That’s a LinkedIn advertisement from WOTC. I looked, and apparently it’s been filled so that dashes my dreams I guess.

However, I did find two other interesting job posts:

Game Design Manager, and:

Game Editor. Now, I’m no expert on publishing management, but these coupled with a new Publishing Lead smells like a totally different team developing something big.

You know, like I said a couple of weeks ago?

Joe Bloch is experienced in this field, and he thinks the advert for a new Publishing Lead means WOTC will be outsourcing all the design work for… what ever is coming. I don’t think he saw the other two job adverts… and the other two require the applicant to be in the Renton offices at least three days a week.

Let’s see how this develops.

You can watch Joseph Bloch’s take on this at his Greyhawk Grognard Youtube channel here:

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Page 121 Tabletop Roleplay... he covers a lot of things, but my favorite vids from him are the ones which cover some aspect of AD&D... a monster, a magic item, a spell... you name it. He actually shows the entry, reads it aloud, comments on it, and always gives you something new to think about. I’ve played AD&D since the early 1980s, but this commentator repeatedly gives me new angles on this stuff that I never considered. Keep an eye on his channel... you’ll learn something every time.

https://www.youtube.com/@page121tabletoproleplaying4

No One of Consequence: just an average Joe like me who really likes the old, better written stuff from days of yore. He concentrates on play throughs for old modules like The Keep On The Borderlands, etc. He also talks a lot about industry figures and any news revolving around them. Give this guy some love, subscribe and watch his vids.

https://www.youtube.com/@nooneofconsequence1759

Daddy Rolled a 1 apparently has a lot of time on his hands. He makes vids reaching up to about 2 hours in length. He’s my guru, or one of, for how AD&D mechanics actually work. Much like Page 121 above, Daddy Rolled a 1 really breaks open the reference books and dissects rules to explain how a rule works and why it matters. A lot of food for thought in his vids. Load one up one evening, kick back and learn what Gary was thinking when he wrote the DMG.

https://www.youtube.com/@daddyrolleda1

Not exclusively AD&D, Diversity & Dragons is one of us though. He’s old school, sarcastic, and doesn’t like the way things are going in the hobby. He’s a late night talk show host on some UHF channel with a small budget but a lot of opinions. You’ll find yourself agreeing with him more than you disagree.

https://www.youtube.com/@DiversityDragons

There are other channels I hit now and then, but these are the ones who deserve pimping. Go visit them, comment, and be sure to tell them Doktor Rotwang sent you.

In my last post, I mentioned the sudden appearance of WOTC head Dan Ayoub at GaryCon sitting right next to Luke Gygax and openly stating “WOTC has lost its way.”

Well, no kidding, Dan.

The fountain of information that came from that press conference has set a lot of brains abuzz. The announcement that Luke himself is working with WOTC on a new book about his old PC Melf which will act as a guide to the Greyhawk campaign setting is the doorway to a lot of speculation.

Let’s take a step back for a minute and look at Luke: son of D&D creator/designer Gary Gygax, Luke was one of the original players in the game. His PC names, Melf and Otis the Ranger, are all over Greyhawk lore… Melf’s Acid Arrow and Melf’s Minute Meteor spring to mind… and if you’ve been to Hommlet then you had to deal with Otis. Luke knows Greyhawk like the back of his hand, and with his brother Ernie gone, he’s the go-to guy on what that campaign was like (Rob Kuntz excluded since he effectively removed himself from the industry).

So, yeah… this is the guy to give us some Greyhawk goodness.

This leads to the question: how far will this relationship with WOTC… the company that went out of its way to slander his father just a short time ago… actually go?

I think it will go far.

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As you may have heard by now, the new head of the D&D franchise at WOTC is Dan Ayoub, a former GM at Microsoft and one of the people who brought us HALO.

Dan’s one of us.

An avowed fan of old school gaming, Dan reached out to Luke Gygax, son of Gary Gygax, and apologized for how WOTC crapped on Gary in the past.

Really apologized. Like… twice.

WOTC’s viewpoint on Old School and Grognards has, in the past, been contemptuous by branding EGG and the others who brought you D&D as: racist, bigoted, and basically Midwest white trash who should be derided and shoved out of the light.

Dan fixed that. I suspect Dan did it because a) he’s an Old Schooler and b) coming from a successful brand like HALO, he understands that alienating a huge segment of your customers who have disposable income isn’t the best business model out for there.

Unlike others at WOTC… or who were at WOTC.

Dan appeared at GaryCon 2026 and held a joint press conference with Luke announcing the new direction WOTC would be taking with D&D as a franchise. If you haven’t seen it, it’s about 50 minutes long and can be found here courtesy of Crit Hit the Giant:

Luke and Dan

It’s well worth the watch. Luke talks a lot about his involvement in the game as a kid and what he contributed to it. There are several points made in the conference I want to stress here:

1. Luke is working with WOTC to produce new Greyhawk oriented products… the first apparently being based on his PC Melf as a guide to that campaign world.

2. WOTC is answering fan desire to release more “modules” as opposed to adventure paths; these would resemble the past marketing product of a compact and contained adventure that can be dropped into your own campaign… you know, what the OSR has been doing for 20 years now? And TSR did for 20 years?

3. D&D Beyond is shifting to being more player focused and less about digital toolsets.

4. Physical books are here to stay… which I assume means a shift away from so much digital content.

Now, I have a lot of opinions about all of this, mostly good… and I’ll detail that out in my next post. I’ll sum it up by saying a couple of things here:

1. There’s been a rumor floating around for the past few months that WOTC realizes D&D 2024 wasn’t all they hoped… surprise, surprise… and they’re quickly working on a 6^th edition… an edition that reaches back to Old School play styles or even… gasp… 1E. I’m beginning to think that’s actually happening.

