The Time Tax Thief

Back in February, I penned an alternative mechanism for Thief skill resolution intended to make Thieves more interesting and to introduce an element of player skill into the execution of Thief character skills. In terms of those rules success at the former - introducing an interesting mechanic - the post succeeded; in terms of the latter, introducing player skill... I was less satisfied. While an element of player skill was introduced, it was very little difference than simply allowing a re-roll: which tied in to the idea that the consequence of failure was simply lost time - falling into a tried complaint against re-rolling the Thief skills: that traps, locks, and other non-enemy hazards are simply a tax on the party's time.

But then I thought - why not tax the party's time? 

In OSR games, time is a finite resource - same as light, rations, or hit points - that must be managed by the party, spent one turn at a time to progress the adventure. Puzzle preventing forward movement? Takes time to solve. Guardians in wait that have to be fought or circumvented? Takes time - both options. 

In this spirit of the game, I submit the intentional Time Tax Thief.

Thief Skills as a Time Tax

When resolving a Thief skill, roll a percentile die as normal: however, when identifying the potential to succeed, multiply the Thief's chance of success by their level - hence referred to as their net success rate - making a note of each multiple. The roll succeeds if it is equal to or less than the calculated net success rate - however it takes a number of turns (or other appropriate increment of time) equal to the multiple corresponding to the roll. For example, a Thief of level 3 attempting to Move Silently through a 120' space, a span equating to 1 turn of movement in a dungeon, would roll accordingly:

• A result of 1 to 30 would succeed, taking 1 turn.
• A result of 31 to 60 would also succeed, taking 2 turns. 
• A result of 61 to 90 would likewise succeed, taking 3 turns.
• A result of 91 to 100 would result in a failure.
  

A natural roll of 100 on the percentile dice will always result in a failure, typically on the first turn of the attempt, but subject to the discretion of the referee. 

Likewise at the discretion of the referee, the failure may take a number of turns proportional to the margin of failure - though for simplicity, the referee may be encouraged to set the time-tax for failure at a single turn.

If a total failure occurs - that is, the roll is a natural 100 or outside the net success rate of the rolling Thief - the Thief fails as normal, per rules as written. 

Uncertain Timing (optional)

Instead of having the player roll the percentile skill, the referee rolls the dice for the player in secret. Then, according to the roll, they reference how many turns are required for success: counting up, allowing the player the choice to continue or to stop trying. For example, a level 3 Thief is attempting to remove a trap. In secret, the referee rolls a 67 - resulting in a failure:

"Ten minutes pass and the mechanism seems in tact. Do you continue?"
The player opts to continue.
"A further ten minutes pass; the mechanism is more complex than most. You still do not feel it is disarmed."
The referee rolls for a wandering monster - a 5: undisturbed to continue.
"Do you continue?"
The player opts to continue.
"A final ten minutes pass - and you are able to determine the trigger, itself, is embedded deeper in the wall. You will be unable to disarm this trap. Caller, how does the party proceed?"

If the referee, in this situation, had rolled a 57 instead of 67 - of course - on the third turn would inform the player that the trap was disarmed: as a 57 would be within a level 3 Thief's net success range.

Exploding Failures (optional)

Instead of treating a natural roll of 100 as an automatic failure, instead, the referee may opt to have the Thief - or, the ref themselves, may - roll again: adding the second result to the first. This continues on each subsequent roll of 100, likewise adding to the final result, increasing the net chance to succeed above 100% for Thieves of sufficient level. 

For example, a level 6 Thief attempting to remove a trap has a chance of succeeding after between 1 and 3 turns: 

• 0-40, 1 turn
• 41-80, 2 turns
• 81-99, 3 turns
• Failure on a roll of 100

Using the Exploding Failures option, the Thief could take as many as 6 turns to succeed (or to fail!): 

• 0-40, 1 turn
• 41-80, 2 turns
• 81-120 (the dice having exploded at 100), 3 turns
• 121-160, 4 turns
• 161-200, 5 turns
• 201-240 (the dice having exploded again at 200), 6 turns
• Failure on a roll of 241 or above
  

Under this option, Thieves of 4th level and higher are even less likely to fail than in the standard method: but the potential time tax imposed on them for that higher success chance likewise increases - stretching even for hours!

Some skills, under this method, make more thematic sense than others; it is at the referee's discretion as to how and where they best apply at their table. More notably - however - this creates a situation where the lamp oil and henchmen's nerve slowly whittle away without an abundance of re-attempts: streamlining on a single toss of the dice.

The Math Part

Notably, at first level, this method does not help the Thief at all. A first level Thief is still unlikely to be able to succeed in almost any of their given skills under pressure. However, because the rate of net success rather than immediate success increases rapidly thereafter, an added emphasis is placed on the Thief's generous experience progression table. 

The net chance of success - that is succeeding, but not necessarily on the first turn - is as follows:

Level Open Locks Remove Traps Pick Pockets** Move Silently Climb Sheer Surfaces Hide in Shadows Hear Noise* 1 15 10 20 20 87 10 33 2 40 30 50 50 99 30 66 3 75 60 90 90 99 60 99 4 99 99 125 99 99 99 99 5 99 99 125 99 99 99 99 6 99 99 125 99 99 99 99 7 99 99 125 99 99 99 99

Level Open Locks Remove Traps Pick Pockets** Move Silently Climb Sheer Surfaces Hide in Shadows Hear Noise* 8 99 99 125 99 99 99 99 9 99 99 125 99 99 99 99 10 99 99 125 99 99 99 99 11 99 99 125 99 99 99 99 12 99 99 125 99 99 99 99 13 99 99 125 99 99 99 99 14 99 99 125 99 99 99 99

* Hear Noise expressed in percentages rather than B/X's standard X-in-6.

** Pick Pockets is weird, in that the roll is adjusted by level of the target - there should always be a chance to fail.

By level 4, under this system, the Thief is virtually guaranteed - 99% chance, running by the standard suggested approach - to succeed at every skill they have... eventually. 

