stop getting in the way.

Robert E Howard's Conan
Politics is a lively affair in this setting. Backstabbing and betrayal seem to be the norm rather than the exception in the original stories. Conan himself involved himself in local politics on occasion - commanding armies, involving himself with royalty (sometimes intimately), participating in (usually doomed) rebellions, and often enriching himself at some potentate's expense. And there was the whole business of him leading a mercenary army to claim the throne of Aquilonia. Of course, keeping that throne took significant effort from those who sought it for themselves. Politics in this setting is a good way for a player character to end up with a fat purse and a knife in the back.

Star Trek Adventures
Politics within the Federation seems to be a sedate affair outside of the occasional coup or conspiracy. And, in theory, the Prime Directive should keep Starfleet personnel out of political business outside of the Federation. In practice, Starfleet crews get dragged into some local skullduggery on the regular. The usual scenario is some dark secret concealed down on the planet of the week. Intervening in local politics is more defensible when the locals run their civilization on human sacrifice or something. Of course, they may not welcome the proposed changes.


That concludes my tongue-in-cheek observance of this year's Ides of March. Maybe I'll make this a regular thing. Let's see if I remember next year.

2025 Character Creation Challenge, Day 31: Selina Kai, Tiefling Acrobat

It's thirty-first and final day of the challenge! Making thirty-one characters in a month is, indeed, a challenge. However, I'll discuss that in a follow up post. For today's post, I'll return to Old School Essentials and make a tiefling acrobat.

All Old School Essentials characters generated for this challenge use the Advanced Fantasy rules and the Advanced Method of character creation. Rules for tieflings were published in Carrion Crawler #3. A list of optional and house rules I use are provided in my day two post.

Selina Kai, Tiefling Acrobat, 1 of 2

Comparing the AD&D Thief-Acrobat and the OSE Acrobat

The AD&D thief-acrobat first appeared in Unearthed Arcana. The thief-acrobat, along with the barbarian and cavalier classes introduced in the same book, was inspired by the Dungeons & Dragons animated series (TV, 1983-1985). This was at the beginning of the whole "plop kids in front of episode after episode of thirty minute advertisements" thing. Those children would then pressure their parents to buy the products featured in those shows. Mechanically, the AD&D thief-acrobat was not a completely separate class, but something a fifth level thief could transition into. After making the change, the former thief would retain their skills at opening locks, picking pockets, and countering traps, but could never improve them further. Instead, the new thief-acrobat focused on mobility. They could leap, tumble, jump, and tightrope walk like the cat buglers they were modeled on.

The OSE acrobat, in contrast, is an independent class from the OSE thief. The OSE acrobat lacks any lock picking, pocket pilfering, or trap countering skills. They are able to use shadows to hide and move stealthily like a thief. Their focus is on using mobility to bypass obstacles. An open window or unguarded balcony is an open invitation to an acrobat. Their mobility also extends to combat with acrobats being able to evade and execute tumbling attacks. This all comes with a limitation - an encumbered acrobat loses many of their abilities.


Character Generation

My dice results for ability scores were all over the place. I put the lowest result in WIS, which the modifier for being a tiefling made even lower. An 18 in DEX is nice, though. A pretty good STR and CHA made sense for the character.

Tiefling characters roll on a couple of charts for the fiendish influence on their appearance and gift they receive from their heritage. Kai has small horns on her temples. She can also cast darkness once per day. Which is probably useful in her line of work.

If it is possible for somebody to get there by climbing, walking on a tightrope, or jumping, an acrobat has a chance of doing it. They also get damage reduction for falling damage. Their big move in combat is making a tumbling attack while jumping or falling. Which seems like one of those things that depends on how generous the GM happens to be.

I made my option on the hit dice that rogue-types get in OSE known in my day 28 post. Thieves, assassins, and acrobats really want to stay on the edges of a fight. d4 hit points per level just doesn't cut it.

Rolling jeweler for a secondary skill was an incredible coincidence.

Selina Kai, Tiefling Acrobat, 2 of 2

Background

She's Catwoman, but in OSE and tiefling instead of human.


Resources

Rules for OSE tiefling player characters were published by Necrotic Gnome in Carrion Crawler issue #3.

The character sheet is by William Braidis Lee and is available on itch.io. It has its limitations, but otherwise works fine.

2025 Character Creation Challenge, Day 28: Snik-Snak, Goblin Assassin

It's day twenty-eight and we're in the home stretch of the challenge! Let's circle back to Old School Essentials to give my brain a breather. Today I'm making a sneaky goblin who is really into stabbing and poisons.

All Old School Essentials characters generated for this challenge use the Advanced Fantasy rules and the Advanced Method of character creation. Rules for goblins as player characters were published in Carrion Crawler #1. A list of optional and house rules I use are provided in my day two post.


A Comparison Between AD&D and OSE Assassins

AD&D assassins are AD&D thieves, but with more murder. AD&D assassins can do all the lockpicking that thieves do, but not quite as well. It says something that the AD&D assassin got slapped with the evil label. Gary Gygax wrote "the killing of humans and other intelligent life forms for the purposes of profit is basically held to be the antithesis of weal" in the AD&D Player's Handbook. Which is a curious choice in a game that rewards invading the homes of intelligent life forms, killing them, and looting their possessions for profit.