2. I’m delighted WOTC has gotten someone sensible in charge of the franchise and realized how badly they screwed up in an effort to chase an audience that barely exists and rarely spends good money on quality products. I’m hoping this signals an overall cultural shift in the RPG industry that’s long overdue.

In my next post, I’ll expand on these two points, talk about what I think this means for the OSR industry, and speculate on what a new edition would look like with Luke Gygax getting in the mix.

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(A Gothic ivory carving from 13th-15th century Europe. Held in the Metropolitan Museum of Art)

You’ll find them. Dead adventurers.

The Valorous Vagrants of Vihmy or some other band of enterprising young adventurers descend into the dungeons beneath Tower Tenebrous... but don’t come out.

Maybe the DM shouldn’t have put those two ogres armed with mauls on that level, but hey… this is AD&D and he’s not going to hold the players’ hands. You choose your fights.

So now, your party… the self-styled Knights of Alondra, fresh young paladin in the lead, decide to take their shot at Tower Tenebrous.

The place looks damned empty at first. Has someone else been here? The barkeep back in town said nothing about another adventuring party in the area.

The Knights make their way through a pretty ransacked first level... dead goblins all over the place… and find the stairs leading to the second level. This is where… rumors have it… all the cool stuff was supposed to be stored.

You turn a bend in the passage… and there they are… looking like a 3D Salvador Dali painting… certain areas of their bodies flattened more than usual. The Valorous Vagrants met their end right here. Right… here…

Time to loot the bodies.

Now, of course the DM has already determined their personal treasure… which isn’t much and the goblins upstairs certainly didn’t have shit… but what else would these unfortunate souls have to their names?

That’s where you get creative.

I’ve been there… having to come up with stuff off the top of my head to give things a little flavor… to make the players wonder and possibly waste time.

I’ll do it so you don’t have to. So, let’s give that dodecahedron you never use a little more love.

Here’s a nice little table of 12 unusual things found on the body of a dead adventurer. Some might be useful. Some might be mysterious. Some might make the player wonder what this guy got up to in his spare time. All are designed to make the player stop and think...

Roll 1d12:

1. A bundle of twelve iron spikes wrapped in cloth so they won’t rattle. This will make the party rethink their OPSEC.

2. A weighted throwing line made of unusually strong silk with a small lead hook on the end. Useful for snagging objects. About 150 feet in length.

3. A small, empty collapsible cage with possible bird crap on the bottom of it.

4. A map fragment sealed in a small tube waxed shut on both ends. The map shows a partial dungeon level or maybe a wilderness route. One important chamber or landmark is circled in red ink with exclamation or question marks. The rest of the map is missing. Of course, the place detailed has nothing to do with this one.

5. A stoppered clay jar of lampblack. This stuff can be smeared on armor or skin to reduce shine and help hide in darkness. This brings a lively OPSEC discussion since it sounds like a good idea, but obviously didn’t help this party.

6. A bone whistle carved with strange symbols. It makes a sharp, extremely annoying tone that carries over a great distance. Adventurers use them to signal underground or across wilderness distances.

7. A small cloth pouch containing six perfectly identical human incisors.

8. A scrap of parchment listing 25 names. Six have been crossed out. The DM can introduce future NPCs this way.

9. A small brass mirror mounted on a hinged wooden handle. Useful for peering around corners.

10. A pouch containing dried apple slices and honeyed nuts. Enough for two good meals.

11. A stoppered flask of extremely strong spirits. Good for drinking if you’re a lush, as a disinfectant, or as a fire starter when mixed with oil.

12. A letter from a bar wench in the nearby town to the now deceased owner. Damned saucy and badly written, she details her love for him and states their mutual treasure is buried 10 strides due east of “their tree.”

Weird things like this happen in Fayn. Fayn is my AD&D 1E campaign world under development. Occasionally I’ll throw tidbits and lore out here in the freebie section, but the good stuff is reserved for the paid tier subscribers. $5.99 per month gives you access to the information being spoonfed to me by the enigmatic Imp of Sodh from his tower. Step inside with us and see what’s afoot...

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There’s a trend in modern RPGs to get away from alignment as a game function. Pathfinder 2E Remastered does away with it entirely by assuming a moral compass is relative.

I don’t disagree in principle; a lot of viewpoints are relative, but that’s not how the concept of alignment functions… further cementing my theory that most game designers today don’t understand how D&D in its early form actually worked.

We’ll talk about that over time.

Observe Anthony’s diagram above.

The word alignment implies the PC is pointed toward a certain philosophy, and that begins with the center of his moral universe.

The PC either believes that the laws of civilization should be the guiding principle or that his personal desires and beliefs should be his motivator in life. The neutral PC, or as Anthony calls him… “The Idealist”… realizes that laws are an important replacement for perfect wisdom but can be superseded by an individual’s personal insight, while having no laws to govern personal behavior is being little better than a beast.

That’s the first axis of alignment: is the final authority on life external or internal or a fine balance of both approaches?

Once that’s determined, the PC then decides how he will apply that moral compass in life. The good person wants what’s best for everyone; he might use the laws of civilization to make that happen, or he might believe that individuals can decide for themselves what brings the greatest good.

The evil PC uses his moral compass to enforce his own interests even at the expense of others. He might manipulate and ride civilization’s laws toward his own ends and thus subjugate the weak, or he might believe that “might is right” and prey upon them with impunity.

The neutral or Idealist walks a weird rope; he is pragmatic in his methods to either help others or help himself.

