TABALDAK'S GEAS: The ICL 2025 Appx. N Jam Entry

 

Last Thursday, I submitted an entry to the 2025 Appx. N Jam! 

The Appx. N Jam was an itch.io contest requiring submissions to be a four-page RPG adventure based on a made-up book title that was randomly assigned. Those titles were of the vein of those old swords & sorcery novels found in the AD&D DMG's Appendix N- the influences for AD&D listed by Gygax.

For a great collection of Appendix N stories, I would like to recommend Appendix N: The Eldritch Roots of Dungeons and Dragons edited by Peter Bebergal from MIT Press.

I was hoping to get a title such as [The Location of the Noun + Noun], like "Crypt of the Red Wizard". This sort of title gives a clear idea about the dungeon and the random encounter table.

Instead, I got "Tabaldak's Geas", which, while it gives a potential antagonist, a "geas" is not a location nor something that could be easily used as a treasure. Furthermore, a geas in the D&D sense often forces the players to do X. For example, in OD&D, running across a wizard stronghold might result in a geas being applied to the party, forcing a task of some sort.

So I decided to combine ideas that had been kicking around for the Appx. N Jam:

• The idea of the Deck of Many Things has been used as a campaign starter since its often considered a campaign breaker
• A cult based around mistaking a beholder-kin (which has create food & water) as a bounty-delivering god
• Try to submit a fairly good-sized dungeon (I hit 23 rooms)

Here is the synopsis I created for the dungeon:

“Who has misfortune thrown into this trap’s jaws?"

Escaping danger, the PCs are trapped in the villa of an inscrutable, unscrupulous, and absent sorcerer, the Lord has gone mad, the Captain is hopeless, the Vizer is obsessed, & the Friar turned heretic...

The only way out rests under the baleful gaze of The Eye!

This 23-room dungeon villa tasks the PCs with finding a way to escape the powerful geas that holds them prisoner. They will have to navigate the dead that the geas won't let rest, hungry familiars angry at their abandonment, candle-wax doves that hate light, and a dream-mad lord stalking the halls. All the while, they will puzzle over the tria prima, bemoan a mask made of cheese, tame a desk with a nasty disposition, and ponder the black lacquor box below the alien monstrosity at the center of the villa.

An adventure for four characters levels 1-2 (or twice as many level 0)

I'll try to do a more specific post-mortem after the Jam is over, but overall, I am very pleased that I was able to create, key, and design an old book cover for the Jam. And look forward to maybe doing it next year or participating in other design contests. Below is the map and random encounter table.

If you are interested in other designs that I've done, please check out the free Designing Dungeons course I co-wrote with Josh, the 2025 SILVER ENNIE (Best Game & Best Rules) award-winning author of His Majesty the Worm

YOU CAN KEEP YOUR BORDERLANDS: Adventure Suggestions for Those New to the OSR

While many assume the OSR is dead, you would not know it from the discussion on Bluesky generated by Yochai’s OSR starter packs feeding into the OSR Feed. Among the discourses that have cropped up in recent weeks, one was very useful in triggering responses that act as a measure for the current state of the non-AD&D focused, BX-leaning, and OD&D-inquisitive post-OSR (?) portion of the OSR. That question was: What’s a good starting module for players new to OSR play (and I don’t like Keep on the Borderlands)?

What followed were several suggestions. Given that social media is ephemeral, I wanted to solidify this list in the petrifying gaze of a blog for ease of reference and sharing. This would also constitute a Christmas post as it's a list of things you can buy in the month of December. [edit] I've expanded the list to a even 20 so if you can't decide what to run/buy just roll a 1d20 and consult the table below:

1. Tomb Robbers of the Crystal Frontier by Gus L.
2. Through Ultan’s Door by Ben L.
3. Lair of the Lamb by Arnold K. (free)
4. Hole in the Oak by Gavin Norman
5. Tomb of the Iron God by Matt Finch
6. Waking of Willowby Hall by Ben Milton
7. Sinister Secret of Peacock Point by Brad Kerr
8. Black Wyrm of Brandonsford by Chance Dudinack
9. Hideous Daylight by Brad Kerr
10. Demon Driven to the Maw by Brad Kerr
11. Winter’s Daughter by Gavin Norman
12. Barrow of the Elf King by Nate Treme (free)
13. Sleeping Place of the Feathered Swine by Logan
14. Rot King’s Sanctum by Emiel Boven
15. Tomb of the Serpent Kings by Skerples (free)
16. Prison of the Hated Pretender by Gus L.
17. Rise of the Blood Olms by Yochai Gal (free)
18. Nightmare Over Ragged Hollow by Joseph R. Lewis
19. Goblin With A Raygun by Goblins Don't Wear Shirts (free)
20. The Smoking Pillar of Lan Yu by Kevin Crawford

Have a suggestion on an adventure you think should be added? Feel free to drop it in the comments.

MORE WINE! PART 4: Actual Play of the Dungeon Session 6

 

MORE WINE!: Session 6

The general setup is here. But I have not recorded the first 3 sessions; previously... I have skipped session 5 where the party has completed 2/3 of the requirements for the next party: Find 3 types of wine, 2 types already recovered, plus a new type. Unlike Nightwick, I have to DM this game so its harder for me to write down what is going on.

Returning once more to Aeolos' cellar are the following:

Captain Buffet Dwarf 1
Rogon Fighter 1
Issac Cleric 1
Abraham follower 1

Captain Buffer is obligated to the dwarven god of the underworld Tartarus. And the party is still obligated to find one additional amphora type.

DOWN THE STAIRS to the STONE SATYR...

The party this time consists of Captain Buffet, Rogon, and Issac plus his follower Abraham. Garret has taken leave as thieves want to do. The party is joined by Thomas the Carpenter- an NPC of the house of Aeolos who has heard of the PC's exploits and wants to join.

DECORATIVE VINEYARD: They find once again each door is marked by a grape motif: north is white, east is green, and west is red. The PCs choose "East" as it is the least explored. Through a winding hallway, the PCs are confronted with a ruined font of a crying nun- foul purple water pouring from her eyes. In the middle of the hallway some distance there are two doors: one north and one south.

FALSE BRIDGE TOWERS: The party checks north and confirms it is the same room they found the son of Aeolos and a signet ring. Captain Buffet rallies the party to a dangerous objective: "Through that headless knight on the bridge!"

THE HEADLESS CAVALIER: The party kicks the door in and quickly organizes into formation. Captin Buffet in the lead with a spear set for a charge! The knight comes barreling down the bridge and slams into the line, narrowly missing Buffet and Issac- but impaled on Buffet's set spear! Thomas screams and bolts! In the next round the party counterattacks- but can't pierce the armor of the knight. The foul horseman drops the lance and draws a sword, stabbing downward into Issac for a savage blow (DM NOTE: Down to 1hp)! With a cry Buffet and Abraham rain blows but still can't break through the armor. But Rogon with a roar, swings his blade through the undead soldier (DM NOTE: Nat 20! And 7+1 dmg).

Armor and barding fall to the floor with a clatter and ringing out with a high pitch whine is a suspicious sword, faintly glowing purple (sword +1) with a unique hilt and bleeding heart pommel.

CROSSROADS TAVERN: The party peered over the side of the bridge but chose not to determine the nature of the inky void below. As such the party travels south until they reach a wooden door with a sign that reads: WELCOME TO THE INDOOR INN" and has a simple map drawn below. At this point, the party smells a pickled scent wafting through the air. After finding a case of SPIRITS in the back of the inn the party proceeds out of east door. 

THE STONE FOREST (of the Sea King): The party's attention is drawn by loud revelry and boasts. The sound of shattering clay jars just adds justification to the approach. They hail the guards who are dressed like pirates from a terrible play. These guards drunkenly assume they are lost members of the group and invite them in to see the "SEA-KING!". Inside is a columned room that is carved in the style of an oak forest which clashes with the shoddy decore of blue fabric, green pillows, and a ragged ladder+sheet combination designed to look like a sail. The "king" declares "taxes" that need to be brought forward on knees. The PCs elect to present one of the bottles of spirits they found in the inn...which they subsequently drop. Oops. "OUT!" yells the king who also demands more taxes.

