Labyrinth Lord

[RTGoodman]

The crotchety old professor who is the advisor of our historical gaming group here on campus has agreed to play, for the first time in years, an RPG, as long as someone else runs it and can teach the rules quickly.

I know he played D&D from the original White Box, so I'm thinking I might finally get a chance here to run a game of Labyrinth Lord, which is an OD&D clone I picked up a couple of years ago but haven't played yet.

But, I've got a few questions.

First, what kind of thing do I need to know to run Labyrinth Lord? I plan on reading through the whole book again soon, but is there a "beginner's guide" somewhere that can help walk me through it.

Second, is LL as close as it advertises to OD&D? Any notable changes I might need to explain to him (and the other gamers, though most of them are either new or played through AD&D and 3.5).

Third, I plan on trying to run Tomb of Horrors, both because we're the kind of group that enjoys that kind of torture, and because it's something that we can play through in an afternoon. If I get my hands on the original PDF, how hard would it be to play through with LL? Are there a lot of changes that I'd need to make?

[ken-do-nim]

It should be fine, except for a few spells that Tomb of the Horrors expects the party to have that don't exist in LL. For those you should pick alternates.

[Matthew]

Labyrinth Lord is almost identical to D&D circa 1981, which is to say the Moldvay rules. The original "White Box" version of the game is somewhat different, but probably something like 80% the same. As Ken-do-nim says, it should be relatively easy to use Tomb of Horrors with Labyrinth Lord, though you may want to consider picking up the "Advanced Edition Companion" (a pdf of this minus art is available from the Goblinoid Games website, I think), as that brings Labyrinth Lord closer to AD&D and might help you out with any conversion issues that you do encounter. I cannot think of an "introduction" to Labyrinth Lord off the top of my head, but it should be reasonably self explanatory from reading the book (a good deal of the page count is spells, monsters, and magic items, after all).

[hamlet]

Unlike the others above, I'd recommend against trying to run Tomb of Horrors in Labyrinth Lord, or with a relative newbie.

Instead, if you want to run the Tomb, you can pick up a copy of OSRIC for free, which you could run seemlessly in the module. Even the pregen characters would work without too much difficulty.

Or, if you want to run LL, and who wouldn't, I'd recommend playing one of the classic B series modules like B2 or B5 specifically. They are very much a great intro to the game, and great fun for old hats, too. And you could conceivably get through much of them in an afternoon. A long afternoon.

[RTGoodman]

Unlike the others above, I'd recommend against trying to run Tomb of Horrors in Labyrinth Lord, or with a relative newbie.

Actually, it turns out that I don't have the copy of ToH I used to have on an old computer, so I probably won't be running it now anyway.



Or, if you want to run LL, and who wouldn't, I'd recommend playing one of the classic B series modules like B2 or B5 specifically. They are very much a great intro to the game, and great fun for old hats, too. And you could conceivably get through much of them in an afternoon. A long afternoon.

I've been considering looking for a copy of Keep on the Borderlands. It's a classic, and it's specifically designed for lower-level, new players, right?

[hamlet]

I've been considering looking for a copy of Keep on the Borderlands. It's a classic, and it's specifically designed for lower-level, new players, right?

That is correct. Virtually perfect fit for the LL rules. The only thing you have to be wary of is that in the original ruleset, clerics did not gain a spell at 1st level while in LL they do.

It's a bit of a longish dungeon crawl with some wilderness adventuring, and a local castle with a few interesting things going on. Lots of the basics of D&D, really.

You should be able to find a copy for relatively cheap.

[RTGoodman]

Cool. Here's one more question for your old-school guys.

I'm very much a child of the 3.x/4E D&D, and the grid-and-miniatures style of running combat. Is that something I should do in LL, or just go "off the grid?"

[Doc Roc]

Cool. Here's one more question for your old-school guys.

I'm very much a child of the 3.x/4E D&D, and the grid-and-miniatures style of running combat. Is that something I should do in LL, or just go "off the grid?"

I will tell you a secret:

Geeks love picking out their own miniature.

A second secret:

Grid&&Mini combat can be..... slower. Particularly with new players.

[hamlet]

Cool. Here's one more question for your old-school guys.

I'm very much a child of the 3.x/4E D&D, and the grid-and-miniatures style of running combat. Is that something I should do in LL, or just go "off the grid?"

Mini's are relatively easy to use in old school. Just be aware of what movement rates are in combat per round/turn and be aware of scale. Characters are going to probably be able to move further than they would in 3.x/4.x comparitively.

That said, you don't actually need them. At all. There will be no problem with just not using them. If you need to (cause some rooms are a little irregular and wonky), draw out the room on a sheet of paper for them with some approximate dimensions for "eyballing" it, and work from that. No need to be pushing minis around the table. Also, a little unsureness adds a pleasant fog of war to things where not everybody is entirely aware of what's going on and things can get hectic and exciting just from that.

[Matthew]

Yeah, B2 Keep on the Borderlands is likely going to be a better choice on the whole; miniatures work fine with TSR era D&D, but the rules are not designed around them, so they will probably not contribute as much as they do to the D20 game experience.

[hamlet]

Also, B5 Horror on the Hill is a great starting module for a LL game. Lots of exploring on top of the dungeon crawling. Plus, a dragon. Can't be D&D without a dragon now can it?

Problem is, this module IME tends to be a little pricier on the used books lists.