Відео

Nice video! The BECMI skill progression changes make sense to me, but are unfortunate when compared to how powerful other classes become as they level, and it's a bit disappointing they didn't develop any other features for the class in later levels. That said, thieves are also highly dependent on modules and DMs creating situations for their abilities to shine, so I think everybody's experiences differ.

I use "alignment" not as a moral compass, but as *what side are you fighting for* in the general conflict. Im running a sandbox (Keep in the Borderlands) style in a BX homebrew remake. All PCs starting at the settlement are part of the "Lawfull" settler colonizers side; and all wilderness native races are part of the "Chaotic" side. PCs could eventually change sides. Maybe 2 is even better than 3.

I enjoy these becmi history and nostalgia they invoke as you go through these modules. But for me, module after module back then just drive my grown up self nuts as I don’t enjoy the every level down means different more difficult monsters like my 13 to year old self enjoyed back then. Just can’t get into anymore other than a one shot.

Fun video and the capt of the guard stat block from keep on the borderlands had a 3rd level fighter with 3 plus 1 magic armor or weapons and a +2 sword. First thing that came to mind was Monty haul campaign baked in. Granted i haven’t looked at my Rules Encyclopedia carefully in years to see what the game thought a 3rd level character should have but that’s my gut feel none the less.

Great viceo!

As someone too young to have played the becmi rules I have fallen in love. This style of dnd is , imho, far superior to modern dnd and while I have much love for and experience with 3.5 it really feels inferior as a story telling device. I recently played a campaign and took my character from cleric to druid and it felt li,e a journey

Svartalfar are apparently a different race than boulder dwarves, I would suggest creating dark elves for the game with no relation to lolth and a tie to void, skin blue, hair white and very chaotic, with a penchant for dark and necromatic magic, basically shadow realm dwellers. Make these SVARTALFAR, NOT DROW.

I was looking to start a game with brand new to D&D players, and were had serious budget issues. So I picked 'Basic Fantasy RPG' for the system. Going through it... I remember back to my early (1983-ish) games, and remembered how much I LOATHE the 'builds' of today. No, You're a 'thief', and you get these abilities. DONE.

the best thing TSR ever produced imho

That was great DnD...

"Cnute" ... :D This one is even more blatant than "Doriath" in the elf book.

I played 5e twice, in a game store. I had not touched D and D since third edition, my last iteration was Pathfinder, and I loved that game. I was a player, and I liked playing non-magic users like fighters and Barbarians. It was fine, but I never felt that tension, I thought it was me. No, the game is not the same, and I have gone back to my roots. When I think about it, the most enjoyment I had in D and D was BECMI. I don't know why, sure the rules are old, but there is something about percentile rolls for thieves and slogging through dungeons that newer editions just don't have. I recently have found a channel called questing beast and he does a good job explaining the OSR. He even suggested a movie called the secrets of blackmore. From those videos, and now you channel, I am building my own 5E game, using a third party game as my base called Anime 5E. This is not vanilla D and D, and if I am to have a version of D and D that is the opposite of BECMI its going to be bad ass. I have been watching your video, you know what, magic should be magical and dangerous. To that end I am building a 5E system with no long rest periods, and no negative hit points, and I am using a spell point system from EN publishing for spell casters. Yes, magic in this world has no spell slots, with one exception, Clerics, clerics in this world have spell slots because they are gifted magic from the Gods. I am even considering using a more brutal combat system from a third party with wounds and critical wounds which cut limbs off. Even though its high fantasy, I want death to be apparent, oh yeah, this iteration gives me an excuse to use psionics from a pathfinder third party called psionics unleashed. I might even bring back the old saves, death from rod, and petrification and all that. I know, it's not 5E anymore, but in a sense it is.

You know, I think you are right, my first experience with D and D was in the 80s, I played the 2nd iteration of Basic, the one before BECMI. and what I was rum through was keep on the borderlands, but my gamemaster, before that had us play a semi board game on a hex grid called Man to Man, by Steve Jackson games. It was an arena game where we killed each other. When I think about it, it was a great way to seg way into D and D, because it was a game where death was the theme. Man, I was a cleric, and we did the roll 3d6 down method, and if the rolls were borderland really hard (bad stats) we were allowed to make one stat swap. It was dangerous, one fight against a room of Kobolds and we were almost dead. I healed the party, but we were still low on hit points. Supplies were also important, especially torches. The other party members wanted to keep going, but I wanted to go back to town, and come back to the caves later, we kept going and we fought one bugbear, which really almost killed us, so we were low on hit points again. The party kept going, but I argued that we should go back to town, I almost ditched the party, like seriously, I have 2 hit points, but I got dirty looks around the table like don't you even dare ditch us, well, the next fight was two minitours. I knew we were done for. I stayed back and did not fight. Within two rounds the two people were down. Instead of killing us, the DM had the minitours steal all our equipment and had us wake up naked at the entrance of the caves. Yeah, the DM had mercy, but did he, sure we were alive, but we had no equipment, no weapons, and no armor, hell we had no cloths, and we had to go back to town naked. After that, the other players saw why I wanted to stop and go back to town. I was hooked, we never played that game again, but the very next day I went to the gaming store and boght the red box for BECMI. I read everything, again, I played against Bargle and Bargle left someone outside dead. By then, I got the message, death is common, if you are not careful, and at the moment I saw the cleric dead at my feet, I knew that my character should be dead, not naked in town. I read all the books and then built my dungeon extension in that second book. I ran my game for the two players, and they enjoyed it. From then on, I was the game master and was never a player. Hell, the person who introduced me to the game gave me The Keep on The Borderlands. He was playing another game called advanced dungeons and Dragons with another group. I never got it, because I never thought I was advanced enough. In my mind this is what I thought. You get through the red book, then through the blue book, all the way to immortal. then when your character leveled up from that, you were ready for the advanced rules. Years later, when that person who introduced me to the game asked me why I never played advanced D and D, I told him my reason, and he just laughed and called me crazy. I never understood why he was laughing, until the year 2000, when the internet existed, and I found out that they were two separate games and were not connected at all.

