[Interest Check] Newish GM, Classic Modules in OSE

Hello Gamers’ Plane,

I have been a proud member of this site for a little over three years now, broadening my rpg horizons and meeting plenty new people. Some of you may know me as a player, but none of you know me as a GM. I think it’s about time I changed that by running my first play-by-post game on my one—and only—choice of platform!

As an avid fan of OSR, I would just love to cut my teeth on some classic D&D modules like Keep on the Borderlands, The Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh, The Isle of Dread—all using Old-School Essentials as a game system. I’ve done a lot of GMing—one-shots and years-long campaigns—for my irl gaming group, but never beyond close friends and never in PbP format. As I adapt to this new style of GMing, I hope we can make the process fun and memorable.

I value story most of all in ttrpg—nothing fills my heart with joy more than weaving the intricate tapestry of a Player Character’s life—all the triumphs and tragedies, the heartbreak and drama. My first passion is creative writing, and I love bringing this to the table. Let it not be said, however, that I don’t enjoy a good dungeon crawl! I find the challenging, intelligent, and often-brutal nature of OSR to be wonderfully complementary to narrative gameplay. The harder you work for your glorious tale, the more satisfying it becomes.

Anyway, I’ve gone on for long enough. This is my pitch in the form of an open letter to all of Gamers’ Plane. Do any of the above modules interest you, dear readers? Feel free to suggest more classics! Let's talk, and hopefully soon we can get a recruitment thread up and running!

Hi,
I'm newish to ttrpg and unfamiliar with the system.
But if that doesn't bother you I'd love to join

I adore concepts behind OSR approaches, so keep me on the list:) I would love to join, but it depends on when you want to start and how many post per week you expect:)

Keep on the Borderlands (plus Caves of Chaos) were my very first foray into D&D when I was 11 years old (some 37 years ago). I'd love to experience the nostalgia of playing that campaign once again.

I'll second Keep on the Borderlands it's a classic for a reason! Though I am, somewhat, out of touch with 5E, your focus on the narrative over the mechanics is compelling. In my experience, a good story trumps the system you play it in.

Good luck running your first game on GP, DragonDweller62! Sounds like you're set up for a very fun, old school campaign!

I'm in. You had me at classic modules. I've run all of them several times over, but I can play dumb to keep the enjoyment for others. I just want to play through them, for a change. Will you be using the basic or advanced OSE rules?

Very glad to see all the excitement my post is creating! @Harrigan, thanks for the luck! Excited and nervous, haha. I'm answering the rest of your responses below. I promise not every update will be in the dead of night; it's just been a busy weekend for me!
I have no problem with teaching someone new to the system. Feel free to share your experience with ttrpg :) .
I think I'll keep this interest check up one more day (3/11) just to see if anyone else is interested, then make the recruitment post. I want to have a sizeable group of five to ten PCs, as these modules suggest (each player may control one or two of those). I see just enough potential players now, but let's see if we can get a few more. All that said, expect the game to start later this week (week of 3/10) if all goes well.

I'd like to see three posts a week at minimum, which I believe is the average for forum-based PbP.
Unfortunately, I'm too young to look on Keep with nostalgia, but I'm happy to provide that feeling for others :) .
No need to worry, because we will be playing with Old-School Essentials rules! I fully agree: Keep is a certified classic, and a good story is paramount to slight rules arbitrations.
I will be using advanced because I own those books, but I don't mind if someone only has basic. They're almost the same player-facing, and basic can be a good try-before-you-buy product. I think there are some slight numerical differences, but nothing drastic enough to bother me personally.

I admire your commitment to the party's enjoyment. In that situation, I imagine myself as a new actor reinterpreting an old part. Truly a fun new way to play!

---

Generally, I'm seeing a lot of support for Keep on the Borderlands. I will continue listening to the voice of the people until the recruitment thread opens. By then, I'll make a final decision on the module. For those who have a preference, remember that your voice counts! You can also choose a module that hasn't been mentioned yet!

I'd be interested. I own both Classic and Advanced OSE. Would we be using ascending AC or descending AC (with those ThAC0 tables I was never able to wrap my head around)?

My first vote would be for "Keep of the Boarderlands + Caves of Chaos", with my 2nd vote going to "Keep of the Borderlands" on its own.

The other huge gaming memory I have are the H1-H4 modules; bit that's likely intended for a much higher level of PCs than you're looking for.

I did part of the Chaves of Chaos OSR and was shocked at how much I forgot about the earlier editions. Level the cleric fast so he has spells at 2nd level. No healing really hurts.

I like using descending AC just because it's traditional, but I don't mind using ascending if I'm in the minority there. The only real difference is whether you add to or subtract from your attack roll.
If we go with Keep, I want to run the Keep, the Caves of Chaos, and the Caves of the Unknown as one package. With the option to venture beyond once those possibilities are exhausted. Keep as a module is already very much a sandbox.

The mass battle stuff in the H series is intriguing to me, but I do want to start with a low-level adventure. Something to consider for the future.
It definitely is very challenging, in no small part due to the near lack of any resurrecting magic. I may change that a little bit, but with nothing you won't have to work for.

Yeah, not a huge fan of descending AC, but I haven't checked if Beasties & Battleaxes' rules for descending AC would work on other games yet (D20+bonuses+opponent's AC, if final result is 20+, it's a hit). Honestly, that's probably the only way I could tolerate it...

Hmm, looks like we have to vote on an adventure, sorry I missed that part. I guess my vote would be a tie for The Keep on The Borderland + Caves of Chaos and The Isle of Dread. Of course, if The Lost City was part of the choice, I'd vote for that one instead.

No worries! You can certainly vote for The Lost City; another great classic. Everyone feel free to add your own module picks.

Sounds like Target 20. Which works with any old school descending AC system, provided the GM makes the odd correction here or there, especially if they are using materials from both branches of the game (B/X and AD&D).

I have no preference for modules to be run, though I am fond of The Keep on the Borderlands just because nostalgia.

@Harrigan, thanks for the cool resource. Really considering implementing the attack roll part if players find it helpful.

---

As promised above, the recruitment thread will be going up very soon, and it looks like we'll be playing Keep on the Borderlands! The recruitment thread will remain open for one more day or until a good amount of players have applied, and all of you who expressed interest here will have priority in applying. The initial post will contain many more details of play that should help each of your final decisions. When the thread is up, I'll link it right here for ease of access.

I hope to hear from you all soon! Thank you for supporting my first GP campaign, and happy gaming!

Mark me as interested as well, if there is still room...

Thank you for replying, kwll. Your interest has been noted!