Into the Borderlands
An adventure for levels 1-3
The Borderlands. An untamed wild region far-flung from the comforts and protection of civilization.
A lone fortified Keep is the only bastion of Good desperately striving to maintain the forces of Chaos at bay. But Evil is everywhere, lurking in dark caves, fetid swamps, and forlorn forests. Bands of cutthroat brigands and ruthless tribes of humanoids eager to clash with the forces of Good rove the region. The Borderlands hold many secret wondrous locations, and the opportunities for fame, prestige, and fortune are plentiful. But equally abundant are the perils, risks, and challenges to those brave enough to explore the wilds.
Sharpen your swords and axes. Purchase your iron rations and tinderboxes. And don’t forget at least one 10-foot pole. Adventure awaits those with the mettle to confront Chaos in the Borderlands!
Hi.
I'm considering my first foray into PbP GM'ing and have decided to start from the beginning. This would be an homage to the origins of Adventure that began decades ago with B1: In Search of the Unknown and B2: The Keep on the Borderlands...the original first edition adventure modules.
Goodman Games offers a series of modules under the banner "Original Adventures: Reincarnated", with new additions of a handful of some of the earliest modules, available in both 5e and the original versions...with some additions and editing.
I'm honestly not sure which way I'd go yet, as I've never DM'd 5e or OSR, so I figured I'd see first i they're be any interest, and if so, which edition would be prefered. My thought would be to start with Into the Unknown first, and if that goes well, launch into Keep on the Borderlands as a starting point for a sandbox campaign of sorts.
So, anyone wanna play?
I've always wanted to play Keep on the Borderlands. Would personally prefer 5e since I'm not familiar with OSR, but I would be plenty willing to learn.
You know, the way they're written, I could open up with KotB and use that to shift yo Into the Uknown...
My vote is OSR.
Sorry, what is OSR?
Old School Revival. Basic and Expert DnD edited, “cleaned up” and reimagined for the modern era, and typified by Swords and Wizardry from Frog God Games, Old School Essentials by Necrotic Gnome or Labyrinth Lord and Five Torches Deep by whoever they are published by. You can find SRDs for the former two online… I’ll link when I get the chance. [EDIT] And link’t…[/EDIT]
Interested. My vote is OSR.
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Interested! I'm fine with 5e, but it would be nice to try some OSR system. While I have some books for Lamentations of Flame Princess and Adventurer Conqueror King System, I haven't actually played any OSR games. Except the original D&D back in the day (and that was just old school, without the "revival".)
Interested! Voting goes to OSR.
Old School Revival. Basic and Expert DnD edited, “cleaned up” and reimagined for the modern era, and typified by Swords and Wizardry from Frog God Games, Old School Essentials by Necrotic Gnome or Labyrinth Lord and Five Torches Deep by whoever they are published by. You can find SRDs for the former two online… I’ll link when I get the chance. [EDIT] And link’t…[/EDIT]
I see, thx.
Not for me then.
I'm leaning toward Swords & Wizardry, with a bit of homebrew. Still looking through it.
Sounds good :D
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Hi everybody!
I'm interested and I vote for 5E.
Serious question for the people saying OSR: Why do you prefer OSR?
To me, IMHO, the system can't not be boring. The fighter is literally just a d20 roller. No customization, nothing special, no independency.
The Magic-User has all the drawbacks that made 3.0 needed. At first level he gets his one Magic Missile...and that's it. No cantrips to get you by, no racial feats to get you a matial weapon.
And the cleric doesn't even get spells at first level.
1st Level Fighter: "Ow! I'm hurt!"
1st Level Cleric: "Too bad".
*heh* I mean, I understand that Pathfinder might've taken it too far and made for too much optimization, but I think that 5E solved this and, by welding all classes to a common progression line, has kept customization without letting the beast out of the cage.
I mean, of course there are things to watch for, no system is perfect. But 5E is as close to a perfect system as I've found.
(Well, Savage Worlds is close. But that that is another story....)
IMHO. YMMV.
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For me, the appeal is the simplicity and brutality. And randomness.
This leads to a different playstyle - the party cannot just waltz into a room expecting a level-appropriate encounter they should fairly easily win by managing well their character's resources. Just surviving the day is a feat by itself.