But how long will it take them to succeed? By level, a Thief will take an average number of turns to succeed (assuming a success) as follows:

Level Open Locks Remove Traps Pick Pockets Move Silently Climb Sheer Surfaces Hide in Shadows Hear Noise* 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 1.54 1.55 1.53 1.53 1.13 1.55 1.52 3 2.03 2.03 2.02 2.02 1.12 2.03 2.01 4 2.89 2.53 2.24 2.24 1.11 2.53 2.01 5 2.24 2.89 2.16 2.16 1.1 2.89 2.01 6 2.08 2.16 2.08 2.08 1.09 2.24 2.01 7 1.46 2.01 1.46 1.46 1.08 2.08 1.34

Level Open Locks Remove Traps Pick Pockets Move Silently Climb Sheer Surfaces Hide in Shadows Hear Noise* 8 1.36 1.41 1.36 1.36 1.07 1.46 1.34 9 1.26 1.31 1.26 1.26 1.06 1.36 1.34 10 1.16 1.21 1.16 1.16 1.05 1.26 1.34 11 1.06 1.11 1.06 1.06 1.04 1.16 1.18 12 1.05 1.06 1 1.05 1.03 1.11 1.18 13 1.04 1.04 1 1.03 1.02 1.06 1.18 14 1.02 1.02 1 1.02 1.02 1.02 1.18

These numbers are close, but approximate - for example, Open Locks or Remove Traps at level 3, being capable of failure, should have an average turns to succeed of 2, as each multiple of the base chance has an equal chance of being rolled - but I only have so much patience debugging Libre Calc macros and these numbers are close enough to provide a weighted gauge. 

If the reader is better at statistics than the author, as always, please feel free to pipe up!

Considering this average, how long can a task skill check to succeed? Depending on level, a skill success will take between 1 and 4 turns. For example, Open Locks and using the B/X + OSE Thief progression succeeds as follows:

•  The minimum number of turns required is 1. This represents a traditional success.
•  The maximum number of turns that can result in success is 2 or 3 at levels 2 and 3, respectively.
• The maximum number of turns that can be taken by any Thief to accomplish a task is 4 at level 4: a roll of 0-30 taking 1 turn, a roll of 31-60 taking 2 turns, a roll of 61-90 taking 3 turns, and a roll of 91-99 taking 4 turns. 
• The maximum number of turns for a Thief of level 5 or 6, following the arithmetic, is 3.
• From level 7, the percent chance of a first-turn success exceeds 50% for the first time and - thus - will take a maximum of 2 turns to succeed.
• At level 14, when the percent chance reaches 99 - the maximum threshold - the Thief will take 1 turn to succeed or will fail.
  

You said "B/X + OSE Thief progression." Why? To some referees, the prospect of an auto-success in average 2 turns may seem a bit overpowered. For that reason, those tables are encouraged to reduce the base success chance: knowing that the focus is less on success and failure, success chance rising exponentially and the focus thus aiming at the amount of time it takes. The most obvious existing product with which readers may be familiar that does exactly this is the Mentzer Basic line - BECMI, as independent booklets, or compiled in the Rules Cyclopedia. 

Using the latter, a Thief - levels 1 to 14, comparing apples and apples to the B/X level range - can expect a net chance of success as follows:

Level Open Locks Find Traps Remove Traps Pick Pockets** Move Silently Climb Sheer Surfaces Hide in Shadows Hear Noise* 1 15 10 10 20 20 87 10 30 2 40 30 30 50 50 99 30 70 3 75 60 60 90 90 99 60 99 4 99 99 99 125 99 99 96 99 5 99 99 99 125 99 99 99 99 6 99 99 99 125 99 99 99 99 7 99 99 99 125 99 99 99 99

Level* Open Locks Find Traps Remove Traps Pick Pockets** Move Silently Climb Sheer Surfaces Hide in Shadows Hear Noise 8 99 99 99 125 99 99 99 99 9 99 99 99 125 99 99 99 99 10 99 99 99 125 99 99 99 99 11 99 99 99 125 99 99 99 99 12 99 99 99 125 99 99 99 99 13 99 99 99 125 99 99 99 99 14 99 99 99 125 99 99 99 99

* Why did I bother typing an "everything is 99" chart...

** Again, weird - adjusted by the level of the target.

... over an average number of turns as follows:

Level Open Locks Find Traps Remove Traps Pick Pockets Move Silently Climb Sheer Surfaces Hide in Shadows Hear Noise 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 1.54 1.55 1.55 1.54 1.53 1.13 1.55 1.52 3 2.03 2.03 2.03 2.03 2.02 1.12 2.03 2.16 4 2.89 2.53 2.53 2.89 2.24 1.11 2.53 2.08 5 2.24 2.89 2.89 2.24 2.16 1.1 2.94 2.01 6 2.16 2.24 2.26 2.16 2.1 1.09 2.85 1.47 7 2.08 2.16 2.19 2.08 2.04 1.08 2.24 1.43

Level Open Locks Find Traps Remove Traps Pick Pockets Move Silently Climb Sheer Surfaces Hide in Shadows Hear Noise 8 2.01 2.08 2.13 2.01 1.49 1.07 2.19 1.39 9 1.47 2.01 2.07 1.46 1.46 1.06 2.14 1.35 10 1.43 1.47 2.01 1.41 1.43 1.05 2.1 1.31 11 1.39 1.43 1.47 1.36 1.4 1.04 2.05 1.27 12 1.35 1.39 1.43 1.31 1.37 1.03 2.01 1.23 13 1.32 1.35 1.4 1.26 1.35 1.02 1.48 1.2 14 1.29 1.31 1.37 1.21 1.33 1.01 1.45 1.17

Notably, "Find Traps" and "Remove Traps" are two skills in Rules Cyclopedia, whereas B/X provides only "Remove Traps" - but a dive into that conversation is peripheral to the purpose of this post. More relevantly, we see that the level at which a Thief reaches 99% success rate in all of their skills has increased to 5, rather than 4, and comparing Open Locks to Open locks, you're still looking at between 1 and 4 turns to succeed: with level 5 marking the shift in the curve, taking at most three turns: 

• 0-35 succeeds in 1 turn
• 36-70 succeeds in 2 turns
• 71-99 succeeds in 3 turns
• 100 results in failure
  

What we do see, the average turns to succeed - using a reduced progression as BECMI is to B/X - curves downward more gradually after its peak. For example, looking at Move Silently, the peak average time tax occurs at level 4 - 2.24 turns - but by level 8, the B/X progression results in an average time tax of 1.36 turns where a BECMI progression results in an average time tax of 1.49 turns.

How much of a difference would that make? Depends on how often Moving Silently comes up during your sessions. Moral of the story? It means they will take longer to do it - they will consume more torches, they will encounter more wandering monsters, and they will have to consider accordingly before pulling the skill trigger: and that's a better injection of player agency.

 

Delve on, readers - may the percentiles fall in your favor!

