Can somone explain Adventures Dark and Deep to me?

[teaman]

Can somone explain Adventures Dark and Deep to me? I'm really confused. Is it basically a 1E clone with some extras?

Could a character made with these rules easily play in a 1E game, or is it something VERY different.

[Producer Matt]

It's an evolution of 1st Edition based on the writing of Gary Gygax if he would have made 2nd Edition AD&D.

[teaman]

Thanks. How compatible is it with 1E. For example, does it cover the same ground as OSRIC, just adding more?

[Lord Nikon]

Thanks. How compatible is it with 1E. For example, does it cover the same ground as OSRIC, just adding more?

OSRIC is just a clone of 1E. AD&D is not a clone, its a perdiction of what his work would have been if TSR was still under his control. So all those forum posts, and interviews he did saying this and that, is included in AD&D, unlike OSRIC

[Greyhawk Grognard]

Hi Teaman,

While the legalities of the Open Gaming License prevent me from making statements of compatibility, I can say from personal experience that I have run games where characters who were generated under the 1st Edition AD&D rules were able to function in an Adventures Dark and Deep game without any problems whatsoever. You may draw whatever conclusions regarding compatibility that you wish from that.

Adventures Dark and Deep is not, however, a clone of the 1E rules. It is an attempt to present a "what if?" scenario. What if Gary Gygax had been able to continue developing Advanced Dungeons and Dragons? It uses the 1E rules as a starting point, but includes new classes (as described by Gygax in Dragon magazine), a streamlined combat system (based on third-party accounts of how Gygax ran his own game at tournaments, as well as other sources), monsters being given variable hit dice (so a giant might use a d12 for hit dice, while a kobold would use a d4), tons of new spells, magic items, and little changes throughout.

So, it's not a copy of 1E.

It's not just 1E with some new stuff bolted on.

It does use 1E as the launching pad for various additions, changes, and refinements, but doesn't take things way out into left field.

And, to clarify, it's not just 1E with my own house rules. It's the result of many, many hours of research into Gygax's public statements as to what his version of a second edition would have looked like. Whenever I feel myself getting too self-indulgent, I repeat that design goal like a mantra, and everything comes back into focus.

My advice, download the three books (they're free, and you can find the link over at http://www.adventuresdarkanddeep.com), and check it out.

Hope that helps!

Joe

[teaman]

Joe,

Thanks much and thanks for all your hard work too. I will definitely give them a look.

[teaman]

Nice work, especially the designing adventures part in the DMG