A channel dedicated to running D&D and other RPG games, but mainly my favourite edition, released between 1983 and 1986, commonly referred to as BECMI (Basic, Expert, Companion, Master, Immortals).
I’m always interested in feedback from anyone who can offer advice or tips. Otherwise, I hope you enjoy the content.
BECMI Berserker logo and artwork created and gifted by the very generous Steve Young, contactable at steveyoungwork@hotmail.com Thank you, Steve!!
I love this video! As a guy who has played D&D since 1982, and several months ago gave 5e a serious try and realized it wasn't enjoyable to run, and it created a game style that I didn't like. Back to AD&D with me and my group. 5th edition is Super Hero D&D. Not much of a threat of death. Minus that critical element games fall apart, I don't care how good their rules are.
I am about to run AD&D with this setting and while I will drop a few things and add more, I kind of like the tourism angle. Not saying I would go as full bore as they did and I will definitely have it littered with spas and other high end establishments for the elite of Thyatis, Minrothad and other kingdoms to play in, I think my biggest change is I want a large centrally located volcano right in the middle. Sort of like the Vesuvius of the world...just bigger.
I've never played properly played any edition of D&D, but I understand that the concept of a "lower" AC being better throws players off who have been trained to see higher numbers as better. I've seen alternative ascending AC offered up, but I've never understood why players wouldn't just change the minus in descending AC to a plus, and adding a minus to the "high" ACs. The intention being that the AC is added or subtracted to the attacker's THAC0 to generate the attacker's target number to hit. So I would change it from; 2 / 1 / 0 / -1 / -2 Into something like; -2 / -1 / 0 / +1 / +2 I assume that would be an easy fix, unless I'm mistaken.
One factor I find in it's favour is annoying people who find adding and subtracting small numbers hard. It seems to be a case of people wanting to do nerd stuff, without doing nerd stuff. Thac0 is one number that I usually split into two with the relevant ability modifiers factored in and then you add or take depending on the AC, my main pet peeve about it remains the lack of it in monster entries. Constantly having to refer to charts for monster attacks is a nuisance.
A man after my own heart!!! Your top 3 are my top 3. My #4 is how 5e tries to make everyone special - so no one is special. Bards are the only class to get the top healing spell - a tavern singer more than a healer? 5e sought to make characters powerful and de-emphasize magic gear. Characters and monsters have MUCH more hit points in 5e but most weapons do less damage. A holy avenger does at least +5 damage to an opponent in old school but only +3 to normal opponents in 5e. I found 5e just un-immersive. Magic gear is supposed to be special. In mythology, it was often the special magical gear the hero had that made the difference between life and death. My #5 is something you mentioned in your #1 - no consequence for going to zero hit points. A simple cantrip has that fight back attacking as if he had not been harmed. I added a level of exhaustion to any character dropped to zero but in old school the character was disabled (unable to fight or do anything strenuous) until he/she receives a full nights rest.
nothing more to say. everything annoying/exasperating (starting with hp in 1e) is either directly related to your 3 pts or derivative to them. if there is no threat, there is no investment. it's all turned into a flat, uninteresting cosplay...
Hey berserker! Im thinking about making a planescape (from 2e) campaign and run it in becmi. In order to sell it i need to come up with some ideas... mainly race classes like elf and dwarf for outer planar races Tiefling(not the 5e abomination. Humans with some unkown planar ancestry) some kinda thief/mu type deal? Rouge Modron (no idea at all what to do - but its a classic ps trope id need to realize) Bauriar (sort of like centaur minus horse plus goat... and very norse. Some type of charging barbarian vibe?)
In regards to resting/healing, I only allow characters to recover lost health when resting if they are in a safe and/or comfortable place to do so. If they're in a dungeon or wilderness area frequented by hostiles, they can't rest easily enough to recover as they're on guard
Even at the tender age of 16 we worked out how to create demi human classes by drawing Human fighter vs dwarven fighter vs Hin fighter xp and working it out from there. We had dwarf clerics before Rockhome was even released. Also stopped giving out treasure xp after the very first campaign.
Gripes #1 and #2 can be easily fixed with home rules. In fact, I am making a campaign that addresses those 2 issues. #3 is way more complicated, but I am personally fine with it.
i really like how the “repeating hour glass” design shape of this module. goining between more open ended sections and more narrow focued ones. I think its a really effective way to get at the pros of both styles and mitigating their possible cons as well. open ended stuff can have a problem where things dont get a lot of build up or development. while here it seems like you can really develop a building tension of this slaver wizard and the mystery surrounding the tapestry in a satisfying way. And on the other hand, too linear of an affair can feel railroaded and like you didn’t really have a guiding hand in things, you were just brought to places x, y, and z. While deciding if you want to go after the werewolves or maybe bribe the chevalier in another way seems to make the adventure a little more your own. I think this format makes both aspects not overstay their welcome while highlighting their benefits. And you did a great job at presenting this module too! Very easy to follow and gives a really clear overview of the whole thing!