Public domain artwork retrieved from OldBookIllustrations.com or the National Gallery of Art and adapted for thematic use. Attribution in alt text.

May Day Adventure: Temple of the Golden Citrus

Marble columns braced from the sea; carved statuary keeping watch! The walls of stone, they never green; the brazen gilding never tarnished - silent keeping which needs no keeper!

Herein lies the blessings of the goddess - herein lies her garden. 

Herein grows the tree of  life - herein falls its golden fruit: the tree, the fruit from which heaven's ambrosia is made: a delicacy reserved for gods. ...or, perhaps, the bold!

The Temple of the Golden Citrus

Scale: 10 ft.
Click here for a PDF version of this adventure!

This Temple is located along a rocky coastline - the frontage and upper level standing high on a bluff looking inland; the lower levels being only just above the pebbly beach, jutting into the surf to one side and having been carved into the rock on the other; in between, a sheathed stairwell and courtyard, overlooking the landscape.

Unless otherwise specified, the lower section areas are supported by pillars driven into the ground, elevating their floors 15 feet above the pebble beach or the water line, as appropriate. 

A - Portico

This curved portico is five feet elevated from the ground, no walls - open to the air - and its foundation is concrete. Two staircases curve up from the ground level, bringing a climber onto surface. In the center is a pomegranate tree, sprouting through the brick floor. It is stuck in perpetual autumn: leaves always colorful, never fruiting.

The doors to section B are heavy, but not locked nor stuck.

B - Outer Courtyard

This interior space is an open courtyard. A roof extends 10' from each wall, covering part of the interior. The room is 30 feet tall.

To the north and south are 10x20 rectangular spaces cut into the floor - one foot down from the floor and apparently filled with topsoil. Small fronds loosely cover the floor of these niches alongside a few mastic trees somewhat clumped together.

In the center of the room is a raised dome - its circular base held 20 feet aloft by four columns in the non-cardinal directions. From the base, a dome ceiling is held aloft a further 20 feet up by four additional columns continuing on the same footprint as the first.

The base for this space is four feet thick and houses a massive blue jacaranda in a circular grass patch ringed by brickwork. The tree reaches all the way to the ceiling of the dome and extends laurels outward. The four columns are ringed by what appear to be wisteria - blooming - which is thick enough that a character might attempt to climb. The referee may require a roll as they deign appropriate, especially for armored or otherwise encumbered characters. Hanging from the branches are five pouches tied with ribbon - each pouch contains 100 gold pieces. Additionally, 100 silver pieces can be found scattered around in the grass.

The vines on the columns - more precisely, the pollen from the flowers - are narcotic. A character climbing the columns, for each turn spent doing so, must Save vs Poison or be affected. An affected character suddenly feels numb and happy, losing interest in the adventure. Mechanically, this is represented as unwillingness to fight, cast spells, or use skills (in the case of a thief) for 1d4 turns. Additionally, during this intoxication, the character will want to revel in the vines: requiring a Save vs Spells to break away.

If a so affected characters fail a second save, they will fall unconscious for 1d4 hours.

If an unconscious character so affected fails a third save, they will die.

The door to D has no nob nor handle and does not open. On it is inscribed the following:

The willing blind may enter;
and once they leave, they see.
Speak it - and enter.

Clerics of an appropriate deity likewise can see, in a curved text border around the main riddle, the following additional stanza:

Their sight restored by hearing;
Their sight returned to read.

This is a reference to academia, to the enlightenment of philosophy. Any answer to that effect will have the effect of opening the door.

Exit from the space - that is, from D to B, is free - the door will push open effortlessly. A Knock spell will open the door as normal - but it will seal itself again at the next moon-rise. Alternatively, the party may simply try to scale the cliff face and break into the lower compound: which is intrinsically hazardous, but will also likely draw the attention of keepers unless added precautions are taken.

C - Gardens

Ci - North Garden

The east and west ends of this space are open, overlooking the bluff and the coast, respectively. The north boundary is curtained by stone walls and conifers - several statues of humans, some missing pieces, as though damaged, but still clean, adorn the space.

The doors to B are neither locked nor stuck.

Cii - South Garden

The east and west ends, like Ci, are open, overlooking the surrounding space. The south boundary is curtained by stone walls and conifers. However, in the center grows a single olive tree. A character which plucks and devours an olive - once per month - will experience one of six effects, a result of favor of the patron goddess:

1.  Infravision, 2d3 hours.
2.  Automatically pass all Save vs Poison checks, 2d3 days.
3.  Vision of the Furies - as the spell Contact Higher Plane, 3rd plane for most characters - up to 5th plane for a character capable of casting spells - divine or arcane.
4. Automatically pass all Save vs Spells checks, 2d3 hours.
5. No need to eat for 2d3 days.
6. Freedom to open the door to section D, no strings attached.
   

The doors to B are neither locked nor stuck.

D - The Long Stair

The stairs down are shallow - around 30 degrees. Both upper and lower stair are covered and cross-barred, allowing in light, but making it difficult to see in from the exterior. In the center of the two stairwells, a circular portico is more open - with a series of larger windows above the cross-bar lattice: such that a character above the line - around 8 feet - can easily see the surrounding landscape. The portico is supported by a single thick pillar in the center, extending from the rock face. 

In the center of the space is a concentric circular pattern - a mosaic of rough tile, slate in color - much like the rocks themselves. This is a trap. A character walking across the center of the space may activate a trapdoor - ten feet in diameter - which will dump any on it into the pillar below, which is revealed to be hollow. This results in a fall of 40 feet onto rocks, dealing 4d8 damage.

E - Lower Laurels

The floor to this space is tiled - large tiles, four feet across, of a lightly colored slate material. The ceiling is 10 feet tall, extending 10 feet from the walls: open, otherwise.

In the center, section F floats 20 feet above the floor - which transitions into a mosaic, white background with red trim, depicting harvest deities and their servitors. Down from section F hang a curtain of vines and laurels, pink and gold flowers blooming on them. These vines are thin - unable to support the weight of an adventurer: giving way between 5 and 15 feet worth of climbing - potentially excepting an unencumbered Halfling, at the discretion of the referee.

From outside, this section is supported by four thick pillars corresponding to the four corners of section F.

F - Shrine of the Tree

This floor hovers 20 feet above section E. The floor is tile, excepting a circular inner section, which is soil, overgrown by the laurels rooted here and hanging down, and out of which grows the Golden Citrus. At any given moment, there are 2d8 fruits ready and growing on the tree as well as 2d4 buds and 2d6 flowers.

