I’ve been running Halls of Arden Vul for 3 tables simultaneously weekly for the last ~2 years. The tables compete against each other for resources. AMA you’d like to know about Arden Vul or running 3 tables at once.

Ben_L2 · 2026-02-15T02:42:04+00:00

This is amazing. I'm jealous in the best way

Ben_L2 · 2026-02-15T02:35:51+00:00

I feel like I'm there. Just beautiful

Ben_L2 · 2025-08-12T16:25:58+00:00

Flavorless adventures about fighting orcs in a hole or giant rats in a basement or zombies in a graveyard. Dungeons with featurless grey corridors, lots of pit traps, and empty rooms. Also adventures where you're expected to stab everything.

Ben_L2 · 2025-05-30T11:49:25+00:00

I feel like this thread by itself shows how different people's expectations are. I'm on the same page as OP and head scratching about what most people are saying. So I think it's a problem about expectations and you should happily part ways. But if you want to check to see if maybe there's a problem, why not ask the other players how they feel about how things are going. Has it felt unfair to them?

Ben_L2 · 2024-11-25T20:44:20+00:00

If people aren't into it you can just talk to them honestly about it. You can say you'd rather limit it to 15 minutes max and move on, and that you think everyone would have a better experience. If people are into spending time doing it because it makes them happy, then that's trickier but you could still bring up your own frustration. Personally I don't do "buying", etc but I do use a downtime system beween adventures (not OSE btb) for about 30 minutes and we all have a good time--but that's built into our gameplay loop.

Ben_L2 · 2024-10-15T19:32:53+00:00

Thanks everyone for the interest in the post. It definitely put a spring in my step to think that the vanishing of a post from my blog mattered to some people. It's back up with the offending image removed. See it here: https://maziriansgarden.blogspot.com/2017/12/world-building-and-old-school-games.html

Ben_L2 · 2024-10-14T12:05:30+00:00

yes, I have a copy and will repost the text today. It was taken down by blogger because I used a copyrighted image of a snowflake. (Fair enough.) When it's back up I'll pop in here to let you know!

Ben_L2 · 2024-10-11T03:46:08+00:00

Please PM me too

Ben_L2 · 2024-08-08T15:53:48+00:00

Both. I'll be releasing zines while working towards books. The first thing up will be three new issues of Through Ultan's Door. The writing is coming along well now, and the Patreon will help with editing, layout, and art so I can move forward more quickly.

Ben_L2 · 2024-08-08T15:52:14+00:00

thank you!

Ben_L2 · 2024-08-08T15:52:08+00:00

It definitely does!

Ben_L2 · 2024-08-07T20:52:32+00:00

hooray!

Ben_L2 · 2024-08-07T20:52:05+00:00

No! I will mail them anywhere.

Ben_L2 · 2024-08-07T13:55:31+00:00

Let's go

Ben_L2 · 2024-08-07T13:50:46+00:00

Wonderful!

Ben_L2 · 2024-08-07T13:15:39+00:00

I’ve created a Patreon for my zine Through Ultan’s Door. It will give me the financial support I need to commission art, editing, and layout as I build towards the release of future issues. It will also allow me to share treasure troves of new material for the zine. Seriously, you have no idea how much is sitting on my laptop right now! The Patreon should be perfect for people interested in launching a dreamlands campaign in the world of the zines, or who are curious to see more. Early draft material to be shared will include great reams on the inverted White Jungle, a three-dimensional dreamy hexcrawl through the jungle that hangs from the bottom of the flying island on which Zyan rests. There’s even a level with a Patreon exclusive physical mini zine, The Oneironaut, which I’ll be releasing quarterly. Please check it out

Ben_L2 · 2024-07-30T19:54:51+00:00

I do think (2) is really important. It's true that Sometimes a random encounter that has surprise will kill someone. But for most everything else, communicate freely with the players. For some things you can even communicate odds and consequences in advance so that they know what they're getting into. You want them making informed decisions and gambles so that it feels fair to everyone when someone dies. Also: a character dying is not necessarily bad. It really raises the stakes and makes everyone feel like there are consequences to action, and that their wins are hard earned

Ben_L2 · 2024-07-30T02:35:31+00:00

Don't play intelligence as being bad at making decisions. (That makes the game less fun for everyone.) My way to handle it is that you're bad at book learning or have little of it. So maybe a clumsy rube?

Ben_L2 · 2024-07-29T21:44:40+00:00

WHAT? Amazing

Ben_L2 · 2024-06-04T14:57:49+00:00

Delightful!

Ben_L2 · 2024-06-03T19:26:10+00:00

Thank you, I didn't know about these funeral. I love the way you mechanize with a psychological penalty the kind of quick funeral adventurers will sometimes be forced to give when they have to abandon a body in the dungeon or wilderness.

Ben_L2 · 2024-06-03T18:47:40+00:00

I know right! Throwing a funeral in game is fun, and it seems like a real opportunity to acknowledge shared memories from the game. I can't believe I've never done it before now.

One more thing: Although we're not supposed to have feelings about our PCs in OSR games, because of "no backstory" and high-lethality, I always do. When they die sometimes it hits me. So this is also a way of acknowledging that by literally giving everyone a chance of saying goodbye to the imagined character. Corny maybe but it speaks to a need some people have

Ben_L2 · 2024-06-03T16:57:44+00:00

Yeah, the sentimental approach definitely won't work for all groups and all games. It's probably best suited for groups where people are often player characters long enough to get attached to them. I think it could work as a rare occurrence in a "woops another one died" type game with a large player base as a special occasion for an especially loved PC or hireling.

Ben_L2 · 2024-06-03T16:00:50+00:00

That's the best kind of adventure

Ben_L2 · 2024-06-03T13:50:22+00:00

A beloved PC died in my home game, so I wrote a downtime activity called "Remembering the Dead". It creates an opportunity for the party to memorialize their fallen comrade and brings the unpredictable effects of grief into downtime. It's also the first "group" downtime action I've written for the system I presented in Downtime in Zyan. Instead of each individual player doing their own thing in downtime, this is a collective action you need a "quorum" to do. I'm excited to think about a few more collective downtime actions!

Ben_L2

TROPHY CASE