Wizard Goes Boom
@wizardgoesboom.bsky.social
I share my thoughts on old school D&D and the OSR.
Can you think of a more annoying monster than a Rust Monster? I’ve lost an entire armory’s worth of weapons, mundane and magical, to these things over the years.
January 28, 2025 at 11:29 PM
Can you think of a more annoying monster than a Rust Monster? I’ve lost an entire armory’s worth of weapons, mundane and magical, to these things over the years.
Roper. The chaotic evil monster with a currency mint in its belly
January 28, 2025 at 11:29 PM
Roper. The chaotic evil monster with a currency mint in its belly
Back when I was a wee lad, these books by Rose Estes got me started on Dungeons & Dragons. They opened up my imagination. Had them at my school library too, so I always got them, and even bought my own. These books are a treasure!
January 28, 2025 at 11:27 PM
Back when I was a wee lad, these books by Rose Estes got me started on Dungeons & Dragons. They opened up my imagination. Had them at my school library too, so I always got them, and even bought my own. These books are a treasure!
Have you ever seen D&D break down at higher levels (over level 14)? I’ve seen it with a few editions. I heard this wasn’t only a problem with D&D but also some other TTRPGs.
January 28, 2025 at 11:26 PM
Have you ever seen D&D break down at higher levels (over level 14)? I’ve seen it with a few editions. I heard this wasn’t only a problem with D&D but also some other TTRPGs.
Would you rather house-rule a game, or have a rules-heavy game which covers most situations?
January 10, 2025 at 8:54 PM
Would you rather house-rule a game, or have a rules-heavy game which covers most situations?
Anyone play or run Birthright? What did you think of it? Did you do any adventuring or did you mostly do the wargame aspect of it?
January 5, 2025 at 12:31 AM
Anyone play or run Birthright? What did you think of it? Did you do any adventuring or did you mostly do the wargame aspect of it?
The “war game” and domain play aspect of old school D&D was mostly meant to introduce players to higher level play, with their entry into kingdom-level politics and intrigue. This provided a lot of adventure hooks even if the “war game” aspect of the D&D was only mildly touched.
January 5, 2025 at 12:29 AM
The “war game” and domain play aspect of old school D&D was mostly meant to introduce players to higher level play, with their entry into kingdom-level politics and intrigue. This provided a lot of adventure hooks even if the “war game” aspect of the D&D was only mildly touched.
Even if you loathe domain play and D&D as a war game, you gotta admit, having a stronghold as a base of operations for high level adventuring is pretty cool. You can even assign a Castellan or Steward to manage things while you are away adventuring.
January 5, 2025 at 12:28 AM
Even if you loathe domain play and D&D as a war game, you gotta admit, having a stronghold as a base of operations for high level adventuring is pretty cool. You can even assign a Castellan or Steward to manage things while you are away adventuring.
Do you enforce any kind of expenses on your players so they don't hoard treasure? Likes taxes, tithes, maintenance of lifestyle, etc
January 5, 2025 at 12:28 AM
Do you enforce any kind of expenses on your players so they don't hoard treasure? Likes taxes, tithes, maintenance of lifestyle, etc
Are there any works of art that when you see them, they give you that D&D itch? Or for any TTRPG?
January 5, 2025 at 12:27 AM
Are there any works of art that when you see them, they give you that D&D itch? Or for any TTRPG?
The Rules Cyclopedia (other than the Castle Builder Guide) was essentially the only D&D book to go into any detail on what kind of advisors you’d need for your stronghold, based on medieval European advisors
January 5, 2025 at 12:26 AM
The Rules Cyclopedia (other than the Castle Builder Guide) was essentially the only D&D book to go into any detail on what kind of advisors you’d need for your stronghold, based on medieval European advisors
I’m considering buying one of these. Which would you recommend and why? The Folio or the Gold Box? I can’t decide
January 5, 2025 at 12:25 AM
I’m considering buying one of these. Which would you recommend and why? The Folio or the Gold Box? I can’t decide
Mystara/Known World is one of my favorite settings (tied with Greyhawk). In it is Glantri, which has the Great School of Magic. It predates both Strixhaven and even Hogwarts, and is possibly the OG school for wizards. Definitely my fav setting in Mystara
January 5, 2025 at 12:24 AM
Mystara/Known World is one of my favorite settings (tied with Greyhawk). In it is Glantri, which has the Great School of Magic. It predates both Strixhaven and even Hogwarts, and is possibly the OG school for wizards. Definitely my fav setting in Mystara
Any one else pick up the Dragon Magazine Archive back in the 90s?
