You'll no doubt recall my declaration that "the dungeon crawl is dead". Well... not quite.
One of the great things about Christmas, secularisation and commercialisation aside, is that you get given presents... and cash with which to buy more games!
This year I received two RPGs - Supernatural and Labyrinth Lord. Of the former I will write at a later date... of the latter... hurrah!
In the last 12 hours or so I have been transported from my all-grown-up conception of roleplaying in fantasy worlds and delivered into a retro-heaven of hobby goodness.
Here are my dribblings in response...
Labyrinth Lord?
What is this game? With its ropey artwork and cheesy name, what are we looking at?
Well... let me tell you a story...
Way back when I was but a pre-teen gamer we played a game called "Dungeons & Dragons". It came in a red box and was referred to as "Basic D&D". It was great fun!
Many an evening was spent busting into dungeons, killing all the bizarrely waiting monsters, and stealing all their treasure. I would invariably play a Thief, join forces with a Fighter, Cleric, Wizard, Elf, Dwarf or Halfling... and go a-dungeoneering.
This game is that game, more or less. Honestly.
And the expansion...
I've not read the Advanced Edition Companion yet but it promises:
"...the Advanced Edition Companion is a player’s handbook and referee guide that allows the use of the array of advanced character possibilities from the 1978 (first edition) rules, and first edition monsters and magical items. No more pining away for all the great classes and races! All character class options from the Labyrinth Lord core rules, the Original Edition Characters book, and the Advanced Edition Companion book are cross-compatible. No player has to sacrifice his/her tastes for one game, since all classes from any version can be played together."
In short, this is my favourite original fantasy adventure game reborn!
I'm probably the last gamer to realise that retro-gaming was happening but I am really pleased to have discovered it.
Why Are You Excited?
On the surface of it, I'm not sure. I just really am.
Maybe it's nostalgia... but actually, rolling up a character this morning, it felt like more than that.
Deep down I think that dungeoneering is something that we all enjoy... from time to time. And to play the original dungeoneering game again, with some modern touches, is really quite a dream come true.
For all of the innovation and growth of the roleplaying hobby over the last 40 years, nothing quite captures the tone as well as "that first game". Labyrinth Lord brings that particular style of play back to life... at least for me.
Oh, and there are art-free .pdfs available on the site, at the bottom of the page: http://www.goblinoidgames.com/labyrinthlord.html
Game on!
