Old School D&D - The First Full Session

The first Basic D&D game went down last night and it went really well. I fell back into the game quite easily and my dwarf, Burgen Beerswiller, performed admirably. The dungeon we faced was filled with Orcs, Ghouls and a rat with an attitude, and we got through the dungeon's eight rooms, rescued the villagers and made our escape in a two-and-a-half hour sitting. That's pretty damn good.

Our DM, Big J, did a fantastic job. He got well into the situations, got very animated, and made quick, effective rulings that kept the game flowing. The long skill lists, actions, feats and talents of D&D 3.x were cast aside and it made for a much better, free flowing game. There's nothing wrong with 3.x, it's a great game and I'd play it again no problem, but my preference is the quick, easy and fluid game we're playing now.

Big J, bless his cotton socks, had created a huge board with everything we needed to know about the world of Greyhawk. At first I was a bit concerned, thinking he'd mapped out an adventure for us to follow, but the board was actually a bulletpoint-type accessory so that we knew where we were, what was there, what it was like and what was going on around us. It was a great idea and we referred to it a few times to plan our next journey.

The visual cues for this game is an amalgamation of the design aesthetic of the TV show 'Game of Thrones' and medieval Europe, and that's right up my street. I don't really get on with the visuals of the recent D&D games as they're a little too over the top for my tastes and I prefer a grounding in a pseudo-reality.

So, great first gajme and bloody well done to Big J for running a fun and smooth game. I'm looking forward to next week with quite a lot of excitement.