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[Review] AA5 The Flaming Footprints of Jilanth
The Flaming Footsteps of JilanthAuthor: Andrew Hind.Contents: 16 saddle stitched black and white pages, 1 title page, 14 pages of adventure, and 1 open game license page.Publisher: Expeditious Retreat...
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[Article] Fighting Techniques
Broadly speaking, the Chain Mail man-to-man melee combat system presents two kinds of weapons, those that can be wielded with one hand, and therefore in combination with a shield, and those that...
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[Article] Weapon Class
As with many war games, the Chain Mail mass combat rules uses a troop classification system that governs fighting ability, movement speed, morale, and so on. The concept of discrete classifications...
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[Article] Attributes & Abilities
A fundamental characteristic of every edition of Dungeons & Dragons, and the simulacrum games that it has spawned, is that each player character is defined by a set of six ability scores: strength,...
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[Article] The Shadow Peaks Campaign
It was probably the Summer of 2001 when I decided to get back into playing Dungeons & Dragons; the exact course of events is somewhat hazy in my memory, but I recall that we used the First Quest...
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[Article] Saving Throws
The concept of a saving throw both predates and appears in Chain Mail. Of course, the Fantasy Supplement contains several references with regards to spells and dragon breath (pp. 31 & 35), but its...
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[Article] Yggsburgh Coinage
One of the more troublesome aspects of the Castle Zagyg campaign setting is that its economy seems to exist in isolation from both that of Dungeons & Dragons (any iteration) and Castles &...
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[Article] Fighting Ability
Also known as “fighting capability” and “combat ability”, fighting ability in Dungeons & Dragons is used in the general sense to denote the combat abilities of a fighter and also in the specific...
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[Article] Void Elementals
The “great wheel” cosmology of Dungeons & Dragons was not something that particularly concerned me until the introduction of the Planescape campaign setting, and even then its impact was confined...
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[Article] Thieving Ability
Analogous to, and in contrast with, fighting ability, the concept of thieving ability usually refers to a discrete subset of "skills" typically only available to thieves, and the probability of their...
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[Article] Henchmen & Hirelings
Whilst a player in a swords & sorcery adventure game typically generates and plays the role of only one character at a time in the context of a single campaign, he is also well advised to recruit...
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[Review] AA6 The Chasm of the Damned
The Chasm of the DamnedAuthor: James C. BoneyContents: 16 saddle stitched black and white pages, 1 title page, 13 pages of adventure, 1 page of OSRIC advertisements, and 1 open game license...
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[Review] Blood Moon Rising
Blood Moon RisingAuthors: Peter C. Spahn.Contents: 32 portable document format black and white pages, 1 title page, 29 pages of adventure, 1 page of advertisements, and 1 open game license...
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[Article] Turning Ability
The genesis of the Dungeons & Dragons cleric class is relatively well known. Inspired by the character of Van Helsing and his analogues as portrayed in the Hammer Horror films of the preceding...
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[Review] AA7 The Sarcophagus Legion
The Sarcophagus LegionAuthor: Andrew HindContents: 16 saddle stitched black and white pages, 1 title page, 13 pages of adventure, 1 page of OSRIC advertisements, and 1 open game license page.Publisher:...
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[Article] Handbooks, Guides & Manuals
One Ring To Rule Them All......And In The Darkness Bind Them!
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[Article] Spell Ability
Whilst fighting ability and thieving ability are barely attested and at best ambiguous terms in the first edition Player’s Handbook and Dungeon Master’s Guide, spell ability frequently appears and is...
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[Review] AA8 The Seven Shrines of Nav'k-Qar
The Seven Shrines of Nav'k-QarAuthor: James C. BoneyContents: 12 saddle stitched black and white pages, 1 title page, 9 pages of adventure, 1 page of Your Games Now and Other World Miniatures...
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[Article] Hit Points
Of all the game elements introduced or popularised by Dungeons & Dragons the concept of hit points has probably been the most influential and widespread, finding its way into numerous tabletop and...
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[Review] AA9 The Lost Pyramid of Imhotep
The Lost Pyramid of ImhotepAuthor: Alphonso WardenContents: 12 saddle stitched black and white pages, 1 title page, 10 pages of adventure, and 1 open game license page.Publisher: Expeditious Retreat...
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[Article] Orcs & Goblins
Aside from the titular beast itself, orcs and goblins are perhaps the best known monsters associated with the Dungeons & Dragons game. Probably they are also the clearest link to the Lord of the...
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[Article] Races & Subraces
As they appear in the Chain Mail Fantasy Supplement, the various humanoids and demi-human races have only a single troop classification each. For example, there are no elvish light foot or elvish heavy...
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[Article] Halflings
Of all the demi-human races in Dungeons & Dragons, halflings are surely the most undeniably linked to the mythology of Middle Earth. The earliest printings of the Chain Mail Fantasy Supplement...
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[Article] Gnomes
Unlike the other demi-human races in Dungeons & Dragons, gnomes have no analogue in the mythology of Middle Earth. Judging from the list of literary influences in the first edition of the Dungeon...
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[Article] Dwarves
A notably prominent demi-human race in Dungeons & Dragons, dwarves no doubt owe their popularity to the success and mythology of Middle Earth. Whilst well known from legend, medieval literature and...
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