OSE In Dolmenwood Sessions 1 & 2

My name is Pithwilder Dennygere, Dowser and a member of the retinue of Crump Ravious, Knight & third son of the family Ravious of High Hankel. I was assigned by my liege to Crump's retinue to assist him to return some holy relics.

 It was on the 13th day of Lymevald that we set out from High Hankel, taking King Pusskin's Road to the north. Our party was lead by Crump and consisted of myself, Jaspar a Friar of St. Clewed, Shank a Veteran and Crump's right hand man and three retainers;  Young Chaucer, a man at arms armed with a crossbow and armoured in chainmail, Urla a latrine digger & Bullan another man at arms armed with a club, dagger & hand axe.

As we travelled on the road Crump explained that our initial destination was Lankshorn, a village on the edge of Dolemwood where we were to meet up with Father Dobie, a vicar at the Church of St. Pastry. We met a centaur along the way who seemed friendly enough and offered us some advice. Arriving at Lankshorn Crump put us all up at the Horned Stouts rest.

The following day, 14th Lymewold, we located Father Dobie at his home, a short distance along the Ditchway to the east. He told us the story of St. Clewed fighting a Black Unicorn to both their deaths and at that location, on a hill, the ruined abbey stands, on the NE shore of Lake Longmere. Father Dobie said that the missing artefacts, still thought to be located at the ruins of the abbey, were a cross, a pattern & a chalice.

With the map that Crump had been furnished with we were able to see roughly where we thought the abbey might be and it was decided that we'd make our way first to Dreg, a village on the river with the hope of getting more information about the exact location of the ruined abbey and obtaining some waterborne transport to take us  as close to our destination as possible.

It was midday by the time we set off and within a short distance we met our first obstacle, two huge hawks landing on the path ahead of us feasting on some sort of animal. Our party backed off and Shank and Young Chaucer attempted to move up onto the north side of the Ditchway to take us out of the hawks line of sight and gain the protection of the dense trees should they decide to attack us. Unfortunately Shank stepped onto some sort of large worm and was attacked by it. Young Chaucer was so startled he set off his crossbow and landed a bolt on Shank. Crump might not be the brighest of leaders but his courage cannot be denied as he immediately went rushing up to aid his comrades and after landing a blow the worm constricted him and secreted an acid that reduced his polished plate armour to something that a lowly retainer would be embarrassed to wear. Fortunately the combined prowess of Crump and Shank was enough to defeat the worm.

Shortly after the battle with the worm the hawks flew off and so we travelled a short distance

eastwards along the Ditchway before camping for the night .As Shank & Crump were injured they rested up whilst the rest of the party performed the camping rituals of gathering firewood, starting a fire, cooking, pitching tents and I was given the task of filling the water skins.

A full nights rest meant Shank & Crump's wounds were able to heal a little and on the morning of 15th of Lymewold we continued along the Ditchway towards Dreg. The day was largely uneventful. The only event of note was finding owl carvings on some trees and passing through a major ley line! We made camp by the side of the Ditchway and spent another uneventful night, allowing Shank & Crump's wounds to heal some more.

On the 16th of Lymewold we made it to Dreg around midday. We noted a castle on an island in the river that had not been marked on Crump's map. There was some discussion how to proceed from here. Crump sent Shank out to garner information on what transport was available and  he reported that there was a ferry available over the river at 1sp per person, a river boat captain was prepared to take us as far as the entrance to the lake for 4sp or a merchant called Valan would be prepared to pay us the princely sum of 6sp per day for guarding his two wagons all the way to Fort Vulgar

Crump elected for us to stay at the Cock 'n Pig Balls Inn. I think Crump must be running low on funds as we all, including Crump, stayed in the common room overnight. Jaspar our Friar was delighted with the meal of sausages, mashed potatoes & pickled eggs and I concur that it was a memorable meal for all the right reasons. However, Crump now appears fully healed from his wound and Shank shows little signs of his wound. It was here that Crump awarded Young Chaucer the title of Hunter for his bravery in standing his ground against the Worm a few days earlier. I fancy it was put a ploy to bolster the young man's confidence as the wound he inflicted on Shank was taking many days to heal.

On the 17th of Lymewold we set off escorting Valan who had two wagons and two drivers with him. We took the ferry across the river and proceeded up Creek Road, northwards towards Prigwort, where apparently Valan intended to pick up some more goods and stop overnight when we reached it. Our sleep in our overnight camp was interrupted by a display of strange lights in the sky which started off in the distance but moved so they were directly over our camp for a short period. I was on watch when this happened and woke the rest of the camp as I had no idea if they would prove to be friend or foe. However, the lights proved to be neither and after a short while just disappeared. Our future description of this episode drew blanks from local people.

