Tomorrow I'm going to introduce several of the LittleRedBats, and assorted friends, to AD&D.A good portion of my twenties was spent playing the game (particularly the Lost University Years, over which we shall draw a veil), but I don't think I've rolled a d20 in anger, since I got into figure wargaming around 1985.
Digging out the old manuals has been an almost archaeological experience; I've had to borrow various tomes from one of my gaming mates, and I still lack a screen and the combat tables. Luckily I still have a lot of the old miniatures. Skimming the rulebooks today it is all starting to come back to me, but it is daunting that I remember so little, when once upon a time I must have almost known them by heart!
I've decided to stay thoroughly retro and eschew all the more modern versions of AD&D, so that tomorrow will be almost an exercise in time travel! Last time I visited the village of Hommlet, it was 1980...
Enjoy! It gave me a warm fuzzy just seeing the DMG.
ReplyDeleteI also haven't gone back to RPGs in ages (decades?!?) but that does bring back fond memories for me as well. Good luck, sounds like fun!
ReplyDeleteCheers guys! When I totted the years up yesterday, I was astonished to see quite how many have passed, since I last played (25!).
ReplyDeleteWe played for around 4 hours yesterday, and it seems to have been a great success; it looks like we will be playing a second session next Friday. I really enjoyed myself! Was great to see how much of the DMing came back.
ReplyDeleteI particularly enjoyed frowning, and rolling dice behind my screen, for no other reason than to increase tension.
Och, with an evil chuckle every now and again also, I presume? One hint, keep the mysteries of the DMG just that, mysteries, for as long as possible. The world is never quite the same once you know how it works.
ReplyDeleteOh man that brings back memories, I love the smell that goes with these old books when you open them for the first time in 25 years. A huge wave of memories bowls you over and you spend ten minutes lost in deep thought before coming around.
ReplyDeleteTen minutes, Secundus? And the rest! :-) The edges of the pages of my old dungeons have gone brown and crinkly and look like medieval documents.
ReplyDeleteMy youngest boy has just asked if his mates can come around to play it. I may end up being a serial DM...
:)
ReplyDeleteGood stuff, I like the way the enthusiasm of the "younger [next] generation" comes through :)
I see a later episode also has the much practiced "run away" tactic of my dungeonering[sic] days. "You know that if you get in enough fights somebody is going to roll a 20 on you and the DM is going to get out his new Critical Hit table!"