Campaign News October 5

This will be a brief one.

RULES INTERPRETATION UPDATE

I've had some thoughts on handling downtime orders to bring our game closer to the rules-as-written that I think could have some interesting in-game implications.

Up to this point, I've solicited your downtime orders for the period of time between sessions all at once, by a deadline. Downtime passes 1 day in game for 1 day in life. Our last downtime period ended on November 9, 1479 aka October 2, 2025. Our next game is October 21, 2025 or November 28, 1479. Twenty days in the game and in life. By the "batch" approach I've been using, I've been asking for orders to be submitted for the entire downtime period by some deadline a couple of days before the end of the period so that I can process those before the next session.

What I'd like to do instead is have no deadline. Rather than processing "in batch," I'll process orders as they would be executed. Today is 3 days after the last scheduled session when game date was November 9, 1479. Today, 3 days later, it's November 12, 1479. It won't be November 28, 1479 until our next scheduled session on October 21, 2025. Since I'm just telling you guys about this change today, I'll accept any orders you want to have started 3 days ago, but after today when you submit your orders will be when your character decides to do whatever it is his orders say.

I foresee a couple of advantages to this approach. From the referee perspective, it makes it much easier to handle cases where two characters submit interacting orders. For example, if two characters both try to convert coin to gems with the jeweler in Killarney, who has only so much stock, the player who submits the order first will find a wider selection available than the one who does so later (unless the jeweler gets new stock in the meantime, and he might because of a trade caravan passing through or another player cashing in gems to cover monthly upkeep). It also spreads my work out instead of requiring a lot of work at once a couple of days before the session.

From the player perspective, I think the cognitive load is a little lighter. First of all, it's advantageous to submit orders shortly after the session so as not to lose any game time, and the game-state will still be fresh mind for those who have just played. It also means that one player trying to collaborate with another and not getting a response can revise his strategy and not lose time waiting to see if there will be a response by the deadline.

It's only been 3 days, so you will not have lost much time if I don't get any November 9 - 12 orders from you today, but since this is a new rule it won't "kick in" until sunset this evening (recall that in 1479 Ireland the day ends and the next begins at sunset rather than midnight).

At sunset it will be the start of November 13, 1479 and the start of day-by-day 1:1 time.

Thanks guys!! As always, I'm very interested in any feedback you have. I'm happy to answer questions and debate different approaches as well. 

Campaign News October 3

I received feedback from a few of you about the ratings policy changes and the "roll low" method for resolving melee combat. With two in favor and one neutral, the ratings change is now in effect. I'll hold off on committing to the rolling method until we've used it in one more session, but that seems to make combat resolution move faster. The method is mathematically equivalent to the combat matrices in the rules, so this is really more of a play technique than a rules change.

PLAYERS & CHARACTERS

The Leader Board no longer shows player rankings because players no longer have a metric by which to be rated. Character ratings accrue only to the character, not to the player, now. Make no mistake however, this is still a competitive game.

SCHEDULE

For very good reasons, but still sadly, last night's game was cancelled half an hour before start time. We have a long gap now before our next game on Oct 21 and the following scheduled game is Nov 6. That leaves a lot of space for unscheduled games, which I am very happy to run at your requests, in groups or individually.

TIPS & TRICKS 

Although characters will no longer gain ratings of 4 for not submitting downtime orders, submitting them is still HIGHLY advisable. While it will no longer impact character level training costs, all of the opportunities for skilled play afforded by downtime orders are still lost if they are not submitted. Downtime orders, for lower level characters, should be focused on maximizing treasure and experience acquisition in the session(s) following the downtime period. Activities such as securing previously acquired wealth, upgrading character, henchmen, and hireling equipment, gathering information about lost treasure, researching monster vulnerabilities, and henchmen acquisition can all be accomplished in downtime thereby maximizing both the efficiency and the amount of session time available for gaining XP and gold.

Every character in the game now has a rating of 1.0. Going forward downtime orders and sessions in which the character participates will be rated according to the rules:

Consider the natural functions of each class of character. Consider also the professed alignment of each character. Briefly assess the performance of each character after an adventure. Did he or she perform basically in the character of his or her class? Were his or her actions in keeping with his or her professed alignment? Mentally classify the overall performance as: 

E - Excellent, few deviations from norm = 1
S - Superior, deviations minimal but noted = 2
F - Fair performance, more norm than deviations = 3
P - Poor showing with aberrant behavior = 4

Clerics who refuse to help and heal or do not remain faithful to their deity, fighters who hang back from combat or attempt to steal, or fail to boldly lead, magic-users who seek to engage in melee or ignore magic items they could employ in crucial situations, thieves who boldly engage in frontal attacks or refrain from acquisition of an extra bit of treasure when the opportunity presents itself, "cautious" characters who do not pull their own weight - these are all clear examples of a POOR rating.

