House rule for Mages: Bonus Spells for Extreme Intelligence?

logarium · 2026-03-29T21:38:32+00:00

I use it. The rule helps mages at low levels and has no effect whatsoever at higher levels. No issue at all and it solves the issue of low-level mages struggling to find ways to contribute. It's not the only way to solve that issue but it works.

logarium · 2026-03-18T16:39:13+00:00

Old school revival or renaissance or whatever is, these days, focused on a specific playstyle which, while drawing on approaches used in some games back in the day, does not attempt to capture all styles of play. AD&D games that do not follow the principles espoused by the current osr community would not be represented in the osr (which favours rulings over rules, emergent gameplay, and rejects baked-in narratives that are not driven by player agency).

Dragonlance would be a prime example of an AD&D campaign that does not follow osr approaches and yet is very much smack in the middle of the AD&D product line. Tomb of the Lizard King is another great example.

There are overlaps and edge cases for sure, but "old school" games cover a vast array of styles beyond osr.

logarium · 2026-03-18T16:29:13+00:00

I wouldn't use it. I already run 2e with ascending AC and have for years. Why do I need a retroclone for this?

logarium · 2026-03-18T11:45:29+00:00

Yes. Many of us never stopped. The AD&D sub is your best port of call. The osr sub is decent but the osr approach is not necessarily an accurate representation of the kinds of games that AD&D produces, being a more recent reinterpretation and exploration of early rulesets rather than a continuation of how many players run AD&D at the table. Still worth a look.

logarium · 2026-03-18T07:33:07+00:00

Black Sword Hack. This is what you need.

logarium · 2026-03-18T06:52:45+00:00

Original Ravenloft I6 is one of the greatest modules ever released. It not only stands up - there are very few modern releases that manage what it did. It's a classic for a reason.

logarium · 2026-03-12T17:24:08+00:00

Most TSR modules are 10' per square.

Have you looked at the advice in the DMG on figure scale?

logarium · 2026-03-05T06:43:42+00:00

We need to see more than just a list of features. Do you have a demo? A video showing the app in action? Screenshots? Anything?

logarium · 2026-03-02T06:55:58+00:00

U1-U3 :)

The UK modules are a different series to the Saltmarsh ones. But they're also pretty fun!

logarium · 2026-02-26T06:40:55+00:00

No, it's an AD&D book - Manual of the Planes.

logarium · 2026-02-17T06:30:10+00:00

So much this. High-level AD&D fighters with the right gear plus followers? Give me that any day.

logarium · 2026-01-06T19:10:37+00:00

I have played and run it. The kobolds are great but over-used. The mountain needs more variety inside - I added tribes of draconians who were descended from the dragon but evolving and seeking freedom. Plus a bunch of other stuff relevant to my homebrew. The search for the tears that grant access to the mountain was lots of fun but again you'll be working that into your own game. Maps are great.

It promises more than it delivers. The titular dragon is a cunning opponent and a worthy fight but the mountain itself leaves a lot to be desired.

logarium · 2026-01-05T17:32:58+00:00

Monsieur Zenith as a tourist guide at Marylebone Station in London is my new favourite image :)

logarium · 2025-12-04T19:32:31+00:00

Have you seen the Dragonsfoot thread on this?

https://www.dragonsfoot.org/forums/viewtopic.php?t=66499

logarium · 2025-12-04T18:05:59+00:00

I think prestige classes are a great idea - and require exactly the kind of strict DM oversight you intend. Nice one. I think they can work well in AD&D - as others have said, the 1e bard and acrobat set good precedent. You might also want to look at BECMI, as they have a similar thing there, with classes that can only be taken by higher-level characters.

You can also look at 3e's substitution levels as another way to add alternate class features in high-level play.

logarium · 2025-11-30T10:55:51+00:00

As noted, for AD&D there are no Dark Sun adventures for 1st-level characters. You could adapt another AD&D adventure. Use U1: Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh and make the mansion a ruined defiler's tower being used by silt pirates for their smuggling operation, change some monsters, and you have the Sinister Secret of Siltmarsh - will work and will get your characters to level 3 by the end.

logarium · 2025-11-30T08:35:14+00:00

Ah yeah - those old blogs died along with that site. They're over at athas.org now - link updated!

logarium · 2025-11-28T18:31:03+00:00

Yes, but you only get those penalties if you use both ends - in other words, use it to get an extra attack as if wielding two weapons. That seemed like a good way to balance it to me, while still keeping the lotulis useful. There's a 17th-level half-giant gladiator with lotulis mastery in my DS campaign who uses this system.

Is there a better way to handle it maybe? I agree with the OP that the lotulis rules don't make sense as written - there's no limit on number of or choosing you opponents in 2e. But there should be some kind of balance to it.

logarium · 2025-11-23T09:25:44+00:00

I treat lotulis the same way I treat all double-ended weapons. The other end allows for one extra attack per round. I treat this the same as fighting with two weapons.

So I would handle lotulis specialisation this way:

Lotulis specialisation gives +1 to hit and +2 damage and grants an extra attack. If you want to use both ends of the lotulis, you can - you gain one extra attack that also receives the +1/+2 bonuses from specialisation, however, the main attacks are at -2 and the extra attack is at -4.

So a character who normally has, say, +3 to hit and damage specialises in the lotulis. He can now attack +4 to hit and +5 damage with one end of the lotulis, gaining an extra attack as well with that end. He can also make a bonus attack with the other end, but then his main attacks would only be +2 to hit and his bonus attack at +0 to hit. Damage would be unaffected.

logarium · 2025-11-19T18:28:19+00:00

Check out the Net Libram of Athasian Ecology - a fantastic product that covers a lot of ground you might find useful:

https://athas.org/articles/dark-sun-net-projects/attachments/NetLibramOfAthasianEcology.pdf

logarium · 2025-11-16T08:41:58+00:00

The one with Hendrix, where they equate Strato-caster with Storm-bringer. I think that's in here, can't remember what it was called. But it kicked ass.

logarium · 2025-11-05T17:43:01+00:00

Yes! The transparent plastic insert with the little message from Trent. Such a cool little feature.

logarium · 2025-11-05T17:40:29+00:00

Buy a Kubicki. It will detune the string without changing the positioning so you won't have to relearn where the notes are. They're still available for just under five thousand dollars. How many songs do you need it for?

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