THE MAKE-SHIFT CLASSROOM: Traveling south again the party kicks open a door with a loud BANG! The first thing they notice is a central figure in red with a snake staff lecturing four other people kneeling- with their heads shaved: "You're late for class, so hurry up and sit down here!" The red-robbed figure says (DM NOTE: Reaction roll was "11"). Issac and Abraham take their seat, while Rogon and Captin try to woo the more suspicious guards with another bottle of recovered booze.

Time slides by as the robbed figure explain an arcane theory about dungeon deformations, makes a cat's cradle with some string to demonstrate a principle or two, and then reverts to more lecturing all while standing near a large grinning green jar. Before the PCs realize what is going on, Issac and Abraham along with the guards and the entire classroom are shrouded in green smoke emanating from the jar and then disappear! Poof! 

"Well $*%^&!" Captain Buffet mutters. Fortunately, the classroom material was covering up some amphorae featuring swallows on the sides. Buffet and Rogon collect those and make it back to the surface unmolested.

... AND BACK UP OUT OF THE CELLAR

The head steward is pleased! And they even found the carpenter cowering near the stairs to the cellar. The PCs in total gained ~500XP each got paid for wine recovery and got a magic sword (which could be cursed). Not bad. But what will happen to the cleric Issac? Will the god AZLN guild his return?

JAQUAYSING THE LOOP: All that is Jaquaysed is looped, but not all loops are Jaquaysed

 

Over on Discord, I got into a discussion about the link in this older post that discussed the power of loops to make dungeons interesting. And I generally still think that is true. Given 6 rooms, you create a more interesting arrangement if you just loop them in a ring versus a line. More so if you arrange those rooms so you get double or triple loops and place a feature at hallway intersections. This article further explains how the creators of Unexplored use loops and the program behind it.

But the specific discussion on Discord we touched on if there was a difference between "Jaquaysing" the dungeon vs using "gated circles" as often found in Metroidvania and other video games. I think there is an important difference which I distinguish them this way:  

• Jaquaysing the dungeon, to me, is about PC choice and multiple alternative routes that could be taken provided you have the right equipment/class/mindset/risk tolerance. Its goal is to increase the potential for exploration because areas can be gotten to by multiple avenues. A player's goal is set by their own desires.
  
  
• Gated circles are more about GM control of environmental reveal and ensuring that PCs experience 90% of the environment as often PCs need 2-3 "keys" (which could be actual keys, items, or abilities) in order to unlock various areas of the dungeon. This requires them to traverse most of the dungeon in order to get these keys. A player's goal is set by the designer's desires.

For me, the former is better for RPGs while the latter is better for video games. However, in the discussion, there was disagreement on this. I posited that gated circles are important in video games because they ensure that the player will explore X% of the content of each level and thus, I reason, walk away feeling like they are getting maximum value out of their dollar.

The counterargument proposed was that in fact, RPGs can benefit from gated circles in the same way too: gated circles ensure X% of content is encountered by the PCs and therefore prep is not wasted. Again, I think it is a matter of viewpoint so two things still stick out at me.

One: Prep really is never wasted to me because it can be repurposed. I don't mean in a "Quantum Ogre" manner where all roads lead to prep not initially explored, but they can be folded into a larger effort, redesigned, or the players could return to the content at a later date. Once created, the material is ever ready. But unlike a single DM who can change large swaths of the world in a single night, a team of videogame designers can not do the same. So the bolus of initial content must be utilized in order for the player to experience the value* of their purchase.

Two: Gated circles, while they might loop, are experientially linear. You can investigate them in any manner you please, but you can only eventually progress by following a specific order. That is because certain "keys" are needed to be collected to open a series of "locks". And those locked are nested behind each key-lock pairing. This creates a linear hierarchy in progression order. Even if you are allowed to investigate a lock without the key, it often becomes a trap. You can't get through the blue door at the bottom of the pit because you don't have a blue key and they is no way back up- the lava kills you or you have to just start over. This, by design, is a restriction of player choice.

