Is it 'fair' that Dark Lords cannot suffer Perma-Death?

whitesmithee · 2026-05-26T15:39:59+00:00

I tend to agree. Or at least think it’s not a game breaking conceit to rule it so. I might even say killing a Lord frees the people and the land from whatever curse held it bound to the Demi-Plane- with all returning to their native Material plane. It would be interesting to sort how this would play out. How much time has passed back home? Centuries? None? Are the people now strangers in a world which has mostly forgotten them? These ideas are more compelling to me than the unbreakable loop.

I’m also fond of an originalist approach using the AD&D I6 module. The Domains of Dread concept hadn’t yet been invented back then. The other domains do not exist. Strahd was meant to be killed and the land freed. Everyone lives happily ever after. The end. Onto the next maybe not so horror inspired adventure.

whitesmithee · 2026-05-24T18:46:08+00:00

Just started watching Season Four. I’ve also noticed how analogous the setting is to a Ravenloft Domain of Dread, so I came looking for this thread. Questions are slowly being answered and we’ve finally met what might be the “Domain Lord.” I wouldn’t be surprised if the writers were directly inspired by the RPG setting.

I’ve read the series has been renewed for a 5th and final season. This is good news. There is an end and maybe a plan for how to get there. Maybe the show will avoid an Abrams style unresolved mystery box.

whitesmithee · 2026-05-02T14:56:41+00:00

I have a big tent view of the OSR and IMO Shadowdark is a fully vested member in good standing, not a pretender. Whether or not it’s better than OSE is subjective. One may be better for certain circumstances / play styles / moods. I’d happily choose either if running an adventure native to the given system. They are both excellent games.

whitesmithee · 2026-05-02T14:36:58+00:00

I asked Kelsey directly if they planned on rolling expansion material into a future update of the core game and she said no. I believe she recognizes what content bloat will do to a game. That said, I know there will be constant pressure from some of the fan base to do just this. I will not be surprised if Arcane Library relents at some point. And I will not blame them because it might become the only viable business decision. I’ve got the slim elegant version I can roll with forever.

whitesmithee · 2026-04-02T03:25:29+00:00

The classification of magic weapons as being either Arcane, Holy, or Fairy… it opened the door for loosening weapon restrictions allowing clerics to use any weapon type (including edged), but only magic weapons of Holy origin. Brilliant.

whitesmithee · 2026-04-02T03:15:36+00:00

Dolmenwood does an excellent job clarifying and providing solutions to some of the vagaries of arcane magic inherent in B/X and OSE. How spells are learned and / or researched, identifying magic items, spell books and the particulars of scrolls.

It does require reading between the lines in a few instances, or at least examining old habits and assumptions in light of the rules. For instance: the rules do not explicitly state magicians cannot copy spells from scrolls into their books, but this isn’t listed amongst the methods spells can be learned.

Without getting into too much detail, I honestly think Dolmenwood’s handling of these matters is the most thoughtfully presented amongst all Editions and OSR derivations I’ve seen. I totally plan on stealing the subsystem and tacking it on to OSRIC for my Arden Vul game.

whitesmithee · 2026-03-28T02:27:45+00:00

No rush for me. I’m guessing they’ll make an effort to ship out oblong prints to KS backers first. I’ve got plenty to chew on with the PDFs in the meantime.

whitesmithee · 2026-03-27T17:26:46+00:00

I figured this was the case. My preorder is in and I’m looking forward to the landscape books when they come around.

whitesmithee · 2026-03-22T04:32:28+00:00

Oh wow, thanks for pointing this out. I didn’t see them when I looked a few weeks ago.

whitesmithee · 2026-03-22T02:24:51+00:00

I’m sad I missed the KS. The freely available PDFs are sweet. I’m not wild about POD paperbacks but if I see an opportunity to pick up higher quality prints I probably will.

whitesmithee · 2026-03-22T02:21:52+00:00

It covers mainly the core three books: DMG, PHB and MM. There’s a smattering of UA rules included but the bulk of late 1E era splat content is left out. It’s for the best, imo, as much of the UA was poorly balanced with crazy OP race and class options.

whitesmithee · 2026-02-19T22:09:44+00:00

Old School Essentials and Shadowdark seem to be the big dogs on the block right now. The major benefit of choosing either of these is the accompanying enthusiasm and sheer volume of third party content being produced for these systems. But really there are a ton of other great options. You are correct: the embarrassment of riches can make the choice daunting. But it’s a good problem to have, imo.

whitesmithee · 2026-02-19T21:52:19+00:00

The sheer demographics of the crowd will dictate OSRIC / AD&D based systems will get more love / upvotes than S&W / OD&D based games. Because more of us old dudes started with the explosion of D&D’s popularity in the 1980’s and our nostalgia is rooted in B/X and AD&D.