The True Neutral believes that the final answer comes from all angles… the law and the individual’s interpretation of it must be paramount, and the concepts of altruism vs selfishness are just paths one could follow in the pursuit of balance.

Game Application: so how does alignment factor into game play? First, several magic items are oriented toward alignment. The paladin’s Holy Avenger sword is an item with its own LG orientation; it was forged to uphold the laws of civilization and to be used only to help improve the lives of people. That usually means helping the paladin achieve his quests and to destroy evil… especially CE.

Various magical tomes are written with symbolism meaningful only to those of identical alignment; attempting to read those works if one isn’t of that philosophy causes psychological distress and ruptures one’s world view… so they lose experience points.

Interactions around the table and with NPCs hugely depend on alignment. If a paladin tells a group of bandits to either flee the area or they will be killed, they know he’ll keep his word. Spell use often depends on alignment; a LG cleric would loathe to use Cause Critical Wounds because it would be a perversion of his religious beliefs and an affront to his god. Only in the combat and destruction of an evil enemy would he dare use such a spell. Other spells such as Detect Evil and Dispel Evil are tooled specifically to isolate and destroy evil NPCs. They are avenues for the PCs to achieve their in game goals.

Gary Gygax emphasized the DM habit of keeping track of PC alignments… he even provided a cool chart in the PHB to facilitate that. Once a PC drifts too far from his stated world view, he can and will begin to lose powers and experience unless he somehow atones.

I think many modern designers often discard alignment because they see it as restrictive of player’s style… but it was never meant to be a psychological test. Alignment is a philosophical game mechanic that shapes how the world reacts to PC actions.

In future posts I’ll dig deeper into how the 1E system actually worked at the table and why so many modern designers seem to have forgotten it.

Until then please subscribe for these free posts and join us on the paid tier for $5.99 a month where we delve into the lore and mechanics of the occulted demi-plane known as Fayn.

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Here’s a quick table for rumors concerning the Doomwatch dungeon in Fayn. Oddly enough, you can use this table for your own dungeon to entice players into deeper exploration. No veracity check needed; it’s totally up to the DM as to whether or not these things actually happen…

Roll 1d12:

1. Some say there’s a stone door in the lower halls that breathes. No one’s opened it yet, but many think something terrible sleeps on the other side.

2. A band of treasure hunters came out of there without their shadows. They didn’t last long after, and the treasure they found turned to gray powder…

3. There’s a well on the second level. If you listen long enough, it whispers names of other adventurers who have passed by. If you hear your own name, you won’t be returning this way.

4. A brass golem in a shrine room weeps black tears that dissolve iron.

5. Old dwarves and other miners claim the place wasn’t dug downward, but that the earth swallowed it whole.

6. In one corridor, torches burn blue and cold, and you can hear footsteps slowly following you. Elves will feel very sleepy here.

7. There’s a throne in a sealed chamber. Sit in it and you’ll remember myths and stories from the Fallen Kingdom to the south… including where some great treasures are buried.

8. Some swear the deepest walls in the dungeon quietly beat like a predator’s heart when the dungeon goes quiet.

9. At the end of a long stair lies a ossuary crypt, and the bones won’t stay where they’re put.

10. A completely mirrored chamber shows someone tall and emaciated standing behind you, even though the room is empty.

11. A bronze bell hangs in the gloom of the fourth level. Ring it and one major undead will leave the dungeon never to return… but will be waiting for you when you return to the surface.

12. An isolated chamber was never finished. Something lurks in there and still waits for the builders to return.

Use what you like, ignore the rest. Perhaps one of these rumors will send a party somewhere they shouldn’t go…

Want more material like this for your table? Tier I subscribers get additional tables and playable content each month.

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The seller calls himself Nix and Nox Locker (IYKYK…).

The corners are a little dinged and edges slightly worn, which can be expected, but the book is otherwise in excellent condition. The previous owner artistically colored in a few monster illustrations, but not many. Hell, I did the same thing in my books.

(Ken Wood, if you’re reading this… I have your book.)

The cost was $27.99; with shipping it came to $38.34. Let’s run with the latter amount. This book was published in 1983 with a cover price of $12.00. The BLS inflation calculator says that $12 then is about $39.76 today… so this purchase comes in at just a dollar under.

Not bad.

As I stated in a previous post, I have these books already; I’m illustrating how easy it is to get AD&D 1E books.

Fayn World is dedicated to AD&D 1E; it is not an OSR site. The good stuff remains behind a pay wall that is easily affordable. A subscription of $5.99 a month will give you access to the creation of Fayn plus unique material that can be adapted to your campaign world. Occasionally, PDFs of game material and adventures will be given to subscribers. Join today and take part in the journey with a die hard AD&Der…

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Those who bought the AD&D books as they came out remember they were filled with errors which were a) noted in Dragon magazine, and b) mostly corrected in later printings. Such is printing.

It was pointed out to me today by a follower that the new printings which you can get through DriveThruRPG came from image scans and thus have errors in them as well.

I was given a list, I checked them, and they are certainly there.

Fortunately, the list is small, and you can copy/paste from here and correct them in your print copy:

NB: Using PDF page numbers (one greater than number at bottom of page) for easy location.