OSE assassins have certain thief abilities, but pared back to make room for the additional murder abilities. For example, OSE assassins have no lockpicking ability. This is likely to preserve the utility of the thief class. OSE also takes a more nuanced approach to the moral questions by allowing assassins to be neutral or chaotic. However, OSE assassins cannot be lawful.

Snik-Snak, Goblin Assassin, 1 of 2

Back to Character Generation

On one hand, all my rolls for ability scores were in the double dights. On other hand, half the results were twelves. Which, of course, is a point too low to generate any bonuses. But having no penalties to deal with is nice.

Goblin characters in OSE get +1 DEX and -1 STR. Which is fine for an assassin or thief. I used the Adjust Ability Scores rule to lower his WIS by 2 to bump up his DEX to an 18. This won't directly help him be a better assassin, but would speed up his progression.

Being a goblin and an assassin offers up a long and varied list of abilities. The affinity with wolves goblins get is interesting, but depends on the campaign. Otherwise, goblins share many features with gnomes. As mentioned above, OSE assassins don't get the full range of thief features. This may mean a closer relationship between assassins and thieves in OSE settings. A thief's abilities to pick locks and counter traps might be necessary to carry out an assassination. This might lead an assassins' guild and a thieves' guild to work out a partnership to the detriment of folks who are important enough to be assassination targets and wealthy enough to rob.

I rolled the maximum for hit points. With is a whopping 4. His CON bonus pushed that up to 5. OSE assassins and thieves have underwhelming durability for characters who are expected to get anywhere near combat. Sure, a successful assassination or backstab could drop an opponent, but then there's a character with d4 hit dice within easy reach of that opponent's buddies. There's the DEX bonus to AC, but that only goes so far with leather armor. I can see why later D&D bumped the hit dice of roguish types to d6.

Snik-Snak, Goblin Assassin, 2 of 2

Background

Snik-Snak started life as an apprentice blacksmith in a community of goblins large enough for such specialization, but too small to attract the wrong kind of attention. The goblins conducted the occasional raid, but found hiring out their services as mercenaries and cheap labor to be more lucrative. A nearby drow enclave found the goblins to be useful.

Snik-Snak's agility and fairly sturdy frame led to an invitation from a drow organization to learn certain skills. That training came with a price, but working as an assassin wasn't too different from raiding or mercenary work. Except for working alone, being much quieter, and coming with better pay.

Times were good until the drow launched a wave of assassinations in a nearby city-state using goblins to do the work. Snik-Snak got out before the drow disavowed the goblin assassins and left the goblin community holding the bag. They scattered into the mountains. Snik-Snak looked for a place to market his skills.

He eventually fell in with a band of adventurers. Doing quests and delving dungeons isn't much different from what he did before. He does miss working alone, though.


Resources

The rules for goblin player characters on OSE were published by Necrotic Gnome in issue #3 of Carrion Crawler.

The character sheet is by William Braidis Lee and is available on itch.io. It only supports ascending AC when it wants to and there's no place for spells. It's fine other than those things.

2025 Character Creation Challenge, Day 23: Morzana Onyx, Necromancer (OSE)

Twenty-three days into the challenge.

Okay.

I'll come clean with y'all. The "perky goth girl" necromancer isn't the most original character concept. On the other hand, I'm three weeks deep into this challenge and ideas are getting thin on the ground. I gotta go with what I got.

Morzana Onyx, Necromancer. 1 of 2

All Old School Essentials characters generated for this challenge use the Advanced Fantasy rules and the Advanced Method of character creation. Rules for the necromancer class were published by Necrotic Gnome and is available as a free download on DriveThruRPG. A list of optional and house rules I use are provided in my day two post.

Necromancy doesn't attract much positive attention. At best, it is regarded as a macabre interest. At worst, it is a horrid art that brings abominations against the natural order into the world of the living. And it is true that certain necromancers have used their talents in self-aggrandizing ways - raising undead armies, being liches, draining the life out of those around them, etc.

For Morzana Onyx, necromancy is the logical next step for her lifelong fascination with death and decay. Even as a child, she was a frequent visitor to the local graveyard. Morzana studied the traditional path of arcane magic use for a time, but branched out into necromancy on her own. Potential mentors are challenging to find and harder to convince to take on pupils. She searches out necromantic secrets on her own.

Morzana Onyx, Necromancer, 2 of 2

My rolls for ability scores were a mixed bag. Nothing especially bad, but nothing amazing either. Minimum WIS for necromancers is 9 for some reason and Onyx meets it with a point to spare. The stat perks from being human give her CON and CHA a bump. STR is her dump stat.

Onyx starts with 5 hit points. Which is incredible for an arcane caster in OSE.

Onyx's INT score is high enough for an additional language. My house rule is to let characters keep language slots open. This offers the chance to learn languages during the course of the campaign.

With the advanced spell book optional rules, Onyx begins with 4 spells in her collection. I picked out the following:

• Command Undead
• Deathlight
• Protection From Evil
• Read Magic

This is a good mix of offensive, defensive, and utility spells. As Onyx can only have one spell memorized at first level, she is likely to have Command Undead ready unless circumstances dictate another choice.

The character sheet I used is by William Braidis Lee and is available on itch.io. It's alright, but there's no place for spells.