So while the dungeon might be a loop, its is not Jaquaysed. Progression through that loop is not determined by the rate of exploration and/or risk, but instead by the number of key-lock pairs that have been accumulated. The only way to go deeper is to find the blue key in a gated circle. However, to go deeper in a Jaquaysed dungeon is to make a choice to keep going.

Perhaps I might need to justify why choice is so high value over % of the dungeon experience, but maybe I'll stop here, for now, to keep this think-piece somewhat punchy.

Some nice additional thoughts by Sean McCoy of Mothership:

TO SUN SATURATED ISLES 02: Adventuring in Cuccagna

We return to the isles of Cuccagna where Skleras (C3) and the party are exploring Serpentona.

• Upon arrival, we found a town devoid of inhabitants except for women
• Skleras offers some healing in exchange for information earning the party some insight
  
• We learn that the many had been taken to a temple to one of the pagan gods- the women by force and the men by enchanted singing
•  Reasoning that a temple full of women would loath to not help a poor cat, we send in Lord Skarr in cat form to scout
• The sum total of these efforts was a vicious attack by the temple's guards with Skleras barely surviving the assault [♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♥︎]
• But the party gained a captive!

 

MORE WINE! PART 1: What Happens When A Wine Cellar Goes Bad?

 "The Wine Dungeon"

A dungeon resulting from having a morning cup of coffee, a random dungeon room/hall roller, and a single sheet of graph paper. I ended up with about 50 rooms. And I liked it so much I wanted to try and run something with it that was more "off-the-cuff D&D". Kinda in the same vein as how I imagine the Tonisborg dungeon came together.

What leaped into my head is a little bit of the mythic underworld mixed with a non-crypt underground structure (wine cellar) and populated by some of my dreamland monsters to sorta kick myself out of the more typical dungeon molds.

And in addition to just trying to ensure its a fun dungeon, I am trying to do two other things: 

(1) organically grow out the world as my players require. I sorta did this a little bit with the "Super Cleric Bros." campaign. Trying not to exhaust myself with prep, but more just throw potentially useful KNOCK! articles, blog posts, and favored tables into a binder

(2) use the actual play of the dungeon to guide the development of it instead of agonizing over it. Did the group have fun? Yes. Well, play it again. Is this little random dungeon I found seem cool? Great. Let's say one of the fountains has dried out and now there are stairs leading to it.

Peter Paul Rubens "Two Satyrs"

The Setup

Master Aeolos has returned from a long voyage to Banquet Season in The City Under The Veridian Moon.

But horror! His fabled wine cellar has gone rancid and turned into a dungeon. A few servants have died, the house guards won't go down there, and things have moved in.

With the season arriving quickly and several parties to be hosted this month,  Aeolos has hired you to delve into this cellar and retrieve casks and bottles of spirits. Oh, and maybe bring back some notable "dungeon meats" ("I did have a wonderful pond down there").

"And keep quiet! We can't have a word of such neglect spread!" (Behind the scenes, the cellar is where Aeolos has buried some of the more unsavory elements of the past- which have also grown in his absence)

1 Wine Amphora can hold about 82 pints of wine or 164 cups; each amphora recovery is ~200sp & 200 xp. Plus whatever else the player can hide on their person and avoid discovery. Afterall dungeon or not, the cellar is still owned by Aeolos.

I'd also want the players to have to recover differnt types of wine for different parties during the season. That way there is a reason to hit up more than the first cellar they find.

If they recover wine, then they can carouse at the party for no money. If they fail to recover the wine, then out into the streets they go due to Aeolos' frustration and anger. Maybe there is a night-on-the-streets table to roll on, but opportunity to be approached by other groups looking for dirt on Aeolos.

"Cask" of Characters:

• Master Aeolos- concerned with present society; want to keep the past just that; hates being inconvenienced
• Mistress Persephone- seeks her own power behind the scenes
• Castellan Cerebrus- suspicious of PCs; hold to a strict protocol in the absence of Master & Mistress
• Captain Hauberk- considers the PCs slightly better than feral dogs and less useful than the hunting dogs; quick to punish
• Several other household staff who can give players equipment, be a source of rumors, and potentially be hired to join them.

Just The Wine Dungeon?