MONSTER MANUAL

Page 11:

Blink Dog should have 1 attack

Page 16:

Cockatrice should have 1 attack

Page 19:

Succubus should have 70% magic resistance

Page 20:

Type V demon should have AC -7/-5

Page 28:

Plesiosaurus missing move speed. Should be 15”

Page 33:

Chromatic Dragon (Tiamat) should have chance of Sleeping: 10%

Page 36:

Dryad % in lair should be 10%
Dwarf Hit Dice should be 1

Page 37:

Electric Eel should have No. Appearing 1-3, Move 12”

Page 40:

Elf % in lair should be 10%

Page 42:

Frog, Giant size is: S to M 6’ the 6’ is missing in the new pdf - could be a bug fix

Page 46:

Storm Giant number of attacks is 1

Page 51:

Groaning Spirit (Banshee) should have 10% in lair

Page 54:

Draft horse move should be 12”

Page 61:

Diff doesn’t change values, but Leucrotta % IN LAIR: 40% lost the percent sign on the 40 in the new PDF

Page 62:

Mountain Lion % IN LAIR should be 10%

Page 64:

Werewolf treasure type should be B

Page 94:

Looks like a possible error in the original text too. For Su-Monster “determine growth state by rolling a 20-sided die for maturity, using 10% increment, and treating 10% as 20% and 100% as 30%” - seems likely it should be a 10-sided die.

Page 102:

Wolf, Winter has treasure type “1” (one), rather than treasure type “I” (eye)

Page 106:

Index for Type I-Type V demons added name to match Type VI (Balor). Seems like improvement.

Page 108:

Removed duplicate entry for Giant. Seems like improvement

Page 109:

Removed “Merman (see M)” under the “Men” entry, leaving just the “Merman” entry directly below.

Page 110:

Reduced indent of “Giant” under “Wolverine” entry to make it “top level” entry under “W”. Looks like a formatting error.

Pages 112-113:

Replaced list of “Other Fantasy and Science Fiction Titles from TSR” with ad for Gygax Memorial Fund and a blank page.

PLAYERS HANDBOOK

Page 4:

Incorrect indentation of Spell Explanations: Clerics (should be indented to match other spell lists)

Page 18:

In Halflings section:

“so for every 3’/2 points of constitution” should be “so for every 3½ points of constitution”

“see heat radiation variation at up to 607 (normal infravision)” should be “ see heat radiation variation at up to 60’ (normal infravision)

In Half-Orcs section: “ADVANCED DUNGEONS ft DRAGONS, MONSTER MANUAL” should be “ADVANCED DUNGEONS & DRAGONS, MONSTER MANUAL”

Page 21:

In the first paragraph replaced E.P. with X.P. for “experience points”. Seems intentional

In the “Spells Usable By Class and Level - Clerics” table, the single asterisk marking “Usable only by clerics of 17 or greater wisdom” is incorrectly on the first level 5 spell, not the first level 6 spell (at cleric level 11)

Page 25:

Missing comma in “2750” in first row of “PALADINS (FIGHTERS) TABLE I.”

In “The Ranger” section, point 2. (“Rangers surprise…”, has 162/3% instead of 16⅔%

Page 27:

In “SPELLS USABLE BY CLASS AND LEVEL — ILLUSIONISTS (MAGIC-USERS)”, the first 5th level spell is given at Level 9 in the new pdf. This entry should be “-”, with the first 5th level spell the one given at level 10.

Page 29:

THIEF FUNCTION TAKE should be THIEF FUNCTION TABLE

Elf Hide in Shadows bonus of 10% should have “+” in front of it.

Page 30:

New PDF has commas to delineate the thousands places.

Page 37:

In Tack and Harness table, “Barding, plate” should be 500 g.p.

Page 38:

“Axe, Battle” should do 1-8 to Size L Opponents

Page 39:

“Axe, Battle” AC Adjustments should be -2 for AC 3 and -1 for AC 4

“Fork, Military” AC Adjustment should be -1 for AC 4

“Scimitar” AC Adjustment should be -1 for AC 5

“Staff, Quarter” AC Adjustment should be +1 for AC 10

Page 49:

“Detect Lie” updated to in new PDF to be Level: 4, which looks like a bug fix.

Page 53:

Earthquake: Added missing bullet and changed some formatting in terrain.

Page 54:

Holy (Unholy) Word - changed table formatting but entries are the same

Page 55:

Entangle - Saving throw changes from half to special. Meaning is the same, likely just for clarity since it’s half movement rate, not half damage.

Page 70:

Detect Evil: Area of Effect should be 1” path

Page 78:

Fire Trap: Removed “discharged” below “Saving throw”. Looks like deliberate clean up.

Page 85:

Geas: Range should be touch and casting time should be 4 segments

Page 86:

Otiluke’s Freezing Sphere: “cold damage upon all creatures with a 10, radius” should be “cold damage upon all creatures within a 10’ radius”

Page 100:

Projected Image adds Duration of 1 round/level, which matches the M-U spell it references, so looks like improvement.

Page 118:

Bard Experience Points: 2,001-4000 is missing the comma in 4000. Row 1,000,001-2,000,000 should be 1,800,001-2,000,000.

Page 119:

Bards Table II: Legend Lore and Item Knowledge Percentages for level 11 should be 40%, level 12 should be 45%, level 13 should be 50%

Page 112:

PSIONIC DISCIPLINES table, Minor (Devotions) entry 20 should be Reduction, not Seduction.

Page 125:

Missing * on the three Lances, and ** on the Spear. This could be deliberate because neither PDF explains their meaning (or that of italicization) on this page.

Hurled weapons and missiles table, Javelin Range M should be 4

Page 127:

Magic-Users 3rd Level spell 9 should be Fly

Illusionists second spell table (4th - 7th level spells): Extra period after Number 3, and column which should be 7th Level again says 5th Level

Page 128-129:

Replaced list of “Other Fantasy and Science Fiction Titles from TSR” with ad for Gygax Memorial Fund and a blank page.

DUNGEON MASTERS GUIDE

Page 3:

Missing description of image on the cover (which was changed): “Cover: The book cover painting shows an encounter between three adventurers and an efreet on the Elemental Plane of Fire. The fabled City of Brass can be seen floating over a flame-swept sea of oil.”

