I was six or seven the first time I played a role-playing game. Some older boys (middle-schoolers, as I recall -- one of them the older brother of a friend) were playing on a folding card table in the middle of a neighborhood driveway. The books and the dice caught my attention, and the fantastic things the boys were describing firmly held it. I wanted to join in, in part because they were the older, cool kids, but also because they were talking about the same things I'd been reading and imaging. I whined my way into their game that day, and then several times again throughout that summer.The book that drew my attention most was the original AD&D Players Handbook (pictured left). This was in 1982 or '83, so I'm guessing it was the 8th and final printing with that cover. It reminded me of the fantasy novels my father kept boxed in his room, well out of sight. I never really learned the original AD&D system; I only played it a few times, and then, when I was very young. But it left an indelible mark.
Shortly before my eighth birthday, I got the itch to be the DM. I hadn't played D&D in several months, but I'd spent countless hours sketching dungeons on graph paper and writing notes in the margins. I chanced upon the D&D "red box" (pictured right) at the on-base exchange store (remember when you could find D&D in "normal" stores?) and convinced my parents to buy it for me (whining was an important -- and often used -- tool for having my way when I was young). I pestered my friends (my own age, this time) until they agreed to give D&D a try. All but one hated it. So I ran *a lot* of solo games in the early days.I would go on to buy all of the D&D boxed sets: Expert, Companion, Master, and Immortal (although I don't think we ever legitimately advanced beyond Companion). From there, I moved on to 2nd Edition AD&D, and continued all the way to 3.5e (and, yes, even 4e). Interspersed were stints with just about every major RPG across the different milieus, along with numerous indies (ever heard of Halmabreah or SLA Industries?).
All of this is to relate two things: that role-playing has been a major part of my life, and that I missed playing the original D&D versions (the LBBs and supplements, Holmes Basic, and Moldvay/Cook Basic/Expert) when they were contemporary by just a few years. For the last year, I've been following the various 'blogs and discussions about old school D&D. Initially, I wondered what the fuss was about. But as time passed, I found myself nodding in agreement more often than not, and remembering how much more I enjoyed running the "red box" than 3.5e (and 4e). While I doubt that any version of D&D will ever take the top RPG spot in my mind or heart, I thought it would be fun to run an OD&D game, if for no other reason than to to see if what I was thinking was merely nostalgia or if there was something substantive to all the talk. Just as I was about to buy all of the OD&D PDFs, WoTC took their marbles and ran home (shame on them).
I'm not sure if offerings like OSRIC, Swords & Wizardry, and Labyrinth Lord (pictured right) were already available when the OD&D PDFs were yanked, but I was busy enough at work at the time that I didn't explore OD&D alternatives. I was also actively running Shadowrun and preparing an Earthdawn game, so my RPG cup already runneth over. I put OD&D out of mind for a few months.These last two weeks we've had a college-bound friend staying with us, and she noticed Bruce Cordell's latest 4e adventure on my kitchen counter (a most generous gift from his wife, who is a petsitter and recently took care of our Chessie). Our friend had never played D&D; she'd never been allowed to. She asked me to run a game. I wanted to say yes, but I had no desire to run 4e, or even 3.5e, and she wanted D&D specifically. I'd recently read some things about Swords & Wizardry (I think on Jeff Rient's 'blog), so I downloaded the free core rules and ran our friend and my wife on a simple (but very old school) dungeon crawl.
Man, was it fun.
Yesterday, we transferred the characters to Labyrinth Lord and set up our second session. I wanted to compare the two systems in action. For the most part, I think I like the Moldvay/Cook D&D via Labyrinth Lord better than the white box D&D (plus supplements) via Swords & Wizardry. Except for the Thief class, that is. It's just got to go.
Which brings me to the point of this 'blog post. I created this 'blog to record my experiences, house rules (such as the OD&D skill adjudication framework I'm using), and campaign notes (I mostly run sandbox-style campaigns, and I thought it'd be nice to share the sand with others). I hope someone finds this 'blog, and finds it useful.
Good gaming.