Off the top of my head, here might be some modules I'd throw in or module parts I'd use:

• Through Ultan's Door
• Desiccated Temple of Locha
• Incandescent Grottoes
• the NPCs from B2: Keep on the Borderlands by Gary Gygax
• The manor layout from The Waking of Willowby Hall by Ben Milton

TRUST IN A DEAD FROG: A Lesson In DMing from Nightwick

A rough estimation of what Snorly
looked like prior to Session 26. RIP.

One aspect of RPGs as a class of game that intrigues me the most is the sorta "emergent behavior" that can occur as a result of holding firm to the results of dice or PC choice. One of the best examples is the combination of a random encounter roll and encounter reaction check. So maybe a combination is "dragon, green" and "friendly" or "elves" and "automatically attack".

Both provide some exciting options for a DM and PCs to contend with. And while it might be easier to play one as hostile as per alignment the other as friendly for the same reason, holding to the die rolls can take the campaign in surprising directions with very little effort by the DM. And with today's time constraints and entertainment competition, lowering the effort/energy required to DM is a virtue. Especially as we try to get more people to DM.

In fact, whole sessions can be created just out of letting players live with the choices they have made instead of handwaving something away: 

• We killed The Butcher in Session 23 gaining this creature's monstrous cleaver (magic axe +2)
• Then in Session 26 the owner, Snorly the Frogling, was pummeled to death by fungus creatures and we abandoned the cleaver with Snorly's corpse ✣
• Now in Session 51 we delved the same area again and regained the cleaver

But here's the lesson: Regaining that magic axe was an entire session (51) that the DM really had to do 0 prep for. The party decided, yeah, maybe we shouldn't just be leaving magic weapons around in a hell-haunted monument to hubris.

And was it a breeze because we've all been-there-done-that previously? No. The party made some fantastic rolls- Mechtilde leading with Steel (sword +1) and our other fighters landing heavy blows (Nat 20s!). A lot of magic was exhausted. And there was an ever-present threat of being stabbed in the back by manimals.

All because there was no handwaving to say we grabbed the body or axe in Session 23. It would have been easy and tempting for a DM to do so. We did work hard to get that axe. The takedown of the Butcher was a major accomplishment. Why not let the party keep that "win"?  We chose to run. We chose to leave everything behind. And that "failure", become a new goal and a new pin in the Nightwick map.

And the recovery was challenging. Although most of the party are levels 3 & 4, the second level of Nightwick continues to pose a challenge. In part, again, because the DM is letting the dice do the heavy lifting. Monsters can come in large numbers. We lose initiative a lot resulting in having to endure harrowing damage. But all very rewarding, in my opinion, even if the plan and objective are all known-- to recover an axe we already had gotten once before!

A strong reminder for me to trust in results. Trust in outcomes even if "bad". Trust in (game-appropriate) disappointment- bad rolls, dead PCs, drained levels, and lost magic weapons. It can pay forward in fun sessions requiring 0 prep. And who doesn't want some "free" in this (DM) economy?

✣ We've also lost a sword +1/+3 vs. undead in a roughly similar manner given by Father Christmas. Although it was part of a plan to have 90% of the party make it out alive (Session 41).

STRANGE STARS: A Micro-Campaign Setting

 

From the Marigold Tarot
amrit@0h_musterni

After reading Direct Sun's Aberrant Reflections, I realized I think I might have a handful of modules dealing with weird stuff falling out of the sky and *%^& up the land or sky-positioned environmental effects. If put all in one setting, that might make a fun micro-campaign. A little bit of "trimming" might be required to fit it all together. Or maybe you don't and let the players come up with the reasoning and build a from-scratch campaign out of that.

Adventure/Modules:

✦ Aberrant Reflections

✦ The Weird That Befell Drigbolton

✦ Hideous Daylight

✦ Tower of the Stargazer  

✦ Tomb Robbers of the Crystal Frontier  

Megadungeon

✦ Brewkessel: "The other, other famous school of wizarding has returned from a 50+ year disappearance in a flash of red lighting."

Notable Monster

✦ Fire on the Velvet Horizon's Eclipse-lich: "An undead star casting an undying light."

