I am very excited.

Next week I am starting my Old School Essentials game and I am really excited.   Like my in person D&D game I had no trouble getting the 6 players for the OSE game that I am going to be running.  I am starting the game off by using the pre-written adventure A Hole in the Oak.

Because of limited time the game will be run online unlike my D&D 5e game which is played face to face.

This will be my first foray in the the OSR and I am looking to this game and more like this.

I am really loving the OSR.

Hole in the Oak is potentially quite deadly.  Ran it a couple weeks ago and 5 of the 8 PCs died, with the other 3 limping away having gone through about a third of the dungeon.  At least they got more xp.

Quote from: Persimmon on May 31, 2023, 02:20:11 PM
Hole in the Oak is potentially quite deadly.  Ran it a couple weeks ago and 5 of the 8 PCs died, with the other 3 limping away having gone through about a third of the dungeon.  At least they got more xp.

I will keep that in mind.  Of course unlike pansy ass D&D 5e characters dying or there being the possibility of dying is how D&D is meant to be played.

I will be sure to post a report after the first game.  We will be playing Bi-weekly and I think its going to be fun.  Good group of players.

I started my OSE campaign using The Hole in the Oak, as well, and I agree that it's way deadlier than its whimsical art style and humorous random events table might suggest. My group has started a cemetery in the glade around the Oak to which they've added a fresh grave almost every time they've emerged from below.

I'd also recommend picking up The Incandescent Grottoes, if you haven't already, and combining it with Hole in the Oak to make for a larger starting dungeon. The two adventures feature an underground river that connects them, so you can plop the entrance to the Grottoes a few hundred feet northwest of the Oak and give your players multiple entrances to the combined complex right from the start.

Combining the two adventures also allows for lots of potential interaction between the factions in both, even outside of the players' involvement. For example, there's a group of troglodytes in the Grottoes that have a vendetta against the troglodytes under the Oak.

The two adventures combined kept my group busy for a dozen sessions... Despite me dropping hints about someplace the locals refer to as the Barrowmaze in the nearby swamp, they just kept wanting to go back down the hole "one more time" to see what else they could find.

Either way, though, you're definitely in for a good time!

That's Awesome!!!  Good Luck!!!

Quote from: Angus MacDeth on May 31, 2023, 03:25:38 PM
I started my OSE campaign using The Hole in the Oak, as well, and I agree that it's way deadlier than its whimsical art style and humorous random events table might suggest. My group has started a cemetery in the glade around the Oak to which they've added a fresh grave almost every time they've emerged from below.

I'd also recommend picking up The Incandescent Grottoes, if you haven't already, and combining it with Hole in the Oak to make for a larger starting dungeon. The two adventures feature an underground river that connects them, so you can plop the entrance to the Grottoes a few hundred feet northwest of the Oak and give your players multiple entrances to the combined complex right from the start.

Combining the two adventures also allows for lots of potential interaction between the factions in both, even outside of the players' involvement. For example, there's a group of troglodytes in the Grottoes that have a vendetta against the troglodytes under the Oak.

The two adventures combined kept my group busy for a dozen sessions... Despite me dropping hints about someplace the locals refer to as the Barrowmaze in the nearby swamp, they just kept wanting to go back down the hole "one more time" to see what else they could find.

Either way, though, you're definitely in for a good time!

I have heard people suggest using The Incandescent Grottoes with this and I think I will do just that.  Thank you for the suggestion.

The players are already talking about having backup characters and the game hasn't even started yet

Thanks for the suggestions

Quote from: Jam The MF on June 01, 2023, 12:35:10 AM
That's Awesome!!!  Good Luck!!!

Thanks for the encouragement.  I am very excited.

If (like me) you find it helpful to watch someone else play a module before you run it, you might want to check out this channel:

https://www.youtube.com/@elevenfootpole3446/videos

They just finished Hole in the Oak, and the videos are pretty entertaining.

Greetings!

I love it, GhostNinja! It sounds like the opening adventure modules will be pretty awesome, too! I hope that your campaign gets off to a chomping start!

I encourage you to have frequent animals and monsters that can bite and chew on the Player Characters. Give them the experience and terror of being eaten alive!

Semper Fidelis,

SHARK

Quote from: ForgottenF on June 02, 2023, 07:41:57 AM
If (like me) you find it helpful to watch someone else play a module before you run it, you might want to check out this channel:

https://www.youtube.com/@elevenfootpole3446/videos

They just finished Hole in the Oak, and the videos are pretty entertaining.

I will check that out.  Thank you for the suggestion.

Quote from: SHARK on June 02, 2023, 07:54:57 AM
Greetings!

I love it, GhostNinja! It sounds like the opening adventure modules will be pretty awesome, too! I hope that your campaign gets off to a chomping start!

I encourage you to have frequent animals and monsters that can bite and chew on the Player Characters. Give them the experience and terror of being eaten alive!

Semper Fidelis,

SHARK

Thanks for the kind words.

I will do just that.  From what I hear Hole in the Oak is pretty deadly as is so the players are going to get a lot of near death experiences (or death).  I already have one player who said he rolled up a second character just in case.

GhostNinja,

One thing I found useful was the OSE Options Checklist:

https://necroticgnome.com/products/old-school-essentials-optional-rules-checklist

I used:

Ascending AC
Individual initiative
Morale
Secondary skills
Arcane casters and staves
Variable weapon damage

Quote from: Aglondir on June 04, 2023, 02:17:45 AM
GhostNinja,

One thing I found useful was the OSE Options Checklist:

https://necroticgnome.com/products/old-school-essentials-optional-rules-checklist

I used:

Ascending AC
Individual initiative
Morale
Secondary skills
Arcane casters and staves
Variable weapon damage

I appreciate it.  I downloaded it and I am going to look it over.

Thank you for the suggestion