I find axes so menacing visually. Yet it is exceptionally rare that I have come across a player that uses one in AD&D First Edition. Usually that has been a dwarf looking for some RP value out of their weapon choice. The attributes just dont seem to warrant it for most. Being primarily slashing weapons, implementing Weapon vs Armor doesnt help the cause. They are typically heavy. Having a character bereft of a shield is an expensive tradeoff with most axes. The inclusion of axe-type polearms boost the numbers a bit.

Do you see axes used much? know of any homebrew mechanic changes that promote more use of them?

Bueller?

What a great mail day!

Today I received my second Monster Manual. I already had a POD copy from DTRPG, but I wanted an original to complete my collection. Not a pristine, like-new book that spent its entire existence sealed in a plastic jacket. I wanted a witness from the 1970s/1980s sitting in my room, accompanying me at my gaming table, and honestly, it’s just cooler around the table that way.

I found this one on eBay for a very low price. It’s one of the early printings, the third printing, I believe. It doesn’t have the yellow banner, and the title ADVANCED DUNGEONS & DRAGONS appears in large red letters across the top of the cover. The binding is sewn, and there are red pages inside.

What makes it amazing is that the previous owner colored some of the monsters in it. Probably another teenager who got it back in the late 1970s, and who also started escaping into D&D to get away from all those alpha-male jocks monopolizing popularity in high school. Another guy like me.

The passing of the torch across generations is complete!

All the female monsters are colored in it. Those are the ones I also colored first in my POD. The previous owner and I probably have quite a few things in common.

In the AD&D Toolkit application there is a feature that reads all of the inventory of all the characters in a campaign into a list, and then that list is subdivided by categories of shops that sell each item. For instance, a Carpenter Shop may sell wood chests and furniture, but would not sell Longswords. Within the application, shops are created by the DM with price ranges and chance-to-be-in-inventory for each shop. DMs then have price lists and availability for each item in the game. Even custom ones!

So among my couple dozen shop categories, I have a few smith-related. I want to have some variety, rather than just a Blacksmith who sells everything metal. What subdivisions do DMs mostly populate their towns with? Blacksmith(horsehoes, spikes, arrowheads, hand axes), Weaponsmith(metal weapons of more than simple production), and Armorer(armorsmith?) seem the most popular in my "research" thus far. Ive recently learned there are titles of Metalsmith, Whitesmith and Brownsmith too but they historically seem to be redundant or not relevant to an AD&D campaign.

• do i have the above right, historically speaking?
• do you have anything more you can add to this conversation of Smiths?
• is there a "smith", maybe one of the above, that in old-timey times would produce both weapons and armor?
• do you have Manual/page# to share from AD&D sources that are relevant?

There are some really great Adventure Modules in AD&D. Keep on the Borderlands has a great reputation. Which are some of the best ones and why should others check it out?

https://www.youtube.com/@adnd-toolkit

AD&D 1E Teen Tournament and Total Party Kill Today!

Today I ran an AD&D 1E tournament set in my Zonreiryd campaign for two friends from high school. We’re all teenagers, and I’m a 16-year-old DM, so the whole thing had this mix of chaos, hype, and tactical overthinking that honestly made it unforgettable.

The players each controlled a level 3 adventurer: a human fighter and a human magic-user. For the first time ever in one of my old-school RPG sessions, I used henchmen. There was a half-orc female warrior hired by the fighter, and a human thief hired by the magic-user. Both henchmen were level 1.

The adventure took place in what was originally supposed to be my own version of level 3 of Castle Greyhawk. I copied the northwest section from my map and invented the rest myself. Later, I decided to transform the whole thing into a prison controlled by a garrison of fierce Amazons, a faction already deeply established in my Zonreiryd campaign, which is inspired both by Greek mythology and the comics of William Moulton Marston.

The tournament was basically tactical infiltration mixed with Metal Gear Solid vibes.

I clearly briefed the players beforehand. Their characters had to advance slowly, sector by sector, securing areas and avoiding deadly fights whenever possible. They knew that if the Amazons discovered one of their sisters had been murdered, the prison would go on full alert and every trap in the dungeon could be activated.

