tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5384121608336516305.post9219367718544892870..comments2024-03-21T11:08:55.381-04:00Comments on Ramblings of a Great Khan: Moldvay Basic Observations Part 2-The Great Khanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18342783210750664992noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5384121608336516305.post-55621774141180400272012-05-05T18:37:54.986-04:002012-05-05T18:37:54.986-04:00Quest for the Heartstone is a sentimental favorite...Quest for the Heartstone is a sentimental favorite of mine. I've run it for every group I've played.<br /><br />The water-powered elevator/toilet always fascinates players & the 3 dimensional complexity of the mountain's tunnels was always a favorite.<br /><br />The illusory floor that drops you several stories down into frigid, hydra-infested water is also some real old school brilliance.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5384121608336516305.post-30342849678859180562012-01-28T16:01:45.276-05:002012-01-28T16:01:45.276-05:00I am glad you like the blog, I never played any Mo...I am glad you like the blog, I never played any Moldvay until last weekend although I did use stuff from the old Cook Expert set back in '81 while I was still assembling my AD&D collection. You are correct about Mentzer and Cyclopedia being quite pricey. I got my Cyclopedia back in the 90s when it was still kind of new, mostly as a curiousity because a friend told me it had a lot of the D&D Known World stuff in it; and I had been a fan of that setting ever since I had bought the Expert boxed set. <br /><br />My B/X WW II stuff is still in an Alpha stage at this point, I designed a bit and had one real playtest session, then tweaked the rules a bit and went back to the drawing board for some stuff. I got bogged down on vehicle rules, because they probably need a skill system and I wanted to avoid adding a skill system to B/X and vehicle armor rules and damage to vehicles needed to be on a different scale than that used for characters, I had some ideas for that, but never really got them down. Soft skinned vehicles vs. armored vehicles were an issue with the system, damage to characters inside vehicles, and a slew of other minor things that kept nagging at me. I wanted something that made sense, but kept the game flowing along too. Realism was always going to be trumped by playability and fun, my design model was Sgt. Rock comics and the old Combat TV series.The Great Khanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18342783210750664992noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5384121608336516305.post-52336218143276703532012-01-28T13:12:43.891-05:002012-01-28T13:12:43.891-05:00And hey, I'm curious about that B/X WWII thing...And hey, I'm curious about that B/X WWII thing. Oddly enough, I've been thinking about a B/X Raiders of the Lost Ark game (just for personal use).Georgehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04132556436493370782noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5384121608336516305.post-61034611918361170682012-01-28T13:11:19.907-05:002012-01-28T13:11:19.907-05:00Hey - great blog! I'm just now finding it. T...Hey - great blog! I'm just now finding it. The subject matter, including minis, is right up my alley. You know, I've played a lot of B/X, tons of AD&D, and a smattering of OD&D. But I've never played or even owned Mentzer. I may need to change that. But the Rules Cyclopedia and the old mentzer books seem kind of pricey.Georgehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04132556436493370782noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5384121608336516305.post-89109733413532899602012-01-27T13:41:43.290-05:002012-01-27T13:41:43.290-05:00You know it's kind of funny you say that, beca...You know it's kind of funny you say that, because I think the Mentzer fans and the Moldvay fans both think they are in the minority; as a Holmes kid I don't have a dog in the Moldvay/Mentzer race, I am curious about both, I just wanted to do Moldvay first because it came chronologically first. That and I haven't found a reasonably priced Mentzer Basic set in decent condition yet.<br /><br />The real irony here is that I got side tracked onto this whole B/X thing because of my Oriental Adventures project, Fabian kept converting OA classes & races to Labyrinth Lord, which is based on B/X, as I understand it, so I wanted to go back to the source there and understand the original material on it's own merit.<br /><br />My own OA project is starting to look more like 2nd edition AD&D with all the optional stuff, although that's kind of back-burnered now anyway because I wanted to actually play the Moldvay Basic rules after reading them.<br /><br />On the plus side, if I can ever find a playtest group, my B/X WW II project is looking much more robust, since actually playing Moldvay Basic has given me a greater understanding of how some of the rules subsystems work in play.The Great Khanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18342783210750664992noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5384121608336516305.post-61439749769629398222012-01-25T19:10:33.792-05:002012-01-25T19:10:33.792-05:00Great posts. I know there's a lot of Mentzer k...Great posts. I know there's a lot of Mentzer kids in the clubhouse, but Moldvay will always be, for me, the best basic/intro rules around.scottszhttp://scottsz.posterous.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5384121608336516305.post-71257452970930549572012-01-25T18:33:54.076-05:002012-01-25T18:33:54.076-05:00Yeah, you are probably right. Certainly I don'...Yeah, you are probably right. Certainly I don't need all of it, though. If you are looking for any 'fills' let me know. I have a slew of those splatbooks and some other odd stuff that I don't think really added to the game. As you it is your area of research, I'll send you an inventory of what I have at the least.Matt Smithhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12570581154994099950noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5384121608336516305.post-43032949560019060452012-01-25T18:25:24.762-05:002012-01-25T18:25:24.762-05:00Nice series of posts. Moldvay was where I started ...Nice series of posts. Moldvay was where I started with D&D. As good as the AD&D hardbacks were for lifting cool stuff and inspiration that's all I did. I never moved on to using the AD&D rules to play. Basic was always good enough. I'm going to be running a game on Sunday. Will have to give the rules a quick once over. It's been awhile.<br /><br />http://osrandom.blogspot.com/Lee Lawrencehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01127805337560546059noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5384121608336516305.post-88255742689040546572012-01-25T18:23:34.157-05:002012-01-25T18:23:34.157-05:00You sure about that? You'll miss that stuff wh...You sure about that? You'll miss that stuff when it comes time to teach your son to play D&D, and that time comes quicker than you think.The Great Khanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18342783210750664992noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5384121608336516305.post-91631915768323562442012-01-25T18:18:11.857-05:002012-01-25T18:18:11.857-05:00Dude, you can have all my old D&D stuff. I had...Dude, you can have all my old D&D stuff. I had that Mystara MC and have some of those odd iter-edition publications from the late 90's too. Next time I'm up north I'll try to get it to you. That will probably be March.Matt Smithhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12570581154994099950noreply@blogger.com