It's probably just me but I'd like to see Valerian removed from the cast. I'm still bitter about any exp he diverted away from me.

Gael, you don't have much gaming experience? However did you find your way to this esoteric den?

Well, I played a bit of 5e IRL. I never was satisfied mainly due to the lack of difficulty and linearity. I became interested in older rulesets after I was recommended some videos on YouTube about B/X DnD. I did a search for B/X here on rpol and found this game. I'm thankful for all the work the DM does to put this together. I ask for your patience as I am learning. What's everyone else's experience like?
This message was last edited by the player at 00:37, Sun 22 May 2022.

What do you mean by lack of linearity?

I don't know that old D&D is hard while newer flavors are easy. New is certainly harder to keep track of mentally -- so fiddly. It's much harder to kill PCs. Without expounding, I find the new to be too chewy and prefer OSRIC or some of the other variants. I no longer play older versions.

With B/X, we want to avoid encounters as often as we can. Stonehell is also deliberately designed to live up to its namesake. It will mock PCs with bags of copper. It will drop green slime on them at every opportunity. There is a pronounced scarcity of magic items, even consumable ones. One of the first things we found was a useless enchanted cloak that kept off the rain. It's in a frog's stomach now.

I do think this game needs to make some concessions to PbP. Maybe in a few years, we'll reconsider adding them once again. It's not a big deal either way.
This message was last edited by the player at 12:54, Sun 22 May 2022.

I guess most of it comes down to the DMs style rather than the system itself. For the 5e games, I've played in PC death was not a possibility. The DM would simply fudge dice so that it would never happen. I don't mean the 5e games I played lacked linearity. They were very linear as if the DM is telling a story, and the PCs are along for the ride. This style never appealed to me because exploration is my favorite aspect of these games.

Yes, going through the B/X rules for the first time I was impressed by the simplicity. At the same time I was impressed by the rules for dungeon and wilderness exploration. The crunchiness of 5e is probably why things like light, distance, encumbrance etc. end up getting handwaved away. But Id rather play with these aspects of the game. The 5e games that I have played end up being too combat-focused for my taste.

Thanks for the tip about B/X combat. I am on the same page and won't go rushing into combat and cause an issue for the party. That's fine for me I think having multiple approaches to combat, run, hide, fight, etc. will probably make for a more interesting game. Combat is the least interesting aspect of the game for me anyways.

Well now your cloak is soaked in-game, I guess that magical one isn't looking so useless now, is it :)

What concessions do you think are necessary? I want to take a cautious approach but I wonder if it will really slow down the game with the PbP format. I guess I'll wait to see how it goes...

That's why we want torches in front and in back for a party this size. That's why copper's there for mockery.


There is creativity and ... lots of burning oil.


None that you would have to make if you're not a berserker.

I think in 5E death should never really be a possibility if the PCs are reasonably competent. In B/X, the wrong centipede can end you.

Oh, you can see a current map of Modnar's Basement in the maps sections of the wiki. That I have mapped. I'm overwhelmed by Stonehell.

You have something you want to try in the ring room, Wyn?

Yup. Wanna spin the rings and see what the magic words bring us.
If we survive that Wyndham wouldn't mind a quick dip at the spa.
And if he survives that, he wouldn't mind checking out somewhere different.
That's all just Wyn, though.

Alright. Why the hell not? We'll deviate from our inch by inch progression.

In reply to Derry the Dwarf (msg # 46):

Thanks, Derry The map looks good. I'd be willing to try mapping Stonehell next time. That is if there's a next time...

So If I am following this correctly we can use these magic rings to produce a random magic effect?

No, they'll open up a portal to some place or other, I would surmise. But I we might be missing a ring segment or two. I don't remember.

Oh got it, feel free to use Gael as the guinea pig. He has the least to lose.

Hirelings are guinea pigs -- not PCs. And Derry has his own individual guinea rabbit.

Per the B/X rules: If abused in any way, retainers will typically warn others of this and the PCs will soon find it difficult to hire other retainers.

But I will default to whatever the majority of the party decides.

Oh, we haven't abused them in any manner. They clamor for our employment.

Devin, the DM said the rat was surrounded, so I didn't think there was room for another melee attack and I wasn't going to fire into melee.

Hey, Gael, would you mind maintaining the encumbrance and equipment of the retainers, so we know who is holding what? We have 4 bags of electrum to tote about.

Yes, I can. Are we using detailed or simple encumbrance? I know the armor and supplies of Gael's retainers. I would need to know what the others are wearing and carrying.

Detailed encumbrance. Here's a list of what all the hirelings are carrying.

Eadwynn Haute, Chainmail, shield, shortsword, shortbow
Preston Chandos, Leather armour, shield, sword, sling
Eglantine Basset, Chainmail, shield, shortsword, shortbow
Bosley Cosin, Leather armour, shield, sword, sling
Garrick Cely, Chainmail, mace, sling, backpack
Aylmer Montfort, Leather armour, helmet, whip, warhammer, backpack

Whos carrying the electrum bags? Preston and Wyndham are each carrying one I think. Are they considered a sack, large for encumbrance purposes?

Eadwynn Haute
Body: /1600
Chainmail - 400
shield - 100
shortsword - 30
shortbow - 30

Preston Chandos
Body: /1600
Leather armour 200
shield - 100
sword - 60
sling - 20

Eglantine Basset
Body: /1600
Chainmail - 400
shield - 100
shortsword - 30
shortbow - 30

Bosley Cosin
Body: /1600
Leather armour 200
shield - 100
sword - 60
sling - 20

Garrick Cely
Body: /1600
Chainmail - 400
mace - 30
sling - 20
backpack: 0/400

Aylmer Montfort
Body: /1600
Leather armour - 200
helmet - ?
whip - ?
warhammer - 30
backpack: 0/400

Thanks very much, Gael!

Mr DM, About how heavy are these sacks of electrum?

In reply to Wyndham (msg # 62):
No problem, I can maintain this list as we proceed. It takes up a bit of space. Would it be ok to post it periodically in the game thread?

Wyndham, did you copy the glyphs from this ring?

In reply to Gael (msg # 64):
Yes. They translated to "Journey, Star, Moon, Travel, Gate, Fast, Way, Door, Luna
" whatever that means.