Page 6:

Changes indentation of 3 italicized entries under “Miscellaneous Magic”

Page 9:

Bolds initial paragraph of Credits & Acknowledgements

Page 18:

Race of Assassin Table missing entry: “26-50 half-orcish*”

Page 24:

Adds ** to 75% entry in 3 years/Full moon column.

Page 69:

In section “A. Food:”, the percentage sign is missing on the 100 in the first “from 10% to 100 likely”

Page 102:

In Morals (d12) table, changes “aesthetic” to “ascetic”. Seems like bug fix.

Page 105:

In “Cleric Spell Requested” restoration moved down a line, which seems like inferior formatting, but isn’t a rules change

Page 130:

“Djinni Summoning” renamed to “Ring of Djinni Summoning” in likely bug fix

Page 137:

Wand of Wonder entry for 66-69 switches the height from 1/12’ to 1”. This seems like a deliberate “clarification”, but given the variable meaning of inches in AD&D, this does not seem clarifying or an improvement.

Page 143:

In Deck of Many Thing, Donjon “imprisoned” should be italicized to make clear it is as the spell

Page 152:

End of Pearl of Power - “gotten rid of only be means of exorcism or a wish”, exorcism and wish should be italicized

Page 162:

Adds missing second blank for complete rod powers III, and IV

Adds second (duplicate) table of powers for quarter sets of Teeth of Dahlver-Nar and removes duplicate second “Tooth #” heading.

Page 172:

Asterisk after “Die” in table header for Table V. D. seems to be a tiny superscript dot instead of a clear asterisk.

Page 182:

Ethereal Encounter Table entry 53-57 seems like it should have ** after the “Human Subtable”, but my original doesn’t have it either.

Page 187:

Men subtable under Marsh Pilgrim/Tribesmen entries are inconsistent in new text and old. Pilgrim is 36-30, and tribesmen is 31-00. Perhaps should be 36-40 and 41-00?

Page 188:

Removes several * on “Rough” terrain roll ranges on the top table, which seems like a correction, as the header has the asterisk (as in other tables), not the individual entries.

Page 190:

For Men, dervish, hill should by 46-47, not 46-55, mountain should be 29-30 not 46-47, Marsh should be - not 29-30.

Page 195:

+1/+2/+3 rings of protection have “plusses” moved to end to match standard (e.g., +1 Ring of Protection became Ring of Protection +1). Seems deliberate.

Page 198:

Part of Demogorgon Special Defenses “resistance (95%)” is erroneously under the Intelligence column. Crayfish intelligence is blank but should be “non-”

Page 202:

Eel- eclectic switched to use 1-8/2-16/3-24 damage ranges for jolt instead of “1, 2 or 3D8”.

Page 203:

Ghost special attacks “touch” is italicized, while it shouldn’t be.

Page 206:

Ixitxachitl and vampire To Hit A.C. 0 - e should be a superscript (e.g. 18e -> 18^e)

Page 209:

Nightmare should have AC -4. The negative sign is largely invisible in my 6th printing hard copy DMG, but the 4 is offset as if there is a negative sign, and in the MM the nightmare has an AC -4.

Page 230:

Glossary entry q.q.v. changed to qq.v., which is correct and likely deliberate.

Page 238:

In Morals aesthetic changed to ascetic. Likely deliberate.

Page 239:

In the random language table, 65 Nixie is incorrectly indented under the Naga, Guardian superheading.

TSR Games copyright and perforation notice removed.

Page 240:

In Encumbrance table, under Bow, long is not indented under the Bow superheading.

TSR Games Dungeon Masters Guide and performance notice removed.

Page 241:

In Training Or Status Level, loyalty modifier for newly recruited regulars should be -5%, not 5%.

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In 1983, I paid $12.00 for the OG MM. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, that $12 is $39.76. Let’s round down to $39 to be conservative.

The MM I received from DTRPG cost me $28.29… $11 or so cheaper.

The binding is great. The scan they used is clear and easy to read. I love it.

I’m going to order one more book from them… the Monster Manual II (I won’t do the Fiend Folio because their version is softback and I really don’t like the FF anyway). The reason for these reports I’ve done is to show: it’s cheaper to play AD&D now than then, and definitely cheaper than the constellation of OSR RPGs glutting the market right now.

That’s money I can invest in those expensive-assed WH40K minis.

The only drawback to getting this stuff through DTRPG is that they take their sweet time getting it printed; once it’s done, even flat rate mail is pretty quick. So, don’t be in a hurry for your product. Otherwise, have fun.

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Very good condition. A few character sheets were gone. One was filled out with a Neutral Evil 3rd level Magic User. One spell sheet used. All of that could be erased. The rest of the sheets are in great shape and, with today’s cheap photocopying tech, could be mass produced.

This product was released in 1986 and, in my personal opinion, is superior to the goldenrod sheets. It also encompasses the UA rules and spells. Its retail price was $8.00, which is $23.66 today. I paid $29.71 for this… so slightly higher but not bad at all.

AD&D material can be easily gained. Stop buying second rate OSR vanity press crap.

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Let’s look back to 1985 when this work originally came out. The retail price was $15.00. Our handy-dandy inflation calculator says that $15.00 comes to $46.08 today.

I could have bought two of these for that price, and hopefully this one will be better bound than the 1985 version.

If you’re into AD&D, there is no reason to buy retro-clones today.

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I’ve seen his vids from time to time and none of them really grabbed my attention. However, this one did make me take note, and it drove me to address his comments here and also talk about why I think he said some of the things he said.

