* * * Wizards Community Thread * * * -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Thread : What Makes an Old School Module "Old School"? Started at 03-27-08 11:12 AM by Shiftkitty Visit at http://forums.gleemax.com/showthread.php?t=1009093 -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- [Post 1] Author : Shiftkitty Date : 03-27-08 11:12 AM Thread Title : What Makes an Old School Module "Old School"? What is that makes an Old School module, 2e and older, Old School? Is it the level progression through a campaign, the stats, the mechanics, or what? I ask because a campaign I've just started in 3.5 seems to be off to a good start and I'd like to see if I can follow it up with a written form like a module just for kicks. I can script up the 3.5 version easily enough since it's a 3.5 game, but if I wanted to make it a 2e or even 1e version, what should I pay attention to? (BTW: This is a homebrew game, but for this run I'm staying as close to canon as is practical.) -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- [Post 2] Author : Varl Date : 03-27-08 04:20 PM Thread Title : Re: What Makes an Old School Module "Old School"? The story. For me, the difference between a 1e/2e module from a more contemporary 3e module is the fact that the story is much more pronounced in 1e/2e than it is in 3e. This is not to say that 3e modules don't have good stories behind them, they can, but mechanics of d20 are used much more as a direct method to tell how a scenario might play out. So, if your intentions are to create a old school module feel from your sessions, take the meat of the story first and then add the creatures, NPCs, and treasures after. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- [Post 3] Author : Mock26 Date : 03-27-08 07:36 PM Thread Title : Re: What Makes an Old School Module "Old School"? To me old school simply means 1st and 2nd edition, though more-so 1st edition. So, any 1st edition module would be a true old school module. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- [Post 4] Author : Etarnon Date : 03-29-08 01:21 AM Thread Title : Re: What Makes an Old School Module "Old School"? Definitely the story, instead of a series of encounters. While there were encounters in the old modules, there was just a "Flavor" that was there, that is not impossible to find in 3.X, just rare. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- [Post 5] Author : Shiftkitty Date : 03-29-08 10:57 AM Thread Title : Re: What Makes an Old School Module "Old School"? Well, I was thinking a little later on, I could write up a summary of how the story has progressed so far, and maybe you guys can tell me if you think its got an Old School feel or a 3e feel. I play with both types of modules when I use them, and my players agree that the older ones just have a certain 'feel' to them. So when I started this campaign, I thought I might try to capture some of that old feel. It started off based on "War of the Burning Sky", a third party product, but the best laid plans of mice, men, and dungeonmasters often go astray. The PCs went off in a different direction than the original plot had intended, so I started winging it, and now it's come down to the fate of the kingdom potentially resting on the outcome of the PCs actions. (In the long run, of course. They're not that powerful yet.) Would I be correct in saying that one big difference in Old School and 3e is that there seems to have been a fair amount of role-playing encounters as opposed to combat encounters? That 3e is based more on "Here's the mission. Now go kill things and accomplish it." (My players really like throwing themselves into character. I think they're frustrated actors!) -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- [Post 6] Author : WizO_Paradox Date : 03-30-08 03:41 AM Thread Title : Re: What Makes an Old School Module "Old School"? For me, it was always the placement of bold fonts. The innkeeper has a +2 Sword hidden behind the bar with easy access. He also has a lockbox with 32 Gold. :D And don't forget the wall of boxed text you have to read to the players. Half the adventure takes place in the backstory. Oh, and the module is usually between 8 and 16 pages. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- [Post 7] Author : Agathokles Date : 03-30-08 12:39 PM Thread Title : Re: What Makes an Old School Module "Old School"? Would I be correct in saying that one big difference in Old School and 3e is that there seems to have been a fair amount of role-playing encounters as opposed to combat encounters? That 3e is based more on "Here's the mission. Now go kill things and accomplish it." I'd say there is no single "Old School" kind of module. For example, WizO_Paradox here above is clearly thinking of (very) early OD&D and AD&D modules, which are completely different from, say, "B10 Night's Dark Terror" or Ravenloft's "The Shadow Rift", both in style and in size. Early D&D modules, for example, did have the "here is the mission" issue -- in many case, they start "in medias res", with the characters already on their mission (X4), or else stranded in some dangerous locale (X2, B4). Even in those cases, though, there are major differences between typical 3e modules and "Old School" modules -- for example, once I had a look at a thread on the Dragonsfoot boards where a poster had conducted an analysis of the dungeon layout of early AD&D, OD&D