2025 Character Creation Challenge, Day 20: Sol Brightheart, Evangelical Priest of Pelor (OSE)

It's day twenty of the challenge. I came up with a character concept back when D&D 4e came out that I never really got to explore. The build would've been a dragonborn laser cleric who was also good enough at melee for it to serve as a backup. The personality would've been excessive - a warm, boisterous type who loudly and sincerely advocated for his god at every opportunity in a thick, southern-fried accent. Here I'm presenting an interpretation of that character for Old School Essentials Advanced Fantasy.

Sol Brightheart, Evangelical Priest of Pelor, 1 of 2

All OSE characters generated for this challenge use the Advanced Fantasy rules and the Advanced Method of character creation. Rules for dragonborn characters were published in Carcass Crawler #3 by Necrotic Gnome. A list of optional and house rules I use are provided in my day two post.

Dragonborn in OSE get a few perks and a situational disadvantage. Their breath weapon depends on their bloodline. I picked red to give Brightheart access to "THE CLEANSING FLAMES OF PELOR" once a day. He also gets a bonus to saves against fire damage and speaks the language of dragons. As a downside, dragonborn are affected by magic that specifically targets dragons.

I got the most average set of results I ever rolled for a character. If a player came to me with these results, I would've cheerfully encouraged them to reroll the whole set. I'm riding with it here. There is nothing remarkable about Brightheart's stats except for how totally unremarkable they are. Yes, Brightheart is the RGM-79N GM Custom of OSE characters.

I picked mace, warhammer, and sling for weapon proficiencies. No surprises here considering that Brightheart is a cleric.

Sol Brightheart, Evangelical Priest of Pelor, 2 of 2

Brightheart's starting cash disappeared quickly. The big ticket items were a set of chainmail and a holy symbol.

I'll admit that I had no idea what a lorimer was when I rolled it up for a secondary skill.

Spells? What spells? This is OSE, based on Basic D&D. Clerics don't get spells until second level. Beginning parties have to suffer without healing magic. Unless they have a paladin or some healing potions with them.

Sol Brightheart wanted to spread the word of his god Pelor for as long as he could breath flames. The church of Pelor wasn't sure they wanted somebody so darn expressive in his devotion, but he kept insisting. The main thing he learned from his religious education is the exact duration of a Silence 15’ Radius spell (two hours). They sent him off with an adventuring party after his attempt at taking a vow of silence failed utterly.

The character sheet I used is by William Braidis Lee and is available on itch.io. I think I figured out how to support ascending Armor Class with it. There's no place for spells, though.

2025 Character Creation Challenge, Day 16: Throg the Stormrider

It's day sixteen of the challenge. Halfway through. Over the hump. Nothing but downhill from here.

I hope.

I came up with a NPC concept for X1 The Isle of Dread. He may not be used in the adventure. Normally, I would make a note and move on. I certainly wouldn't go to the trouble of creating a character sheet at this point. However, there is this challenge I'm participating in and it's nice to have him ready to go as an option.

Throg, Half-Orc Barbarian, 1 of 2

Throg was born on the frontier. His parents belonged to communities that were supposed to be at war with each other. The harsh reality of life in the wilds meant that they had more in common with each other than their nominal rulers in distant capitals. Half-orcs were accepted, if not common.

That acceptance disappeared from Throg's life once he left his home. Filled with wanderlust, he struck out on his own as soon as he was able. Throg found himself judged by his appearance, an outcast in both human and orc cultures.

Throg found ways to get by on the fringes of civilization. His knowledge of the wilderness meant he could hire himself out as a scout or guide. And there was always mercenary work.

He eventually found himself in a coastal village populated by outcasts like himself. It reminded Throg of home. To his surprise, he was able to apply himself to life near the sea. He took to sailing small boats, catching fish by hook or net, and learning all he would need to be useful to his new community.

Let's interrupt Throg's tale to come up with numbers for him. Throg is a half-orc barbarian. Before anybody objects, racial restrictions on classes and levels are not used in our campaign.

My dice were warm - a couple of good results and nothing that would impose penalties. Applying the modifiers for being a half-orc resulted in several modest bonuses. Most importantly, Throg's Strength, Dexterity, and Constitution more than met the requirements for the barbarian class.

Throg specializes in the sword. However, he finds the long bow, hand axe, and dagger useful in the wilds.

Throg, Half-Orc Barbarian, 2 of 2

One day, Throg was caught by a sudden storm. The fierce winds blew his small sailboat beyond the sight of land. He drifted for weeks until making landfall on the Dread Isle.

Throg adapted quickly. He found materials to repair his sailboat and began to explore the coast of the Dread Isle. The indigenous population came to an uneasy agreement with him. Throg traded the fish he caught and pearls he harvested for supplies. He lives away from the villages. It's a peaceful life, but he yearns to return to the pleasures of the mainland.

2025 Character Creation Challenge, Day 13: Ayani, Necromancer

It's the challenge's thirteenth day and time to do something vaguely thematic. I'm now running our group through D&D adventure module X1 The Isle of Dread as part of our Old School Essentials campaign. The module features - among other things - indigenous peoples who animate their ancestors as zombies as part of their culture. The requires the participation of somebody who can cast Animate Dead. Rather than go with a Magic User, I'm using the Necromancer class recently re-released by Necrotic Gnome.

Since Animate Dead is a fifth level spell, even for Necromancers, this character needs to be at least ninth level. This will not be a trivial NPC. Thus, I need a plot line to go with this person.