Please think carefully about your characters' alignments and (re-)read both the Players Handbook and Dungeon Masters Guide descriptions of alignment. Verify your understanding with the referee (outside of the play session). First level characters can change alignment anytime outside of the play session without penalty. Once a character has trained up to 2nd level or higher, the penalties for changing alignment are severe.

Previously, I had added service to the character's goals as part of the basis for his ratings. This is outside the scope of the rules as written, and so I will no longer do that. It remains a key of skillful play to identify and pursue goals for your characters, however that is between you and your character. I will no longer be rewarding or penalizing that outside the natural consequences of playing a character pointedly or aimlessly.

Campaign News September 27

I have recently written a lot of words about what you guys could be doing better to beat AD&D, but I haven't said anything about what you already are doing better. I've taken a rather castigating tone as well with those words, which isn't the nicest way to address my friends. I'm sorry about that.

All of you have more experience with other systems than AD&D 1e. This is a fundamentally different game from D&D 5e, Traveller, etc. This game makes very different demands on players and is brutally unforgiving. You've all adjusted admirably to this system even though it is not to all of your preferred tastes. I know that some of you would prefer a game you can play casually without it meaning that you will automatically lose. Some of you would prefer a game that has a narrative / story focus instead of a board game / simulation focus. I appreciate that you're willing to bend toward my preferences for this game.

That this game is hard to play, that it rewards study and work and planning and innovation, that it punishes inattention and laziness, and that it won't protect even the best players from plain bad luck are the things which make it great in my estimation. These qualities are what make it a game I'm happy to spend hours and hours working on outside of the session.

I'd like to make it a game that, while still having all those qualities I crave, can accommodate more casual play for those players who prefer it without backing them into corners out of which they can't escape. I have some ideas about how to do that. I'd like your feedback on these and ask also for your ideas. Here are the rules changes I'd like to propose to you all:

1. Character ratings apply only to the character who has garnered them instead of applying to the player so that players with more than one character may have different ratings averages for each of their characters.
2. Characters gain ratings for in-session play and for downtime orders as we've played to date. However, characters do not receive any ratings for downtime periods in which they don't have downtime orders.
3. Character ratings are reset at each level change. For example, if a character has an average rating of 1.5 at the time he trains for 2nd level, the 1.5 rating is used as a multiplier for the cost / time to train for second level, but once the character completes that training, all of his past ratings are deleted and only those received after that point until training for level 3 are averaged for his level 3 training multiplier.

This set of changes makes our rules closer to a straight read of the rules as written. I believe it also still rewards players who make good use of downtime periods, but without punishing those players who don't, except by their lost opportunity. It also means that the Leader Board will display character rankings only as there will no longer be a direct player v. player ranking metric.

SCHEDULE
Our next game will be at 17:00 on Thursday, Oct 2 at my house. Downtime orders for the period ending November 8, 1479 are due before 19:00 on Monday, Oct 1 [correction] Sep 29. The October Saturday game on the 25th is cancelled.

Campaign News September 15

This has been an interesting, unusual, happy, and sad period in the campaign.

PLAYERS & CHARACTERS

First the happy. The game was rejoined by Liam S in the last session, on Sep 4, which was well-attended and a successful venture with no PC casualties.

Now the sad and unusual. The second unintentional fatality in downtime occurred this period when Josh L's character was stricken by a terminal case of stomach parasites. The character was fully paid on his upkeep so he had no penalties, but sadly the dice rolled meaningless, undeserved death.

As to the interesting parts, some of the characters are involved in developing situations as seen in this period's orders results, but even more interesting is the jockeying on the Leader Board. Adam M has surged from last to 3rd place, and Josh L and Cole W pushed ahead of Liam S in downtime even though all three had the same downtime rating for this period. For the record, Josh L's rating will stand at 2.31 even though it's listed as N/A until he has a new character enter the campaign at which point he'll have a non-zero ratings count again.

SCHEDULE

Our next game is tomorrow at my house, starting around 17:00 when the game date will be October 21, 1479.