and 3e modules, with the end results that 3e dungeons were almost always linear (or mostly linear with short branches) crawls leading to the module's boss monster, while "Old School" dungeons had generally more complex layouts. Both these approaches, however, are very different from later AD&D 2e modules, where you could find adventures almost entirely composed of non-combat (or not-necessarily-combat) encounters (e.g., Al Qadim's "Corsairs of the Great Sea" adventures or later Ravenloft adventures, such as "Howls in the Night"). A third type of "Old School" module is the mini-campaign -- e.g., B10 "Night's Dark Terror", X1 "Isle of Dread" or CM1 "Test of the Warlords", modules designed to hold long lasting campaigns: CM1 has a in-game runtime of two full years, while B10 can last for a season or so of in-game time. Obviously, there are also the differences in layout that WizO_Paradox mentions -- to which I'd add the lack of "tactical encounter" type information (recent 3e modules from the online Dungeon Magazine apparently devote more than 50% of the page count to combat information!) and the two-line stat blocks for monsters (vs. the typical half column of stats for 3e monsters). GP -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- [Post 8] Author : elondir Date : 03-31-08 01:23 PM Thread Title : Re: What Makes an Old School Module "Old School"? To me, old school means a few things: The meat of the adventure is in an underground facility with a labyrinthine layout, often with several floors, each one corresponding to a certain level of PCs. It is filled with nasty traps (like spiked pits or a sphere of annihilation in the statue's mouth) and vicious monsters that don't necessarily have to have anything to do with anything else, or make sense in an ecological sense of the word. In some cases you have to fight a bunch of golems (at 4th level!) if you fail to solve a puzzle correctly. There are puzzles as well as monsters and traps. Often they include riddles that you've heard a dozen times. Other times they involve weird floating bubbles. Stat blocks are incredibly compact: Joe CN HM F5 AC5 hp 25 sht swd chainmail Orcs (5): AC 8 hp 4,6,3,2,7 sht swd leather Treasure, glorious treasure. In copper pieces. In places you can't fit your wagon. And with a bunch of magic items you really couldn't care less for and can't sell. Sometimes sci-fi gets peppered in (S3 and Blackmoor). The art is really bad pencil sketches for the most part. They have a two column layout. The map is blue. Most modules are short but some are very long. At the bottom of the dungeon is a tough encounter, but not necessarily much more difficult than the rest of the adventure. Ironically this is the kind of adventure I like best. I also think there's a "mid school" centered around plot-driven adventures like Ravenloft and the Dragonlance classics. So I guess in summary, I think of the schools as follows: Old school = OD&D = baroque = dungeon crawls circa 1978 (White Plume Mountain, Rahasia, Temple of Elemental Evil) Mid school = AD&D 1 = classical = plot-driven crawls circa 1984 (Ravenloft, War of the Lance) late 2e = romantic = plot-driven with little combat (City of Gold) New school = 3e = modern = fairly linear string of tactical encounters with a plot connecting them 4e = postmodern = nonlinear web of tactical encounters and noncombat encounters? -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- [Post 9] Author : Agathokles Date : 04-02-08 03:19 PM Thread Title : Re: What Makes an Old School Module "Old School"? So I guess in summary, I think of the schools as follows: Old school = OD&D = baroque = dungeon crawls circa 1978 (White Plume Mountain, Rahasia, Temple of Elemental Evil) Mid school = AD&D 1 = classical = plot-driven crawls circa 1984 (Ravenloft, War of the Lance) late 2e = romantic = plot-driven with little combat (City of Gold) New school = 3e = modern = fairly linear string of tactical encounters with a plot connecting them 4e = postmodern = nonlinear web of tactical encounters and noncombat encounters? I think you're missing the parallel evolution of OD&D, and you're mixing up some OD&D and AD&D stuff: White Plume Mountain and ToEE are both AD&D 1e, not OD&D, AFAIR. Moreover, Rahasia is from the early 80ies rather than the late 70ies, and is more of a plot-driven crawl than a mere dungeon crawl like, say, In Search of the Unknown or Keep on the Borderlands. Also, the original ToEE module (Village of Hommlet) is not a dungeon crawl. On the other hand, I find your assessment of later eras quite accurate. For 4e, the web of tactical encounters is likely, given what has been written in the "Dungeoncraft" articles up to now. GP -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- [Post 10] Author : Handsome Stranger Date : 04-02-08 08:51 PM Thread Title : Re: What Makes an Old School Module "Old School"? There are some genuine "old school" qualities described above, and it really was a lot of little things, but I'd like to highlight the map. Elondir nailed the blue map, but the style of that map was something, too. Straight square graphs, non-playable areas filled in, with the rare perspective bit thrown in on something you couldn't interpret any other way. And once in a while, an outdoor map done in hexes. Do they even do hexes anymore? -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- [Post 11] Author : RedWizard Date : 04-03-08 12:08 AM