The "Zombie Masters" of The Isle of Dread seem to based on David Cook's and Tom Moldvay's perceptions of African diaspora religions. This contrasts with the pre-Columbian Mesoamerican civilizations they draw upon for the rest of the module. I don't feel qualified to step into any of that. Thus, I'll be treading carefully and respectfully in both running the module and making this character.

The cycle between unlife, life, and death is firmly established by sources both divine and arcane. The necromancers of the Dread Isle in the Thanegioth Archipelago believe that undeath fits within that cycle. Their magics allow their honored ancestors to serve as workers in the gardens and soldiers on the wall as they did in life.

Ayani, Necromancer, part 1 of 2

Ayani is a 9th level Necromancer NPC. All OSE characters generated for this challenge use the Advanced Fantasy rules and the Advanced Method of character creation. A list of optional and house rules I use are provided in my day two post.

My dice were pretty spicy when rolling up Ayani's Ability Scores. The highest score naturally went into Intelligence. Ayani speaks the language indigenous to the Isle of Dread and picked up common from somewhere. She has two other language slots, but I don't see her having the opportunity to learn more. I put the next highest into Dexterity for the defensive bonus. Ayani comfortably meets the minimum Wisdom requirement for a Necromancer and gets a nifty bonus for saves against magical effects. The Constitution and Charisma bonuses are also handy. The Strength penalties should be irrelevant to a spell caster.

The optional racial abilities that humans get are not amazing, but are handy. Choices for her weapon proficiencies are limited. She knows her way around the dagger and staff. Her d4 hit dice go further than one would think with the Blessed racial perk and "re-roll 1s and 2s for hit points" optional rule. Still, a hit point total of 41 is nothing to write home about.

I made Ayani Lawful due to her accepted role within her culture. It's not popular, but necessary due to protect her people from the dangers of the Dread Isle. She's not doing it for selfish reasons.

Ayani, Necromancer, part 2 of 2

Below is Ayani's "walking around" spell list. She has access to a wider array of magic in her spell book. For example, Ayani might memorize Speak With Dead when needing extensive information from beyond the grace, but Death Recall's more timely nature meets her daily needs.

Ayani's Spell Selection:
1st level (3): Protection From Evil, Read Magic, Undead Servitor*
2nd level (3): Bone Armor, Choke, Death Recall
3rd level (3): Bone Staff, Drag From Death's Door, Hold Person
4th level (2): Inter, Wall of Bones
5th level (1): Animate Dead

* Ayani will only use Undead Servitor on the bodies of outsiders. Her honored ancestors deserve Animate Dead.

Ayani dutifully serves her role in the cycle of unlife, life, death, and undeath. Her matriarch speaks of opening trade with the wider world. Ayani has heard whispers on the ethereal winds of one who will come to the isle. They will exchange much knowledge and both will become wiser. It is with this power that Ayani will protect her people - both living and undead.


Resources:

The Necrotic Gnome has made the Necromancer class available as a free download on DriveThruRPG.

The character sheet I used is by William Braidis Lee and is available on itch.io. It's serviceable, but doesn't seem to support ascending Armor Class. There's also no place for spells.

2025 Character Creation Challenge, Day 9: Jax Wigglewort, Gnome Entrepreneur-Explorer

It's the ninth day of the challenge and let's circle back to Old School Essentials. This time, I'm filling out details for a NPC in the Nostalgia Tour campaign - Wigglewort. He was randomly encountered while leading an expedition into The Lost City. This gnome entrepreneur-explorer will be playing a role in the next installment of the campaign. Filling out some details are in order.

"We were sent out from our town on a simple mission: explore the underworld. To seek out new markets and trade partners. To boldly go where no gnome has gone before!"
- Wigglewort to anybody standing still long enough to listen.

Jax Wigglewort, not a GMPC, page 1 of 2

Jax Wigglewort is a level 2/2 gnome Illusionist/Thief. He prefers to rob people at the negotiating table or gambling hall. However, he recognizes the value of a long term trading relationship over any single deal. His spell selection makes up for the weaknesses of a thief build by giving him options to get away when he misjudges the strength of his bargaining position or hand of cards. It also comes in handy when he decides to do some old fashioned larceny.

Although Wigglewort is a NPC, I rolled him up as a PC rather than pick out his stats. All OSE characters generated for this challenge use the Advanced Fantasy rules and the Advanced Method of character creation. A list of optional and house rules I use are provided in my day two post.

My dice rolls for Wigglewort's Ability Scores resulted in a flat, but decent set of numbers. As an Illusionist/Thief, his highest scores are Intelligence and Dexterity. This grants him an additional language - I selected deep common - and a bump to Armor Class. The next best score went into Charisma to reflect his skill at negotiation. I put an 11 into Constitution to bump up his Magic Resistance.

As a gnome and a thief, Wigglewort has a long list of things he can do outside of combat. And a few sneaky things he can do in a fight. He has access to all weapons as a thief, but being a gnome places some limitations to what he can wield (no two handed swords). I selected short bow, hand axe, and dagger as his weapon proficiencies to give him a plenty of options. Unfortunately, both illusionists and thieves use d4 when rolling hit points. This makes a stand up fight undesirable even when using the optional "re-roll 1s and 2s for hit points" rule.

Jax Wigglewort, still not a GMPC, page 2 of 2

Using the (optional) Advanced Spell Book rules, Wigglewort started with three spells in his book of illusion magic. I used GM fiat to give him one more to reflect something he found (or acquired) in his travels.

