Category: Old School D&D

The old school D&D category contains many articles about playing and GMing old school D&D. That is, D&D that highlights the styles of playing from the 70s and 80s. It also includes OSR material.

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Riding Horses & Grass Fires – New D&D Rules

Riding Horses & Grass Fires – New D&D Rules

In a recent OSE campaign session, the PC had to travel from their home town to some nearby hills (some 3 days ride away) to hopefully catch up with a mining caravan who was heading to the hills to prospect a future mining operation.

Before they left, the PCs wanted to buy some horses. They already had two donkeys, but felt riding some of the way would be better and the horses can carry any provisions they needed.

This was my first hurdle.

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1:1 Time And How I Came Up With My Own Idea

1:1 Time And How I Came Up With My Own Idea

I started using 1:1 time in my D&D campaigns – both online and solo – but I realised that it wasn’t working as I hoped.

So, I developed this hybrid model that I am currently testing out.

There are actually two models I am using:

      1. For my 2-player online campaign
      2. For my solo campaigns

Why two different ones? I will explain below, but they are very similar.

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The D&D Magic-User In Issue 58

The D&D Magic-User In Issue 58

In issue 58 of my Dungeons & Dragons zine, d12 Monthly, I give a newer version of the magic-user class.

It’s not at all dissimilar to the B/X magic-user you know (although there are some changes), but given there are only four classes in the issue (where all other classes can be based off), I thought it worthwhile explaining a little more about why I created it all this way, and why I kept the term magic-user, while changing the thieve and fighter.

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Adventures Are Killing Your D&D Campaign

Adventures Are Killing Your D&D Campaign

Summary: Running adventures, where everyone needs to show up at your table or the session is cancelled, is ruining your campaign. There is a better way, which involves running an open world sandbox.
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Last night I was GM in my two-player Dungeons & Dragons campaign, but only one player could make it.

And it was a blast!

The thing is, there was no set adventure, which meant we could play even though there was only one player.

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Revisiting What The Monsters Are Doing Chart

Revisiting What The Monsters Are Doing Chart

Back in 2021 I released Issue 1 of my d12 Monthly zine which had a table that let you roll what a monster was doing when the PCs showed up.

This was mainly for random encounters, but could be used for any encounter really.

Later that year I wrote an article about it to showcase how it could be used and the importance of it when trying to simulate a fantasy world and to keep verisimilitude.

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D&D Monster Intelligence: Stop Playing Them Like Idiots (Unless They Are)

D&D Monster Intelligence Stop Playing Them Like Idiots (Unless They Are)

Here’s the hard truth: if your wolves, orcs, and liches all fight like fearless sacks of hit points until they fall over, you’re not running monsters, you’re running target dummies.

Intelligence is the deciding factor in how a monster acts, reacts, and tries not to die.

Ignore it, and every encounter feels the same. Use it, and suddenly the dungeon feels alive and hostile – in the best possible way.

This is a guide to running monsters by Intelligence.

No theory. No fluff. Just behaviour you can apply at the table.

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