TIPS & TRICKS

This tip may be a day late and a dollar short, but perhaps it will benefit characters in the future. Normally it is not permitted for a player to transfer wealth, belongings, etc. from one of his characters to another. Two notable exceptions are for henchmen, NPCs being (mostly) controlled by the player, and heirs. If you've read "SUCCESSFUL ADVENTURES" on pp 107 & 109 of the Players Handbook, you'll have seen this passage:

 At the same time preparations for the upcoming expedition are underway, each player should see that his or her character has made proper preparations as well. These preparations include the safety of henchmen and/or goods which are to remain behind, wealth safely hidden or placed, instructions as to what to do if the character fails to return left with a trusted person, and a "will" of some sort written out so that the DM will not balk at the arrangements made to assure the smooth transition of goods to the devoted "relative" of the defunct character if those sore straits should ever come to pass.

To date, no players in this campaign have registered a will for the disposal of any of their characters' wealth should they fail to return from an expedition. It would be wise to do so.

Campaign News August 31

We're in the short gap between the last Saturday and the first Thursday, so players have less time than usual to sort out their downtime orders. It is also, however, a fairly short period of game time -- 11 days for most characters and only 4 days for the characters in yesterday's game! Today's tip will be about downtime orders.

SCHEDULE

Our next game will be on Thursday, September 4 at 17:00. As always, please let me know ASAP whether or not you plan to attend. Discussing plans among yourselves before the session will maximize your gold and XP potential.

Orders for all characters for the period ending October 2, 1479 are due by 19:00 on Monday, Sep 1.

TIPS & TRICKS

Downtime Orders Made Easier

Issuing good downtime orders has two very direct and obvious benefits: 1) they allow the players to execute "housekeeping" sorts of activities outside of the play session so as to maximize the time available for recovering treasure and earning experience points during the session; and 2) they contribute to a lower ratings average for the player which allows cheaper and faster level training for his characters. 

The "tactical infinity" offered by AD&D in session play is also offered in downtime play, but that metaphorical blank sheet of paper can be more of a hindrance than a help for a player who doesn't already have a plan in mind. While there are an infinite range of choices available, there are really only a few things that the player not already executing some plan needs to consider.

The two things that bring players the most benefit from downtime orders are information about what opportunities offer the best rewards, and the time to plan and prepare for the pursuit of those opportunities. As such, the first thing a player should accomplish in downtime orders is to find out what opportunities for gold and XP exist. Orders to do that can be pretty simple, but considering what a player knows about the setting already can direct and focus that information gathering better than generically "hanging around listening for rumors." If you don't know where to start, start there.

For players who already know about an opportunity they'd like their characters to pursue, downtime orders are even simpler. Such players should consider what's needed to best accomplish their intended goal, as far as they know, and buy and arrange what they need.

For example, if you know you want to go back to the nearby dungeon and hopefully bring back boatloads of treasure, you know that you're going to need some muscle or stealth to deprive whatever has the treasure now of it, and you'll need a way to get it home. Plus you need to get there and back, and the faster you do that, the less likely you'll run into something on the way that might kill you. So, figure out what other characters are willing to go with yours, hire some mercenaries maybe, buy horses and pack animals if you don't have them. And lots of sacks. A large sack will hold 400 coins. How many coins are you hoping to bring back? That tells you how many sacks to bring.

Torches, rations, arrows, weapons, and armor upgrades can all be purchased outside the session. If your character has already paid at least one month of upkeep, you can ignore the cost of things that cost less than a crown unless you're buying huge numbers of them. Do your encumbrance accounting before the session starts, and have your character sheet all up to date. You'll end up earning more XP faster. Not because the ref is happy, but because you've made the best use of the limited session time.

Campaign News August 20

Two canceled sessions in a row are partly to blame for the gap in campaign news. Summer is a tricky time for playing AD&D around here as we are all busy with visitors, summer-only activities, busy season at work, etc. I'm looking forward to September when the summer complaints thin out and we all have a little more time for games!

PLAYERS & CHARACTERS

Last night's game got off to a late and slow start, but finished strong for the two players present. Pursuing the legend of the black sapphire, "Réalta Dhubh," the characters ended up in Killarney.

On the Leader Board, Andy and John both improved their ratings. Andy's new character Frang, debuted ahead of the bottom four characters, while John's character Eoin advanced from 5th to 3rd place in the rankings.

SCHEDULE

Our next game is scheduled for 13:00 on Saturday, August 30 at Footbridge. The game date then will be September 22, 1479.

The current downtime period is September 1 - September 21, except for Eoin and Frang who are already up to September 11, and Shay who is still at August 20.

Orders for all characters through September 21 are due by 19:00 on Sunday, August 24.