Wigglewort's Spell Book:

• Color Spray
• Glamour
• Read Magic
• Spook

Wigglewort only memorizes glamour if his plans call for it and read magic if he needs it. Otherwise, he typically has color spray and spook memorized as "get away from trouble" spells.

I gave him a set of weapons and armor, but didn't bother with the rest of the equipment. He's a NPC, so I didn't see the need.

Jax Wigglewort is an ambitious young gnome with a keen eye for opportunity. He represents a wave of gnomes sent to explore the underground river network discovered under his home town. Trade has always been the lifeblood of his community. Going underground is simply an expansion of their existing river and coastal mercantile operations on the surface. Wigglewort's recent success in finding trade partners in The Lost City has elevated his status and validated his decision to leave the family farm. He now leads a bigger crew on a proper ship on a new mission. A large island has been discovered in the tropical regions to the south. There is potential for trade, but significant danger as well. Perhaps that adventuring party he met in The Lost City might be persuaded to lend a hand?

The character sheet I used is by William Braidis Lee and is available on itch.io. It's serviceable, but doesn't seem to support ascending Armor Class. There's also no place for spells.

2025 Character Creation Challenge, Day 5: Trasadon Faestar, Wood Elf Ranger

Welcome to the fifth day of the 2025 Character Creation Challenge. I'm circling back to Old School Essentials with another convention-defying character - a wood elf ranger. I promise I'll be more original with the next OSE character As before, I focus on the decisions I made rather than presenting a blow by blow of the process.

Trasadon Faestar, Wood Elf Ranger, page one of two

All OSE characters generated for this challenge use the Advanced Fantasy rules and the Advanced Method of character creation. The wood elf can be found in Issue #2 of Carcass Crawler. A list of optional and house rules I use are provided in my day two post.

My dice were pretty hot, except for one roll. Let's say that our wood elf ranger spends much of his time alone for a reason. My lowest roll got consigned to the traditional dump stat of CHA. Everything else was straightforward. The highest score went to STR, the prime requisite for a Ranger. Anticipating the adjustments from being a wood elf, I put a 15 in WIS.

Wood elves have minimum requirements of DEX 9 and INT 9 that this character met comfortably. The ability modifiers for a wood elf are -1 CHA and +1 WIS. This makes this guy slightly more unlikable and increases his WIS enough for a bigger modifier.

Both rangers and wood elves have a bunch of special abilities. This combines into a truckload of stuff this guy can do. The most influential to this build is the bonus that wood elves get to missile attack rolls. To nobody's surprise, he's going to be an archer.

Specializing in the long bow further maximizes his potential as an archer. The remaining weapon proficiencies go to the sword and hand axe.

Most of the results of the Secondary Skills table would be nonsensical for this character. I selected Huntsman. Although animal trainer or bowyer/fletcher might have fit as well.

Trasadon Faestar, Wood Elf Ranger, page two of two

Background:

Trasadon Faestar never set out to be a murderhobo. It was simply the most expedient way to leave his woodland home, see the world(s), and earn a living. He is beginning to regret his decision. The world(s) are more full of people than he imagined. He plans on returning to the woods once he has enough to gold to meet his modest needs for awhile.


The character sheet I used is by William Braidis Lee and is available on itch.io. It has some quirks, but I like it so far.

2025 Character Creation Challenge, Day 2: Sara Rosewood, Human Fighter

Day two and the second of my characters for the 2025 Character Creation Challenge. This time, I'm harkening back to a simpler time and a slightly less complicated TTRPG - Old School Essentials by Necrotic Gnome. Specifically, I'm using the Advanced Fantasy version with options inspired by Advanced Dungeons & Dragons.

Let's begin with that quintessential starting player character - a human fighter. I'll only be covering significant decision points rather than offering a step by step description of the process.

Sara Rosewood, Human Fighter, page one of two

All OSE characters generated for this challenge use the Advanced Fantasy rules and the Advanced Method of character creation. "Expanded Equipment" by Gavin Norman, presented in Carcass Crawler Issue #3 is also used.

Optional rules include:

• Separate races and classes.
• Ascending Armor Class.
• Demihuman class and level restrictions are lifted.
• Humans are granted Racial Abilities.
• Weapon Proficiencies and Specializations.
• Rerolling 1s and 2s while rolling hit points.
• Secondary Skills.
• Individual initiative.

I'll also be using a house rule. OSE uses the "roll 3d6 for each ability score, in order" method. Gary Gygax comments that this method can result in marginal characters on page 11 of the AD&D Dungeon Master's Guide. He describes various alternatives on the same page. I'm using Method I: "All scores are recorded and arranged in the order the player desires. 4d6 are rolled, and the lowest die (or one of the lowest) is discarded." This is purely a matter of personal taste.

Sara Rosewood, Human Fighter, page two of two

My dice rolls were okay. Using one of the 14s for STR was obvious. Putting the other 14 in CON is debatable - there's an argument to be made for sticking it in DEX. All of the other numbers result in no modifiers at this point, so I dumped an 11 into INT, the 12 in WIS, and DEX got a 10.

As humans +1 CHA and +1 CON with their optional Racial Abilities, CHA raises to 13 and CON to 15.

The OSE rules allow for raising a character's prime requisite by 1 point for every 2 points that another ability score is lowered. I lowered INT from 11 to 9 and WIS from 12 to 10. This improved STR from 14 to 16, increasing the modifier from +1 to +2 without lowering other modifiers.