Their mission was to rescue adventurers and soldiers captured by the Amazons. Once the tournament’s time limit expired, some prisoners would be executed while others would be transferred to Themyscira. If the group failed, just like in the classic G1 module, the adventurers themselves would be dragged to the execution block and beheaded.

I skipped the travel session because I didn’t want to waste time on hexcrawling. So I simply described the group traveling with four mules, setting up camp, and spotting towers emerging from a mountain valley. Near an old oak tree, they discovered an entrance dug directly into the earth, with stairs descending into cool air carrying the smell of burnt wood.

I absolutely terrified my players with the oppressive atmosphere of the prison entrance facing south.

The group descended into darkness, and Gabin, the player controlling the magic-user, immediately started mapping the dungeon on a sheet of graph paper I had prepared for him. Since we’re French, I used the metric system along with cardinal directions to describe the dungeon. Honestly, cardinal directions help players map way better.

I already knew where every planned encounter and patrol route was located. I designed the dungeon like a tactical battlefield the Amazons could exploit to their advantage.

The group entered a large chamber with exits to the west, east, and north. Each exit was blocked by a portcullis controlled by a lever. They spotted two attractive Amazon guards around twenty years old watching over two murder holes. One brunette was asleep on a stool with her head resting on her exhausted blonde companion, who was barely staying awake and never noticed the party hidden in the darkness.

The thief henchman ambushed the tired Amazon from behind with a garrote. The sleeping Amazons were restrained, gagged with scarves, and searched while the party looted the room. They recovered two daggers, found a wooden chest containing a waterskin full of water, and another dagger.

The east lever was pulled, the gate rose, and the group continued deeper into the labyrinth while mapping, searching for traps, and looking for secret doors.

After navigating a looping section and a diagonal southeastern passage, they got lucky on their secret door checks and discovered a hidden airlock-like area between two secret doors. Then they encountered a wounded Amazon carrying a water jar over her head. She had an injured leg. The group ambushed her too. Once unconscious, she was restrained and gagged. They found a dagger and a key on her.

Later, the party listened at a door and heard an Amazon alone inside playing dice. The fighter, who spoke the Amazon language, had a hilarious idea.

The conversation went like this:

“Hey, it’s me!”

“Who is it? Thalestria or Voryka?”

“It’s Voryka!”

“Come in, old sister, everybody’s looking for you tonight.”

“I can’t open the door.”

“What? Did you lose your key? Fine, I’m opening.”

What the players didn’t know was that the Amazon inside was actually a sergeant guarding the prison key room.

The moment she opened the door, the group jumped her in melee combat. The magic-user used a special item I invented: sleep darts. Targets had to make a save vs death or instantly fall asleep for 1d6 turns.

The sergeant failed and collapsed unconscious.

The players tied her up and decided to interrogate her later. The half-orc warrior stayed behind to guard her while the rest of the group rested. According to AD&D 1E rules, they basically needed downtime after every fight anyway.

We took a break.

When the players came back, I announced:

“The sergeant is gone. Your entire party is tied up. The door is locked from the outside.”

You should’ve seen their faces.

Everyone burst out laughing while also getting genuinely mad at me at the same time. It was amazing.

Eventually the group escaped and absolutely roasted the half-orc henchwoman for failing guard duty.

Later they entered a huge fully lit recreation hall that I mapped for them directly because of its size. Six Amazons occupied the room: three sleeping, one exercising, and two eating.

The sleeping Amazons were murdered in their beds and their bodies hidden inside the mattresses. The beds were searched for treasure, yielding silver pouches and an amethyst.

The exercising Amazon was killed by the thief henchman even though the group had originally wanted to keep her alive for interrogation.

Then combat broke out against the two Amazons eating at a table. There was actually some roleplay during the fight. One tried to flee to ring an alarm bell but got stopped before she could. The other was subdued too.

All six bodies ended up hidden inside the mattresses.

The group continued north into a Y-shaped corridor and accidentally looped back around. During this exploration they encountered a patrol of two sword-wielding Amazons. One got instantly killed by an arrow through the eyes. The group knocked the second unconscious for future questioning.

Unfortunately, while dragging the corpse and the unconscious body through a hallway, both were turned into bloody paste by a mechanical trap.