LAYERS OF THE LAMB: Simple Re-skins of a Dynamic Module

I think one of the best starting adventure modules right now is Arnold K's Lair of the Lamb. And not just me, even the curmudgeonly Bryce Lynch rates it a "Best" and the calcified comrades at Bones of Contention also gave it high marks.

In my own review, I said this about it:

The Lair of the Lamb, I think, is a new classic in old-school gaming. It is based on a universal fear of being hunted in the dark by a monster, yet in the context of a highly interactable swords & sorcery setting which yields strong, strange rewards for players who take a risk! The module demonstrates, through play, how much players can do, and have fun, with 1d6 HP, a knife, a background, and a goal: escape. The dungeon revitalized.

Given Lamb is based on such a universal concept and that the module itself is rather bare bones, I think has an inherent flexibility to be re-skinned beyond its eldritch swords & sorcery feel. And this is a strength of the module and I think what Lamb shares with oft-mentioned TSR classics like The Village of Hommlett (in particular the Ruined Moathouse) and The Keep on the Borderlands.

Each one can be adapted to whatever setting the DM feels is best for their players or setting. So here are some suggestions for ways to make the Lamb fit different types of settings that might be at your table.

A Lair of the Lamb Re-skin:

Lair of the Lamb	Classic DnD	Fairy Tale	Modern Horror
The "Lamb" (big mindless monster)	Headless Troll	Ogre	Hulking Slasher
White Temple Cult (opposition)	(P)orcs	Flying Monkeys	Religious Camp Counselors
Cult Leader (BBEG)	Chaotic Cleric	Wicked Witch	Charismatic Camp Head
Former Sacrifice (aid)	Prisoner	Nice Flying Monkey	Old Janitor
Ghouls (opportunists)	Brigands	Foxes	Townie Addicts/Drunks
Prisoners (0-level funnel PCs)	1st Level PCs	Lost Children	"Troubled Youth" Campers

I BEAT MOLDVEY BASIC D&D: And Leveling to “Conjurer” Was No Cheap Trick

Recently, I planted my magic-user’s  XP total firmly north of 5,000 brining my PC to 3rd level- a conjurer*. I have won Moldvey Basic D&D. Suck it Basic! Get gud. 

I am being facetious of course. There is really no “winning” of D&D unlike playing Metroid or Souls games. Which is part of its allure. But I did want to reflect on what it means to reach the technical end of Moldvey’s Basic Dungeons & Dragons (1981). 

Most talk of low-level characters is mainly in terms of an ignominious death: giant rats, insect swarm, pit trap, gnoll axe, or crushed by a giant’s rock (or roc). DCC has made a whole genre out of this fate. But that was not my experience getting Mayfly up to 3rd level. Here is a brief outline of Mayfly’s action from level 1 to 3:

• Used Fireball scrolls at level 1 on two occasions to burn a dining hall and dance hall full of skeletal dead- roughly ~18 skulls (underworld). Then Ventriloquism scroll at 2nd level to distract the third group of skeletal dead, by mimicking the war cries of  their former foes, from cornering and murdering the party (underworld)

• Traded (possible) souls for magical mentorship (overworld)

• Ingested a fairy skeleton at the behest of one fairy, then hours later vomited forth a new fairy losing a level in the process, but gaining a favor-owed from the first fairy (and the second) (overworld)

• Used a fairy favor to gain the “smallest, but most valuable thing” possessed by a bandit lord– his only remaining eye (overworld)

• Saw an angel at a once-lost-but-now-found shrine (overworld)

• Blinded the ogre-sized Butcher of Nightwick Abbey with a Light spell to the eyes (it rolled a “1” to save), who then was hacked apart by hireling woodsmen (underworld)

• Cut a deal with werewolves to capture that eye-less bandit-lord, but also now marked by those same creatures for death (overworld)

• Come into possession of a golden skull that can psychically communicate and calls itself “The Master”(underworld)

• Alignment changes from “neutral” to “evil” by the setting’s standards but entirely due to in-game actions (underworld)

All this was done while having 11 hp. A heap of credit for this fantastic experience goes toward Miranda Elkin’s creativity in constructing her Nightwick Abbey campaign. I think this speaks to the robustness that low-level play can have when in a “shananigans-rich” environment. As a hobby, we should strive to build better low-level campaigns. So what does that look like? Here I am speaking more about the larger meta-structure, not what makes dungeons good.