To start things off, a little background on Professor DM: his name is Dan Masters, and he’s written what he calls “an OSR hack” called Deathbringer. I haven’t seen the product and probably never will, but it supposedly alters any OSR style rules to give it a “grimdark” feeling.

You know that’s the thing now, right? Cool.

I did see some pics on his Facebook page of his product, and it looks like he just boiled game rules down to a very fundamental level so that it looks like those fantasy board games from Milton Bradley and others.

A check on RPG Geek shows him as the author of four works and one Knock article… all from 2022 and later, so either this list is incomplete or he’s late to the OSR party… as many are.

Moving on, let’s take a look at some of his comments as he reviews Hommlet, and later address them. In no particular order:

1. He notices that the module is only 16 pages long and pales in comparison to modern layout.

2. He complains that the introductory background section is a wall of text and too long. He himself could summarize it in just a couple of paragraphs.

3. He notes that most of the NPCs in town are not named, but their wealth is listed down to the last coin. He suspects this scenario was set up this way because Gary Gygax thought the party would be killing these people and taking their swag.

4. He thinks there are no adventure hooks and notes that there are no rumors.

5. He thinks too much attention was paid to the Inn of the Welcome Wench and especially the Inn menu.

6. According to him, there’s no map showing where the moat house is relative to the town.

7. He’s concerned about the number of giant animals in and around the moat house and demands explanation as to why they’re so big.

8. He thinks there’s no logical reason for the bandits to be in the moat house.

9. He says that Lareth’s chamber is just a room at the end of a corridor.

10. That 10^th level assassin worries him and he thinks it’s “sandbagging” the PCs.

There are other points he makes, but let’s settle for these ten.

And here’s what I think:

1. It’s 16 pages long because it’s packed with information and details. That “wall of text” trope? It was there to inform the DM as well as the players. Modern layouts are filled with busy art and have entirely too much space in them in order to expand the page count.

2. The introduction tells you all you need to know about the scenario. And yeah, it does require a little reading.

3. Names are easy to invent on the fly. Barron Gostlegooster. Look, I did it no problem. Easy. Now… if you think for a second that a 1^st level party is going to murder hobo through this town, then think again. Go back and check so many of the NPCs. A great deal of them are leveled characters… many of them retired… and could handle the PC party no problem.

Here’s a little story: I once played in this adventure as an assassin pretending to be a thief. I decided I was going to break into the church and take out the two clerics there. Why? I didn’t like their smug faces. These are Terjon (6^th level cleric) and his aide Calmert (3^rd level). Terjon caught me, I lost the initiative, and he dropped me with a Command spell to sleep. End of that PC.

There’s Elmo the Ranger, Burne and Rufus from the tower, Jaroo the Druid, and most of the men in this town are militia. Why Dan would even consider PCs attempting to cut through this town like a death wind is beyond me.

4. No adventure hooks? Hey, remember that wall of text at the beginning that he complained about? There are your hooks. That’s how the party knows what’s up in Hommlet. There are also plenty of NPCs in the Inn and around town who can be pumped for information which may or may not be true. You don’t need a ready made list of rumors. It’s called role playing.

5. The Inn is detailed because that’s where the PCs stay and converse with others. It’s detailed because they will be eating and sleeping there. The Inn, as stated, is famous for its well stocked menu. It’s a place for the PCs to interact and be seen (more on that later). Again, it’s called role playing.

6. There’s literally a map showing where the moat house is in relation to the town, as well as details describing how far away it is. The map shows the branch trail off the main road, and the module tells us the moat house is about two miles away.

7. There are giant animals here because a) they’re listed as monsters available in the Monster Manual, and b) the moat house is in an isolated, marshy area where they are the apex predators… so they eat well, and those frogs will eat the PCs if they’re allowed. So, yeah… they’re going to be big. Anyone who has lived near river bottoms like I have know that rattlers can get enormous in such an environment. Additionally, the moat house description describes its former master as “a vile cleric of damnation” so who knows what evil aura still lingers there? The villagers certainly avoid the place for that reason.

8. There’s every reason for the bandits to be hiding in the moat house. Where are they supposed to stay? In the Inn? They’ve started raiding along these well-traveled roads so hard that the villagers sent word to the Viscount of Verbobonc for help. That’s why the PCs are there. It’s all in that wall of text description at the beginning that Dan thinks should be summed up in a couple of paragraphs.

9. So, if I read the actual description given with the dungeon, I note that there are six guardsmen and one sergeant in one room, twelve guardsmen and 2 sergeants in the next room along with a 4^th level fighter… all of which the party will have to cut through before they can get to Lareth in his lair. The DM should intelligently use them. That’s assuming Lareth stays in there; the description details how they will engage the party, and Lareth will definitely join the fight out in the main rooms if he feels he should. His lair is a headquarters from which he commands his evil forces… not just a room at the end of a corridor.

10. About that assassin… Dan misses the point, and by now I suspect he might have a reading comprehension problem. No big deal… lots of people do. The module states that inquiries will be made about Lareth’s death, and if the party makes it known they did it… you know, in that role playing stuff in the Inn?… and starts displaying his impressive bling, then the temple will send a high level assassin to take them out. Terjon and Jaroo will side with the PCs should this occur. The assassin is a result and consequence of role playing, not a “sandbagging” of the players for accomplishing a mighty deed.

That’s assuming, of course, the Temple actually finds out Lareth was killed; people get eaten by giant frogs every day…

To sum it up: now, all of this sounds like just details, but they point to a larger conclusion… Dan Masters doesn’t understand how the module works and how a DM was supposed to use the information provided in order to run a game. I don’t know how old he is; I suspect he’s slightly younger than I am (I’m 57), and he presents a very ragged copy of the module that’s stapled together with half the map missing. He claims to have run it twice inside of five years or so, so he should get it. Either he doesn’t, and those games were probably boring, or he really does but he’s denigrating the product for other reasons.

