I picked up the first the volumes of the original Arduin Grimoire recently because of the over-the-top energy they exude.  How do you approach playing it now?  Take the fighter and magic user from OD&D and use the other classes from the Grimoires?  Throw whatever classes and stuff that appeals from OD&D and the stuff TSR published for it in their magazines in the blender with the Arduin Grimoire?

I got my start with AD&D, first edition, but I've never played OD&D.  I have played Swords & Wizardy and Delving Deeper.

Quote from: TKurtBond on July 12, 2023, 08:47:10 PM
I picked up the first the volumes of the original Arduin Grimoire recently because of the over-the-top energy they exude.  How do you approach playing it now?  Take the fighter and magic user from OD&D and use the other classes from the Grimoires?  Throw whatever classes and stuff that appeals from OD&D and the stuff TSR published for it in their magazines in the blender with the Arduin Grimoire?

I got my start with AD&D, first edition, but I've never played OD&D.

I started with Holmes then AD&D, and while I was aware of Arduin, I never played OD&D BITD, nor did I play or incorporate Arduin into my games. 

That said, I've liked quite a bit of Arduin's back catalog, including the new monsters and adventures in particular, so adding them into a game is pretty modular (along with spells, and to a lesser degree, classes).

If you're not aware, Emperor's Choice is still publishing Arduin (we had them in our booth at GaryCon last year---very nice guys):  https://empcho.com/   They're working on publishing various unpublished materials from Dave, and should have new books starting later this year as I recall.

Allan.

How do I approach Arduin? With the knowledge that sooner or later, should I enter, my character will be one buttock lighter. 

Arduin Bloody Arduin!!

Here's how you play with Arduin:

1) Grab random stuff from Arduin you think is kewl.

2) Shove it into your OD&D / BX D&D / AD&D game.

3) Choose to (a) ignore the power level issues or (b) kitbash it until you're happy with it.

Remember that Arduin came out at the same time as people were shoving Gamma World bits into the D&D, along with anything else they thought might be kewl whether or not any of it fit nicely. Overpowered / underpowered was dealt with by some groups, and shrugged off by others. "He's got a 7D6 Plasma sword at 3rd level?" "Yeah, he found it, so what, you got your 3 rolls on the mental mutation table. Not my fault you rolled involuntary teleportation, insomnia and faulty 2nd brain."

AKA, in the modern age, talk to your group beforehand. The right group will love Arduin.

We played it in the very early 80's using OD&D as the base, but largely just using Arduin trilogy itself. We also briefly tried playing Arduin Adventure, the attempted standalone version. I still have my copies from that time, and have added the world of Khaas and the single-volume collection, as well as most of the later grimoire volumes. I adore those books.

I would play it now using Swords & Wizardry, maybe Core rather than Complete version, as the base set of rules—or something similar. Maybe even using Basic Fantasy, but not OSRIC or OSE or the like. Then use Arduin as my giant, chaotic toolkit on top.

Thanks for all your answers!  I'd not thought about using Swords & Wizardry... I'll have to think about that.

I still play 1e AD&D. I picked what I liked from Arduin and dropped it into a campaign a couple of years ago.

I used the crit and fumble tables for weapons and for spells. The players agreed it was wacky fun until they rolled "all of the PC's spells go off at once." Fortunately that player forgot he had a tattoo that gave him the ability to re-roll any die roll once per day, so he re-rolled and the crit didn't happen. But there was a lot of "debate" after that about whether wacky was OK or not. They elected to continue without any changes, so far...

I also imported interstellar deodanths, saurigs and phraints into my setting, although they've only encountered phraints so far and haven't realized their origin yet.

So far none of the other trappings has made it into my game.

Quote from: TKurtBond on July 12, 2023, 08:47:10 PMI've never played OD&D.  I have played Swords & Wizardry and Delving Deeper.

While both S&W and DD are fantastic products, your quest into understanding Arduin should start with OD&D.

(1) Start by reading the OD&D books, or reading them again, to get the vibe of the mid-1970's.

(2) Run a few OD&D adventures, to build on that vibe.

(3) Cherry pick ideas from Arduin and add as you like to see how Arduin can make OD&D gonzo.

For me, Arduin has never been its own thing but instead is more of an OD&D add-on. The 1970's was very regional (no internet) and there were the Minnesota gamers (Blackmoor) and the Lake Geneva gamers (Greyhawk) and a few others of note. Arduin represents the California gamers (specifically San Fransisco, I think) so you can get a feel for how they played OD&D back then.

If you are trying to buy Arduin, my suggestion is to look for the "Arduin Trilogy" hardback since it is reorganized and has a decent font size. (I owned the original Arduin books and the font size was absurdly too small for me to read comfortably, so when I got the hardback I sold the originals.)

Quote from: finarvyn on July 15, 2023, 08:41:11 AM
While both S&W and DD are fantastic products, your quest into understanding Arduin should start with OD&D.

Yes, that sounds reasonable.  When all the OD&D booklets came out in PDF I printed them all stapled them in booklet form, and read them all.  I'll reread them, write an adventure, and give that a try, and then throw Arduin into the mix after we get used to OD&D.

As it happens, I've got the Arduin Trilogy hardback, too, which I'll probably use after I finish my first readthrough of the first three Arduin Grimoire booklets.  (I agree: that font is way too small for my eyes.)