AD&D: Past Errors in Thuin

My original homebrew campaign, Thuin, was originally written in 1st edition AD&D rules, later converted to 2nd edition AD&D rules, and most recently converted to 3.5 edition D&D rules. The premise of the world was failing magic, rise in barbarism, and an encroaching ice age all in the backdrop of a World War between the Dolestrian Empire to the east and the Sorlonian Kingdoms to the west. Most of the action occurred in one area of the world (the Sturmgard land bridge) and most of the careers of the adventurers were spent in one dungeon (my so-called Test of the Dungeon Master, later re-named Dungeon of Mystery). I committed several errors in the dungeon design which I realize need to be corrected if I'm ever able to salvage the campaign.

The first mistake I made was accessibility. The dungeon was hidden under a kobold mound in the forest, taken over by orc invaders from the mountains. Once the characters entered, the stairs formed a trap keeping them there until they could solve the riddle of the dungeon (which they never did). From here it was a linear plot of find the clues to get to the next level, survive the traps and monsters placed to test the characters and gain them levels, until they got to the lowest level and solved the mystery of why the place existed in the first place. After a few years of running this adventure the party only got to level 3, started playing on the Corridors of Portals which transported them to lost world locations elsewhere on the globe, and then gave up and went into the wilderness after finding a way out of the dungeon. We had the largest group of people ever playing D&D at that time (I believe it was 6 of us), but that soon fractured and, in the end, we ended the campaign on a sour note because I was just tired of lugging a collection of minis and heavy books everywhere I went. I was also running 3 other games at that time and the work was not worth the effort.

I have since amended my dungeon design so that the dungeon is more accessible. No longer will the players feel that need to move ever forward, complaining about how they have to find a way out soon. It might work well for television series, not so much for casual gaming. The setting has to remain robust despite the rules used. The new dungeon will have multiple entrances and exits, allowing more freedom of movement and make more sense for some larger creatures to exist in the lower levels.

I have a feeling that I want to expel the "drow" from the world. I added these creatures under pressure from one of the players so he could play the "one Good-aligned drow ranger." Damn Bob Salvatore and his evil ways! Anyway, they are being replaced by my intelligent spiders who are all spellcasters and resemble the aranea or perhaps the Nerubians from World of Warcraft. I was also thinking of using the chitines from DUNGEON adventures or some other races of spellcasting creatures like those wacky six-armed extra-planar spellweavers from later editions. They make more sense than importing those over-used elves into the world again. This requires some reworking of past characters, to be sure, but I'm sure Bruce wouldn't mind.... :)

The other big mistake I made affected the players more in later editions. The Council of Twilight was a group of mages tasked with making sure that magic is kept in the hands of those with the knowledge of how to use them properly and for the good of the world. The mages were persecuted when one of the Sykonian mages allowed demons into the world and started the Demon Wars. It has been centuries since the demons were expelled, but wizards are still mistrusted. They were supposed to gather up lost magic items and return to Sykon with them to be catalogued, examined, and possibly duplicated. This was problematic since the party would be required to hand over any magic items to the party mage who then would disappear with them. It never happened that way in the game, but then Joey was the resident mage who wanted to do nothing more than throw fireballs around and blow up the party. This was poor planning on my part. I've since amended this to only requiring mages to report artifacts left over from the Demon Wars and to report the presence of any surviving demons that escaped banishment. In essence, the wizards of the world become extraplanar border patrolmen.

The high level part of the campaign was supposed to introduce a few powerful artifacts into the campaign, the location of the last heir of Parthavia, and the release of magic back into the world. The players never stuck around long enough to get to that part of the campaign so I could never see if it would work.