After that, the players explored a prison block filled with cells. There was some angry roleplay with prisoners they rescued, encounters with rats, and many empty cells. More prisoners were eventually freed for extraction.

Then the party entered a massive 9x9 meter hexagonal chamber with exits on the diagonal walls. The room was wooden and covered in hay. It was basically the patrol nexus of the prison. Dozens of Amazons could rush in from every direction.

A giant bronze bell stood in the middle of the room.

Someone accidentally rang it.

The fighter immediately poured oil from a barrel across the exits and the center of the room.

Then the Amazons arrived.

Around forty of them flooded the corridors. Twenty managed to enter the chamber and used their initiative segments to close into melee range.

The fighter shouted in the Amazon language:

“If you attack, I drop the torch.”

The party was cornered.

The torch fell.

The ignition was catastrophic.

The flames spread so violently that the twenty Amazons still outside the room sealed the exits shut, sacrificing their own sisters to preserve the rest of the prison.

Everyone trapped inside burned to death.

Total Party Kill.

this made me chuckle

i can look at these beauties all day. i love the hand-made dioramas.

Ooooo this is a good one. Are your wizards Gandalfian or Potter-esque?

I have a feeling which way this one will go in an AD&D crowd but gotta say, I am an avid Potter fan too. Read the series in my 20s and then again with my kids. Absolutely love it.

But no one will replace the space reserved in my heart for The Grey Pilgrim

its probably my friends and i rolling some dice

I can only imagine hosting a campaign here. A man can dream...

AD&D 1E Solo Session 3

I had an absolute blast with this solo session, it was amazing. I played AD&D 1E strictly RAW. As a reminder, during the second session Aldith Stommere spent more than a full day traveling through the countryside of Polaris toward the city of Zonreiryd. She slaughtered part of a herd of cows and ate meat from one of them.

So this was Session 3, my favorite one so far.

Aldith arrived safely in the city of Zonreiryd. After flirting with a few people in a tavern and resting there, she recruited a second adventurer: Elarkein, a little nod to Mordenkainen. He was an old man in a blue traveling robe carrying a staff. He had enough money to buy water and food so that he and Aldith could explore Castle Zonreiryd.

The two adventurers descended side by side down a staircase of dirty limestone from the city sewers of Zonreiryd. They arrived in a space 20 feet wide and 30 feet long facing west, containing two exits upstairs and two arched openings cut from blocks of stone: one in the south wall and another in the western wall. The room was damp and smelled of stale bread.

Aldith crouched to the floor and crawled through the room for one full turn searching for any light source, but there were none. During those ten minutes Elarkein stood in the northeast corner of the room near the stairs, ready to cast the Sleep spell he had memorized against any hostile entity. Aldith became tangled in dense spider webs and found no source of light.

The two adventurers decided that Elarkein would light a torch and hold it in his left hand while continuing to carry his staff in his right. Aldith walked to his left with her two-handed sword ready while her shield hung on her back with leather straps.

At this point they had already spent fourteen minutes inside the dungeon. I should note that I was tracking time and movement strictly in a notebook and on sheets of paper.

The two adventurers decided to head toward the southern arched exit after spending three rounds examining the spider webs for traps. They entered a dark passage dimly illuminated by an unknown source of light. The corridor ended to the east at an iron-banded oak door and continued westward. It measured 10 feet wide.

Elarkein tapped the ground ahead with his wizard’s staff searching for traps, as well as the walls on either side. There were no traps. The group carefully moved westward, though the marching order changed: Aldith now advanced first, ready to react immediately, while Elarkein illuminated the way from behind.

The corridor stretched southward for 40 feet before turning sharply 90 degrees west and continuing another 80 feet toward an unprotected white birchwood door.

The two adventurers listened at the door. Aldith had to remove her armor first. After several minutes of listening and a successful hearing check, they heard nothing. Elarkein set down his staff and opened the door only to find a wall of granite blocks mortared together 10 feet ahead, extending northward for 60 feet before ending abruptly.

We lost thirty minutes just taking this route. Even though the passage beyond the white birch door also extended southward, I decided the adventurers would retrace their steps to the starting area. They did so, and by applying the “by the book” movement rules, since movement speed is multiplied by five in familiar areas, they made the return trip in only a few minutes.