Thread Title : Re: What Makes an Old School Module "Old School"? Old school = OD&D = baroque = dungeon crawls circa 1978 (White Plume Mountain, Rahasia, Temple of Elemental Evil) Mid school = AD&D 1 = classical = plot-driven crawls circa 1984 (Ravenloft, War of the Lance) Old school would be OD&D (red and blue box sets ubiquitously called Basic) AND AD&D as they evolved parrallel to one another. As has been previously noted, ToEE and White Plume Mountain were in fact AD&D with modules like Ravensloft coming near the end of 1st editions official run. Now if you want to go even older, you need to go back to the first wooden boxed editions which might be termed Methuselah D&D as it predates even my own experience in the game and I started back in 1980. Examples there would be along the lines of Blackmoor. As for what constitutes an old school module for me, it is likely the old monochrome cover illustrations with just enough description on the front to get one interested in knowing the full story of whats going on. That and the old DM screen with the dragon attacking the castle and the fighter looking on as a damsel grasps his shoulder. Thats not really a module though. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- [Post 12] Author : Werral Date : 04-03-08 07:21 AM Thread Title : Re: What Makes an Old School Module "Old School"? I think the Red box D&D was meant as a "kiddie D&D" while AD&D was meant to be the "proper game" wheras OD&D (and that means the brown and white box editions) where intentionally simple and had no AD&D to deal with. Three character classes, lots of fiat and subjective interpretation. Strangely I feel this may be the way forward - after all it's exactly what pen and paper does better than computers. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- [Post 13] Author : havard Date : 04-03-08 08:33 AM Thread Title : Re: What Makes an Old School Module "Old School"? I think the Red box D&D was meant as a "kiddie D&D". Some TSR officials may have had that idea, but while Classic D&D was designed in a way that made it relatively easy to get into, it was by no means a "kiddie game", especially when you get to the later boxed sets. Look at the Immortals set and see if you understand the cosmology to see what I mean :) Havard -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- [Post 14] Author : Agathokles Date : 04-03-08 10:43 AM Thread Title : Re: What Makes an Old School Module "Old School"? I think the Red box D&D was meant as a "kiddie D&D" while AD&D was meant to be the "proper game" wheras OD&D (and that means the brown and white box editions) where intentionally simple and had no AD&D to deal with. This is actually a (common) misconception. The Holmes edition was indeed designed as an entry-level subset of AD&D, but the Red Box is the entry-level subset of a series of five boxes, and the overall Mentzer/Allston editions are actually as complete a game as AD&D. There are several examples of how Mentzer/Allston D&D has more advanced rules than either AD&D in certain departments (e.g., Weapon Mastery vs. Weapon Specialization). The Red Box alone, while a playable game alone (more or less like the original boxes, but cleaner in structure and layout), is not representative of the full Mentzer/Allston rules set. GP -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- [Post 15] Author : Werral Date : 04-03-08 03:32 PM Thread Title : Re: What Makes an Old School Module "Old School"? Well no, I was looking at the Rules Cyclopedia and it's got some cool stuff in it, and the immortal rules kane all the crappy epic stuff. And it had the Warmachine and lots of cool stuff. So I agree on that front. But you that is what we thought at the time. With hindsight I'd have probably played Basic rather than 2E. Holmes is a weird beastie - an introduction to AD&D that isn't actually an introduction because it's a different game. I'd like to read the Original ruleset because I've never seen a copy. I had the red box when I was 9 then got 2e. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- [Post 16] Author : Bujio Date : 04-09-08 08:38 PM Thread Title : Re: What Makes an Old School Module "Old School"? It's definitely the focus on the story. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- [Post 17] Author : Zyphus Date : 04-21-08 12:51 PM Thread Title : Re: What Makes an Old School Module "Old School"? I'm amazed by all the people that say story. While that is true for the great adentures in Dungeon, Ravenloft, and Dragonlance, before that there rarely was a main story. There were things causing events and you could have any random hook to drag characters in. B1, B2, and X1 do not have any given reason for the characters to go through the adventure other than they are adventurers. This also meant the playing field was wide open and there was no reason to railroad. The DM could make a story with just a little more development because there are several groups the party can deal with and hopefully the DM can guess which ones the party would like to do. To me, these are the true Old School adventures. X2, I3-5, etc. came later. They had decent stories that a DM could build upon to truly be memorable and great, but also had a scent of railroading. As more adventures were made and the stories became stronger there was less room for the players to go off the planned map and more sidebars to "get them back on track". A