Of the fruits, their skin is a thin layer of gold which can be peeled off: worth 150 gold pieces per fruit, weighing 15 coin weight. Inside is a purple, juicy pulp full of small seeds. 

A character who eats the fruit is affected as follows:

•  On each ingestion, the character feels invigorated and the day seems brighter. The character will not need to eat anything else on the day they eat the fruit, the effect fading when the character next sleeps.
• Once per week, the character's age is adjusted 1d6 years towards their age of "physical prime": around 24 for humans. A character of that age is not affected.
• Once per year, the character is benefited by an XP bonus. This bonus is equal to 1% of the required threshold to their next experience level. Thus, a Fighter of level 3 would, once per year, gain 800 XP; where a Thief of level 2 would gain 240 XP.
• The taste resembles grapefruit.
  

The seeds, if taken out, resemble the pebbles along the beach below the temple compound. They will not germinate without divine intervention: as the tree is a pet project of a harvest deity; they do not harm nor benefit a character if eaten.

Of the buds, their skin is solid gold - thicker than that of the fruits, relative to their size. Their core, a black, grainy putty. The gold element is worth 100 gold pieces, though weighs 10 coin-weight. The putty begins to smell off after a few days - if eaten, it is poisonous: a character must roll a Save vs Poison:

• On success, the character is sickened, taking a -1 penalty on all d20 rolls and a -5% on all skill checks or suffering a 10% spell failure rate, as applicable, for 3d6 hours.
• On a failure, the character is violently sickened and is unable to take normal actions: but may move at half speed. The character will die after 3d6 hours unless healed via magic or appropriate medical intervention.

The flowers smell sweet and have an oil-slick sheen to their pink and gold coloration - though otherwise are mundane. They preserve well and can be sold for around 10 gold pieces each, if plucked.

G - Keepers' Hall

Gi - Keepers' Foyer

The causeway to this section has no windows and is enclosed: most of this space is inside the cliff face, having been carved into the bluff.

Room Gi is enclosed, but a light is shining in from a hole in the ceiling, forming an oblong triangle on the floor that moves based on the time of the day. 300 silver pieces can be found piled in the center of the room, along the path that the triangular light takes. Hanging from the entrance is an icon of autumn, gold, which is worth 100 gp if detached.

Gii - Adept Bunkhouse

Bunks are aligned against the west wall; prayer-mats against the east. Seven retainers occupy the space - guardians and caretakers of the compound. Stats as Noble (B39). Between them, they have 100 silver pieces.

Giii - Sacrament Room

A font and two slabs align to the south wall. The font is slightly stained, as though wine had been poured on it. Otherwise empty.

Giv - Window Room

Mosaics line the curved wall, creating false windows: showing the ocean outside as it appeared to the artist. The roof is conical - with a foot of separation between the a top tier and a bottom tier - the top tier being of five foot radius. This allows in dim lighting from outside, but serves to ventilate more than to illuminate.

In each of the mosaic windows is a box along the pane - as a flowerbed might be. In them can be found floral-scented incense, valued at 80 gold pieces total, a coin purse with 400 gold pieces in it, and two opals worth 50 gp each.

H - Collapsed Hall

Hi - Fallen Foyer

The pathway to this section of the temple has collapsed: the causeway to this section has some damage to the superstructure, but is safe to traverse. 

Below, some construction debris rests on a "sand bar" of pebbles, navigable by foot, ranging from 1 to 3 feet in depth throughout the space. 

There is a ten foot drop to the water's surface. A character will be able to see around 15 feet ahead of them, as to where the berm is present - allowing continuing non-swimming traversal.

Hii - Serpent Sanctum

Fifteen feet off the water's surface, a pylon still supports this room. The door is partially open. Inside resides an Oil Beetle (B31) - scuttling around a stone dais housing a sculpture of a tree - five feet in height. Nestled in the tree is a Snake Staff (B50) and about its base are scattered 1,000 silver pieces.

Hiii - Sinking Berm

In the center of this area is a loose end of the pebble berm. A character making it this far into the spur has a chance of slipping, sliding down into the deeper water. Characters thus affected must Save vs Paralysis or slip - putting themselves at risk for drowning: proportional, of course, to the nature of their armor and encumbrance.

Hiv - Cleansing Room

Fifteen feet above the water line, the door to this room is locked. Inside is a bath chamber - still functioning perfectly, complete with running hot water. A character who enters this space may note that - after leaving - stains, rust, or other tarnishes on their equipment has vanished, as though polishing, scrubbing, or thematically appropriate care has been taken on it: despite said care not being taken.

Hv - Pixie Beach House

Hovering above the water line - a foot or two in the air - here are two birdhouse-sized constructions: swaying slowly with the waves. Four Pixies (B41) are flitting about; between them, they carry 28 electrum and 32 gold pieces.

Hvi - Cursed Berm

Jutting out of the water in this space is the remains of a pylon of comparable size to those holding aloft the rest of the temple. It is broken off. Nearby can be found a chest - locked and stuck, expanded from sea water, in which can be found 800 silver pieces. Embedded in the pylon is a sword - Cursed (-1) - which has a skull on the crossbar. In the pouch of a skeleton, clad in tattered white robes, nearby is 200 gold pieces.

I - Seaward Hall

Ii - Salt Foyer

The causeway to this space is enclosed - the floor, tile; the walls, wood. Along the wall is a wicker lattice - openings around 6 inches in size allowing breezes and light into the space.

On the floor are four 8x8 foot panels aligned vaguely with the four corners, but not extending to the walls. From within the room, these panels are solid - a character can walk over them with no fear of falling through - and transparent: allowing the character to look beneath the room and into the water, which is surprisingly clear.

The door on the north wall appears to have been forced.

The door on the west wall is locked.

Iii - Leeward Ward

Up a short stairwell, this space is 25 feet above the ground level. There are wicker meshes over windows which allow allow light in on the non-cardinal direction walls; on the cardinal direction walls, there are standard windows. The floor has a 15 foot octagonal rug in it - red in color, with gold patterns along the border - and a wooden candelabra resembling a root system hangs from the 15 foot domed ceiling.

Iiii - Guardian Room

There are three end-tables aligned to the non-cardinal directional walls in this room. They were holding amphora - empty - one of which has been broken. Three Hobgoblins (B36) are hauling 1,500 gold pieces, three golden masks (one worth 500 gold pieces, the others worth 250 each), and a pouch of 10 pearls - a navy blue color - worth 50 gp each.

The door to Iiv has a lock mechanism, but is not locked.