11:20 in "recent" (for an old fart like me) game design, from 4e and PF1e onward, a weird idea creeped in, that anything that takes out a character from combat is not "fun". The end result is defanged spells and effects and the end of any sense of danger. While PF1e is still quite deadly (3e derived) and 4e had chance to stunlock, 5e is so utterly defanged that nothing has sense anymore. As you said - why bother.

Advanced Labyrinth Lord and Swords & Wizardry are both more Dungeons & Dragons than 5e or Pathfinder.

I have always found the AD&D Wilderness Survival Guide extremely useful, and very much in this case of wanting to detail the effects on the party of the environment, food, water, and shelter or lack there of to get some verisimilitude into the game. Certainly more detailed and complex than 5th Ed but I've always enjoyed the numbers, tables and the look of fear on my players when I reach for the Wilderness & Dungeoneers Survival guides.

oh dear !!!

A comment for the numbers brother

I don’t mind the general concept of “giant robot in medieval D&D”, but the utterly absurd, skyscraper size of Earthshaker rubs me the wrong way. I’d prefer it to be a much more modestly sized machine, like 10 - 16 meters, and have semi-functioning projectile weapons.

Brilliant videos. Addictive viewing. Was there a BECMI Monk class by any chance, somewhere? I’m getting into OSR via Old School Essentials, and that led me here, but I’m currently missing a martial arts monk. I have fond memories of those… I’d like to port one into OSE. Thank you!

This is a great video, with useful examples, and helpful background. I’m going to watch all of your series. The narration is ideal, too. The right pace to take it all in. Thanks. (I gather you likely did a Hollow World series, too.)

this was really cool --I love the GAZ series

How quickly does leveling up happen?

Is he going to have piglets?

Crab riding hippogriff LOL

Nicely narrated

Tom Moldvay wrote the first adventure I ever purchased. I wish there was more information about him out there on the interwebs. he contributed some very cool stuff to the gaming world!

Heck yeah!

Having said that, great art and sculpture of monsters and creatures and heroes can also be quite inspirational.

Final thread sewn into the tapestry - masterful wording.

I really like the idea of subdual rules. it makes fighting a dragon more deadly with the breath weapon not decreasing, and requires it to be done by hand rather then by subterfuge or planned spells, really giving the sense that someone has dominated the dragon’s will head on and that has some kind of mystical compulsion for the dragon. Sounds like a great feat for a fighter or other canny martial to have done, and an even greater reward in the fealty of a dragon. I cant express how much that itches a fighter end goal fantasy that is often seems neglected. while a high level wizard gets to have a tower and research thier own great spells, and a thief collects connections throughout the underworld having a hand in everything, the fighter can go out and gain the fealty of powerful creatures through his might. having a dragon next to your throne to show just what calibur of person you are dealing with. its metal. though on a mechanical point, i wonder how you would deal with both subdual damage and regular damage? given that you might have a magic user or archer in the party. two separate HP’s I guess?

Personally, I would add a party outcome option of them somehow using the mindgem to grow them to relative gigantic size and fight it Ultra-man style. Really like the idea of someone makes a sequel to this module were you have to fist fight kaiju like the cursed giant reborn using the Earthshaker or a super enlarge spell.

BECMI will always be my favorite D&D ttrpg. I enjoyed it's mix of simplicity and expansive rules. I do also have the D&D Encyclopedia.

I'd rather there be some voice on here, but I enjoyed the content.

There can be only one!

Dragons seem way better in the becmi era this was an inspiring video, i play ad&d 2e/hyperborea 3 but i think you've convinced me that becmi is likely the best edition objectively despite my fondness for ad&d.

Recently, one swept down on us during travel. It sought magic and we managed to send it in the direction of a 'powerful' Magic-user - several miles away.