TIPS & TRICKS

Casual and Serious Approaches to the Game

As complicated as it is, AD&D is a very easy game to play. Unlike board games like chess, one can play AD&D without reading or knowing any of the rules. Most people who play the game, first played it in that manner with other people who already knew the rules (at least some of the rules). It's very easy to just "show up and play" with an experienced referee at the table. For casual players, an evening with friends, beers, and snacks is all they're interested in having, and there are plenty of players who continue their D&D careers at this level. They absorb a few rules through osmosis, but never really read the rules or find ways to exploit them. These players are at the table for "fun," not to "win." That seems fine, because nobody wins or loses at D&D, right? It's cooperative, not competitive. Isn't it? Yes and no.

AD&D is a very difficult game to play well. It is extremely complex, and the rules not only constrain the players' every actions, they actively work to reverse the players' progress when they're not at the table! Monthly upkeep is akin to backing the player's piece up on the board periodically, or undoing moves the player previously made. The board is in constant flux as well, so a metaphorical space on the board a player was aiming to hit one session, might no longer be there, or be desirable to reach, the next session. The clock continues to run down the time whether the players are on the field or not. To play the game well, the player needs to grasp a fairly large body of interlocking rules and find ways to squeeze advantage out of those rules that are by default working against him. Players who are unable to out-swim that counter-current are doomed to cover the same ground over and over. They are never going to move out of grimy, shitty dungeons, and assume positions of authority in a world where they would fight wars and gain territories and engage in a whole different mode of play. The scale and the scope are altered so that after hundreds of hours of game play they aren’t still farting around like a bunch of scrubs in a roaming gang and robbing people.

If, as a serious player, you'd like to do something besides mucking around in moldering fun-house dungeons, you need to use your characters to learn about the fictional world, and you need to read (and re-read many times) and exploit the rules of the game to get your character ahead.

Remedial AD&D

About a year ago I came to the startling realization that I had been playing AD&D incorrectly for more than 40 years. I thought I was playing by rules, pretty much. I had a few house rules that filled in gaps and shortcomings in the book rules (secondary skills and family background), but by and large, I thought I was refereeing a by-the-book, rules-as-written kind of game. I was dead wrong. Fortunately, I had the rule books and I like to read and figure out hard to understand things. Gary Gygax's writing is hard to figure out. So, I started over and read the rule books cover to cover. There were dozens of rules I hadn't even heard of. I went back to remedial referee school to learn it all again. This time the right way. I'm still working on it.

As a player, reading the rules (Players Handbook and Dungeon Masters Guide) is the only way to learn the game well enough to win. And by "win," I mean get out of the murder-hobo mode of play. Additionally, there are some basic steps you can take to improve your game if you're not already doing them:

• Take notes during the session. Keep these notes and your character's downtime orders and results in a timeline for each character you have. Re-read your character's timeline when planning for the next session in which you will play him and when preparing new downtime orders.
• Prepare for sessions ahead of time by submitting downtime orders to take care of equipment purchases, money exchange, hiding treasure, information gathering, travel, etc.
• PLAN WITH OTHER PLAYERS BEFORE YOUR NEXT SESSION.
• Keep your rating low by submitting high quality downtime orders and killing off characters that are hurting your ratings average.
• Read "Successful Adventures" on pp. 107 & 109 of the Players Handbook.

 

Campaign News July 15

I am sorry to report a sad milestone in our game: the first PC death in downtime. Barry F's character Colm Stewart fell on 17 July, 1479. Of some consolation however, the removal of Colm's ratings from Barry F's has promoted him into the top player position on the Leader Board!

SCHEDULE
Our next game is on Saturday July 26 at 13:00 when the game date will be August 8, 1479. Please RSVP for the session at your earliest convenience.

More than ever, it is valuable for players to coordinate with one another who is playing which characters where before the start of the session. Skillful players will have a plan before the session so that they may take best advantage of referee time for the recovery of treasure and earning of XP! I encourage you to chat on our Discord server in advance to figure this out.

TIPS & TRICKS
Disease and Infestation

You may have noticed that your characters' more recent health check rolls have been more likely to result in disease and parasitic infestation now that the warm season is upon your characters. There are a few factors that are within players' control to minimize their, albeit already small, chance of random death. Crowding is perhaps the simplest. By living alone, or with a few people, in a private home instead of living at an inn, characters avoid the "crowding" factor. Avoiding cities, swamps, and jungles helps as well. Keeping to desert, mountain, and cold environments, on the other hand, reduces characters' risks. Direct exposure is the highest risk factor and triggers a check in addition to the periodic checks, and so should be avoided.