And it's very much the opposite to a game like PF 1e, where the "fight is won or lost" already when building the character. (I do like the character-build metagame of PF1e, but it's a different thing)
But as I said earlier, I haven't actually played with OSR system, so this is just I'm expecting.
Here are my reasons (some of these reasons have been stated by others on different boards):
1. I like that they're mechanically minimalistic while being very explicit in the procedures they do care about. It feels like at least twice as much "adventure" happens in an OSR session because the mechanics resolve so quickly, and defined procedures of play quickly carry us into the next player decision chokepoint.
2. Character fragility encourages lateral problem-solving by virtue of threats; knowing that you'll die if you try to brute-force what you want is a great incentive to come up with something more clever and more interesting.
3. It's also just exhilarating. I feel tense, and anxious, then and relieved or devastated when the dice have their say. It's a fun exercise in emotional gambling in a safe, make-believe environment. While that statement could be true in any system, I don't have those emotional reactions when a character's death isn't on the line.
4. They're very modular. I can add in a wholly foreign resolution mechanic to, say, resolve cooking, and it requires no reformatting or rebalancing of the core system.
5. Rolling 2d6 to determine reactions and morale is great, and B/X's smaller modifiers fit into that system better.
6. You don’t start off as a hero but might become one if you are clever enough.
7. I love the stripped-down approach of "rulings over rules." Higher mortality rates makes combat a last resort, which overall encourages creative solutions to problems.
8. The only time I’ve ever found role playing boring is waiting for other players to try to figure out their pc’s action’s from the bloat of options in more modern systems.
9. I don’t have the buy the latest supplement or rule book to keep my pc optimized in the race for stacking bonuses or relevancy.
10. In short, I like OSR games because I value what they prioritize and don't mind what they sacrifice.
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For me, it is nostalgia. This is the system I played for over a decade! I played the weak wizard with only 1 spell...and the strong, yet dumb fighter. When the PHG came out my group was in awe of the paladin and ranger...and the bard was a class almost legendary in scope.
So much fun was had during those games, and we did not worry about skills or powers, but more about the game and trying new and wonderfully outrageous ways to stay alive.
Now don't get me wrong, I really loved the 3rd edition and now the 5th. Pathfinder kept us going through the 4th edition years, and now so many new games abound, but for me, Old School D&D and AD&D will always hold a special place in my heart! That is why I chose to play OSR whenever I can!!
Just my 2cp
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I have this crazy idea in my head to play/DM all of the most iconic D&D adventures/modules, using a system as close as possible to what they were designed for (for example, Night Below using an OSR, or Age of Worms using PF1e Core only, stuff like that). So my main reason for voting OSR is that I am looking for an experience as close as possible to the original, classic ‘Keep on the Borderlands’, even if I understand not all ‘older/classic’ modules will age as well as we may think, since they harken to a time when the view of RPG was much different than what it is today.
I am still very much interested in playing D&D 5e (as I am in playing 4e for example), but I would rather use it to play adventures/modules which will give me a 5e (or 4e) ‘feel’, whatever it may be. Something along the lines of ‘this adventure marked the 5th edition of D&D, for this and that reason’, so let us use 5e to play it.
Last but not least, rules bloating and over-optimization are coming extremely close to ruining my current favorite Fantasy RPG games (PF1e and D&D), so I need to do something about it - finding a different rule set (or going back to basics on a well known one with stuff like OSR and PF1e Core Only, even if you add tweaks as you go along to address stuff like making classes more interesting, or skills more engaging) might bring me more in line with a ‘crowd’ which sees the game more like I do, and rekindle my motivation. Thus my delving into OSR.
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All of the above. Look, I really like D&D 3, 3.5, and 5e as well as both Pathfinder editions.
But the OSR's are just what D&D used to be (D&D Red and Blue/AD&D) way back when I was younger, and everything in the roleplaying world was new and exciting.
Different game style, as has been stated above. Probably not for everyone, but then, every game system just isn't meant to be for everyone. Hell, I have friends who love GURPS, but I can't stand it. * shrug *
So obviously, the vote is very lopsided, and so I've decided upon Swords & Wizardry, with a few modifications/homebrew rules for clarification and balance. Not too many, but for fun/survival-value.
The actual recruitment posting will be up in a day or so.