Iiv - Windward Ward

Three wicker chests and two tall candle holders adorn this space. The chests have been opened. 100 silver pieces lie on the floor. There are no windows.

Iv - Dolphin Room

This door is separated from Ii by a decorative metal grate, containing some sculpture of sea life and waves. The door has no handle nor hinges - but there are two dolphins in the grating, left and right of the door, facing one another: if the characters interact with the dolphins, they will turn - and if the two dolphins are turned to face away from each other, the door will open, sliding upwards.

Inside the space is a rack shaped like a rising water-spout designed to hold a bow. Two quivers hang on the far wall. The quivers contain 12 arrows each - ornate in design, these arrows bestow no mechanical benefit, but will sell for 2 gold pieces each. 

The rack - if a character places a ranged weapon on it, the rack will flash a blue light and bestow a bless effect on the weapon - granting +1 to hit and damage with that weapon for 1d4 hours (1d6 for unaligned characters) - once per month, recharging at the full moon.

J - Hero's Hall

Ji - Main Hall

The causeway to this area is enclosed, as the enclosure to Gi. To the north is an open, curving stairwell to Jii; in other cardinal directions are nooks that curve out, away from the floor of the space. Each nook is five feet deep, dropping abruptly from the floor.

•  The south nook contains a six by two bed in which soil - fallow and barren - sits.
• The west nook contains a coffin - inside is a pile of ash. 
• The east nook is open to the exterior. It is otherwise empty.
  

Two spears are standing, propped against the wall, in the south-west corner. The walls of this space are built from the same stone of the bluff - half of the space is carved into the rock.

Jii - Perch

A short, curved stairwell leads up to a niche in the rock. It is separated from Ji by a sturdy banister. In the north wall is an ornate sarcophagus with no seam. Occupying the space are four keepers  - stats as Noble (B39) - accompanied by two Acolytes (B30).

Wandering Monsters

A wandering monster occurs on a 2-in-6 during the day or 1-in-6 at night, rolled every other turn. If a wandering monster is encountered, roll on 2d6 to determine its nature.

Roll	Result
2	2-8 Pixies (B41)
3-4	1-4 Oil Beetle (B31)
5-6	2-6 Acolytes (B30) For the result of 6, accompanied by a Priest (Cleric 3)
7	2-8 keepers, stat as Noble (B39)
8-9	Crystal Statue (B37)
10-11	1-4 Sea Snake (B41)
12	1-3 Horned Chameleon (B38)

 

Public domain or open license artwork retrieved from the National Gallery of Art, OldBookIllustrations.com, or Pixabay and adapted for thematic use. Attributions in alt text.

Basalt Dragons

I watch the snow fall - the evidence of your passing and going: the sign of life, of motion. I feel it as it succumbs to my depths: as the drifts form, their silent sinking coming to rest on my ocean floor. I watch it from my perch; from my hiding place. I am the salt.

I see your ships, your harbors. I see the rock jetties where the sand grows; I see the new harbors, their breakwaters, brick: lifted by your hands - a contrast, as I float above the clouds, stark and angular, un-living: unlike the rolling shores, the barriers, the coral seas. I am the rock.

Wooden ships - they cannot reach me.

Sorcerers and seekers - they look in the wrong places. The shallow places.

I am the deeps - I am the life's bed - where creation was born and where creation has ended. It is my watch to have the world turn, but to turn with it, to move as the world moves, to breathe only as it breathes. As is creation, so am I. Where the surface rises and falls, where the surface ebbs and flows, where even the mountains wash outward - outward to me - here, I will be: as I was.

As is creation, so I will be.

With Scales of Stone and Salt

Basalt Dragons emerge from the deeps - shadows at first, growing rapidly as the sunlight penetrates the haze of fathoms and fathoms of water - until the creature either veers, revealing its length, or explodes from the waves in a storm of spray. Their scales are smooth to the touch - dark gray to gray-blue in color - while hard and cold as stone. When swimming, the move like an iguana - side to side, their wings and appendages held close to maintain their streamlining - on land, or in the air, they take on a regal bearing, standing tall and presenting a wide front to project their dominance.

Basalt Dragons are found in the deep ocean. Rarely - very rarely - they might be found in shallow seas: anywhere with sufficient depth to slake their thirst for peace under the waves and anywhere with sufficient salinity to speak to their connection to the primordial ocean.

Encountering Basalt Dragons

Basalt Dragon
Armor Class:	-4	No. Appearing:	1
Hit Dice:	12	Save As:	Fighter 11
Move:	Std: 90' (30') Swim: 135' (45') Fly: 180' (60')	Morale:	11
Attacks:	Claw / Claw / Bite	Treasure Type:	~ (H)
Damage:	2d6 / 2d6 / 6d8	Alignment:	Law
Frequency:	Very Rare	Chance In Lair:	5%*

• Chance of Talking: 40% • Chance of Being Asleep: 10% • Spells by Level (1/2/3): 3/3/3

Basalt Dragons are huge - and they know it. They are proud and courageous - a bravery bought by confidence. Their voices - if they speak - are low and resonating, shaking the core of the listener: but they speak little, themselves convinced that they are above the lesser, younger creatures making up the sentient (and thus player) races.

Basalt Dragons are not territorial - tolerating other dragons and other creatures within their range: some - pairs or bonded covens - will have extended conversations with one another, extending for months in draconic discussion. Many consider themselves natural philosophers - their perspectives colored by their lives spent below the waves, often beyond the reach of sunlight.

In the ocean, Basalt Dragons are never surprised - however surprise explorers as normal. While the common tactic of the Basalt Dragon when engaging an unwanted visitor is to hide beneath, swimming in vertical ascent towards a target in ambush, the dice chance represents either the dragon's confidence - I don't need to surprise these creatures, they are no match for me - or its curiosity, in the case of a favorable reaction.

Basalt Dragons are able to breathe with equal facility in salt water and in the air.

Regarding No. Appearing, if the dragon is not asleep and encountered in lair, there is a 1-in-4 chance of a group of the dragons congregating together to contemplate the depths. If such an encounter occurs, the dragons will surprise normally - their minds preoccupied - however they will number between 2 and 6, with preference to fewer. This can be accomplished by rolling 3d3 and summing the result of the lower two in order to determine the number of Basalt Dragons present.