First, I think we should change the view of Levels 1 through 3. They should not be viewed as a waiting or containment period to higher tiers. This is very firmly how 5e seems to view them. Further reinforced by placing most powers in 5e behind a 3rd-level wall. Conversely, in old-school D&D systems, most “powers” are all present at 1st-level. The tools are there from the beginning, but the players need a rich environment to use them in. Which is where old-school D&D adventures can falter. Many adventures still try to make rats-in-a-cellar or orks-in-a-hole the starting milieu. Let’s instead bring the fantastical to them. Decks of Many Things! Magic swords that demand! And wicked dragons that speak from the shadows! I think we worry to much that somehow the party will become unkillable if they get a sword +2 but often they still only have ~5 hp! Sure they can mow down 3 goblins in short order, but the last two throwing spears is what kills ‘em. And with my own experience above, far from killing giant rats, my character has cast powerful magic, traded souls, birthed spirits, blinded an ogre, and changed alignments. That is an awesome story. Sure, I’ve not killed a god, but all those exploits would make a pretty good episode of The Witcher. 

Second, 4th-level, not 3rd, is a more natural break point for Basic D&D. At first, 3rd-level seems like a fairly understandable break point. BX D&D, as the editions before, it talk of a domain-building ability for most classes around 9th-level. So, natural dividsons: 1-3 low, 4-6 mid, and 7-9 high or “domain”. But this might not be exact “grain” of D&D.

I am a firm believer that D&D is not a wargame. If it were, it would play something more like Warhammer 40k. I subscribe to the idea that David Arneson’s Blackmoor game and David Wesley’s preceding Brownstein game formed the initial important genesis seed. However, it is pretty clear Chainmail informs the maths of D&D and some of its language.

And when you examine Chainmail, you come across an important title: “Hero” conferred at 4 HD and followed by “Superhero” at 8 HD. The hero title is important because the character is represented by its own miniature on the battle field, it can now engage in “fantastical combat” against monsters, it can perform multi-attacks on regular man-type units (less than 4 HD), and improves morale. This also aligns with some vestigal elements of that same designation that crop up in two of the most powerful Basic spells– Sleep and Charm Person. These spells do not effect creatures greater than 4+1 HD and therefore represent a limit to the power of a Basic D&D magic-user’s spell list. 4th-level is when all of the classes have their combat bonus increased too. Additionally, I think its important that point out the shift in creature number from the dungeon levels to the wilderness levels. Bandits roll 1d8 for number appearing in a dungeon but in the wilderness it's 3d10! That is a vastly different scope of what the players have to take on even from low-level monsters (Side note: this is also why I think fighters do need some form of multi-attack be it a cleave mechanisms or extra attacks equal to level against 1 HD opponents).

Returning to BX D&D, I see a break at 4th level as more natural for Basic/Expert D&D’s two-book format too. Basic D&D would cover 1st to 4th Level dungeon crawl/ “Hero” tier. And Expert D&D would cover 5th to 8th hexcrawl/ “Superhero” in tier, plus an additional 9th level representing domain attainment.  In my ideal ruleset, the basic level would stop at 4 HD. This would denote “hero” status and confer a lot of historic benefits from Chainmail: morale bonus, fear resistance and denoted as a stand-alone figure in a skirmish situation. I would further enhance this level by adding a multi-attack for fighters and also allowing a single 3rd-level spell slot for magic-users. This increases a party’s capacity to deal with the wilderness tier’s large enemies numbers and more strongly signals a move into the next tier. (Side note, this does not then eliminate the place of dungeons in a campaign. Just merely signals the player can now range farther and handle a lot tougher threats. And they should be experienced enough to weigh risk better as players.) And if your game has to end at a 6 to 12-month mark, ending at a 4th-level “Hero” feels like a better end. Like Mayfly above, I bet in general, you will have accomplished some amazing feats and you too will have a script for The Witcher.