Here’s what I think: apparently he’s late to the OSR publishing game. I’m jaded about that sort of thing, since I was at ground zero for the OSR movement almost 20 years ago, but I suspect he (and some others) can’t let go of the 5E mindset, so they’re attempting to shift the window of what OSR means and how it plays to a more “modern style” instead of learning how OS games like AD&D actually work.

So, the traditional milestones of OSR play need to vanish to make room for the new stuff.

I’m not linking his video here because I’m not giving him the traffic, but if you watch it he’s obviously pimping his Deathbringer hack and his appearance at some con with other OSR luminaries (of which I care nothing about; Jeff Dee would be the only one I’d want to actually sit down and talk with).

Oh, and he’s got some kind of Deathbringer dice too. He also has an eBay page that’s nothing but other people’s stuff. In the end, he’s just making money off other people’s stuff… that’s what most of the OSR is about these days… and he’s denigrating the work of a writer who was, quite frankly, smarter and more creative than he is, and who threw away better rules concepts than many OSR designers are publishing today.

Dan does make two very good points in his video: 1) Dee’s cover art rocks, and is instrumental in my vision of AD&D, and 2) there was entirely too much time between the publication of Village of Hommlet and Temple of Elemental Evil.

In the end, I’m not sure what motivated Dan Masters… aka Professor DM… to make this video. Others commented to me that he’s often used clickbait titles because the Youtube algorithm keeps burying him.

If that’s so, I’d take that as a hint.

I’m opening comments on this post, because I’d love to hear what anyone has to say about this. Keep it civil. Snarky is okay. Savage sarcasm will be rewarded.

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Gaming vids are rampant. Content creators with some cool software and a good camera and mike are pumping stuff out every single day, and in my opinion, most of it sucks.

If you’re into the OSR in general, and AD&D specifically, there are several good channels I would recommend for regular watching. This list is by no means the final list; there are others, and I’ll share my thoughts on them as they come to my attention.

Here’s my list of five channels I follow and why (in no particular order):

1. Daddy Rolled A 1 This guy often spends over an hour, and often two, detailing interesting aspects of AD&D… game mechanics, gaming history, you name it. It’s very much worth it to just sit down for a long time and let him explain where so much of our hobby originated and how game mechanics developed and how they work.

2. Questing Beast Probably one of those guys in high school you would either beaten the hell out of or become best friends with. He’s hyper-acquainted with all things old school and even writes his own stuff (which, admittedly, I know little about). Very vocal about how politics are getting injected into our niche hobby, like the review stuff he’s found and often points out the really good stuff that’s coming on the market today such as Dolmenwood. Questing Beast accepts no substitutes and he’s Captain of the Guard when it comes to Gatekeeping.

3. RPG Retro Reviews Title says it all. You’ll always learn something about a product you thought you knew forwards and backwards.

4. Diversity & Dragons He’s my kind of scum… fearless and inventive. His shows delve deeply into the current state of RPGs and the mindset of those who would crap on our hobby and out memories. If Questing Beast is the Captain of the Guard, this fellow is the Watch Sergeant who wants to pull extra watches.

5. Save vs. BS Up-and-comer, but well worth tuning in for. Just likes to talk about gaming and isn’t afraid of a good TPK.

As I said, there are others, and I’ll talk about them from time to time… but if you haven’t checked out these guys, make an effort to do so. I find all five well worth my time.

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A stock photo of a Witch I found once and used for a PC of mine. I don’t know if that’s a real person or an AI image or what, but it’s a good representation of a Daughter of Hekate.

A Witch’s patron is either Hekate or Lilith. Devotees of Hekate are Neutral in alignment (roughly 20% NG, 50% True Neutral, and 30% NE), while followers of Lilith are either CN or CE (30%/70%). Looking at that alignment spread, it’s clear that Witches are rarely people to be fully trusted and are almost never found in strongly Lawful societies. Queen Daentrella has banned them outright from Great Staraya, though it is said that some Whores of Lilith still lurk within the capital. Even then, they keep well away from the Queen and her fellow Paladins with their own dark machinations. Druids generally dislike both sects, seeing Witches as disruptive to the balance of nature, though they may deal with Hekate’s Daughters on a limited basis.

Common folk tend to view the two sects differently. Country dwellers may seek help from a Daughter if no better option is available, while destitute city folk may sell themselves or their services to the cult of Lilith in exchange for power. In either case, the seeker may find themselves indebted to the Witch in ways they never expected.

Witches are almost always female, though rare exceptions are made for particularly promising males. Any Witch of either sect will have her familiar close at hand, gained much the same way a Magic-User obtains his. As mentioned above, Witch magic crosses Cleric, Magic-User, and even Illusionist lines, so their spells include healing, harming, banishing, divination, and glamours—depending on which sect they serve.

A Witch’s power comes from the liminal boundary where the esoteric structure of Fayn as a demi-plane touches the mortal world. Their patron teaches them how to reach into Fayn’s under-structure and draw on its power for their own ends. Daughters of Hekate often meet at crossroads or other places where choices are made, while the Whores of Lilith gather in underground places where flowing water or current can be found.

Because of the way Lilith came into being in Fayn, Hekate’s Daughters despise the rival sect and seek to destroy them as dark abominations. Likewise, the Whores of Lilith view the Daughters as an inferior version of themselves and treat them with contempt; in some cases they even toy with a Daughter for amusement before finally dispatching her. Woe to any village or region that becomes the battleground for a Witch war.

