RPG Superstar Season 9 Top 32
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These young pup GMs all need to be spoon fed these days. Back when I was killing my first PCs the modules came in black and white with blueprint maps on the back of the cover! Gary Gygax would give you a room description with the monster name, how many, and he thoughtfully rolled their hit points for you. The rest you looked up in the Monster Manual... AND YOU LIKED IT! If you wanted an alternative you bought Judges Guild(3PP)! JG was about the same only more cheaply published with wonderfully imaginative material and randomly detailed features. The "Judge" (GM) was given a bare-bones adventure supplement and was expected to flesh out the details. Everything was more personalized. If you lacked imagination, rules knowledge or game balance -- your players knew it. Weak GMs squirmed and were jeered at by players and GMs alike. Some were hazed. Some were snagged on. Some, like me, survived. But we can never, never forget!
Come to the thread. Sign the guestbook.
You don't have to feel all alone.
You don't have to live like a r4efugee.
You have friends.
I love this thread. Not my favorite thread, but a good thread. My THAC0 is still 9. Before bonuses.
Hey, can I be a grognard too???
I had a letter-to-the-editor printed in Dragon #86, on the subject of why Len Lakofka was trying to spoil people's fun.
I ran my players through "Fedifensor".
He he, I will need to find that Dragon pdf, and also the module, I think it was in #67?
That was the psionics issue, wasn't it? That was a fun read!
*happily puts on his Grognard nametag*
I'm a proud member of the Grognardian way. I've even been a quarterling.
If you know what a THAC0 is you might be a grognard.
If you ever had 3/2 attacks you might be a grognard.
If you know what a +3 back scratcher looks like you might be a grognard.
If you know Dave you might be a grognard.
If your halfings refuse to wear shoes you might be a grognard.
Mr. Fishy is a grognard.
If you think the Barbarian is a new fangled class for Fighters who want dps...
If you have to remind yourself that it's O.K. to play a Druid because they aren't level capped anymore...
... you just might be a grognard.
Druids do not have a level cap anymore? Since when? ~faints~
Does anyone remember this old D & D spoof? It was circa 1st edition or so. In it the "players" became super powerful and were out to rule the world. It has a female human facing off against an evil female half elf. Oh, and the Paladin was a "normal" Paladin who's holy sword was taken by one of the uber powerful characters. I have been looking for a copy of that spoof story for a while.
Druids do not have a level cap anymore? Since when? ~faints~If you think the Barbarian is a new fangled class for Fighters who want dps...
If you have to remind yourself that it's O.K. to play a Druid because they aren't level capped anymore...
... you just might be a grognard.
<offers Sharoth a shot of wiskey>
Brace yourself, Monks aren't capped either.
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I still sing "Valley Elf" on occasion...
If you know what a THAC0 is you might be a grognard.
If you ever had 3/2 attacks you might be a grognard.
If you know what a +3 back scratcher looks like you might be a grognard.
If you know Dave you might be a grognard.
If your halfings refuse to wear shoes you might be a grognard.
Mr. Fishy is a grognard.
You have both just made me feel real old.
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Grognards remember when...
Halflings, Elves, and Dwarves were character CLASSES.
Bards were the proto-type prestige class, and they were scary.
Assassins were a base class.
The rulebooks were rife with boobies.
Psionics were largely a matter of luck.
Talking to monsters got party members (or at least half of them) eaten!
I still sing "Valley Elf" on occasion...
OK, now I have to dig through my dragon pdfs to find which one had the valley elf song in it.
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Valley Elf,
He's a Valley Elf,
Valley Elf,
He's a Valley Elf...
So cool, so fair,
With chartreuse hair,
So young, secure --
"Fer sure, fer sure,
like, oh, man, I was really down today,
like, sooo down,
I almost flunked archery today,
I was blitzed totally, it was
wrong. Like, I wore my elven cloak
into the dungeon, y'know, and it got all
grody with, wow, like
spider webs and green slime all over it,
like yucko, like
when I saw it when we got out I thought, oh,
gag me with a wand,
it was grody to the max, just psionic, like,
and I had to clean it, oh,
gross me out, man.
Totally awesome. I hate to go in dungeons,
they are so rank, and some of the monsters just like
freak me out, man, like, totally
disgusting, barf city man, it was so gross
that I thought, like, Hey, keep away from me, man!
Like no way I'm gonna ever even use my sword
on you, I just waxed it, y'know, like
gag me with a mace."
Valley Elf,
He's a Valley Elf,
Valley Elf,
He's a Valley Elf...
North of Geoff, South of Ket,
By the River Javan wet,
Living with the stubby gnomes,
The Valley Elves do make their homes.
"Sure, totally, y'know, I had a dog, man,
a cooshee, like he was special,
a Gucci cooshee poochie,
he had designer genes, like, really rare,
he was just awesome, but not too housebroken.
I had to clean up after him, and that was like grody,
just gross to the max, but, wow,
like, no biggie, cuz he was my
dog, y'know, but he's gone now, totally, see,
I met the mage the other day, and, wow, man,
the mage has got like no,
totally no sense of humor. Like, I made a joke,
y'know, I thought it was super,
like, I saw the mage and said like, hey,
we're in the Valley of the Jolly,
like, Ho Ho Ho, Green Valley Mage,
just like the freakin' commercials,
but he just looked at me, like wow,
he must have really been out of it, man,
like he was so out of it he threw
one of those, like, meteor swarms at me, it was just
awesome, I mean it was just, oh wow man, it was
astral, and it missed me and hit my dog,
my designer dog, like,
crispy critter city,
I was really bummed out, really bad like."
