Old Random Thoughts or OT Chit-Chat Thread • Page 47 • Collecting General • The Acaeum

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Old Random Thoughts or OT Chit-Chat Thread
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FormCritic
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Posted: Wed Aug 01, 2007 4:10 pm

There has been some talk of an Acaeum gathering at GenCon, and possibly an open gaming event with Rob Kuntz as the DM....

So, here's an off topic AD&D question to consider:

Let's say that a group of AD&D adherents were to get together, gathered from all over the world.

What version of AD&D would they play?

I'm not being facetious....what AD&D rules would they tend to use and not use?

For instance, would Unearthed Arcana be a good thing or a bad thing? Or, would the DM use parts of Unearthed Arcana while disallowing other parts?

Would classes from Dragon magazine be OK to use?

What about the non-weapon proficiencies from the Wilderness Survival Guide and the Dungeoneers Survival Guide?

How about pisonics?

Weapon speed factor?

Initiative?

Racial class limitations?

Oriental Adventures?

How much time do you spend explaining house rules?

Also, at conventions is it considered non-Kosher to use modules from Mayfair or some other D&D copycat company?

With limited time, in a convention setting, how does the DM maximize playing time and minimize down time with questions about the rules?

Mark :scratch:

"But I have watched the dragons come, fire-eyed, across the world."

red_bus
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Posted: Wed Aug 01, 2007 4:37 pm

FormCritic wrote:For instance, would Unearthed Arcana be a good thing or a bad thing? Or, would the DM use parts of Unearthed Arcana while disallowing other parts?

I am a big fan of UA weapon specialisation - it gives fighters an advantage that paladins and rangers don't have - and also against the rising relative advantage of spell using classes as levels rise. It is a sizeable advantage - but not too difficult for the DM to adapt to.

UA had some sensible new spells too. I wasn't too happy about the Barbarian - most people managed to play Barbarians by tinkering with fighters (you can do a lot of what it is intended to do with some simple homebrew adaptations). And the Cavalier was banned by everyone I played with.

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killjoy32
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Posted: Wed Aug 01, 2007 5:51 pm

i think if Rob was DMing it would be along the lines of OD&D rules imo....

Al

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FormCritic
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Posted: Wed Aug 01, 2007 6:55 pm

red_bus wrote:
I am a big fan of UA weapon specialisation - it gives fighters an advantage that paladins and rangers don't have - and also against the rising relative advantage of spell using classes as levels rise. It is a sizeable advantage - but not too difficult for the DM to adapt to.

UA had some sensible new spells too. I wasn't too happy about the Barbarian - most people managed to play Barbarians by tinkering with fighters (you can do a lot of what it is intended to do with some simple homebrew adaptations). And the Cavalier was banned by everyone I played with.

That is one of my main questions....

Weapon specialization radically changed the balance of the game.

The cavalier was a troublesome class from the beginning.

I have never seen a barbarian class that made logical sense in any edition of D&D. (One of the main reasons for the barbarian class was to recreate Conan...who never acted like a D&D barbarian and specifically did not adventure in a fur loincloth.)

Ironically, part of the stated rationale behind the publication of AD&D was to create a set of universal rules for tournament play.

Unearthed Arcana was like a grenade tossed in the door of AD&D.

Oriental Adventures was like AD&D getting mortared by Chinese bandits.

How do guys who like the old game deal with different interpretations and iterations of AD&D?

"But I have watched the dragons come, fire-eyed, across the world."

FormCritic
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Posted: Wed Aug 01, 2007 6:59 pm

killjoy32 wrote:i think if Rob was DMing it would be along the lines of OD&D rules imo....

Al

IF Rob were to use OD&D rules, how would he explain his particular version of the rules to his convention open play players?

What supplements would he use or not use?

Since OD&D has been in a deep freeze for 30 years, how would anyone know what to do or where to look?

"But I have watched the dragons come, fire-eyed, across the world."

killjoy32
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Posted: Wed Aug 01, 2007 7:19 pm

FormCritic wrote:
How do guys who like the old game deal with different interpretations and iterations of AD&D?

i don't. i play the original form of AD&D with no additional classes etc.

i play the rules loosely as i like the role-playing more and the game to be enjoyed by all.

if anyone agues the toss on anything, i have my own ways of just getting it how i want it anyway.

Al

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killjoy32
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Posted: Wed Aug 01, 2007 7:21 pm

FormCritic wrote:
IF Rob were to use OD&D rules, how would he explain his particular version of the rules to his convention open play players?

What supplements would he use or not use?