January 5, 2025 at 12:23 AM
Any one else pick up the Dragon Magazine Archive back in the 90s?
to be honest, with the exception of thief skills, I don’t really like skills in D&D. I think they make players feel boxed in and tethered to their character sheet when asked the question “so what do you do?”
January 5, 2025 at 12:18 AM
to be honest, with the exception of thief skills, I don’t really like skills in D&D. I think they make players feel boxed in and tethered to their character sheet when asked the question “so what do you do?”
I liked the AD&D 2e class kits. They provided ready to go backgrounds and role playing hooks, as well as some role playing benefits
January 5, 2025 at 12:17 AM
I liked the AD&D 2e class kits. They provided ready to go backgrounds and role playing hooks, as well as some role playing benefits
Playing as a fighter type, do you normally use some sword variant as a weapon, or something else? Pole arms, anyone?
January 3, 2025 at 8:32 PM
Playing as a fighter type, do you normally use some sword variant as a weapon, or something else? Pole arms, anyone?
Even before D&D was published in 1974, Megadungeons were the order of the day, from Castle Blackmoor to Castle Greyhawk. What are some of your favorite megadungeons?
January 3, 2025 at 8:31 PM
Even before D&D was published in 1974, Megadungeons were the order of the day, from Castle Blackmoor to Castle Greyhawk. What are some of your favorite megadungeons?
Megadungeons go beautifully with sandbox campaigns. Ones like Barrowmaze can last for years, and plenty of factions to keep things interesting within the dungeon and outside of it
January 3, 2025 at 8:30 PM
Megadungeons go beautifully with sandbox campaigns. Ones like Barrowmaze can last for years, and plenty of factions to keep things interesting within the dungeon and outside of it
OD&D was interesting in that d6 and d20 were almost exclusively used during play except for unusual circumstances (or spells) where other sided dice were used like in this example
January 3, 2025 at 8:29 PM
OD&D was interesting in that d6 and d20 were almost exclusively used during play except for unusual circumstances (or spells) where other sided dice were used like in this example
Anyone enjoy Western Marches style play? It’s the style where you have a frontier town as a home base, sandbox, dungeon near by, and lots of hex crawling exploration in an unmapped environment.
January 3, 2025 at 8:27 PM
Anyone enjoy Western Marches style play? It’s the style where you have a frontier town as a home base, sandbox, dungeon near by, and lots of hex crawling exploration in an unmapped environment.
Is it possible to run a Western Marches style sandbox game using D&D 2014 or D&D 2024? The experience distribution doesn’t seem to support exploration play.
January 3, 2025 at 8:27 PM
Is it possible to run a Western Marches style sandbox game using D&D 2014 or D&D 2024? The experience distribution doesn’t seem to support exploration play.
Anyone use BattleSystem before? I have not used it and am wondering how it compares to Chainmail or War Machine.
January 1, 2025 at 4:05 PM
Anyone use BattleSystem before? I have not used it and am wondering how it compares to Chainmail or War Machine.
Do you think there are too many D&D retro-clones out there? Or the more the merrier?
I say the more the merrier. I enjoy the different takes on older D&D material.
Some of my favorites are Delving Deeper, Dragons Beyond, OSE, Dragonslayer, and others
I say the more the merrier. I enjoy the different takes on older D&D material.
Some of my favorites are Delving Deeper, Dragons Beyond, OSE, Dragonslayer, and others
January 1, 2025 at 4:05 PM
Do you think there are too many D&D retro-clones out there? Or the more the merrier?
I say the more the merrier. I enjoy the different takes on older D&D material.
Some of my favorites are Delving Deeper, Dragons Beyond, OSE, Dragonslayer, and others
I say the more the merrier. I enjoy the different takes on older D&D material.
Some of my favorites are Delving Deeper, Dragons Beyond, OSE, Dragonslayer, and others
What I think is neat about the Rules Cyclopedia's Weapon Mastery system is that any class can use it. You could theoretically have a magic-user who is Grand Master of the quarterstaff and whoop most fighters in combat.
January 1, 2025 at 4:04 PM
What I think is neat about the Rules Cyclopedia's Weapon Mastery system is that any class can use it. You could theoretically have a magic-user who is Grand Master of the quarterstaff and whoop most fighters in combat.