Over the next week or so, the Witch will be expanded in a quartet of subscriber posts. First will be an outline of the Witch class with all mechanics included. Second will be the spell list unique to the class, including cantrips. Third will be a detailed look at the Daughters of Hekate and the special powers granted to them. Finally, the Whores of Lilith will be explored along with their powers and influence.

To learn much more about the Witches of Fayn, subscribe now. Paid subscribers will get premium content before the peasants do, and will have the option to comment and influence further development of Fayn material!

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This arrived this afternoon… about 30 minutes ago. I bought it from DriveThruRPG. The cover cost was $27.99 and with UPS shipping at $16.99 that comes to a total of $44.68.

Let’s break open an inflation calculator.

I bought my old school DMG in 1984 for $15 cover price. I’m not sure of the taxes on that but it wasn’t much then. Let’s another 45-50 cents and round off to $16 total.

BLS.GOV says that $16 in January of 1984 is the same as $51 as of September 2025.

I got it cheaper by a few bucks.

It’s the same book… just a scan and reprint… and you can get it for the same price or even cheaper than what we old Grognards paid back in the days when Duran Duran ruled the Earth.

I got the PHB from the same source a couple of months ago for $24.49 total (flat rate USPS shipping. That’s a book I bought probably in early 1983 for $12… round up for minimal taxes to $13.

The inflation calculator says $13 then is $43.17 as of September this year. So, I got it extremely cheap.

There is no reason not to have the classic AD&D 1E books at your table. Yes, keep your originals on the shelf or put away. Treasure them. But get these reprints.

And… if you can’t handle the rules presented inside (or at least make half-way intelligent decisions when it doubt) stay the fuck out from behind the DM Screen.

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Anyone care to guess why they’re fluted?

Aesthetics you say? Of course… Doktor Rotwang isn’t stupid. But why are they fluted?

In the distant past, columns were added to the front of official buildings such as temples to hold up a roof or otherwise provide structural support. The columns were simply large trees debarked, carved and painted to be pleasing to the eye.

As buildings grew larger, they needed larger columns, so the architects of that time started warping large boards and wrapping them around in a column shape.

But… the seam between the boards was all too apparent, so some carpenter had the brilliant idea of fluting the boards to minimize the sight of the board seams.

Later, larger columns were made of stone and placed in sections. The stone cutters embossed the columns with flutes.

Why?

Because all the columns they had ever seen in the past were fluted.

It was the way it was always done.

Even today, many columns are fluted for no practical reason. It’s aesthetically pleasing, but serves no function.

It was the way it was always done.

Okay, so you’re probably wondering where I’m going with this. What has all this to do with tabletop publishing?

TSR products from the early 1980s, when many of us joined in on the hobby, had design aspects that are carried over into OSR products of today… not because of any function, but because that’s the way it was always done BITD.

Some examples are: dungeon maps surrounded by garish colors like blue, interior art that frankly looks like someone’s slightly talented kid brother drew it in study hall, covers also splashed with garish colors and the inevitable yellow band in the upper left corner in tandem with a product line designator (such as G1 or S5), and other similarities.

Why were so many of these design aspects used in the first place?

They all had function. The almost minimalist art came from starving artists who got to appear next to more talented artists such as David Trampier. They worked cheap. The garish colors on a dungeon map were there to discourage photocopying (something that plagued OD&D to no end). The garish colors of a module cover looked suspiciously like the cases of arcade games of that time period; it was pure marketing design. Modules were lumped into series to encourage the buyer to collect all in that series… even if they really weren’t connected.

All of these aspects, to a greater or lesser degree, had a function.

So, why do so many OSR writers and publishers follow the same design aspects?

Because that’s the way it was done when they were kids.

Now, not all OSR publishers are doing this, but every day my Facebook feed carries advertisements for new OSR products, and the cover design and sample pics are almost always the same.

These are the ones I scroll past.

It’s time we stopped this. Some already have. Anthony Huso is a prime example.

If you haven’t read it, get thee to Amazon and order his first work The Night Wolf Inn. It’s in my top 3 favorite OSR products. It’s imaginative, it comes from his actual campaign material, and its design sets it far above the average OSR product out there. Here’s a sample of one map from NWI:

(Hope you don’t mind, Tony Huso…)

It’s obvious the cartographer, Tom Fayen (!!!), drew this by hand. It was probably later enhanced with Photoshop to sharpen it. There are no garish colors because it’s as likely to be photocopied as it is to be faxed. It adds aesthetic details to the overall map such as bushes and rocks outside the Inn. Notice that it has all the functional aspects of old school maps… doors, furniture, the 10’ grid, and so on. Simple, yet useful… and enough detail to keep you looking and looking...

But you don’t need to hand draw maps, cool as that is. There are several excellent cartography software programs that, with a skilled hand, draw first rate maps that can be used online for battle maps. Many are breathtakingly beautiful without being obnoxious (admittedly some though are obnoxious).

The module’s covers don’t imitate some video arcade game from the early 1980s (and now you can’t unsee that, can you?). The front cover sports some ominous death figure in tandem with a hellish nightmare animal with the night mist in the background all out on the grounds of the Night Wold Inn. The rear cover illustrates an eternally cute elven woman who will probably rob you while you sleep. Back on the front cover, Mr. Huso designates this product as “HU1” but it’s so subtle you have to look for it, and he’s nodding to the past while moving on to the present. He also apparently told WOTC to cram the OGL.

Huso did this in 2016. This is the end of 2025.

Why are we still putting out product that looks like it belongs on that cardboard display at the end of the SF/Fantasy aisle in B. Dalton’s…?

Let’s stop. If the nostalgic look is the only thing bringing in the new customers, then it’s time to either create content that will catch their attentions or simply just move on.

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