Rappan Athuk: what edition?

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ken-do-nim
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Rappan Athuk: what edition?

#1 Post by ken-do-nim »

Hi all,

At some point - maybe in the fall - I'd like to start up my own megadungeon campaign here. Blame Dave for giving me the megadungeon-bug. I've sunk a lot of money into Rappan Athuk over the years: first the 3 booklets for 3.0, then the pdf for 3.5, then finally the hardcover for Swords & Wizardry. Time for some ROI!

I'm really torn about what version to use, so I'm setting up this poll to see what is most popular. Okay, I have no idea how to actually make a poll post like I can over on Dragonsfoot, so I'll just ask you to respond and I'll accumulate the responses here.

Choices are:
  1. Swords & Wizardry Complete - path of least resistance for using the hardcover
  2. Basic/Expert - always near & dear to my heart.
  3. Labyrinth Lord + Advanced Edition Companion - if we're going to go LL, let's have all the bells & whistles.
  4. Basic Fantasy RPG + Barrataria's Companion Expansion - an impressively streamlined version of B/X with race/class separation and no level limits. Barrataria's Companion Expansion adds more classes, spells, and an improved turn undead chart - which you're gonna need.
  5. 1E AD&D - path of least resistance when it comes to the character sheets here on Unseen Servant
  6. 2E AD&D - for those that prefer this flavor of AD&D
  7. 3.0 d20 - path of least resistance for using the original 3 books, this forgotten version in some ways is actually closer to AD&D than 3.5
  8. 3.5 d20 - path of least resistance for using the pdf

Stirling
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Re: Rappan Athuk: what edition?

#2 Post by Stirling »

Plenty of LL and 1st ed D&D already on the forum. Nice to have system I'm not too familiar with. So I would go for S&W complete unless you can convert the campaign to 3.5 or 5th ed D&D.

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Re: Rappan Athuk: what edition?

#3 Post by Xaxyx »

1e is my bread-and-butter, so it gets my vote every time.

Before you set up your poll, you may also wish to mention whether or not you'd intend to allow some or all of the various UA features.

Separately, my standard disclaimer, if I may: I would vastly, vastly (that's two vastlies!) prefer if some mechanic is provided for generating characters that doesn't involve the 4d6c3x6 or similar method, irrespective of which game system you end up selecting.

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Re: Rappan Athuk: what edition?

#4 Post by ken-do-nim »

Xaxyx wrote:

Before you set up your poll, you may also wish to mention whether or not you'd intend to allow some or all of the various UA features.
Well the same question of what expansions could apply to 2E, 3.0E, and 3.5E as well. Even S&W 'Complete' is strangely missing the bard.
Xaxyx wrote: Separately, my standard disclaimer, if I may: I would vastly, vastly (that's two vastlies!) prefer if some mechanic is provided for generating characters that doesn't involve the 4d6c3x6 or similar method, irrespective of which game system you end up selecting.
Usually when I start a D&D pbp, I roll up 12-20 sets of character scores, and allow the players to pick them first come first serve. But if we go with rolling and using macros, I usually do a mixture of rolling and point buy.

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Re: Rappan Athuk: what edition?

#5 Post by Dogma »

I would vote for 1-3 equally, with option 5 not far behind....

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Dram
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Re: Rappan Athuk: what edition?

#6 Post by Dram »

My vote would be 1E, 2E I do have some 3.5 edition books from my son. That I never learned to play maybe it is time to learn on here.
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Re: Rappan Athuk: what edition?

#7 Post by Dram »

My vote would be 1E, 2E I do have some 3.5 edition books from my son. That I never learned to play maybe it is time to learn on here.
Current Characters/Games
Grakluse Longleaf-A Candle in the Darkness
Jacxor Ironforge-Dungeon of the Mad Mage (5e)
Kreed Oaken-Chaos halls
Xlore Strongoak-B11 King's Festival & B12 Queen's Harvest - AD&D 2e

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Re: Rappan Athuk: what edition?

#8 Post by dmw71 »

ken-do-nim wrote:Blame Dave for giving me the megadungeon-bug.
You're welcome. ;)
-- Project --
Playtest: Untitled Project (1e)
-- DM --
Greyhawk Campaign: Sandbox (1e)
(Status: Archived)

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Re: Rappan Athuk: what edition?

#9 Post by Pulpatoon »

B/X, LL, BFG, and S&W: all wonderful and I'd be eager to join in! (with B/X and S&W being my preferences)

1e and beyond: I'd give it a miss.

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Re: Rappan Athuk: what edition?

#10 Post by Nuke66 »

Personally, I am a 1st or 2nd edition guy, the path of least resistance of rule sets. I prolly would prefer the 1st edition UA additional classes. If the dice are friendly, a monk or Barbarian would be on my list.

And on a personal note, Hello Ken, I didn't realize you were here too ;)

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Re: Rappan Athuk: what edition?

#11 Post by ken-do-nim »

Nuke66 wrote:Personally, I am a 1st or 2nd edition guy, the path of least resistance of rule sets. I prolly would prefer the 1st edition UA additional classes. If the dice are friendly, a monk or Barbarian would be on my list.

And on a personal note, Hello Ken, I didn't realize you were here too ;)
Yeah I just started gaming here a month ago or so when I started up my Call of Cthulhu game.

It sounds like there isn't a one-size fits all version, but LL+AEC or S&W Complete might be the closest, with the full range of classes but that rules-lite feel. And of course I can be sure that the adventure is fully compatible with S&W Complete since one of my copies is written for that.

I should also add that I'm having so much fun doing something different with the CoC game that another non-D&D game might similarly energize me. I have yet to run a sci fi rpg of any kind yet in my 30+ year gaming life.

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Re: Rappan Athuk: what edition?

#12 Post by ken-do-nim »

One thing I've decided is that this will be a roll20 game; I don't have time to run another pbp.

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Re: Rappan Athuk: what edition?

#13 Post by Scott308 »

I might be interested in playing over roll20, depending on when and how often.
Sometimes this summer I will most likely be participating in another 24 hour game of Dungeons & Dragons as part of Extra Life. This organization uses gaming to help raise money to donate to children's hospitals. I'm raising money for Marshfield Children's Hospital in Marshfield, WI, and all money I raise will go to that hospital. All donations are tax-deductible. Please take a moment to check out my donation page below. Thank you.

https://www.extra-life.org/participant/Scott Peterson

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Re: Rappan Athuk: what edition?

#14 Post by ken-do-nim »

ken-do-nim wrote:One thing I've decided is that this will be a roll20 game; I don't have time to run another pbp.
The roll20 game is finally starting. I have 2 players already, looking for 2 maybe 3 more. The schedule is the 2nd and 4th Mondays of every month, from 7 pm EST to 10 pm EST. I haven't decided 100% on a system yet, but it will be either LL+AEC or S&W Complete, and obviously those 2 are pretty similar in practice. The first session is September 25th.

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Re: Rappan Athuk: what edition?

#15 Post by Starbeard »

Curses. I would be interested in joining in, but unfortunately the timing puts is outside of reasonable hours in my time zone. Good luck, sounds like it'll be a fun game.

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