So the two adventurers returned to the starting chamber, avoided the spider webs, and took the western opening instead. It led into a large dark room that took several turns to fully explore and search in order to visualize properly. The chamber measured 30 by 50 feet and resembled a filthy dumping ground full of small rats and garbage. There was an arched opening in the southwest corner.

The room appeared to have once been some kind of Greco-Roman-style pool because of the stagnant basin of water in the center.

We extinguished the torches and rested for ten minutes while remaining alert, since we had already been down there for an hour. Elarkein lit a new torch and the adventurers performed a second examination of the room searching for anything useful.

Aldith found a nearly edible chicken. It seemed too good to be true, so Elarkein with his staff and Aldith with her sword carefully prodded both the chicken and the ground for traps, and surprise! There really was a 10-foot-deep pit trap.

The two adventurers decided not to linger there and quickly walked side by side toward the southwest exit, which opened into an empty 20-by-20-foot room. The floor was sandy, and several holes in the ceiling opened into the sewers above. Through those holes faint rays of light filtered down. Some dripped water while others dropped dust into the chamber.

There was an arched exit to the north and another to the west. We took the western exit, which led into an identical room except that it contained smashed cabinets. We searched it and found nothing, so we returned to the previous chamber and chose the other path.

We entered a dark rectangular room measuring 10 by 20 feet, completely empty except for another arched opening to the west. We took it and arrived in another identical room.

We made several searches for secret doors before finally discovering one in the northwest corner. We tried pivoting it, pulling it toward us, pulling it the other way, and opening it from both sides, but what finally worked was lifting it upward. The mechanism triggered with a heavy grinding sound.

We immediately entered a brightly lit room illuminated by lanterns and smelling like wet dog. Judging by eye, the room measured around 20 by 40 feet. There was a row of four columns ahead of us, with debris and broken wood scattered everywhere, and then, damn it, kobolds came rushing out.

Five kobolds. Naturally, we were surprised. They won initiative.

During their segment they advanced toward us, but each of us stood on opposite sides of the columns. As soon as our group could act, Aldith fired her crossbow at the kobold approaching her and killed it instantly.

Elarkein cast Sleep on the group of kobolds and every single one of them fell unconscious.

I thought for a moment about whether we should kill them in their sleep, but we decided to spare their lives instead and searched the area for loot, recovering a dagger and some rations.

Then it was straight back to the sewers and up to the surface to re-enter the city of Zonreiryd. That’s where I stopped the session.

The game was fantastic. I used my dungeon map, an incomplete and minimalist encounter key just enough to make the level function, and a whole bunch of random tables for all sorts of things. It was really cool, and I decided to use my notes to flesh out and properly develop the new first level of Castle Zonreiryd.

When my friends eventually explore it, they won’t have the map, so they’ll have to cartograph the dungeon from my descriptions. Everything will be unknown and left to discover for them.

Development Volunteers

I have a very small team of members that help me in testing out new features on my development server for my web application, AD&D Toolkit. Looking for bugs and offering suggestions before we publish. Currently I want to focus on improving support for OSRIC 3.0 and so there is an emphasis on those people with a deep understanding and knowledge of OSRIC 3.0.

If you'd be good at and interested in helping the development of Toolkit with sneak peaks in this way, please #-create-ticket in our discord. The following are helpful but not all necessary;

• Familiarity with AD&D Toolkit
• Coding experience
• Availability to give prompt(24hr) response time
• Deep and Broad AD&D content knowledge
• Deep and Broad OSRIC 3.0 content knowledge

Note: the mods here have asked me to disclose that Character Sheets use a small, Personal Profile pic. In order to keep AD&D Toolkit free-to-use, I have chosen to minimize my costs where possible, and this includes using some AI image options.

I’m recreating this level of my dungeon in an outrageously over-the-top 1950s pulp sci-fi style. It’s intended for fairly high-level OSRIC tournament play. It’s very clearly inspired by Expedition to the Barrier Peaks.

If I end up publishing it as an OSRIC tournament module, would anyone perhaps be interested in helping me with the illustrations, creating a blueprint-style version of the module, doing the layout, and publishing it as a free PDF?

*(I hope this isn’t inappropriate or coming across as self-promotion.)*

may all mom’s rolls be a 20 today