Another Old School fan appears

[TheMerovingian]

Greetings, ladies and gentlemen and everyone browsing the forum.

I am TheMerovingian. 39/M from Tennessee, and a fan of Old School gaming who has been around a few forums over the past decade, enjoying various early editions of D&D. I'm not new to pBp but I'm not fully familiar with this forum or the dice roller you guys use, so I'll probably lurk and browse around a while before I join or start a game. I do have a particular interest in running an OD&D game at some point in the near future, since the 50th anniversary of D&D hits this coming January, and the brown box edition would have been the one released in 1974. I did notice it's not one of the rules sets that's usually ran around here, though, so if that's not allowed I can adjust my plans to something adjacent like 1e or B/X. In any event, what I have in mind is a simple old-school dungeon crawl campaign for 4-6 players, but as I said that'll come a bit later. Looking forward to browsing around and checking this place out in the mean time. Happy gaming, everybody!

[dmw71]

Welcome, TheMerovingian.

[OGRE MAGE]

Welcome!

Some of us love OD&D around here!

[ravenn4544]

so if that's not allowed

Welcome. I can't think of any game type here that isn't allowed, btw. I'm sure folks would be up for something like especially considering such a big anniversary. Now I feel old thinking about it

[Rex]

Welcome Aboard Merovingian!

OD&D is certainly a rule set lam up for.

[rredmond]

Some of us love OD&D around here!

Yup! Welcome!!

[TheMerovingian]

Thanks for the greetings, everyone. Glad to hear my interest aligns with some of yours around here. Look forward to posting and possibly gaming with some of you in the near future.

[Scott308]

Welcome!

[BaltoBruiser]

Welcome!

[TheMerovingian]

Thanks, guys. Good to be here.

edit: Quick question for the knowledgeable "sages of the wastelands": the dice roller is a separate forum with a separate registration, correct?

[ravenn4544]

correct

[Rex]

Correct, in fact you don't even need the same user name/password. My user name was taken so I have 2 different ones.

[TheMerovingian]

Correct, in fact you don't even need the same user name/password. My user name was taken so I have 2 different ones.

Excellent. I'll have to play around with it a bit. The pBps I did before were either on Discord or on forums with the old honor system as far as dice rolls go, but this makes a lot of sense and I love the way it's set up with links.

Also, yeah, I can see how your name was taken. Hopefully mine's just a bit more obscure, but if not I'll pull the old switcharoo.

[Stirling]

Welcome.

Some older D&D edition games running here with open recruiting policies. Sure you can find a 1st / 2nd ed D&D to get your teeth into and get to know a few Players before you set up your own campaigns.

[TheMerovingian]

Welcome.

Some older D&D edition games running here with open recruiting policies. Sure you can find a 1st / 2nd ed D&D to get your teeth into and get to know a few Players before you set up your own campaigns.

Thanks, and yes. That sounds like a good strategy. I'll lurk around a little while and maybe drop into a game as a player eventually. Get the lay of the land.

[Hvalreki]

Welcome!

Spearmint’s Barrowmaze is an open 1st Edition D&D campaign. I’ve been having a blast with an old school game for more than 2 years now (how time flies).

Regular near death experiences and still basically broke!

Check it out:

https://www.unseenservant.us/forum/viewforum.php?f=1111

[dmw71]

Spearmint’s Barrowmaze is an open 1st Edition D&D campaign. I’ve been having a blast with an old school game for more than 2 years now (how time flies).

Regular near death experiences and still basically broke!

This is an awesome endorsement! I'm constantly fighting temptation to request joining myself, but just don't have the time with everything else I have going on in the background.

[TheMerovingian]

The constant threat of death is something I'm definitely familiar and comfortable with, especially since getting involved in the OSR space. I've taken a peek into the various 1e games active on the forum here as well as some of the archived ones. They're definitely the most close in tone with the 0e style game I'll eventually want to run. I've grown to hold the opinion that 1e is more of a direct continuation of OD&D than the Basic lines are, despite the way they're often classified online. There's some difficult-to-quantify element in both that I'd call Gygaxian. The "Holmesian" style of the blue box rules was also very much in this wheelhouse. You get a slightly different and more high fantasy feel from B/X and especially BECMI, which is also fine and good but different. Of course your mileage may vary on the similarities and differences between all these. You'd also be perfectly right to say they're essentially the same game.

In any event, due to that endorsement I'm gonna keep a closer eye on the Barrowmaze campaign. Thanks for the suggestion, and for reading my ramblings. Perhaps I'll join and roll up a character soon unless something else comes up.

[dmw71]

Perhaps I'll join and roll up a character soon unless something else comes up.

Honestly, the best thing you can do is jump right in.

I actually just finished reading the latest post ("I'm thankful for being old: Grumpy Wizard Newsletter Nov. 2023") from the Grumpy Wizard, which I don't see on his blog yet, but was sent in his monthly newsletter earlier this morning.

The following blurb, from this thoughts on the DM shortage, may not be completely relevant here as you're clearly not a new player, but the advice still stands considering you're new to the site:

Nobody wants to play with me

The anxiety that bothers me most is that a lot of new gamers have a fear that being new means nobody will want them to play in their group. These are players, not DMs. Players.

They are concerned that they will do something wrong and feel bad when they let the group down or possibly be called out and humiliated for poor performance. Sheesh.

One young man on the FB group said he had watched a thousand hours of “content” on YouTube but had never played and was looking for a game. He felt the need to remark about how he “wasn’t an expert” but knew a lot about the game. I asked about this in another thread and some of the responses made me sad.

I made the suggestion that you didn't really need to "learn" the game before you played. Just play the game and learning as you go. This was crazy talk.

You're going to find -- if you haven't already -- that this site is filled with awesome users! While there isn't really a true discussion forum, it still feels like a community. A strong one.

I guess, long story short (too late), just jump in!

Even if you find after a week or two (play-by-post is a slow format) that the game isn't right for you, or isn't matching your expectations, it's okay to bow out. If that does turn out to be the case, it's just decent to communicate that realization with the DM/GM running the game. I can all but guarantee there isn't a user running a game on here that won't be understanding.

No matter what, though... have fun!

[TheMerovingian]

Oh, yes, for sure. The advice is appreciated regardless, but you were correct. Not my first rodeo. The specific thing I'm studying is this unique two-forum system and the dice roller, as well as the expected style and post frequency of the various active games. Kind of a self-enforced orientation of sorts. Just my personal style. I'll jump in soon enough. Thanks again for all the advice.