Further Musing on Basic Greyhawk

Since I decided to use Basic/Expert rules as the basis for my next Greyhawk campaign in Castle Greyhawk I've been trying to decide all the options I would allow in the game. So far I've come up with the following:

• Stats will follow the BASIC/EXPERT rules exactly, so no minimums for the base classes. There will be no XP granted based on ability score adjustments (however, see below).
• No such thing as percentile strength (which I did not like anyway) and no change in weapon damage based on defender size (however I am working on modifying damage based on weapon size used by the attacker, by changing the die type up or down).
• Races permitted are Human (sub-races of Oeridian, Suloise, Baklunish, and Flan), Dwur (sub-races of Hill Dwarf and Mountain Dwarf), Olve (sub-races of Sylvan, Grey, and High), and Hobniz (sub-races of Hairfoot, Stout, and Tallfellow). Gnomes are not permitted as PCs, and Half-Elves and Half-Orcs are not viable races. Also Rhennee humans are only permitted as NPCs.
• Classess available for play include: Cleric, Druid, Monk, Magic-User, Fighter, Paladin, Thief, Assassin. I see no need to include rangers although I could as NPCs. Also, the Illusionist is really unnecessary since the spell selection of the magic-user class precludes the need for a separate class. I'm also thinking of merging assassin and thief or breaking thieves down by alignment (N = thief, E = assassin) but that seems too restricting. Clerics must be Good or Evil; Druids must be Neutral.
• Level limits may or may not be used depending on the way humans are played. Perhaps allowing the demi-humans to advance unlimited in one class only (i.e. Fighter for dwarf, Magic-User for elf, and Thief for Halfling) and limit the others to mid-level (say 6th to 8th) depending on aptitude. A halfling, unsuited for fighting, may only advance to 6th level fighter, while an elf could go to 8th level. The only benefit humans get is a 10% bonus to XP earned across the board, regardless of ability score. This represents human tenacity and adaptability.
• Multi-classing will be an option for demi-humans only, but functions differently. They only have ONE level to deal with and both classes advance together by adding XP requirements. Advancing one level beyond one that has reached it's level limit requires DOUBLE the necessary XP. This is the price for multiclassing, slower advancement. Example, an elven fighter/magic-user of 1st level needs enough XP to make both his classes 2nd level in order to advance (add together Fighter XP for 2nd level and Magic-User XP for 2nd level). When he reaches the level limit for fighter, double his required Magic-User XP to advance to next level.
• Alignment is changed from Lawful, Neutral, Chaotic to Good, Neutral, Evil. This makes more sense since all the spell names deal with good or evil, not law or chaos.
• Equipment will remain as listed in the Basic/Expert rules with possibly some additions from AD&D lists as required. All containers will be listed with encumbrance capacities.
• The coin weight system will remain at 10 coins/pound of weight. Assume this: if 40 quarters = 1 lb, and D&D coins are roughly the size of half dollars, and these are double the weight of a quarter, then 20 coins = 1 lb. Now, assuming that a gold coin (the weight standard) is double the weight of a half-dollar coin, then 10 coins = 1 pound as already established in D&D. Weights will add up quickly so size of sacks and capacities of chests need to be worked out.
• Spells will remain as presented in the Basic/Expert rules, but the spells added for higher levels will also be used. Clerics cannot cast spells at 1st level in Basic/Expert rules. They also receive no bonus spells for high Wisdom.
• Combat rules will remain fast and ambiguous; combat maneuvers add too much difficulty to the system and will be used sparingly.
• Monsters from AD&D, Fiend Folio and the Monster Manual II will be adapted for use in Basic Greyhawk.
• Treasures may also be included from AD&D but made for Basic/Expert Rules.
• Maximum level of the Campaign will be 14th level unless the players agree to progress further.

The original Castle Greyhawk of my own devising will be used for the scenario. It will consist of six main levels and a number of side levels and sub-levels as required. I intend on having Zagyg involved with the lower levels and lots of adventuring plots in the upper levels. Characters will be based in the City of Greyhawk only a few miles away from the dungeon. The Castle will likely be located east of the city near the edge of the Mistmarsh.