lot of players prefer this - you only have so much time to play and they want to go through a story-driven adventure more than figure out what kind of adventure they want. Oh, and the farther back you go the less you worry about rules, game balance, and sometimes common sense. In one way this makes them possibly more exciting and teaches people that running away is very acceptable. So if you want to make a good old school module I would suggest: Have one main railroad plot that players don't want to avoid (something about to destroy a village, their favorite pub, an orphanage). A bunch of side plots that can entertwine but do not have more than tangental importance to the main railroad plot. Only half of the encounters should be appropriate for the current level. Make a random table to roll for the others. Wandering monsters can be "on their way through" and have no relevance to the terrain, climate, etc. Throw in a little too much magic treasure, especially in odd places where the PCs won't think to search - inside a dinosaur, under a cobblestone in the middle of the road, invisible but otherwise in plain sight on an empty table in the center of the room. If there is a really big bad guy the sword to kill it is often hidden under the mattress in a nearby bedroom. That is where most dragon or giant killing swords were found and the owner had no idea it was magical. Make five strong NPC personalities and figure out their whole background since birth if not back a few generations. Give all other NPCs a random name and a job - usually peasant. Give the PCs enough rope to get things started and have fun. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- [Post 18] Author : Hans_Kelsen Date : 04-21-08 09:33 PM Thread Title : Re: What Makes an Old School Module "Old School"? Zyphus nailed it better than anyone, itīs a railroad with several sub stations that you can take a stop, eat something, kill a medusa and go one. However, I didnīt see anybody mention the old Dark Sun modules, like Freedom. Itīs really nice and to the players it seems like a non-linear adventure, when it really is.] If you want to go old school with a twist, old Dark Sun modules are a must have. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- [Post 19] Author : wtsutton Date : 04-22-08 07:55 AM Thread Title : Re: What Makes an Old School Module "Old School"? Like some other people on here said, I think it depends on what you consider "Old School". A lot of the 1st edition modules were basically dungeon/wilderness romps with minimal storyline (ie: Ruins of Castle Greyhawk, Tomb of Horrors, Temple of Elemental Evil [minus the time in the village of course], Against the Giants, etc). You DID see some exceptions like the first Ravenloft module and the long Dragonlance series. 2nd edition was definitely more plot-driven. Heck...how many novels did we read only to see modules based off the novels released? The Avatar Trilogy, Ruins of Adventure (based off the Pool of Radiance novel and comp game). Of course second edition saw some of the best dungeon designs with Undermountain. The previous poster mentioned the different style in the modules for Dark Sun. Freedom was a great example of it being more flexible. I ran it for about seven different groups and the players basically wrote the adventure themselves once they got into the slave pens. They did everything they could to survive and betray each other. A DM just had to sit back and let them go at it. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- [Post 20] Author : Hans_Kelsen Date : 04-23-08 09:43 AM Thread Title : Re: What Makes an Old School Module "Old School"? And itīs never enough to point out the importance of traps and trap rooms. Take for example a "modern" campaign and an old one. In City of The Spider Queen you storm drow fortresses and castles, and the only problems you find are magical wardens and Forbiddance spells, plus a gigantic Globe of of Negative Energy at the end, but it acts more like a monster and less like a trap. However, in "Undermontain - Lost Level" you have a Teleport trap that brings in a fierce Troll, a whole corridor that has a intrincate system of porticullis and gates that must be activated correctly, a room full of mirrors that is highly troublesome to navigate, and a dead magic area with a falling block of stone and saw toothed rolling blades, just for starters. Dungeons are big traps, designed to lure people in and kill them for no reason at all. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- [Post 21] Author : Man in the Funny Hat Date : 04-23-08 11:00 PM Thread Title : Re: What Makes an Old School Module "Old School"? Old School modules are HIGHLY site-based and status quo adventures. Story, in Old School terms, is what the DM supplies himself, or what the PC's supply in their actions, not what the module itself supplies. The Old School module presents a PLACE, whether that be a castle, dungeon, island, whatever. Creatures and items are assigned to given locations in that place and are assumed to stay just where they are and exactly as they are until the PC's actions change them directly. Old School modules MUST have maps. Old School modules studiously IGNORE the possibility of the passage of time as well as what can/should happen if the PC's do not sweep the entire module clear of enemies. Instead they assume that once the PC's enter a castle or dungeon, or whatever, they