But simply agreeing to hit 4th-level before venturing out into the wilderness is not enough. I think a couple of important tools need to be pulled into the 4th level to really complete this hero tier and establish the next phase.

Third, I would add is some sorta domain component or “mini” domain situation. It cements a change in the DM’s world driven by player action. It allows movement into a skirmish/wargame component of D&D and this can help provide a break from standard forms of play. I think the results of these battles could also be an awesome emergent change for the DM’s world too. A domain component would also provide resources and reasons for players to think bigger beyond just the party or if there is a +2 sword in their hand (Another quick word, actual Chainmail plays pretty quickly and dare I say is even a lighter ruleset than modern editions of Warhammer 40K.) And given modern constraints on time and entertainment abundance (remember in the 1970s there were only four TV networks), I would not wait until the traditional 9th level for domain building. I think it is just too far away in terms of old-school GP:XP leveling. It will take time most groups don’t have. Better to have players see the effect of their actions on the world more quickly.

And this idea is not without precedent, nor am I alone in this line of thought:

• The Rules Cyclopedia has an interesting distinction of “traveling- title” versus “landed title”. Maybe we can employ those as a sorta level 5 and level 6. This can signal the quest for a permanent place (traveling) and the establishment of a seat of power (landed). Now with established domains, a skirmish game kicks in. At this point, whoever establishes the domain could potentially be playing a 6th-level landed-title character in various wargames while starting back at level 1 or 2 with the followers and such that the landed character has attracted.

• The often lauded B10 Night’s Dark Terror is a “Basic/Expert Transition module for Levels 2-4” which I think lends a historical aspect to the split I champion above. Included in this module were several cardboard chits for a skirmish scenario within the great adventure.

• Nick over at Paper & Pencils also has been putting domain play early into practice with his On A Red World Alone game. Even in his 3-hour game, the first hour is devoted to domain-level procedures which impact the game world and party.

• And Ben L has some thoughts on “mini-domain” play via institution building over at Mazirian’s Garden. This gives the party someplace to put large amounts of coin and also demonstrates not all domains need to be castles. It can just be the tavern they favor.

This domain building could be a good refresh for the group as a whole because what class builds the domain might help sculpt the next cycle in the world. For instance, a landed thief might signal the start of a heist campaign in a big city. A landed cleric could spur a holy campaign against some blighted area. The Rules Cyclopedia as a funny note that landed-magic-users build dungeons to attract monsters, maybe a new campaign is players as chaotic humanoids farming these monsters in the dungeon below.

In summary, the time constraints and entertainment options of modern life leave little room, in my opinion, for the slow burn build of traditional D&D leveling which positioned low-level play often has a risky but fairly mundane grind that should build to grand domain play. Therefore, as a hobby, we should reframe low-level play with the fantastical in terms of adventure design by bringing "high-level" elements into the lower levels. Also, demarcate the end of "basic play" as the acquisition of limited tools to tackle RAW wilderness encounter design (e.g. multi-attack fighters; fireball/lightning casting magic-users). And drop domain-style playing also into lower levels to increase player impact on the world by reintroducing newer players to a core part of the D&D tradition. Time is too short, let's not wait for the players to level high enough for the "real adventure" to begin, stead let's begin it at XP = 0.

*Here is the character currently

MAYFLY, Conjurer (HP 11): STR 07 (-1) INT 15 (+1) WIS 08 (-1) DEX 16 (+2) CON 16 (+2) CHA 08 (-1)

• Spells: [1] Light, Protection from Evil, Read Magic, Floating Disk, Charm Person; [2] ESP

• Notable Treasure:

• Scrolls (x5): Protection from Demons, Light (x2), Read Magic, Charm Person

• Silver Daggers w/ Deerman Antler Handles (x2)

• Silver Basilisk Star Necklace

• Soul Coins (x10)

• The left horn of The Butcher

• Magic ring (maybe cursed)

• Gold skull (psychic)

• Hirelings Total: 7 (2 Alive + 5 Dead)

• Total Explored Rooms of Nightwick Abbey (megadungeon): ~45

• Game Time: ~26 games