I choose to specialize in the sword and take proficiencies in the short bow and dagger.

The entire 100 gold pieces I rolled up were spent on weapons, armor, and equipment. I wasn't able to afford a shield, so that will have to wait.

And then I came up with a name and backstory...

Sara Rosewood wasn't raised to be a murder hobo, but found herself with little choice after her village was raided by an adventuring party of chaotic NPCs. Filled with resolve to avenge her lost home, she spent years of her life doing anything but that. Instead, she trained in the sword and spent her life savings on a weapon, armor, and equipment. She recently joined a motley party of fresh-faced adventurers and will soon brave her first delve into the underground. If she meets with a grim fate, she will be quickly replaced by her hitherto unmentioned identical twin sister - Lara Rosewood. If she survives, hopefully the gamemaster will remember to include her backstory in an adventure so she can confront the destroyers of her quaint village.

The character sheet I used is by William Braidis Lee and is available on itch.io. It has some quirks, but I like it so far.

Black Friday/Cyber Monday Haul 2024

It's been quite awhile since I published one of these posts. There's a couple of reasons. First, many of my tabletop gaming purchases these days are PDFs. Which don't make for great photos to attract eyeballs. Second, many of my tabletop gaming purchases aren't for the games they were written for. It's to ruthlessly pillage for ideas to use in the games I actually run. This year is actually something of an exception. Third, my previous holiday deal shopping posts feature a fair amount of "these are the exciting plans I have for this stuff!" Which gets depressing when I go back and realize how few of those plans actually materialized.

But let's do this thing again anyway.

The only physical products I picked up during the sales.

From Drive Through RPG (all of theses are PDFs):

BattleTech: Periphery
The original version. These days, I'm more interested in reading BattleTech lore than playing any version of the tabletop game. It's also handy for looting ideas for use in other games.

Dark Star Violet Magazine Issue #1
A sci-fi TTRPG zine. I saw a bunch of what I suspect is AI generated art and not much useful content when I flipped through it. I'll give it a more through read through later.

Delayed Blast Gamemaster Issue #1
A fantasy TTRPG zine. Has an OSR feel. Could be fun and maybe even useful. If nothing else, I like the name.

Technophobia
Something unusual - a horror themed adventure for Lancer. I'll give it a look once Lancer moves up the list of games hitting the table.


From Exalted Funeral (all of these are physical products for Old School Essentials):

Carcass Crawler Issues #1-3
The official Old School Essentials zine. Lots of additional material. Not sure how much will be hitting the tabletop.

Old School Essentials Deluxe Referee's Screen
My relationship with GM screens is complicated. I got this more for the vibe than any expectation that's I'll get much use out of it.

The Incandescent Grottoes
I'm eventually going to need a low level adventure to start a new campaign. This one got good reviews, so it's the one I bought.


From itch.io:

The Karrakin Trade Baronies
A supplement for Lancer. Sourcebook for a bunch of space feudalists - a trope that I'll need throw scorn at sometime. Also has some optional rules that were the main attraction of the book for me. I would've preferred a physical product, but a PDF will do for now.


Those are my holiday sale retail therapy purchases for this year. This lists also serves up some clues about my upcoming tabletop gaming plans. I've found that what I purchase on Black Friday and Cyber Monday tends to influence what I'll be playing and running in the coming year. Previous posts in this series are below:

Black Friday / Cyber Monday Haul 2019, Part One

Black Friday / Cyber Monday Haul 2019, Part Two

Black Friday / Cyber Monday Haul 2020

Black Friday / Cyber Monday Haul 2021, Part One

Black Friday / Cyber Monday Haul 2021, Part Two


Happy Holidays!

My Favorite Stuff 2024

This is a list of stuff that's been working well for me over the past year or two. Handy if you're doing some last minute holiday shopping for a tabletop gamer. Or if you are a tabletop gamer looking to spend some cash or gift cards received over the holidays. Or if you just want to indulge in some retail therapy. I'm not in a position to judge.

I skipped a "My Favorite" post last year due to my tabletop gaming interregnum. Links to past posts along these lines:

My Favorite Things 2018

My Favorite Stuff 2020 and 2019

My Favorite Stuff 2022

My New Dropper Bottle Case



Old School Essentials

I didn't realize that I never stated my opinions about this game until I sat down to write this post.

It's exactly what I wanted.

A question I sometimes see is: "Why not use the classic D&D and AD&D materials directly?" Well, that would mean spending time and money on the following to get what I was looking for:

• Cook Basic D&D down to its heart and soul. Which means purchasing the Dragons & Dragons Rules Cyclopedia and throwing out huge chunks of it.
• Take what I most enjoyed about AD&D and convert it to be fully compatible with the chopped down version of Basic D&D from the first step. Which means taking the three AD&D core books and not using most of them.
• Hand our group the resulting document sometime in the 2030s.

Or I could do what I actually did:

• Shop around for a product that already did all that work for me.
• Wait for a sale on the Exulted Funeral site.
• Purchase a pair of books from Necrotic Gnome.
• Be impressed by the clear writing and organization of the Old School Essentials books.
• Download a bunch of free content from Necrotic Gnome, including a checklist of options to bring to our group.

I'm happy with the choice I made.