will clear it out or die in the process. If they DID leave halfway through for some reason there is no consideration for any sub-location to change in description. Any such considerations and changes must be made by the DM. Any story inherent to the location must be discovered by the PC's visiting as much of the locale containing the assigned creatures and items as possible. If the PC's visit #26 first then they will see and interact with whatever is at location #26, and THAT is where their "story" will begin. To learn the entire story written into the module requires not that the locations be visited in a certain order (though that may help) but only that they visit the ones that HAVE elements of the story written into them. Any story at all is generally quite simple and it is the simplicity that enables Old School modules to be so easily adapted to a MUCH larger selection of existing campaigns with LESS work. Old School means that whether the DM uses it or not there is boxed text that will describe the location and might even make assumptions about the PC's will do when there. The better DM will use only those parts of the boxed text that are appropriately descriptive and will adjust or omit boxed text that is inappropriate. It is there for convenience and inspiration - it remains the DM's job to actually describe people, things, events and places in full, often in response to detailed questioning by the players following the initial read of boxed text. Old School modules have lots of treasure (at least in sheer volume if not in value) and it is found in three general ways - lying around waiting to be picked up, locked up and/or trapped for security, and HIDDEN (sometimes for no particular reason and in the most bizzare, pointless and inexplicable manner). The latter is what drives Old School PC's to leave no stone unturned in a typical search. [Note that the reason for treasure being hidden in odd places need not be explained - the twofold purpose for it is to a) get the PC's to search more and thus trip more traps, and b) to get the PC's to search more and thus provide more opportunity for wandering monsters.] Old School modules assume that the PC's ALWAYS have two primary goals - to kill everything and to strip it clean of valuables. Old School modules will only have the PC's conducting diplomacy or roleplaying interactions with NPC's as a PRELUDE to the real stuff of KILLING THINGS. When PC's are at a location their appropriate justification for killing what's there is generally either implicitly assumed, or at least has been determined at the start of the adventure. Old School modules do not list combat stats without damned good reason - these things are intended to be met in combat. Exceptions exist of course, but that's not the point. Old School modules are indeed non-linear. If you choose the right corridors and doors you can indeed have the FIRST encounter be the big boss fight in the throne room rather than the last (as is more typical in more modern modules because the arrangement of locations forces you to work through everything else first). Accordingly, the boss is not always IN the big throne room. Finally, the dynamics of the game versions for which they were written are different than modules for newer versions of the game. They don't need or use stat blocks - they list hit points and assume you have the MM to look up the rest. They thus fit more "encounters" into less space. But because there is a greater emphasis on combat they play out faster, and the modules themselves are much shorter in page count. Accordingly Old School has faster pacing as you go through it but seem to take about as long as a newer module to play through. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- [Post 22] Author : Agathokles Date : 04-25-08 02:10 PM Thread Title : Re: What Makes an Old School Module "Old School"? Old School modules are HIGHLY site-based and status quo adventures. Story, in Old School terms, is what the DM supplies himself, or what the PC's supply in their actions, not what the module itself supplies. Once more, it really depends on what you define as Old School. B10 and B6, for example, do not conform to this mold. Sure, most pre 3-e modules are definitely less linear than those of 3e, but it doesn't mean all are simple dungeon crawls or random explorations, unless your Old School definition stops before X2 (1981) and X3 (1982), as does Zyphus'. Myself, I think there is a clear evolution from the adventure modules of the seventies (mostly dungeon crawls with minimal history or plot), to strongly story-oriented modules that still allow a lot of non-linearity (true or perceived) of the eighties and nineties. GP -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- [Post 23] Author : Werral Date : 04-26-08 06:13 AM Thread Title : Re: What Makes an Old School Module "Old School"? Man in a Funny Hat: I disagree that old school modules were only about killing things - the fact you got XP for gold and that there was know set number of encounters meant that a) It was possible to "win" without fighting/killing any monsters b) It was up to players to decide what they could handle. Against the Giants has the possibilty to recruit a band of orcs to the cause if the players roleplay it. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Downloaded from Wizards Community (http://forums.gleemax.com) at 05-10-08 08:22 AM.