On the 18th of Lymewold we reached the town of Prigwort, by reputation the largest settlement in Dolmenwood. I felt somewhat sorry for Crump who is obviously somewhat impoverished. He has been unable to purchase any replacement armour for his current rather tatty plate mail and when faced with the cost of the first inn we tried elected for us to stay at a cheaper inn, The Rap & Tap. I was able to detect a ley line to the north of Prigwort.

On the 19th of Lymewold we set off from Prigwort around midday as Valan had business to attend to in the morning. Our path took us over a creek and through the forest until mid afternoon we were able to see a rocky hill with what appeared to be a ruin at the top. We believed this to be our goal for retrieving the lost artefacts of St. Clewed. It was very noticable that a large flock of black birds were circling the ruin and at sundown they appeared to descend into the ruins, presumably to rest for the night.Valan agreed to pitch up camp a short distance from the hill and we spent an uneventful night.

Early in the morning of the 20th of Lymewold Valan gave us permission for a short expedition to the top of the hill to explore the ruins. This we did and were fortunate to locate all the missing artefacts. We noticed what appeared to be young children digging in the graveyard that was part of the ruins at the top of the hill. Unable to get close to them before they took refuge in the Mausoleum, we elected not to pursue them as we had located the items we needed to return and were keen to get them back to Father Dobie as soon as could.

And this is where our current tale ends, ready to start off from the ruined abbey to Fort Vulgar!

We have gathered a number of rumours on our travels and I must speak to the rest of the party to gather the rumours together and put quill to paper so we have a written record.

System: Old School Essentials
Setting: Dolmenwood
GM:Che Webster
Players: Andy Sutton (Pithwilder, Crump, Young Chaucer, Urla, Bullan), Ian Roberts (Shank, Jaspar)

This is a play test of Nercrotic Gnome's forthcoming Dolmenwood player's book. The sessions played so far have been Friday 14th & 28th February 2020. Each session was around 3 hours.

The characters have currently gained just over 300 XP, about 15% of what they need for next level!

The Isle of Dread

I was lucky enough to see a post on Facebook from one of my local gaming shops, Chimera, indicating that they had Goodman Games Isle of Dread book in stock.

Needless to say I messaged them to reserve a copy and picked it up after work the same day.

The Goodman Games reproductions of these classic modules are real gems; not just the republishing of the original modules or the conversion to D&D 5e but also the articles with luminaries associated with The Isle of Dread. I can't recommend this product enough.

My challenge now is to integrate The Isle of Dread into my Wilderlands campaign!

Into The Borderlands

 Late to the party as usual but my Christmas present to myself arrived today, Goodman Games' Into The Borderlands

Like many gamers who started playing RPGs in the early 1980s Keep on the Borderlands was an essential part of my initiation. In my case it was the first module I can remember DMing. I still have my original copy which even has pencil marks from that one and only time I ran it still written in the pages.

One of the problems with getting hold of Goodman Games products when you live in the UK like I do is the cost of the postage, which effectively doubles the cost of the product. I tried to source Into the Borderlands at a couple of local games shops without success and finally tracked a copy down over Christmas on eBay with a UK seller.

My initial thoughts are what a weighty tome! It must be the heaviest book in my RPG collection. There is certainly no chance of me struggling to find it on the bookshelf!

I can't wait to have a gander through the pages. Some of the commentary looks very interesting.

Of course, I own a copy of the Moldvay versions of B1 & B2. The former was a recent acquisition but the latter is my original 1981 Magenta Box copy, complete with pencil annotations from the only time I can remember running B2, as my first module I DMed back in 1981

Turning Undead

One of the first things that struck me getting back into D&D B/X was the lack of clarity about turning undead. For example, when does the cleric get to turn the undead in the combat turn? What is the mechanism used to turn the undead? And how long do the undead remain turned? These are just three questions the rule book fails to address.

Now one of the great things about D&D B/X is that the very lack of clarity allows each DM to create their own rules or interpretation of the rules. So I came up with a few optional and what I call corollary rules. What I mean by corollary rules are rules created using as much information from the rule books as possible and coming to a natural conclusion making as few assumptions as possible. I always try and put the reasoning for each rule along side the rule.

These notes have been copied into this journal entry below. If anyone has any opinions about my notes I would be interested to read them in the comments below.