Breath Weapon

• Template: Line
• Range*: 120' x 10'
  

The breath attack of a Basalt Dragon is a stream of elemental deep: a spiraling mass, almost like a helix of several continuous bubbles rotating around a frighteningly cold core of heavy water. Underwater, the breath weapon functions normally: however, if the breath effect leaves the water, its remaining range is halved: that is, a Basalt Dragon, submerged 20 feet beneath the waves, when breathing towards a row of harpooners perched across the bow of a vessel would extend the breath weapon a total of 70' from its point of origin: 20' normally from the submerged dragon to the surface and then 50' further above the water, those 50' counting as 100' above the waves.

The damage from a breath attack of a Basalt Dragon is half elemental ice and half bludgeoning. Creatures which resist ice suffer half damage only on a failed save and no damage at all on a successful save; creatures which are immune to ice may re-roll if they fail their save against it on the first attempt.

A target of Ogre size or smaller struck by the breath attack of a Basalt Dragon that does not succeed its Save vs Breath is buffeted backwards, along the path of the stream, a number of feet equal to the damage suffered.

Lair and Treasure

Basalt Dragons lair in the bedrock of the sea - deep into the far reaches of the oceanic twilight zone. They will collect treasure and goods taken from ships of the surface-dwellers, from the coffers of the under-sea peoples, or from sacrifices made by primitives from both. They are partial to organic gemstones - pearls, aragonite, etc. - and metals that do not corrode with the salt.

Resistances and Immunities

Basalt Dragons are immune to Cold and Ice and resist Fire or effects targeting breathing - such as a poison cloud: taking half damage or half effect therefrom.

Basalt Dragons are vulnerable to Lightning, taking double-damage therefrom.

In subduing a Basalt Dragon, they are half as likely as normal to be subdued, in terms of percentiles.

Spoiler Alert!

The Deeper Lore section contains some notes to help a GM (me) to run Basalt Dragons in a way consistent with the archetype they are supposed to fill and some of the inspirations behind their creation. If you play in (or want to play in!) a game GM'ed by me, beyond this point will ruin some of the mystery for you for both Basalt Dragons and for most of the sentient races: having some impact in the game world that isn't immediately available outside of player character discoveries.

Deeper Lore

Basalt Dragons are sustained by rhythm - the tranquil predictability of the thermohaline conveyor, the frigid stillness of the waters beneath the currents and of the sleeping bedrock. The undersea is vast in three-dimensional space - as such, the Basalt Dragon requires fewer hexes of space than might be implied. This is likewise influenced by how active the space is - in cool climates, or deep into the far cracks of the midnight zone, where currents are weaker and the world stands still, the Basalt Dragon's needs are satisfied more readily than in shallower, warmer, or populated waters. Basalt Dragons will sleep naturally for 2 to 8 weeks at a time, waking to survey their world around them for a few days: often times staying in the deeps, far away from Human activities; though they will be woken if their tranquility is broken, either by natural activity (like an earthquake or perhaps powerful storm in a shallower region) or by an increase in the activity of the sentient races, sufficient to disrupt the rhythms of the dragon's territory - thus "starving" them - as normal for a creature sustained by esoteric means.

The inspiration for the Basalt Dragon is Lotan, or Leviathan - great monsters in the deep places of the world, associated with creation itself: Lotan being of the sea before the creation - recall, Lotan, or Tiamat the Chaos Serpent: "chaos" to the ancients was in reference to the state of being before the imposition of order, of civilization, and of law at the hands of the Gods - the Basalt Dragon is representative of a state beyond the reach of civilization, beyond the scale and scope of man. They are a vestige of nature - a note to remind mankind that the sea is always larger, always foreign, and always the master in its own domain.

Basalt Dragons are birthed from the bedrock - rather than reproducing in a traditional sense. When a place has been quiet long enough that the quiet has become part of its essence - then might one of these terrifying creatures be formed. The hatching is typically sudden and monumental - an earthquake beneath the waves, believed to be the cause of tsunami style floods along low coasts in the target range. It seems that the noise, the commotion of this process would be out of tune with the nature of the beast - and likewise, it would seem a cause to wake any nearby Basalt Dragons within hearing distance. Scholars say - however - that this may be an attribute of the social nature of these dragons: an adaptation that allow the creatures to commune with one another, passing their culture and their perspective through to generations - an alien form of parenting where the parents did not bear their children.

Public domain artwork retrieved from OldBookIllustrations.com, Wikimedia Commons, and the National Gallery of Art and adapted for use. Attributions in at text.

Rolling Red Dice

Play-Cast Name: Smoke & Snow Where I Listened: Red Dice Diaries, YouTube Where It's Available: RedDiceDiaries.com, "The Red Dice Diaries"     on your preferred     podcast platform. System: Old School Essentials

Plate

   

Thoughts and Review

Smoke & Snow is a traditional campaign played in Old School Essentials, with some elements mixed in from Lamentations of the Flame Princess - namely, firearms - following the expansion of civilization into a newly uncovered ancestral continent. The actual play melds elements of traditional fantasy adventure with deep world-building, the exploration thereof by the player group, as well as themes reminiscent to the Age of Discovery, with the players - based out of a pilgrim-esque colony - akin to Lewis and Clark, or perhaps the like of John Cabot or the brothers Corte Real, penetrating into the cold depths of a new land.

    For Further Listening
The Red Dice Diaries YouTube channel - as might be inferred from my "plethora of content" comment - serves as a platform not only for John's actual plays, but also for the content produced for his Red Dice Diaries podcast.

This content is available on YouTube - as well as episodically in your preferred podcast player - but on the YouTube, is organized in playlists by content and subject material. While I am more a fan of auditory media - meaning that I tend to listen to these podcasts rather than watch them - if you enjoy what you're seeing when watching Smoke & Snow, you may like what you're hearing if you head over to the other playlists - or subscribe to the feed - to listen to the DM, John Alan Large, speak to his experience and insight.

Further, Smoke & Snow is a home game of John Alan Large - primary author and content creator for the Red Dice Diaries media network - RedDiceDiaries.com. John publishes a plethora of additional content available on the Red Dice Diaries page, peripheral services documented therein, and published via a handful of social media outlets.

What I Like

Hex maps! At this point in my reviewing career, I can count on one hand the number of actual plays that include player-facing (or audience facing) hex maps - by association, I can count the number of APs in the same manner that are useful to the viewer to learn how to run, or what to expect, when playing a hex crawl. Big kudos to John on this front. One, in his seamless execution: accommodating lower level or smaller party hex crawling; transitioning between different hex scales to account for different areas or different objectives, zooming in and out according to the theme of exposure; the way he uses fog of war to hide and reveal portions of the map as the players uncover it - and two, for the style of play that it fosters. A theme of exploration - and the resulting combats, parlays, alliances, and enemies that arise for the party therefrom - runs consistently through this actual play: something that defines the vision for why hex crawls were created.

