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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8 Takeaways From D20 Modern To Use In Your Dungeons & Dragons Campaign

8 Takeaways From D20 Modern To Use In Your D&D Campaign

If you are not familiar with D20 Modern, it is a system that came out at the height of the D20 boom in the 2000s, which was powered by D&D 3rd edition. 

Cashing in on the D20 craze, Wizard of the Coast released the D20 Modern around the same time as they released the D20 Star Wars RPG. 

I never got into D20 Modern at the time, although I did have a copy which I skimmed through, but I managed to grab one off on eBay recently, and found some gems in there. 

Here are my 8 take-aways from D20 Modern to use in my Dungeons & Dragons campaign. 

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Grounded Fantasy

Grounded Fantasy

This (very short) post is my attempt to explain what fantasy I like the most: Grounded Fantasy.

Grounded Fantasy is fantasy that has one foot firmly planted on solid ground, and one firmly planted in fantasy.

There is magic, but it’s not over-powered. There is the fantastic, but it meshes with harsh reality.

But what do I mean by “grounded”?

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How I Do Experience Points And Leveling In D&D

How I Do Experience Points And Leveling In D&D

How I give out experience points and how PCs level up in my Dungeons & Dragons campaigns. 

I have combined XP and levelling as they tend to go hand-in-hand.

First off, I am not a huge fan of experience points (XP) as they are written – in any edition of the game – for two main reasons:

  1. The calculations involved are onerous
  2. They reward certain behaviour

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Using Ability Scores In D&D To Define Your Character

Using Ability Scores In D&D To Define Your Character

Abilities scores define your character.

Of all the various editions of Dungeons and Dragons, nothing is as standardized (well, except using a D20) as the six abilities.

No matter how you generate them (or in which order you list them), Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma are synonymous with the game.

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My Review of Five Torches Deep’s Origins

My Review of Five Torches Deep’s Origins

Before I start this review I want you to know I am a big fan of Five Torches Deep and all past supplements (I even ran a FTD Fan Page on Facebook at one stage, and have created a complete proficiency list). The base game was a breath of fresh air when I needed one (being over 5e) and the past supplements have been really good additions to the base game. 

Five Torches Deep: Origins is a mixed bag. 

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How To Surprisingly Turn D&D 5e Into An Old School OSR Game

D&D as old school OSR game

This is a bit of an on-going experiment, but I decided to strip Dungeons and Dragons 5th edition down to its core to see how close I could replicate the earlier editions of the game. 

Or, in other words, make it more like an old school D&D or OSR (Old School Renaissance) game. 

And surprisingly, it works pretty well. 

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Examples Of The Common Sense Test In Action

Examples Of The Common Sense Test In Action

I have been getting some feedback on my last article around making adjudications and using what I like to call the Common Sense test when making them.

Basically, the common sense test boils down to you asking yourself ‘does this make sense?’

And if it does, all good. But if it doesn’t then you are within your rights to change it. Or even disallow it.

Continue reading “Examples Of The Common Sense Test In Action”

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