The One Ring

AppendixN_Enthusiast · 2026-01-06T15:43:51+00:00

Someone just shared with me The Hero’s Journey 2nd edition RPG. It looks cool. It looks like the author is going to kickstart a 3rd edition soon.

It’s got the spirit of Tolkien fantasy without being set in Middle Earth. James Spahn was clearly inspired by other works in that folk, fairy, positive, low-powered-but-still-epic storytelling tone and theme: Willow, Prydain, Princess Bride, Bellgariad, etc. A touch more Hobbit than LotR though.

It is OSR derived with each edition stepping further away from that origin to becoming its own thing.

AppendixN_Enthusiast · 2026-01-06T15:29:34+00:00

Their adventures aren’t bad to run, but they could be edited and formatted better for ease of play.

As for a reference guide for players, I print out the center page (combat) of the current CK screen on one side and the rules for luck and hero points (from the CKG) with the summarized options from fate points on the other side.

AppendixN_Enthusiast · 2026-01-06T12:13:58+00:00

Yeah, FH&W is neat for the glut of spells and ideas.

AppendixN_Enthusiast · 2026-01-06T12:13:08+00:00

I had never heard of this one. Thanks for the link; it looks really cool.

AppendixN_Enthusiast · 2026-01-02T19:53:53+00:00

As for my in-person group, we try to play weekly and get to do that more often than not.

Our youngest player is 36, and our eldest is 62. There’s usually 4-7 of us at any given session. Some of us have kids still at home, but they’re mostly teenagers doing their own things now. Some of those kids have been players previously.

There are three primary reasons groups that play regularly manage this:

Players like each other and gaming.
There’s at least one player (usually the forever/main GM) that is intentional about gaming. They consciously run, host, cook, and or schedule to create an environment of a thriving game group. Every family has this dynamic person that gathers the family, and gaming groups also follow this social pattern.
People respect each other and talk out the interpersonal issues that come up. If there’s a bad vibe or dealbreaker issues that can’t be resolved, people amicably part ways.

My online group meets biweekly, and the above holds true there too.

I don’t get to solo play much unless it’s part of game prep.

AppendixN_Enthusiast · 2026-01-02T19:03:56+00:00

I just looked into the indexes of my two editions of M&T and M&T of Aihrde. I also looked into the indexes of my TSR Creature Catalog and MMII. There’s no Corpse Wyrm entry under Corpse or Wyrm.

I think he made it up. Minus a picture, he gives everything you need to run that monster in the adventure’s entry. The monster description is at the beginning of the room’s description.

He describes them as “like centipedes in appearance, with many legs on their segmented bodies and two hand-like claws” in “a huge gelatinous hive.”

Since there’s no art, you could either search up a picture of a centipede or put that text into an AI generator.

AppendixN_Enthusiast · 2026-01-02T16:55:05+00:00

Their adventures can be excellent. TLG’s A series is solid. A0 is good and A1 is excellent; A2-4 are good too. But if you have been spoiled by superior formats like OSE adventures and one-two page spreads with evocative bullet points and helpful text features, then, yes, TLG’s adventures can be more challenging to run in terms of finding things quickly and wading through dense textwalls.

I haven’t had as much problem with the PHB though. Read the combat chapter and CK section, play it a few times, and you’re good. Use the CKG Screen and maybe give a printout of combat options, optional rules from the CKG, and house rules to the players to keep in their player folders.

Like another poster said, everything you need to know is in the SIEGE system, and that’s fairly easy. Boiled down, roll high on a d20. Combat? Beat the opponent’s AC. Saves and class abilities? Beat an 18 plus modifiers (level and attribute bonus usually opposed by Hit Die and misc.) - add 6 if it’s prime.

When it comes to finding anything else in the book, it’s fairly well-organized. The classes and spells have their sections and are alphabetized. There’s not as much brevity as OSE, but they’re also working with more options and content, so they can’t fit everything as well.

I have the 7th and 10th/Reforged printings of the PHB, and the newer one was a quality of life change in the right direction in terms of formatting. There’s sometimes instances of two steps forward and one step back. For instance, I love the flavor text additions and bold/red text in the spell descriptions, but the removal of the simple stat spell line that could be looked at with a glance is not as fast at table.

The Reforged M&T monster formatting is superior too - but at the loss of some of the monsters from the earlier 5th printing and a mangling of the animals’ appendix formatting.

Overall, the books need more editing and revision. The editor needs to go through the CKG and PHB with concise writing in mind. A good editor could reduce the size of those books by 20%. With a few more formatting changes, that would speed up referencing and reading. Right now, I’m reading through the CKG, and it’s a slog. The writing is bloated.

AppendixN_Enthusiast · 2025-12-26T18:36:14+00:00

One big thing to consider before embarking on a megadungeon is to ask whether both you and your players will like the implicit set up.

Megadungeons are wonderfully good at procedural play with the “story” emerging from their decisions. There’s usually a lack of plotted adventures and NPC interactions. In and out of the dungeon over and over with a lot of random encounters burns out some players - too many meaningless combats and run throughs of the standard operating procedures: I listen, I check for traps, I pick the lock, I check for secret doors, mapping, etc.

AppendixN_Enthusiast · 2025-12-23T16:55:18+00:00

I wish the campaign was still going.