Encounters for the characters are mixed between Theater of the Mind and VTT battle-mat. Primarily, if an encounter goes friendly - or if a random encounter is somewhat nondescript: such as fighting off a pack of wolves that happened upon the camp at night - the group uses Theater of the Mind; whereas if an encounter is bigger, a location that the players would do well to remember, or a gang of enemies tied to the objective at hand - a battle mat with tokens and more rigid structure is used. I like this because it shows adaptability for when things come up, first, and second, it highlights that combat can be abstract - that combat doesn't have to be the focus of a game: while it's in the game, it's an element of the game, and a player should expect to run into it: it's only one piece of the puzzle, one tile in the mosaic, that defines the old-school experience.

    For Further Watching
In addition to Smoke & Snow, available on the Red Dice Diaries YouTube are several additional playlists for several other games:

• Vampire: The Masquerade (5th)
• Blades in the Dark
• Scum & Villainy
• Index Card RPG

Full disclosure, I have not watched these playlists - and as such, I cannot speak to their content nor quality - and of note, the systems used are not OSR systems: thus, they may not be to your taste, if you are looking for an OSR actual-play. However, if you are curious about any of the above systems, or if you are looking for an entertainment experience rather than an OSR-educational one - you may find more content to your liking by the same creator.

Regarding role-playing and play-acting, the players do on occasion ham it up a bit: however they seem to know what the limit is: they seem to know the level at which role-playing adds to the ambiance, adds to character development, as opposed to the point at which it detracts: the point at which it changes the spirit of the experience from an adventure into an improv. They stay flawlessly within the realm of additive role play: on no occasion did I feel the need to fast forward the videos with the exception of - being a non-live viewer - exploiting my YouTube advantage of skipping mid-session breaks to stay in the action. An example of this balance is especially of value to aspiring old-schoolers who came to the hobby from more "RP-heavy" groups - or, to be more explicit, folks who have come into actual-plays via more popular streams who focus on character soap-opera rather than actually playing the game. It shows how banter can (and should!) happen and that in-character conversation and in-character development can (and should!) occur - that it is part of the experience, but that - like combat - it's a single tile in the mosaic that is the old-school experience.

Lastly - and this might be a cultural thing, a difference from my North American experience compared to John's European, specifically UK, one - I love how polite, reserved, and nominally stoic most of the characters are. It's a very muted counterpoint to the loud, blunt presentation of a great deal of other actual plays I've viewed - a phenomenon of YouTube culture, perhaps? It's refreshing - and it's simultaneously beneficial to the viewer as it seems to focus the stream on the game and not on the players: a key element to understand in an OSR game. The story doesn't star the characters, it stars the party; and the story isn't about the party - it's about blood, gold, and the charting of the unknown - the extension of Humanity's reach at the tip of a sword: one torch's radius at a time.

    For Further Riddling
What has a mouth and never eats,
has a bed and never sleeps,
always runs and never walks,
laughs and rages, never talks?
        Red Dice Diaries RPG Podcast
        Season 2, Episode 20
        The Ultimate Encounter

I know the answer is "a river" - but the description fits one of my toddlers, honestly.

What I Don't Like

Truly, I can't think of anything that I dislike about this stream. The audio is occasionally louder for some players than for the referee - but that's true for virtually all streams and is hardly something to complain about: in this case, it's not intrusive to the experience unless you're using headphones (in which case, I found myself straining a bit to hear on some exchanges, as I couldn't adjust the volume fast enough between speakers) - but also, audio issues... because of the aforementioned prevalence, I've stopped judging actual plays for having technical difficulties. It happens to professional broadcasters, it can happen to us little guys too. 

So congrats - John! I need you to mess up somehow so I can have something to complain about.

In Conclusion

Smoke & Snow is tempting me to go back through other APs I've reviewed and review them with a harsher standard. It is an interesting story - one of discovery, of friends and foes, of loss and victory - and it is a good mechanical exposé of the rules. It is a traditional campaign, where the characters and players grow and develop: a story lies under the surface that's waiting to be told, but in OSR format, the players help to build this story - to forge this narrative - by providing the experience by which the tale is told. An aspiring OSR referee seeking to understand how the game is (or should be) played, I highly recommend watch Smoke & Snow.

Solid Plate rating. Keep rolling those red dice, guys!

08.02 - Watchtower Compound Standalone PDF!

Watchtower on the Indigo River:
The Watchtower Compound

At long last, the PDF version of the Watchtower dungeon promised three times now! Though the announcement post is shorter than the usual post - the PDF linked sure isn't: 143 stocked & keyed rooms, interconnected by a central theme, with several "new" monsters and with special care to try to make the PDF more usable: both in print or at your computer - as part of the larger Indigo River series or stand-alone, as with the Floundered Cog last year.

One step closer to completing a full-formed hex adventure along the cursed shallows of the Indigo River flood plain.

Delve on, readers!

Yellow Light for the Blue Box

Play-Cast Name: Greyhawk Awakening Where I Listened: BlueBoxRPG Channel Playlist Where It's Available: BlueBoxRPG YouTube, BlueBoxRPG Twitch System: "3e"

Leather

 

Thoughts and Review

Grewhawk Awakening is the name of a series of videos, a playlist to be explicit, set in the World of Grewhawk, in and about the village of Hommlet, first made famous in the T-series for AD&D. The campaign runs in a traditional format, following the adventures and development of a mostly stable group of players and their characters. In terms of system, the stream describes itself as using 3e at the core, while "incorporating elements of AD&D and one mechanic from 5e," which is the Advantage / Disadvantage mechanic.

    A Companion Review
This review comes on the heels of a previous review, Lord Gosumba. In truth, I found this actual play series first between the two (and wrote this review before writing the review for Lord Gosumba) having learned about DM Jay from his guest appearance in the prologue episode to Greyhawk Awakening, Hallia's Betrayal. So - that's something to note: if the Episode 0 DM seems familiar, it's because he is - but on a second note, if the following, normal episodes feel and run different, it's because they are. While Lord Gosumba is called out routinely as a friend of Blue Box - his game is definitively a different experience than Greyhawk Awakening.

From that perspective, though - and from the understanding that I was consuming those two actual plays essentially side by side, some references are made, comparisons drawn, between the two - the intent is not to draw them into comparison into the reader's mind, as well, but a byproduct of the proximity of my own consumption.