Combat Sequence (Corollary)

Announcement of Intent (Optional)

A cleric must announce their intention to turn undead before initiative is rolled.
The reason for this is:

1.  the cleric is not permitted to move whilst turning. 
2.  the turning is assumed to fail if the cleric is distracted. 

If both of these rules are not implemented there is no requirement for the cleric to announce their intent before the initiative is rolled.

Resist Distraction (Optional)

The DM may allow a cleric a saving throw vs Wisdom to resist any distractions while turning. This should be made as one saving throw per distraction.

Turning Step in Sequence

One of the following possible options must be selected. In any event the undead affected will only become apparent on the undead’s movement step.

Announcement of Intent Initiated (Optional)

Undead are turned between Missile Fire & Magic spell steps.
The reason for this is that turning, like spell casting, is assumed to take up some time with the cleric required to present their holy symbol, gather their faith and perform a short ritualistic chant.

Announcement of Intent Not Initiated (Optional)

Undead are turned before the Missile Fire step.
The reason for this is that the turning ability is assumed to be an innate ability that is performed quickly.

Other Possibilities (Optional)

Any step the DM decides upon. If you believe turning to be a spell like ability make it go off in the spell step, or if you think the lack of any other indicators means it defaults to the melee step then make it happen then.

The reason for this is there are no obvious clues in the original text as to which step turning actually occurs on.

Undead Affected (Corollary)

Before rolling 2D6 to calculate the HD of undead affected it should be ascertained which undead could be affected. One of the following options must be selected:

Focus (Optional)

Only undead that can sense the cleric’s focus are affected. A focus could be the cleric’s holy symbol, the cleric themselves, a cleric’s eye contact, a vocal chant or any other focus the DM decides upon.

Undead in melee combat against other opponents are therefore unlikely to be affected as they are assumed to already be focused on fighting.

Excluded undead are simply not included in the adding up of hit dice for affected undead.
The reason for this is that the turning power of the cleric is assumed to be focused in some way.

Range (Optional)

All undead within 120’ are affected.
The reason for this is that the Cause Fear spell has this range and the turning power of the cleric is assumed to be similar in effect.

When the Results of Turning Are Apparent (Corollary)

It is immediately apparent which undead are affected as they will stop in their tracks and start to turn away.

The reason for this is that while the Combat Sequence steps are there for convenience in a real fight all participants would be moving & fighting at the same time so all affected undead would show signs of being affected immediately even if they had to wait until their movement step to actually move way.

Movement of Turned Undead (Corollary)

All movement of turned undead is assumed to be at maximum as a retreat and will continue until they are physically unable to retreat any more. (e.g. they reach a dead end or locked door).

Does Turning Undead Require Concentration? (Corollary)

No, there is no concept of concentration for spells in B/X so it would logically follow that concentration was not required for clerical turning either.

Duration (Corollary)

Undead are assumed to be turned until the end of the current (10 minute) turn unless they realise they are attacked in which case they will defend themselves.

The reason for the duration lasting for one turn is that the clerical Fear spell lasts two turns but has a saving throw whereas there is no saving throw for turning. It therefore makes sense to reduce the duration for turning accordingly.

The reason they are assumed to defend themselves is to separate out turning from dispelling as if the party turning the undead could attack them without consequence it would be the same as dispelling them except for the additional time taken.

How Often Can You Turn Undead? (Corollary)

Once per round. Any undead that are not turned in one round may be attempted to be turned in the next round.

Any undead that have their turning broken may be attempted to be turned again on the following round, e.g. if they have been attacked.

There and Back Again

In a book in my role playing game collection there lived a rule set. Not a nasty, dirty, complicated rule set, filled with bewildering rules and an whiff of incomprehensibility, nor yet a dry, bare, sparse rule set with nothing in it to get your teeth into and extend it: it was the Moldvay, Cook & Marsh D&D B/X rule set, and that means comfort.

It's been a long journey for me starting some time in 1981, at the age of 14, when I bought the Moldvay D&D Basic set (I forget if I bought the expert set at the same time or later on). It wasn't the first role playing game I experienced, that was SPI's Dragonquest but it was the first role playing game I bought and in which I was a dungeon master.

Looking back I honestly can't recall many of the specific details of playing B/X all those years ago. I know I played with my best mate at the time; just the two of us. I know he had the AD&D books and me the B/X. I suspect we played some weird hybrid of the two systems, taking it in turns to DM or play.

However, when I got to polytechnic in 1985 I recall playing mainly Runequest and Call of Cthulhu and although I ran a short lived D&D campaign I seem to remember it was using the AD&D books.