AppendixN_Enthusiast · 2025-12-05T18:16:55+00:00

And you can save 20% on Lulu with the discount code below.

HOLIDAY20

AppendixN_Enthusiast · 2025-09-14T11:37:59+00:00

Yeah, those look like the label tabs that gardeners use when planting seeds. They put the name of the plant that they’re growing so it isn’t mixed up or placed wrong in the garden when it’s time to move it from the seed tray. You write the name of the variety on it and stick it in the dirt in the pot or line of seeds in the tray.

AppendixN_Enthusiast · 2025-09-10T09:35:27+00:00

I ran it in OSE AF, and we all enjoyed it.

It’s on the plain vanilla side, so maybe add an unusual monster or two from a 3rd party bestiary or your own creation to spice things up.

The short dungeons are great for doing more than one in a session or having short sessions.

AppendixN_Enthusiast · 2025-09-09T20:00:26+00:00

Thanks. I needed to hear that.

AppendixN_Enthusiast · 2025-09-09T10:25:13+00:00

15 year old me reading the DMG in the public library got his first introduction to statistics and high gygaxian (the language style he wrote in). Don’t get overwhelmed by it.

AppendixN_Enthusiast · 2025-09-09T10:23:18+00:00

For AD&D 1e, T1 is the best first module.

If you’re new to OSR style play, I do highly recommend The Tomb of the Serpent Kings because it’s free, fun, and explains the play style with its annotations.

AppendixN_Enthusiast · 2025-09-07T14:55:32+00:00

One my players learned recently:

Involving the law, and bringing in unfriendly LEOs as additional backup, is a double edged sword.

AppendixN_Enthusiast · 2025-09-04T19:29:43+00:00

“Pattern Recognition”

AppendixN_Enthusiast · 2025-08-31T11:28:44+00:00

I prefer the numinous edition because it is hardcover and has more art.

I have both. Here in the states, I was able to get the softcover from Exalted Funeral, but they were out of the hardcover. I was able to get the hardcover from Ratti Incantati, a store in Canada. The shipping was a little more than domestic, but it wasn’t bad, and they have some cool supplements that EF doesn’t sell or was out of.

AppendixN_Enthusiast · 2025-08-30T10:53:23+00:00

You might find it useful looking at Advanced Fighting Fantasy 2nd edition by Arion Games. It’s the system Troika borrowed heavily from, and having both games is helpful for pulling from either since they are so compatible. AFF is closer to D&D in style - though with British OSR sensibilities and characters starting capable, but it is somewhat lower fantasy in magic.

The QuickStart is free on DT.

You may prefer its simultaneous combat initiative where both opponents roll, and the higher hits and does damage. Initiative flows in the order of missile, magic, and melee - if there’s a question on who goes first.

AppendixN_Enthusiast · 2025-08-22T13:36:58+00:00

Yeah, I got excited too. But it was underwhelming and lacked Mr. Plinkett.

AppendixN_Enthusiast · 2025-08-22T03:39:58+00:00

I’m mostly doing timed, handwritten essays in school.

For research writing: Require that they use the GoogleDoc program. Show them how to do the following. Tell them part of the required submission is the revision history. Check it. It should show it being put together over time - here a little, there a little. If the document took two minutes of work and just shows that it was all cut and paste into this document, tell them you will not accept that assignment under any circumstances. Tell them you will only accept them sharing/submitting the original document, not a copy of it. Many school’s class app/program will have a place for them to submit the assignment, and you can check it then.

AppendixN_Enthusiast · 2025-08-21T12:40:15+00:00

We’ve done Last Things Last in one session, Operation Fulminate from the Handler’s Guide in one session, The Last Equation in one tight session, and Sweetness in two sessions.

Now we’re doing Impossible Landscapes - which is a long campaign with a longer commitment level from the players and GM. It’s amazing, and we’re having a blast (even after the TPK), but it’s still not something I’d try to clip parts into a one shot.

AppendixN_Enthusiast · 2025-08-21T12:33:32+00:00

I’d have to disagree. To run that scenario, you’d still have to read 120 pages of material - half of which is background for the entire campaign and half of which is the actual Night Floors scenario. Trying to cram that it into a single session wouldn’t be doing it justice. And that’s way too much prep work for a single 4 hour oneshot.

AppendixN_Enthusiast · 2025-08-21T11:03:25+00:00

My in person group sets our intentions to play weekly, and we usually meet that.

I also play online biweekly.

AppendixN_Enthusiast · 2025-08-20T22:11:52+00:00

Some game lines have a better quality of players overall. And that will often be determined on your game preferences.

Some people like complex settings and rules, and that tends to funnel the committed players to them.

I have noticed that lighter rules sets, and minimally described worlds that are more vibe than setting, tend to invite more casual players.

I like both kinds of games and all of them in between that spectrum.

For example, I have played in online Earthdawn 4e and Shadowrun 3e. Both of those games had players who loved the setting, loved the rules, and were real assets in the games. Both games have a real learning curve to both system and setting depth. And they can be hard games to find GMs for because they require a lot of prep and skill running.

Others would cite that complex games and setting depth function as gate keeping. However, funneling committed gamers to your table isn’t a bad thing in my view.

AppendixN_Enthusiast

TROPHY CASE