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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Opportunity Attacks in Old School DnD

Opportunity Attacks in Old School DnD

In short: By using Attacks of Opportunity in your old school or OSR D&D game, you can up the ante in combats – just remember to keep it simple. 

Attacks of Opportunity (or Opportunity Attacks in the more modern parlance) is a rule that was introduced in D&D 3.0, and has been part of Dungeons & Dragons ever since.

Older versions of the game – like Old School Essentials (OSE) and B/X – never had a rule that covered this as it was left completely up to the GM, never even considered, or handled in a different way (long weapons going first in melee combat, is an example in AD&D).

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On The Importance Of Downtime In DnD

On The Importance Of Downtime In DnD

Adventures in Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) are the bread and butter of the game. Adventurers delve into dungeons, explore the wilderness, and navigate cities – all in an effort to become heroes.

Running one adventure after another however, can be overwhelming – for both GM and players.

Characters level up in a matter of days or weeks, and the excitement for the next adventure can dwindle without a space to breathe and reflect on what has already been accomplished.

This is where downtime comes in.

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Book Of Lairs – DnD 2nd Edition

Book Of Lairs – DnD 2nd Edition

The Book of Lairs for the 2nd edition of Dungeons & Dragons came out in 1994 (I still remember buying it in my local gaming store).

It is a series of short encounters (usually 2-3 pages in length) based on a monsters from either the MC3: Monstrous Compendium, Volume Three: Forgotten Realms Appendix (1989) and MC11: Monstrous Compendium, Forgotten Realms Appendix II (1991).

This post has a handy table to help expand on the book, and make it more useful to Gamemasters.

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It’s Not Just “Dungeons & Dragons” Anymore

It’s Not Just “Dungeons & Dragons” Anymore

You cannot ask a question about Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) these days without clarifying what edition or hack you play.

And, I believe (and will hopefully show) that a lot of the misunderstandings (and prerequisite name-calling and bickering) between disparate D&D communities is due to not defining what edition they are playing and/or talking about.

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Why DnD Will Always Be A Pen & Paper Game

Why DnD Will Always Be A Pen & Paper Game

Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) has evolved a lot since it first emerged in the 1970s, but despite all the fancy apps, virtual tabletop tools, and digital aids, one thing remains constant: D&D is, at its heart, a pen-and-paper game.

And it always will be.

Why?

Because what makes D&D special has more to do with imagination and the social, creative experience than anything that technology can replicate.

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Five 2nd-Level Spells In D&D Better Than Web

Five 2nd-Level Spells In D&D Better Than Web

We all know the Web spell is the go-to spell for 3rd-level mages all over. It is a versatile spell and can deal with a lot of weak opponents. But there are better spells out there.

This is a follow-up to my post, Five 1st-Level Spells In D&D Better Than Magic Missile.

As in that post, I will list five spells from OSE/Basic, and D&D3e, that are better than Web.

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