Solo Dungeon Crawler - Solo DnD Tutorials

There are almost endless challenges to forming a suitable set of rules to enable solo play of Dungeons & Dragons. This hobby has kept me fully occupied in trying to solve many of the problems I have come across so far and I wouldn't want to change that. It is very much part of the fun! A recent challenge for me has been handling positive reactions rolls by monsters. What happens? In a group game this is left up to the referee who gets to keep the players on their toes. This is difficult to recreate in a solo experience. However, I enjoy the challenge of giving it a go! OD&D Handling Positive Monster Reaction Rolls in Solo Play One approach I have recently been experimenting with is allowing myself (as the solo player) to decide what the outcome of a positive reaction roll will be. To make this work a finite number of options should be available that best represent what is typically offered in an OD&D game. Studying the rulebooks inside out is the best way to decide what...

 I've come across some examples of solo TTRPG enthusiasts attempting to create what they sometimes call a "Monster A.I.", which is designed to determine the behaviours of monsters when encountered in a game of solo D&D or the like. It got me thinking about OD&D and how in those earliest rulebooks monsters behaviour is already (albeit in a very simple way) codified to some extent. OD&D Default Monster Behaviour for Solo Play To begin with are some basics to setup a typical Wandering Monster encounter. Typically the circumstances of the encounter are determined as follows: A roll for Surprise is made. To quote Underworld & Wilderness Adventures "A Condition of surprise can only exist when one or both parties are unaware of the presence of the other. Such things as ESP’ing, light, and noise will negate surprise. If the possibility for surprise exists roll a six-sided die for each party concerned. A roll of 1 or 2 indicates the party is surprised. Distanc...

 You might have read my previous entry in this series in which I discussed things that player characters might spend their hard earned gold on (excluding building strongholds). I only scratched the surface in that article so I decided to follow it up with a second entry. With adventurers delving into underworld mazes and bringing up various treasures there is definitely an implication that the "world economy" of any fantasy campaign based on the original rules would yield opportunities to buy more than just the mundane items listed in Men & Magic. There are also mundane items mentioned across the various rule books and supplements that are not in the basic equipment list, such as shields of variant sizes, and a few additional weapons. I will also cover some suggestions regarding these. Things to Spend Money on in an OD&D Campaign - Part 2 Sometimes players will need to spend gold on things they need outside of what is listed in the basic equipment list given in Men ...

 The mysterious "Alternative Combat System" first mentioned in OD&D Vol.1 "Men & Magic" appears to have caused much confusion over the last 50 years. Especially regarding its connection with the combat rules in its predecessor, CHAINMAIL. It appears to me that for these past 5 decades there has been a bit of misinterpretation in regards to utilising the Alternative Combat System in the way it was initially intended. This if fine, of course, nobody needs to, or even should play the original Dungeons & Dragons game rules as written. In many ways, you cannot. As the rules were supposedly left incomplete in purpose to allow for variation and evolution. However, like most things, in order to get the best of of it, making well-informed decisions in its regard, an adequate understanding is a huge boon! OD&D Alternative Combat System, what is it and when should you use it? What is commonly known about the Alternative Combat System is supplemented by an artic...

When it comes to modern editions of D&D following the D20 system, many player actions are resolved through what is known as an Ability Check. i.e. the player rolls a twenty-sided die adds his ability score modifier (a bonus or penalty) and compares this to a target Difficulty Class (DC). In earlier editions of the game an Ability Check was popularly carried out by attempting to roll under a characters Ability Score on a d20 but as far as I know this method does not predate (at least) Holmes Basic and possibly later products such as B/X and BECMI D&D. The earliest attempt I can find in regards to crafting some form of OD&D Ability Check dates back to June 1976 and can be attributed to Wesley D. Ives with his article in Dragon #1. However his method is rather complex and not so elegant. The article is never the less worth a read because he sets out some useful descriptions of what sort of tasks are appropriate for each ability score and this is not "sullied" by any ...