This sorry excuse for a blog is an attempt to finally put out into the world the gaming and worldbuilding ideas that have been banging around in my head for a very long time. Specifically, the inciting cause is that I’ve been roped into running an AD&D campaign that will be starting in the coming months. I have a long history of tabletop GMing but this will be my first full and mature attempt to run a game in the style of the OSR, and as a result I’ve sent myself into a frenzy of ideas and planning and prep that will hopefully be useful or at least somewhat interesting to people out there. Now AD&D is not the best written or the most intuitive or the best edited or most useful or most coherent or lovingly written system ever made. Instead my strategy is to muddle along well enough by pretending it’s B/X and dropping in AD&D rules as I need, which is the way that almost every single person I have ever met has played AD&D. This means that if I include statistics and mechanics in my posts, you’re safe to use them with B/X or your favorite old-school edition or hack of the world’s most euphemistically described roleplaying game.

And let me tell you, I’m excited. Lord knows that I’ve spent enough time reading blogs, fumbling with mechanics, and arguing about the OSR on the internet and now it’s time to put my money where my mouth is and run the damn thing. I made no promises. I make lots of excuses. The only thing I ask is your attention, at least long enough to decide I’m a crackpot once and for all.

My first full and proper posts will chronicle my efforts to complete the Gygax75 challenge as compiled by Ray Otus. For the purposes of the challenge, Week 1 (The Concept) will be due Sunday, December 3, 2022. I’ll likely post it earlier than that but if I don’t have a due date I’ll never actually be able to force myself to finish the damnable thing. Please look forward to the rambles of a history dweeb with far too much time on his hands and very many capital O Opinions. This post is incredibly light on details on what I’m going to build and that’s because I’m not quite sure yet. My idea has evolved from fighting ghosts in the ruins of ruined cities to ancient Mesopotamian sword and sandal action to weird science fantasy and it’s still evolving and percolating in my head. Sometimes ideas need a bit more time to rise before they fully come out of the oven. Whatever it is, I’m going to have a lot of fun building it, playing it, and sharing it.

Until then, please enjoy the Sword Pit. It’s like a ball pit, but not very much like a ball pit at all because there’s way more swords than in a ball pit.