Joseph Mohr, Author at Old School Role Playing

December 10, 2018December 10, 2018

And for Dungeons and Dragons 5E:

For Dungeons and Dragons 5E you need the core books. The 5th edition core books include the Player’s Handbook, Dungeon Master Guide and Monster Manual. These books are really well made. Unlike the original 1st Edition books that fell apart at the binding from use over the years these 5th edition books are sturdy. And the artwork inside of them is nothing short of awesome by comparison to the books of long ago.

Of course, the AD &D books had a flavor all of their own. They were in black and white. They had cartoons that brought humor to the game. But to make these 5E core books Wizards of the Coast must have spent a great deal of money on artists.

You can tell just from the cover art that the Dungeons and Dragons 5E books have some incredible images and they do. They are full color and are full of fine artwork. These books have extensive tables as well.

I love the beholder picture on the cover of the monster manual. Each of the monsters inside this book have a full color image as well as extensive stats and ecology information for the creature. The Player’s Handbook has a wide variety of classes and options for each. There are extensive spell lists and descriptions as well. And the Dungeon Master’s Guide has everything the budding dungeon master might need. These products are high quality. And they are kind of expensive. I got mine off of Ebay. Drive Thru does not appear to offer the 5E core books. Or at least I could not find them there.

December 10, 2018December 17, 2018

If you are going to play Advanced Dungeons and Dragons 1st Edition then you need these:

Since this web site is about old school role playing I guess we should start with the basics. If you want to play Advanced Dungeons and Dragons 1st edition then you need these:

But, if you are not lucky enough to have the originals there are alternatives. As you can see from the picture above which was taken from my kitchen table I had to replace my Dungeon Master Guide. The first one fell apart. This one is not in much better shape. My original was the copy with the Efreeti Lord Captain on the front of it. Yes, it had that big evil devil looking dude on the front. Naturally my mom freaked out when I brought that one home back in the late 70s.

These can be purchased in a number of formats from Drive Thru RPG. You can use the following links to look at the options and prices should you wish to acquire them.

Players Handbook

Dungeon Master’s Guide

Monster Manual

In addition to those original three books there are two others which will prove quite useful. Both add a significant number of monsters and potential adversaries to your adventures.

The Monster Manual II and the Fiend Folio are essential tools for the would be Dungeon Master. Both came out shortly after the original three books and added a few hundred monsters in each volume. Many of these monsters are quite interesting and will challenge your adventurers. These can also be purchased or browsed by using the following links:

Monster Manual II

Fiend Folio

Eventually you may want to expand your selection of magic items, spells and character classes. In that case you may want to look at this last book. The Unearthed Arcana adds some nice magic items and spells. It also adds some character class options.

Unearthed Arcana

December 7, 2018December 8, 2018

The Zanzian Campaign Part Two

My current group started as five players playing five characters. It is a fairly balanced party. There are two fighters, a cleric, a magic user and a thief. There are two humans, two half orcs and an elf in the group. This is an Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 1st Edition campaign. Unfortunately, work demands and schedules, have reduced my number of players from five to two. Sometimes a third player, who was one of the originals, returns when he is in town.

The group has completed the Malcon campaign (until he returns of course) and then embarked upon an adventure in the Astral Plane. After completing that adventure they returned to their keeps only to find an immediate threat to their estates. A dark and mysterious castle appeared almost over night. It towers above their keeps from a mountain that also did not exist when they last visited home. At the request of the king they are now investigating this castle.

The adventures traveled to the top of the mountain and found the drawbridge and towers manned by fire giants. They defeated a large party of fire giants inside the castle’s main hall. And then they defeated more of them guarding a staircase. They found a secret tunnel leading into caves intertwined with molten lava. Inside of these caves they engaged a party of Salamanders and then defeated a group of Scorpion Men. They are resting and healing their wounds now before continuing their exploration of this mysterious castle.

And now….the adventure continues……

December 6, 2018December 10, 2018

The Zanzia Campaign

The Adventurers of my Zanzian campaign started as a party of five. Two half orc fighters, a human magic user, a human cleric and an elven thief began the quest to defeat the greatest threat to the kingdom….Malcon the Firebringer. Malcon has been a plague upon the land for more than one hundred years. He was once the Grand Seer of Zanzia. He was a loyal adviser to the king. And then he betrayed the king and tried to seize the throne for himself. This led Zanzia into a bloody civil war in which undead and unholy armies were unleashed upon the land.

But Malcon was defeated. His nemesis was his best friend. The great Paladin Antoviniuos led the Zanzian army and crushed Malcon’s siege of the then capital city of Zanzia….The City of Onm. But not before Malcon crushed the city and killed the king and queen. Only by the grace of of the gods did an heir survive this siege. Malcon’s army was defeated and he was imprisoned in a volcano in the Dragonteeth mountain range only known as the mountain of fire.

But Malcon has returned. During the hundred years that he was imprisoned he became a powerful Lich. Gnomish explorers near the volcano inadvertently broke the magical seals which kept Malcon imprisoned. Once released he again resumed his campaign of terror. But again he was defeated. This time by a group of adventurers. About ten years ago a powerful group also led by a great paladin defeated Malcon once more. But this group only thought that they had destroyed the Arch Lich. While they destroyed his physical form they failed to destroy his phylactery. He laid low for a while to rebuild his forces. And then he again rose up to threaten the land.

This new group of adventurers has yet again set upon the quest to challenge this fiend and put an end to his terror. These explorers visited the Oracle of Gula to get answers for the king as to who was responsible for the many problems that began plaguing Zanzia. They then stormed the Temple at Domi and defeated an important ally of Malcon. Shortly afterwards they destroyed another important ally of the Lich. An ancient vampire named Aandoran was building another undead army for Malcon with the aid of an ancient evil artifact….a pipe organ that creates undead. And then they traveled to the Mountain of Fire to challenge Malcon the Firebringer himself.

Again the Lich was defeated. And again his life force survived as his phylactery was not destroyed. And so it exists today. Malcon again is biding his time. He waits. He watches. And he rebuilds. And again he will rise up and terrorize the kindgom.

Fortunately for us…..Malcon has agreed to write a column here on my blog while he plots his revenge in order to help dungeon masters with their endless quest to kill, maim and destroy those nasty delvers in their own campaigns.