D&D Module B4 The Lost City

I previously published a couple of posts about this module:

Preparing a Classic D&D Module for OSE

Remodeling B4 The Lost City

This may end up replacing B2 The Keep on the Borderlands as my go-to for starting a nostalgic old school campaign. It's not without flaws. It does need preparation before putting it in front of players. And it does not in any way benefit from modern concepts of layout and organization. But the swords and sorcery flavored dungeon delve at its core? An experience not to be missed.


Mothership Boxed Set

I've posted my thoughts and experiences about this game before:

Countdown to Mothership

Mothership Debrief - Another Bug Hunt

It's a delight to open a tabletop RPG boxed set in the halcyon year of 2024. Good rules. Good presentation. The starter adventure is...

...a tad undercooked.


The Middle Ages: A Graphic History by Eleanor Janega and Neil Max Emmanuel

This book is my new recommendation for "an introduction and/or overview of the Middle Ages" to anybody who asks. Which comes up both more and less often than folks might believe. If everything you know on the topic comes from Gary Gygax and YouTube, you should read this book.


Army Painter Wet Palette

I used to slap my paint on a ceramic plate or cheap plastic artist's palette. Like a savage or something. Now I carefully add water to the absorbent pad, lay on a sheet of parchment paper, and mix my paints like a professional. Has it improved my brushwork? Not one darn bit. But it does keep my paints fresh and perky while I break down sobbing at my inadequate skills while base coating a miniature.


That's my favorite stuff some this year (and last year). Let's see if I remember the next post in this series in 2025.

Remodeling B4 The Lost City

In a previous post, I went over the preparations I made for running D&D module B4 The Lost City in Old School Essentials. In this post, I'm detailing the changes I made to the module during those preparations. My motivations behind those changes varied. Some things about The Lost City as written wouldn't land well with our group. Other don't fit with how I like to run things. Still others needed alteration to better suit the Nostalgia Tour campaign concept I was planning. So I had some work to do.

The Layout

Before getting into the meat of this topic, I'll provide some basic information about The Lost City. This is necessary to provide context for the changes I made. This information will spoil the module for anybody who has not played through it yet.

The dungeon in The Lost City is within a step-pyramid (although it could be called a ziggurat) at the center of a ruined city partly buried in the sands of the surrounding desert. The module presents each chunk of the dungeon in tiers. Tiers 1 and 2 are considered dungeon level 1. Tiers 3 and 4 are dungeon level 2. Tier 5 is dungeon level 3. Tiers 6 - 10 are optional areas that take the adventure beyond Basic D&D and serves as sort of an ad for Expert D&D. The optional areas are mapped, but only superficially presented. Work or skilled improvisation is needed to run them at the table. The Lost City's iconic monster - Zargon - is the last encounter of Tier 10, in room #100. Finally, an underground city in a vast cavern below the pyramid is presented with an isometric map and basic information covering critical areas.

The most significant change I made was opting not to run Tiers 6 - 10. As part of the Nostalgia Tour, The Lost City serves to kick things off and get the player characters to third level. Then the campaign could move to another classic D&D module like X1 The Isle of Dread or X2 Castle Amber. Tiers 1 - 5 would accomplish this nicely. The Lost City, as written, suggests collapsing the only set of stairs connecting Tier 5 to Tier 6 as a way of supporting this choice.


"Borrowing" Ideas

I'm not too proud to "borrow" other people's ideas, so I went looking for some. The Lost City is decades old. There are plenty of essays, blog posts, and YouTube videos out there about the module. Many of them describe the experiences of other gamemasters - how they ran it, the issues they had, and the solutions they implemented.

The B4 The Lost City Sourcebook

This is a collection of essays about the module. Much of it is from a real world perspective or expands the adventure's fictional background. The main value for me were the suggestions throughout for refining the adventure.

It was while reading through "Notes on the Underground City" by Jason Cone that I realized what was bothering me about Tier 5 of the dungeon. Tier 5 features a supernatural possession, Wererats, Doppelgangers, and mind controlling Werefoxes. That's three different kinds of shapechangers waiting in ambush and two examples of taking control of characters away from their players on the same dungeon level. I realize that OSR is supposed to be more challenging on players, but I also didn't want to go full Dark Souls on them. The possession stayed since it is linked to another encounter. The Werefoxes and Doppelgangers were changed to Wererats to tie things together more to my taste.

Dungeon Craft Ultimate D&D Adventures: The Lost City (Ep. #346)

Seeing how another gamemaster runs an adventure is always insightful. Even if the only insight is that different styles are different. This video's emphasis on OSR play was a needed reminder for me. The party's focus must be on finding food and water at the beginning of the adventure - they are lost in the desert and have been out of supplies for awhile. The players also have to keep in mind that encounters aren't balanced, most XP is earned from treasure recovered, and player characters start with hit points in the single digits.

I also "borrowed" the idea of setting up Zargon like a boss monster to wrap up the adventure. Zargon packed up his slime pool and relocated from room #100 to his temple in the underground city. The climax was an assault by every faction against Zargon's worshipers and their hobgoblin allies. The party's role was to kill off Zargon while his cult was dealt with off-screen.


Small Changes

A minor tweak I made was increasing the amount of support available in the dungeon. There is no town nearby as a place of rest and resupply. Allying with one of the three human factions in the dungeon provides a source of food, water, and rest. However, there is no equivalent of a shop for equipment. I ruled that any of the factions could provide standard adventuring gear at standard prices once friendly relations were established.

