Tag Archives: forum discussion

RetroRoleplaying Games Community on Google+

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I’ve started a Google+ Community to discuss all the games I’ve published or plan to publish. I’m hoping that it will better utilized than the current forum which attracts a lot of potential spammers but not much activity. So I dicided to try going where old school players seem to hang out instead of trying to get them to come here. You’ll find the new RetroRoleplaying Games community here: https://plus.google.com/communities/110722856982282076779.

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Happy New Year II: Replacing the Forum With G+ and/Or Discord?

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I have decided that the Microlite20 Forum (which is also the current home of my Microlite20 variant games (Microlite74, Microlite75, Microlite78, Microlite81, etc) is a failure. In its years of existence, it has attracted over 60,000 attempted spammer registrations (according to the count the Stop Forum Spam mod keeps), but few actual members, and very few posts. I’ve decided to shut down the forums part of it. The Downloads area will remain, however. I have decided to replace it with either a RetroRoleplaying Google Plus community or a RetroRoleplaying Discord server — or perhaps both. This would be a place … Continue reading →

Should I Move the Microlite74/78/81 Forum to a Google+ Community?

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Microlite74 has a forum. You may not know this because it has not been very active the past couple of years. I’ve received several suggestions that I should just move it to a Google+ community — from people who would prefer it to be a Google community, of course. While I hate to depend on a third party service that could disappear or be changed to something not useful on the whim of some corporate executive, I’m not necessarily opposed to the idea if people would actually use a Microlite74/78/81 community. Please let me know what you would like? Keep … Continue reading →

Microlite74 Sucks! (Can We Fix it?)

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In a new thread over at theRPGsite entitled Your favorite game sucks. Tell me why. that is for listing problems with your favorite games, LibraryLass said the the following about Microlite74: Microlite74’s minimalism is beautiful, but it also puts a lot on the DM’s shoulders. There’s simply no time for flavor either. You know what? Both are true. The second doesn’t matter much to me. It’s hard to put flavor into a set of rules that are intended to be used in many different settings and for many different styles of play — even more so when you are trying … Continue reading →

Review TSR Era PDFs in the RetroRoleplaying Forum

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WOTC is releasing TSR era products as PDFs again on DNDClassics/RPGNow/DriveThruRPG. To review these games there, you have to buy a copy there. This helps to prevent fake reviews. However, it also prevents the large number of gamers who already own these products in TSR era hard copies from reviewing them. I’ve set up boards for reviews and comments on these products on the new RetroRoleplaying Forum (a renamed and redesigned version of the Microlite74 forum). New products threads will be added as my time allows, but I already have most of the Classic D&D (B/X and BECMI) and first … Continue reading →

Warrior & Wizard Retroclone Playtest Release Available

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Chris Goodwin has been working on a retroclone of Metagaming’s old In The Labyrinth RPG system. He has a playtest version ready for people to look at and comment on: My retro clone game, Warrior & Wizard, has reached what I consider minimally complete for playtesting. There are rules for creating characters, fighting using magic or weapons, and building them up through experience. There’s also a minimal bestiary containing every type of creature capable of being summoned by the included spells, plus a few extra (stats may or may not match those in the original game). There’s an experience point … Continue reading →

At Last, The Microlite74 Release Candidate 1 PDF

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It’s done! A full PDF of Microlite74 is now ready for you to download and comment on. Rules, spell list, and monster list fit on 4 pages in 8 point type. The 5th page is the license. I had to cut a few monsters to get everything to fit in 4 pages, but folks can easily make monsters. The PDF file is under 100K. If you are not familiar with Microlite20 (M20), it is a greatly trimmed down version of the 3.5 Fantasy SRD. By removing all the complexity, the entire Microlite20 rules fit in a couple of pages. It’s … Continue reading →

Giant Frogs Aren’t Scary

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After much searching though old backup CDs, I finally found the text only version of the original Little Beige Books, Greyhawk, Blackmoor, and Eldritch Wizardry someone had scanned, converted to ascii text, somewhat proofread, and made available on the Internet back in the mid-1990s on a gopher site (the web had barely started). Naturally, it did not stay up long before TSR heard about it and had it removed. I had forgotten that the scanner/proofreader did not include everything from the Blackmoor supplement. He left out a major portion of the book: the Temple of the Frog adventure. He didn’t … Continue reading →

Microlite74: First Public Draft Available

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With Grayharp’s prodding and assistance, I’ve started work on a version of Microlite20 designing to feel like that first fantasy RPG from the mid-1970s. It makes no real attempt to duplicate rules (which are still very much a minor variant of Microlite20), but it tries duplicate the style of play. The main rules change is the removal of skills. The first public draft of the rules and spell list is available on the message board. Discussion and comments are welcome. Message Board: Microlite74 (Public Draft 1)

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Original D&D: What Classes & Rules Would You Use?

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Original Dungeons and Dragons is more of a toolkit than a hard and fast set of rules. In addition to the three little beige books, there are additional rulebooks (Greyhawk, Blackmoor, Eldritch Wizardry, Chainmail, Swords & Spells) and important articles in The Strategic Review and early issues of The Dragon magazine (e.g. classes like the ranger and the illusionist, new monsters, etc.) with more rules and options to choose from. If you were going to DM OD&D, which classes and rules would you use? On Our Message Board: Join in the discussion!

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