In any case, game on, Jay; and game on, DM Neuromancer!

A Note to Start With

In addition to Greyhawk Awakening, the BlueBox RPG Twitch and YouTube channels produce several avenues of content: a great deal of which is content for 5th Edition. The purview of this blog being to talk Old School Renaissance - and the purpose of this review series being to help new and prospective OSR players and referees to understand what to expect in an OSR game - I did not review (nor do I intend to review) the 5e content offered.

Without doubt, its quality is on par with the Greyhawk content I did watch, without doubt its community engagement is similarly involved; as such, it's not to throw shade on those playlists: but, having not seen it, I can't vouch for it, personally.

What I Like

Like Lord Gosumba - and Swords of Jordoba - the first thing that stands out to me about this channel is its use of physical miniatures. I mention that Swords of Jordoba focuses primarily on the dungeon - with some scenes from town, etc. - and that Lord Gosumba then expands on this field, opening up outdoor spaces and expanding on in-town buildings. On that front, Greyhawk Awakening truly takes physical miniatures to another level. From the beginning to the end - every major event has a set. The characters delve into caves and dungeons; the characters trek through temperate grasslands, rocky spaces, or even snow-draped forest-scapes; the terrain, the miniatures, and the appropriateness of both to the campaign as presented is phenomenal in Greyhawk Awakening.

To continue on the subject of the production quality - the DM makes use of professional grade maps, music, and sound effects. In many APs I've seen, sound effects and music can be distracting - but that is not the case for Greyhawk Awakening. The music is unobtrusive, the sound effects appropriate, and on occasion, the DM uses music or sound effects to queue the players in to something that isn't in the verbal description. In my home game - I've had hit and miss music experiences, but I'd never mastered the art of context clues via ambiance: something that for which this stream deserves credit.

Lastly, to refocus on system - the stream "incorporates elements of AD&D": most notably, though they do use miniatures, the combat is abstracted - the players don't move tokens, but they are there to provide relative positioning to augment theater of the mind. Also group initiative. This, tacked on to 3/3.5 and I suspect either more from 5e than they admit or some elements from other games, a la Pathfinder or a miscellaneous d20 (they consistently refer to "stealth" or "perception" - where my old 3e PHBs call those "move silently" and "spot") - but where the rules come from is immaterial to the direction I want to take this point: the moral of the story, they are playing a Frankenbrew! 

They have a thousand Twitch followers and they are playing a Frankenbrew!

This is beautiful! If there was one thing that would embody, for me, the spirit of the OSR - wherein we seek to recreate the wonder and excitement of our earliest D&D experiences, the game as it was meant to be played - it's this: rulings over rules - homebrew melted over kosher product. Yes - AD&D was built to standardize: but the purpose of that standardization was to empower tournament play and to assist with conformity in supporting product. The message conveyed here - you don't have to run RAW to make a good game; you don't have to pass a purity test to have an engaging campaign. And with houserules coloring and fleshing out every home game I've ever played in, it provides a key lesson and key perspective - that it's OK to tweak the rules to fit your table: this providing an illustration of how those tweaks can (and ineluctably will) change game flow.

The Elephant in the Room

When talking about OSR games - part and parcel for many is TSR compatibility: specifically, compatibility with the Gary epoch. This AP runs a mishmash - but their self-proclaimed core, the engine around which the system they play is built, is D&D 3.5 - WotC. With that in mind - per my point regarding the inclusion of houserules changing how the game flows at the table - the core of WotC D&D brings to bear several central differences between the two generations.

• There are elements of player skill, but there are converse elements of d20 character skill rolls.
• There are long, exciting battle sequences! But there isn't really a focus on treasure, nor in carving your name into the bark of the living wild.
  

Remembering that the OSR began as a reaction against the changes 3e brought, powered by the OGL that 3e introduced - the nature of this AP is different than a game run using TSR compatible product (which you are, as an aspiring OSR player or referee, going to encounter). For that reason, this AP has a limited amount of OSR-specific lessons to impart.

Where those versed in old D&D will recognize mechanics and imports from OSR-friendly editions, watching it will teach those unversed in old D&D how to play new D&D: not old D&D. It teaches 3.5 well, truthfully: there are moments of player clarification where the DM explains the rule, which edition it's from, and how it differs from 5e, which is what the players are use to. And this is the crux of the review's rating. 

Excellent production, great story, wonderful community engagement - but it's not really OSR.

What I Didn't Like

Further - on another point - to the immersive ambiance used in the game, everyone at the table is very in-character. This is normally a good thing, but it's important to note there is a difference between drama and melodrama. While by and large, the game proceeds in a smooth narrative, there occur instances wherein, in building tension or complimenting the spirit of the scene - the table falls victim to over-acting. Be it responses exaggerated to the severity of the situation, be it in-character quips that border on action clips you'd find in video games - I found myself on occasion skipping forward along the stream to get out of the moment and back into the play.

Of Streams and Systems

As with most streaming actual-plays, the table at Greyhawk Awakening interacts with the stream, with the community. A lot. They give away prizes, they talk to and remember subscribers - which is great for building a following: for which they deserve kudos. But why isn't this in the "good things" section, CWR? Well, it's a good thing during the stream - and it's a great way to build community - but you have to skip past it when you're on YouTube. That said - they are very well telegraphed: as are breaks and the startup time, literally employing a countdown timer - it makes it very easy to skip forward; very convenient to get back into the action on the prerecorded line.

As an aside, some of the earlier episodes have issues with user audio: some of the mics echo, some of the players are quieter than others - but after the first handful of episodes, those issues are largely resolved. It's a common thing for actual plays to have better audio and fewer glitches as the episodes proliferate: Greyhawk Awakening is no different - they consistently improve as they consistently work towards a better product. 

In Conclusion

Greyhawk Awakening is a well-produced, fun to watch actual play with some hints of old-school sensibility, with a primary selling point is in its production value, its narrative qualities, and its amazing support and cultivation of a community. It's purpose is not in teaching how to play OSR D&D. For that reason, I wanted to present it as an option for the entertainment-value watcher, or perhaps the errant 3.5 refugee with a yearning for home: I wasn't sure, then, how to rate it - so I settled on Leather.

Interested in learning how to play B/X? This is not the right place.

If you have fond memories of 3e? Does system not matter? This stream is the stream for you!

 

Delve on, readers!

Public domain image downloaded from The Public Domain Review and adapted for thematic use. Attribution in alt text.