THACO is one of the hardest sells for folks I know in re: old editions. I think you’re right in that the simple little table was a better option for a lot of people.
I’ve always wanted to do more traveling! In the past I’ve kinda drawn a line between “specialized” and “reasonable” knowledge. I’m not exactly punishing folks for things that they would have to be a seasoned mountaineer to know! But reasonable stuff, like the temperature, rain, snow, mud. While playing a campaign set in Waterdeep, I constantly reminded my players of the season. The heart of winter was brutal, cold and frozen and in this case prone to heavy snowfall. Chasing targets became more difficult, and if players were cavalier about it exhaustion could creep in with exertion. We went less with lethality and more with combat, roleplaying, and skill penalties that imo got across the board”stuck in a New York blizzard” vibe
The BECMI/5e Goodman Games hardcover reprint and update isn't half bad. There are reasons given for the Isle to show up unexpectedly in any given campaign (although I still feel it works best on Urt/Mystara). There's much more kopru intrigue for higher level characters to deal with should they choose.
@@justinsteele8400 This is really interesting to me, especially as you entered the hobby with ‘more options’ in the game due to WotC’s design. What is it about old school that draws you towards it? And are you able to convince those of the same age and experience as you to do the same?
@@becmiberserker Well - I was mostly forever DM - so I was looking at it from that perspective specifically too. But I think there's a LOT about old school play that appeals more to me. I grew to hate the reliance on character sheets and skills - people asking to do skill checks for everything instead of just their brains, the modern combats are sometimes such a slog, the idea of "main character syndrome" and everyone making crazy backstories for their characters, the more "balanced encounter" mindset, the PCs being basically superpowered from level 1 and how the odds of dying are so slim. With old school I loved the lethality, the emergent storytelling, I love how wandering monster rolls and reaction rolls meant I as a DM was surprised at times, I loved how it made the players think through encounters and play smarter, I love that they weren't over the top powerful and it was more grounded and resource management was a thing. So yeah that's just part of it - but it just appealed to me more and more - and I've been running OSE for my little nephews and they LOVE it. Some of my peers (we are late 30s) have made the switch to old school and some haven't clicked with it and the proper mindset yet..
I agree. I’m an old school grognard. I run 5E Adventurer’s League games weekly at my local game store to help build the TTRPG community in my area, but I’m often frustrated with 5E rules. A few of my players have expressed interest in old school games which I am thrilled with. The only challenge is that the game store says that since the game night is advertised as AL, we have to have at least one 5E AL game running. As I am now the primary DM, that makes setting up an OSR game in store challenging
I really do still like 5e but here are my biggest gripes with it: - *Heavy focus on combat:* 5e puts a huge amount of effort into (and succeeds at) making combat interesting. Because of this players rarely want come up with creative ways to avoid a fight. This in turn forces GMs to become game designers. Better learn how to create difficult but fair battles, or else your game is bad! - *It limits player creativity:* We've all had similar experiences, either first or second hand: you come across a sleeping ogre and you want to slice its throat to avoid combat. Having advantage, you successfully sneak close & hit it with critical damage but you aren't a rogue so no sneak attack bonus.... roll for initiative! You've now learned the first lesson of 5e: all enemies are there to be fought neatly in initiative order. I'm honestly surprised that more people don't complain about this. - *It's all about character progression:* This classic struggle between player & designer is present in every game: players want to become more powerful so things get easier while designers know that the fun comes from the very hardships that the players want to avoid. Unfortunately this is exasperated in 5e because the PCs are designed to be a lot more fun at 5th level than at 2nd.
I bought the module after seeing your review and decided to run a karameikos campaign with my home group (getting the gazetteers in the process thanks to your fabulous reviews!). Does anyone have any experiences if there are any traps when running the BECMI stuff with Old School Essentials?
Great video. Still have this module. I think it made sense to out the Known World setting information in the module rather than the rulebook so as to ensure it was understood that the Known World wasn't necessary for use in your campaign, and you could drop that background information from the module or use it if you liked it, with no effect on the game. That way the only Known World content in the rulebook is more like an example of how to create your world rather than "here is where the game takes place."
When my kids were young and I was running Basic D&D for them, of course they didn't understand preparing and equipping for an expedition so I would gently hint to them to hire local guides and porters, etc., who would then steer the PCs into acquiring proper gear and provisions for their travels. I've found a lot of modern players don't get it either, so there's no harm in giving a nudge and then, if they ignore the old man in town who warns them of the mountainous terrain and weather, let them suffer the consequences. Good players will learn from it. And the players who b*tch about it are probably best weeded out of your game.