The final change was the result of a random encounter. The wandering encounter table for Tiers 1 - 2 features a group of gnomes exploring the dungeon. I expanded the encounter by providing the gnome leader with a name - Wigglewort. I also explained the presence of the gnomes to the party with a short speech by Wigglewort:

"We were sent out from our town on a simple mission: explore the underworld. To seek out new markets and trade partners. To boldly go where no gnome has gone before!"

Wigglewort and his gnomes stuck around for the rest of the adventure. They made contact with the three human factions and provided gear to the party at reasonable prices. In the aftermath of the adventure, they are setting up trade agreements with the underground city now that the cult of Zargon and the hobgoblins are no longer around.


Looking Back

I had a variety of reasons for the changes I made to The Lost City. The major one - cutting out Tiers 6 - 10 - was to fit the adventure into the campaign I'm running. Others - such as not having multiple similarly themed encounters on the same dungeon level - were a matter of taste. Still others - making sure that there was the equivalent of a "town" for the party and creating a "boss" fight as the climax - reflect a more modern approach to adventure design.

Preparing a Classic D&D Module for OSE

Running D&D module B4 The Lost City in Old School Essentials was a success. Our group enjoyed a slightly revamped version of a classic adventure. And only a couple of player characters died! I can't say that Zargon and his cult were happy with the outcome, but they got what was coming to them. I credit the experience to a good group, my ability to improvise whenever players do the unexpected (which is all the time), and the efforts I made beforehand.

A gamemaster's homework is never done.

Step 1: Read the Darn Thing

It doesn't matter if it's the first time or the hundredth time. No notes. No highlighting. Just go through the whole thing and get familiar with the contents. What are all the pieces and how do they fit together? What stands out? What works and what won't land with this particular group of players? What doesn't fit with how I like to run things at our table? What is so iconic that any alterations would only lead to bitterness and despair? None of these questions can be answered without knowing what's in the adventure.


Step 2: What Changes?

Outside of the occasional one shot, adventure modules aren't played in isolation. They have to fit into existing campaigns. In this case, the Nostalgia Tour concept. The Lost City couldn't overstay its welcome or it would push out another classic module. I needed to wrap it up by the time the player characters reached third level and were ready for the next module.

I originally wrote a bunch of details on the changes I made, but that turned into a whole thing. The changes and the thinking behind them will be presented in that mythical time we call later.

(EDIT: Later turned out to be a week and half down the road. Here's a post about all the changes I made: Remodeling B4 The Lost City.)


Step 3: Attack the Module with a Highlighter

Classic adventure modules weren't exactly masterworks of organization. The need to present information to the GM by embracing the tools to technical writing - bolded text, bullet points, and otherwise separating out critical statements from a body of text - wasn't fully identified until more recently. Since there's no way to add these features to an existing module with rewriting it, I used a highlighter to make key information stand out.

I'd be squeamish about marking up a vintage module this way. Even a damaged copy is still a decades old document at this point. Fortunately, I was able to avoid the issue with a print on demand copy from DTRPG.

Here are examples of the kind of information I highlighted:

• How the traps are supposed to work. What does a player character do to trigger the trap? What happens when the trap is triggered?
• Reactions for monster encounters. What do they do when they encounter the party? Otherwise, I rolled on the reaction table.
• Motivations for NPC encounters. What does this NPC want from the party? How do they respond based on the reaction roll?
• Treasures and other loot. This information was sometimes buried in the room descriptions.
• Key historical facts. The Lost City has a backstory relevant to the adventure. I wanted to keep the critical details handy.

Step 4: List Making

Although a highlighter makes critical information easier to find, I wanted to have some things at my fingertips. Lists make it possible to reference certain things without having to flip back and forth through the module.

Examples of my lists:

• Static monster encounters. The rooms and the bags of XP dwelling within them organized by room number. It worked as a checklist of what the party ran into as they moved through the dungeon. I included each monster's page number in the OSE Referee's Tome for easy reference. This made it handy during combat and for calculating XP in between sessions. Easily the list I used the most.
• Wandering monster encounters. Includes the page numbers of each wandering monster table from the module. As with the static monster encounter list, I also included each monster's page number in the OSE Referee's Tome. Not as useful as I expected. The dice were not cooperating and I didn't roll as many wandering monsters as I expected.
• Trap encounters. Room numbers and a description of the traps within them. Having the information in one place wasn't as useful as I expected. The work I put in with the highlighter was enough for me to find the information when I needed it.
• NPC encounters. Statistics, descriptions, significant items, and spell lists for encounters that might result in talking, fighting, or some combination of both. The descriptions of some groups are spread throughout the module. Compiling them in one place saved some time during play. It also helped me keep the names straight.
• Cynidicean encounters. The inhabitants of the titular lost city have their own sub-table in this module's wandering monster tables. Since I needed to convert them to OSE anyway, I retyped the (converted) statistics and descriptions on a handy reference document.

Step 5: Old School Essentials Conversion

Although OSE is based on Basic D&D, certain things required adaptation. Most of the monsters have statistics in OSE, but the ones unique to B4 The Lost City needed work. The biggest issue involved our group's decision to go with ascending armor class as an option. All things considered, the conversion process was easy. Converting an AD&D module to OSE might involve more time and effort. I'll be burning that bridge later in the Nostalgia Tour campaign.