Dec 19, 2024 4:47 pm
Gauging player interest for the 1st edition AD&D campaign "Castle of the Silver Prince" by Anthony Huso. It is a high fantasy epic in which the player characters are members of the once-wealthy and respected Wicke family that has fallen upon hard times. Desperate to reverse the family’s fortunes, they offer their services as adventurers for hire. This leads them to accept a contract to investigate the titular castle. Needless to say, it’s not quite as simple as that.
This is a complex and challenging adventure. From a DM’s perspective, there are a lot of interweaving threads to manage. For the players, the campaign presents a particularly open sandbox with a genuine chance of failure (however the PCs ultimately define "failure").
The campaign’s author, Anthony Huso, is a strong advocate for rules-as-written 1st edition AD&D. He has written extensively, enthusiastically and convincingly about it on his blog. This includes practical suggestions for handling all of the fiddly bits (weapon AC adjustments, speed factors, strict use of segments, psionics, etc.) that are often hand-waved or ignored, even by the likes of OSRIC. Huso’s reasoning is that such elements, if smoothly integrated into the game with appropriate preparation and play aids, enhance rather than detract from the experience. Therefore, out of respect for Huso’s work, I would like to attempt to run the game according to his purist guidelines.
This could, of course, go horribly wrong. I may well be overstretching my abilities as a DM. And there is a real risk of getting bogged down in the arcane vagueness and complexities of 1st Edition AD&D. But nothing ventured, …
So, I’m looking for proactive, resilient and resourceful players who are looking for an adventure rooted in clever play and overcoming challenges rather than story-telling and character development, and who are at least intrigued by the prospect of attempting to play rules-as-written 1st Edition AD&D. I expect players to "DM" their characters and take full responsibility for knowing their to hit target numbers for different weapons, how many segments it takes to cast a given spell, their exact encumbrance and movement rates, etc., etc.
This game would not be the best introduction for the Old School-curious, nor for those who are unable to commit for a reasonable duration.
This is a complex and challenging adventure. From a DM’s perspective, there are a lot of interweaving threads to manage. For the players, the campaign presents a particularly open sandbox with a genuine chance of failure (however the PCs ultimately define "failure").
The campaign’s author, Anthony Huso, is a strong advocate for rules-as-written 1st edition AD&D. He has written extensively, enthusiastically and convincingly about it on his blog. This includes practical suggestions for handling all of the fiddly bits (weapon AC adjustments, speed factors, strict use of segments, psionics, etc.) that are often hand-waved or ignored, even by the likes of OSRIC. Huso’s reasoning is that such elements, if smoothly integrated into the game with appropriate preparation and play aids, enhance rather than detract from the experience. Therefore, out of respect for Huso’s work, I would like to attempt to run the game according to his purist guidelines.
This could, of course, go horribly wrong. I may well be overstretching my abilities as a DM. And there is a real risk of getting bogged down in the arcane vagueness and complexities of 1st Edition AD&D. But nothing ventured, …
So, I’m looking for proactive, resilient and resourceful players who are looking for an adventure rooted in clever play and overcoming challenges rather than story-telling and character development, and who are at least intrigued by the prospect of attempting to play rules-as-written 1st Edition AD&D. I expect players to "DM" their characters and take full responsibility for knowing their to hit target numbers for different weapons, how many segments it takes to cast a given spell, their exact encumbrance and movement rates, etc., etc.
This game would not be the best introduction for the Old School-curious, nor for those who are unable to commit for a reasonable duration.