Since OD&D has been in a deep freeze for 30 years, how would anyone know what to do or where to look?

well you could always have supplements to hand....

anyway what do i know

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sauromatian
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Posted: Wed Aug 01, 2007 8:17 pm

FormCritic wrote:IF Rob were to use OD&D rules, how would he explain his particular version of the rules to his convention open play players?
What supplements would he use or not use?
Since OD&D has been in a deep freeze for 30 years, how would anyone know what to do or where to look?

When I ran an OD&D game, I made photocopied booklets of the relevant stuff from the white box, Outdoor Survival, & early issues of The Dragon.

The Rule Cyclopedia would be the easiest way to go about it. That's just one volume, is only about 15 years old, & has the essential rules characteristics: unarmored AC is 9, clerics use 2D6 to turn undead, etc.

Guido-the-Gypsy
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Posted: Wed Aug 01, 2007 8:48 pm

Sorry to interupt happy thoughts. The Highway 35W bridge that crosses the Mississippi River, here in Minneapolis, MN collapsed (about 1/2 mile from my home). There were up to 300 cars on the bridge at the time of collapse. Can't reach two of my gaming buddies that we coming over to game tonight. They use that bridge to get here and should have been here right at the time the bridge collapsed. Please think of us here in Minneapolis tonight.

Thanks all.

bclarkie
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Posted: Wed Aug 01, 2007 8:55 pm

Guido-the-Gypsy wrote:Sorry to interupt happy thoughts. The Highway 35W bridge that crosses the Mississippi River, here in Minneapolis, MN collapsed (about 1/2 mile from my home). There were up to 300 cars on the bridge at the time of collapse. Can't reach two of my gaming buddies that we coming over to game tonight. They use that bridge to get here and should have been here right at the time the bridge collapsed. Please think of us here in Minneapolis tonight.

Thanks all.

Sorry to hear that Paul. I was actually just reading about the bridge collapse on Yahoo just a few minutes ago. Heres hoping that they are just stuck in the traffic caused by this horrific accident.

"He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you." -Neitzche

jasonw1239
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Posted: Wed Aug 01, 2007 9:07 pm

Guido,
I just got home and am watching the bridge story on CNN.
Please let us know if your friends are ok.

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g026r
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Posted: Wed Aug 01, 2007 9:13 pm

I know I haven't really been here long enough for you to have any idea who I am but, well, hopefully your friends are okay.

Guido-the-Gypsy
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Posted: Wed Aug 01, 2007 9:20 pm

No word yet. Your eyes can play funny tricks on you when you are freaked out and watching the news. I could swear I see the car that they drive, but my wife is convinced that it is someone elses.

Thanks for the support, all. Appreciated more than you know.

Just heard 23 seriously injured, 6 critical, and one deceased.

Guido-the-Gypsy
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Posted: Wed Aug 01, 2007 10:16 pm

Good news. Everyone is accounted for. Whew!!! Scary. They were caught in traffic and could not make any calls out because cell phone networks were bogged down with all the activity.

Six confirmed dead now. I suspect that it will only get worse.

jasonw1239
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Posted: Wed Aug 01, 2007 10:53 pm

Glad to hear your friends are ok. Looks like a lot of other people were not so lucky.
CNN just interviewed an emergency center worker who said that they believe that there are as many as 50 cars submerged.

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Guido-the-Gypsy
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Posted: Wed Aug 01, 2007 11:13 pm

It would not suprise me. The bridge is 2000 feet long and 4 lanes going each way. The side under construction is down to two lanes, but the cars were bumper to bumper. If one assumes that a car is 15' long, the math is pretty simple and scary. No telling how many cars were on the side that had all 4 lanes open. To top it off, the Twins game started only 50 minutes after the collapes. The stadium is only 1/4 mile from the bridge.

jasonw1239
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Posted: Wed Aug 01, 2007 11:53 pm

Quote from the CNN website:

Gov. Tim Pawlenty said inspections of the 40-year-old bridge in 2005 and 2006 found no structural defects, but a 2001 study conducted by the Minnesota Department of Transportation found "several fatigue problems" in the bridge's approach spans and "poor fatigue details" on the main truss.

The study suggested that the design of bridge's main truss could cause a collapse if one of two support planes were to become cracked, although it allowed that a collapse might not occur in that event. But, the study concluded, "fatigue cracking of the deck truss is not likely" and "replacement of the bridge ... may be deferred."

I guess they will not have to defer it any longer...

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gyg
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Posted: Thu Aug 02, 2007 12:05 am

heard all about it earlier on the news, glad your people are safe Guido.

Puts what we write about, and get passionate about here into a bit of perspective (as many news items tend to do). Another reminder that we should all count our blessings.

(Note to self - be particularly nice to the wife and kids when arriving home from work)

You can never have too much of something you didn't need in the first place.

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