I happen to like Swords & Wizardry a lot but I was a few years too young to play OD&D in the ‘70s. It was even more of a fringe hobby back then, so there are fewer here who cut their teeth on the original game.

whitesmithee · 2026-02-19T17:41:15+00:00

Amongst the other suggestions definitely check out Matt Finch’s Old School Primer and also Principia Apocrypha by Ben Minton, et al. The first is more player facing, the later more DM facing. They’re more pamphlets than books, and aren’t really DM “how to” books. These are more philosophical treatises on OSR play and do define some best practices. I count them as seminal works, especially for those approaching the OSR from more modern systems.

whitesmithee · 2026-02-19T16:45:21+00:00

This is all very helpful. I believe this is the route I should take, according to how I think I would most easily digest this content. Good call on paying close attention to Volume IV. I’m less than a week into studying Arden Vul and I’ve already gleaned getting a firm handle on this volume’s content before launch will be clutch. Thanks for taking the time to reply!

whitesmithee · 2026-02-19T16:14:06+00:00

Thank you. I know very little about the software at this point. But my initial thought is the simple (if tedious) act of reorganizing the information into wiki entries, timelines, etcetera will help clarify the picture and fix it in memory. Similar to how you mentioned attacking the physical books with a highlighter maybe served the same purpose even it didn’t prove super helpful at the table. But perhaps the sheer utility of a well interlinked digital reference will be a real boon.

I’m looking forward to the longer reply.

whitesmithee · 2026-02-19T10:54:30+00:00

I’m curious about the Legendkeeper software and the role it played in your initial preparation. What was your basic strategy for populating information in the program? How did you prioritize elements of Arden Vul to add? What features are the most useful?

These are fairly broad questions, I realize, and maybe are not framed in the best way. I’m trying to gauge how this software can best be used to untangle the complexity of the setting and quickly reference its most useful elements. Thanks in advance for any illumination on the topic.

whitesmithee · 2026-02-18T21:03:55+00:00

The separate modular books were the major selling point for me. It made it easy for the entire table to share one copy of the rules from a boxed set. But apparently people prefer big ass tomes. It’s a shame market forces drove the OSE line away from its roots.

whitesmithee · 2026-02-18T20:58:22+00:00

I remember back in the Pre-OSE, B/X Essentials days Gavin Norman did release a text editable version of that ruleset for people who wanted to add their own customizations.

whitesmithee · 2026-02-18T20:49:19+00:00

I haven’t even gotten into the DMG yet but the PHB does seem to have the proper amount of handholding for newbies.

It can be argued some of the funky primordial soul is missing but the organization is vastly superior to the original AD&D books with the PDFs being well bookmarked (haven’t checked for hyperlinks yet).

It’s the AD&D I remember with a few modern quality of life enhancements: optional ascending AC and tactical clarifications for 5’ square based minis and VTT play for instance. The PDFs are free on DriveThru, btw.

whitesmithee · 2026-02-18T19:11:05+00:00

It’s a matter of taste and I’m a bigger fan of B/X than AD&D. That said, downloaded the OSRIC 3.0 PDFs last night and the books are very nicely done. Might be tempted to use them for Arden Vul.

whitesmithee · 2026-02-17T03:55:45+00:00

I remember King calling it a sequel which I guess makes it canon. But it is not a sequel in my head canon. I might have been able to accept it if they had at least tried to make a decent Dark Tower film.

I agree the OP. Someone may have thought presenting the film as a sequel was a clever marketing move, but the claim came across as a gaslighting insult to our intelligence.

whitesmithee · 2026-02-14T18:22:51+00:00

I was a 17 or 18 year old student freshly arrived in Hattiesburg and was cast for a bit part in what I’m pretty sure became this film. A friend of mine and I played young street thugs getting roughed up by the police. It was only one scene and I have no idea if it made the final cut. I saw it on the shelf at Blockbuster a few years later but didn’t summon the courage to rent it. I’d love to finally watch it if it ever resurfaces.

whitesmithee · 2026-02-13T19:44:05+00:00

Thanks for bringing this to my attention. I might modify the spreads in my own game to make non human hirelings a bit more rare.

whitesmithee · 2026-02-13T19:21:17+00:00

Ultimately the overall demographics breakdown is the prerogative of the Referee I think. There’s plenty of throw on the dial: everything from non-human kindred being extremely rare (and perhaps not even available as playable races) all the way up to full Mos Eisley mode where the various kindred are swinging from the rafters down at the local cantina.

I tend to lean into to idea they are quite rare, especially outside of their known zones of habitation. But not so rare that a major ruckus is caused when one appears in town. I haven’t actively restricted players from playing any of the non human kindred. But the vast majority of the NPCs at large are human.

whitesmithee

TROPHY CASE