Once I left polytechnic I continued to role play with the people I'd met there and in fact still play occasionally with them to this day and during the interceding decades we played Middle Earth, Rolemaster, Shadowrun, Aftermath! & GURPS, our role playing time tailing off as we moved away, got married, had kids ..

And so I arrived in 2016 with my eldest 7 years old. We were going away camping and I thought it would be cool to try some role playing with him if the weather kept us in the tent. So I looked about the role playing scene, probably for the first time in 30 years, and found a RPG called Hero Kids that look interesting. Needless to say the weather was great and so no role playing was done.

However the following year my eldest was doing a project at school on the ancient Greek culture and I decided to bite the bullet and write a scenario for Hero Kids that tied in with his project. Fortunately it was a success. Both my wife, eldest & youngest all enjoyed it and suddenly my interest in role playing was rekindled again - not that I'd ever stopped completely; remember I mentioned I still played occasionally with my old polytechnic friends.

So I looked up in the attic and dug out my role playing collection which had been boxed up since we'd relocated to Sri Lanka in 2003. Fortunately it was all in remarkable condition; although more by luck than judgement. I cleared out the floor to ceiling book case next to my bed and filled it with my old RPG books.

In December 2017 I did some online research and found a number of games shops existed in my local area (Derbyshire in the UK) and posted messages asking if there were any RPG groups running with spaces. Fortunately there were and I signed up for a weekly Pathfinder group in my local town & a monthly D&D 5e group in a neighboring town. I bought the players handbook for both as to be honest I'd heard of neither system before; well to be honest I was only vaguely aware of AD&D 2e and had not heard of BECMI let alone D&D 3e & 4e ..

I enjoyed playing in both groups and soon joined a weekly AD&D 1e group and a monthly B/X group and even started DMing a duet with my wife with D&D 5e. One week I played 4 days out of 7 - I hadn't played so much since I was in polytechnic and I was loving it.

In September 2018 my eldest started 5th year at school and his topic was Vikings and Saxons. This was too much temptation not to do some more role playing with him, my wife and youngest too. However, I had a dilemma. Hero Kids was just not satisfying enough for me & Pathfinder, D&D 5e & AD&D 1e I felt were too difficult to teach the boys. This left an obvious candidate. Moldvay, Cook & Marshes B/X. I already had the books, the system is simple to learn and I'd had a blast playing it myself in the couple of monthly sessions I'd been able to attend.

I created a B/X Viking & Saxon based scenario, admittedly using resources from across three systems; B/X, BECMI & AD&D 2e.

and I ran it for my wife and boys

It was a success and Sneaky Shadows the thief, Bowdorion the elf & Golgorion the fighter are creating their own history in Mystara, the campaign setting I opted for the campaign.

So I have returned full circle and indeed been there and back again. It has taken me over 35 years to realise my favourite role playing system is the one I first DMed all those years ago ..

Don't get me wrong. I love AD&D and enjoy playing in all my groups; Pathfinder, D&D 5e & AD&D but if I was on a desert island and had to pick just one system to play it would be D&D B/X. The simplicity and expand-ability strike a cord that no other RPG ever has to quite the same degree.

So Why Unguarded Treasure?

TREASURE: If treasure is in a room with a monster, use the Treasure Type for that monster (given in the monster description) to find the treasure in the room. If treasure is in a room without a monster, use the Unguarded Treasure table (below). The table is used in the same way as the Treasure Types table (page B45).

Unguarded Treasure

Dungeon Level	*Silver Pieces	Gold Pieces	Gems	Jewelry	Magic Items
1	1d6 x 100	50%: 1d6 x 10	5%: 1d6	2%: 1d6	2%: Any 1
2-3	1d12 x 100	50%: 1d6 x 100	10%: 1d6	5%: 1d6	8%: Any 1

* Note that there are always silver pieces in unguarded treasure, and that other items are given in terms of the die rolled to determine the number present.

The above text is from the Moldvay D&D Basic rulebook

If truth be told I was looking for inspiration for the name to call my blog and thought I'd see if the D&D Moldvay Basic rule book could provide it. As I was looking through the index the words "Unguarded Treasure" leapt out at me and seemed to be just what I was looking for. I think it sums up what I am trying to achieve. A blog that is open and accessible to all and always reveals something but hopefully occasionally offers the odd gem or article of gold ..

Oh and the (B52) suffix is just the page number the Unguarded Treasure entry can be found on.

Note that the background I use is from the cover of the TSR Expert Rule book and is by  Erol Otus