tog
Level 4 Theurgist
Detect Meal & What Kind
Posts: 148
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Post by tog on Feb 25, 2013 8:10:12 GMT -6
So. I've been into D&D for decades now, having started in a campaign run at our local gaming store (The Point Of Conflict, in Fairport, NY) and having bought Holmes Basic as my very first RPG. I own OD&D, Holmes, B/X, 1st Edition, and *sigh* 3rd. All which is leading up to say that I've realized recently just how much I've been reading and not playing. I have social issues, and I'm prone to switching interests every so often (plus the cost of gas!), so I'm more interested right now in a solo campaign than finding a group. So. A couple questions: 1) I'm deciding between OD&D and Holmes (with an expansion) as my set, hopefully treating it as if i'm picking it up for the first time and having no preconceptions about the rules. Which would you recommend as my choice? I'm leaning towards Holmes, just out of nostalgia and being so familiar with the rules, but OD&D is more complete. 2) I want to use the Outdoor Survival map as my starting world; the question being a) what scale do I use and b) is there room enough on there for multiple dungeons? Inspired by the blog Roll To Carouse (http://rolltocarouse.blogspot.com/2012/11/flashback-friday-taking-solo-trip_30.html) I want to use the first couple B modules, a couple more classic TSR modules, and maybe S3 if I get a group of characters high-level enough. Any advice on any of these would be welcome. Thanks!
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paulg
Level 3 Conjurer
Posts: 75
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Post by paulg on Feb 25, 2013 10:34:05 GMT -6
It sounds like you're leaning towards Holmes, so go with that. You can always use the OD&D booklets as an additional resource for Holmes.
Page 15 of The Underworld & Wilderness Adventures says:
"OUTDOOR SURVIVAL has a playing board perfect for general adventures. Catch basins are castles, buildings are towns, and the balance of the terrain is as indicated."
By my count, the Outdoor Survival grid is 34 × 43 hexes. Nine buildings and twenty-four catch-basins dot the map. One might imagine that each of those twenty-four castles has a dungeon below it. Some castles will be occupied, but others with be dangerous ruins. That should provide plenty of adventure sites. Urban adventures and smaller monster lairs provide further opportunities.
The OS map includes various terrain types, such as woods, desert, mountains, and swamps. You should be able to find a suitable site for most modules.
Also, U&WA: "Assume the greatest distance across a hex is about 5 miles."
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Feb 25, 2013 11:06:42 GMT -6
Also, U&WA: "Assume the greatest distance across a hex is about 5 miles." ... and if I make a suggestion? Make your life a bit easier and change the default hex to 6 miles; your first house rule! Movement rates in OD&D tend to be divisible by 6.
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Post by scottenkainen on Feb 25, 2013 11:25:03 GMT -6
Run something you've never run before is my advice. For example, I've run just the 1974 rules and the 1977 rules, but I've never run in-between -- OD&D with the supplements. So that's what I would choose to do next.
~Scott "-enkainen" Casper
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Post by geoffrey on Feb 25, 2013 22:11:52 GMT -6
I'm deciding between OD&D and Holmes (with an expansion) as my set, hopefully treating it as if i'm picking it up for the first time and having no preconceptions about the rules. Which would you recommend as my choice? I'm leaning towards Holmes, just out of nostalgia and being so familiar with the rules, but OD&D is more complete. Use the OD&D rules plus Supplement I: GREYHAWK as your Holmes expansion. Holmes is 98% derived from D&D + GREYHAWK: odd74.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=holmes&action=display&thread=2237They fit together like a hand and a glove. ;D
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tog
Level 4 Theurgist
Detect Meal & What Kind
Posts: 148
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Post by tog on Feb 26, 2013 12:57:01 GMT -6
Yeah, I just skimmed Holmes and what I thought was true - there aren't any rules in there for outdoor adventuring! Not even travel! Mmmph.
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Aplus
Level 6 Magician
Posts: 353
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Post by Aplus on Feb 26, 2013 23:35:17 GMT -6
If you put a dungeon in each 5-mile hex of the Outdoor Survival map, which doesn't seem unreasonable to me, you would have 1462 dungeons. That's awesome.
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Post by kesher on Feb 27, 2013 10:39:59 GMT -6
If you put a dungeon in each 5-mile hex of the Outdoor Survival map, which doesn't seem unreasonable to me, you would have 1462 dungeons. That's awesome. I second the awesomeness of that idea!
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tog
Level 4 Theurgist
Detect Meal & What Kind
Posts: 148
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Post by tog on Feb 27, 2013 15:02:40 GMT -6
If you put a dungeon in each 5-mile hex of the Outdoor Survival map, which doesn't seem unreasonable to me, you would have 1462 dungeons. That's awesome. I second the awesomeness of that idea! Yeah, as long as someone else digs & stocks all those dungeons! ... or it could be 1462 entrances to one huge megadungeon...! But since neither Holmes nor Moldvay have any rules for travel, I guess I need to go back to the LBBs for that. Otherwise it'd be difficult to get from The Town to the dungeon... EDIT: Actually, y'know what, glob that. The way I'm understanding Holmes-level D&D is that the trip between The Town and The Dungeon is fairly safe and uneventful, and 1st level characters are hardly going to be hexcrawling, so I'm just not going to worry about it. B2 has simple outdoors travel rules as well, if they're necessary.
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