Valley Elf,
He's just a Valley Elf,
Valley Elf,
He's just a Valley Elf...
He's a super Valley Elf,
So chaotic, sure of self,
Tall and thin and fair of face,
His brain is lost in outer space.
"Oh, super, like I live in the
good part of the Valley,
y'know, where we're all into, like,
real ethereal things, like
I got a set of designer ring mail
for my birthday, I was totally
freaked out, like, my old set was getting
full of wrinkles and it had
blood on it from where I cut myself
with my short sword, yeah, really, like
agony, man. I was in total agony
for an hour. Really,
but now I'm together, like,
fer sure, no problem.
That was close, man,
like I was so sure I was gonna
pass out fer sure,
I lucked totally.
Good thing."
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RPG Superstar 2010 Top 16
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Grognards remember when...
Halflings, Elves, and Dwarves were character CLASSES.
Bards were the proto-type prestige class, and they were scary.
Assassins were a base class.
The rulebooks were rife with boobies.
Psionics were largely a matter of luck.
Talking to monsters got party members (or at least half of them) eaten!
And some of us remember when elves were a race that advanced as a combination of Fighting Man and Magic-user, well before there were "bards" and "assassins," let alone "psionics".
"Elves as a Class" was a novelty to the "Basic D&D" boxed set.
I have suspected that the reason Paladins have historically had "codes of honor" is that the (Greyhawk supplement) Paladin class pre-dates the good/evil alignment spectrum, so Paladins only had to be Lawful. The Code of Honor seems to be a way to force a "good guy" behavior.
Next year, I want to run a wilderness encounter on the "Outdoor Survival" game board.
** spoiler omitted **...
YES!!!!!! THANK YOU, CJ!!!!!!!!!
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Played a cleric in Basic when they didn't get spells - at first level.
Box sets came with dice and a crayon - so you could fill in the number grooves
Got my 1st edition Monster Manual at - Hallmark Cards (and not the toy/game store which was right next door) in '79
I remember when the back of the module (the cover with the maps on the other side) listed a few TSR products/modules... and then as time went by, more modules...then more modules.
I remember the 700 club and hiding my books, I remember buying "the Dragon" at the supermarket.
I remember the Keep on the Borderlands and the Village of Hommlet -and waiting for the Temple of Elemental Evil to come out - seemed like forever.
Yeah, time to face the facts - I'm a grognard.
I remember when bards started as fighters, had to dual class as thieves, and then had to train as druids, but druids were level capped below max bard cap.
This was not fixed until Unearthed Arcana.
I was a grognard before we even had any grog to nard on.
Being the only kid at school in a small town to own a Red Box.... The nearest shop that you knew that sold the game was 1000kms away and your mum to get you the blue box for Christmas had to call relatives and get them to go to the weird book shop and buy the blue box and post it to you.
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Played a cleric in Basic when they didn't get spells - at first level.
Box sets came with dice and a crayon - so you could fill in the number grooves
Got my 1st edition Monster Manual at - Hallmark Cards (and not the toy/game store which was right next door) in '79
I remember when the back of the module (the cover with the maps on the other side) listed a few TSR products/modules... and then as time went by, more modules...then more modules.
I remember the 700 club and hiding my books, I remember buying "the Dragon" at the supermarket.
I remember the Keep on the Borderlands and the Village of Hommlet -and waiting for the Temple of Elemental Evil to come out - seemed like forever.
Yeah, time to face the facts - I'm a grognard.
+1
The cleric thing was a pain. After the first encounter, with a kobold stabbing you for 4 hit points of damage, the whole party had to go back to the Keep to rest for FOUR DAYS only to go back for another encounter.
I still have some of those old modules that list ALL of TSRs products on the back jacket.
The family next door were part of The PTL Club. Their son, who was about my age kept warning me that, at the age of 9, I was going to Hell.
I remember griping about how long it was taking TSR to release the Companion Box Set. Having already run up to 12th level, I wanted to get to 36th.
**PSA for the Youngsters***
If you can find a copy of the adventure Castle Amber, buy it immediately! Best adventure EVER!
Never went to Gen Con, I did the first 5 Origins though.
I bought traveller the first year when it still had negative die roll modifiers on certain damage rolls by weapon type.
I was always more of a board wargamer though.
... It was circa 1st edition or so. ...
...
Got my 1st edition Monster Manual at -...
Heh?!? Back in my day their was not First! it was ADVANCED, ADVANCED I say! You hear me? AD&D if you were serious.
.... The nearest shop that you knew that sold the game was 1000kms away ...
Heh!?! back in my day we measured things in miles not that fancy 'earth-is-round-and-this-is-halfway to the other-half' sciencey stuff.*
I still have one of TSR's catalogue. It had lots of dwarves loading a dragon with boxes of gaming stuff. My dad ordered so I could get the military discount. O:) Hmmm... sounds weird to say 'my dad.' I think I am older now than he was then.
*Oh wait, the US still does it this way. Never mind.
