[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...
View Article[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...
View Article[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...
View Article[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,...
View Article[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...
View Article[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...
View Article[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 &...
View Article[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...
View Article[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...
View Article[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...
View Article[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...
View Article[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...
View Article[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...
View Article[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...
View Article[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:...
View Article[Article] Handbooks, Guides & Manuals
One Ring To Rule Them All......And In The Darkness Bind Them!
View Article[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...
View Article[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...
View Article[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...
View Article[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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