3d34-2 AD&D 1st Edition

This is 3d34-2, an Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 1st Edition blog supporting my blog at https://kunochan.com/category/3d34-2/. AD&D 1e is the greatest TTRPG of all time and the fact that it's ridiculous won't change my mind. Player and DM since 1979. Any racism from using the words "Oriental" and "Nubian" is purely accidental.

[3d34-2]

Cleric: Hey! Who's your god?

Warlock: What?

Cleric: I saw you call out to your god and then you made a miracle. Who's your god?

Warlock: I don't have a god. I'm not a cleric.

Cleric: But I just saw you!

Warlock: I'm a Warlock.

Cleric: Okay, but who's your god?

Warlock: I don't have a god. I have a patron. My patron gives me magic.

Cleric: So, a patron is a god...

Warlock: No, a patron is a demon, or—

Cleric: YOU WORSHIP DEMONS????

Warlock: OR a Fiend or a Celestial or a Great Old One or any kind of powerful being. My patron is an Archfey.

Cleric: And you worship this patron and it answers your prayers?

Warlock: I wouldn't say "worship." We have an arrangement.

Cleric: ...

Cleric: ...

Cleric: ...

Warlock: You look like you're having an epiphany.

Cleric: Well, ... what if my god—

Warlock: ...isn't even a god?

Cleric: YES!!! How did you know?

Warlock: It had occurred to me.

Cleric: Oh my god!

Warlock: I mean, the only difference between a god and a patron is the god has temples.

Cleric: My god doesn't even have temples!

Warlock: Maybe your "god" is just a genie or something pretending to be a god.

Cleric: This is a disaster!!! What am I going to do???

Warlock: I dunno. Ask your patron.

Druid: My god is a tree!

[dndprofessor]

[thydungeongal]

Running D&D in 2024 is like, the player community collectively convinced each other that dungeon crawls, resource management and attrition are bad, so now everyone runs games where characters can expect to get into one or two fights a day and characters are never stretched for resources, and most Reddit threads about D&D are GMs asking for help challenging their groups because of said ignoring of the resource management aspect and getting told that a good GM could make it work so obviously they must be a bad GM.

[vixensdungeon]

I should start making DM advice videos.

The title: "How to keep your party challenged and engaged"

The thumbnail: "Do this one weird trick!"

The content: "Grind them into paste in your meatgrinder."

[thydungeongal]

"This forgotten method could save your D&D campaign" and the thumbnail has a guy thinking ponderously and the words "Dungeons & Dragons" are on the screen with the word "Dungeons" circled

[vixensdungeon]

With an arrow pointing to it.

[vixensdungeon]

"This forgotten method could save your D&D campaign"

[thydungeongal]

#LITERALLY#the best d&d 5e game i ever ran lasted years and it was a megadungeon#we used encumberance and i made sure vision and light were important#and it was amazing!!! the PCs felt challenged even after breaking into the double-digit levels#people are afraid of numbers and they'll say shit like ''oh but i don't want to play with spreadsheets'' and it's like...#you don't need a spreadsheet for 5e you literally just change numbers on your character sheet. which is why the character sheet has room for#all those numbers. because that's how the game was designed to be played.#if you're not playing d&d with at least SOME dungeons then why are you playing d&d. just play a different game right?

I am kissing these tags mwah mwah mwah

[thydungeongal]

#I don’t like encumberance bc i find it a little frustrating to do it in EXACT numbers however still within reason#i think tbh as long as your players are engaged and having fun that’s what’s important#some rules still are relevant but tbh what’s we play for is for the story so as long as the story is engaging and interesting#(which my last dm did FANTASTICALLY)#then it’s fine to use or not use whatever rules you like. that’s the whole point of the game - you can use or change or add what rules#you want to for your table!!#dnd is just the system and i disagree that you need to have dungeons. dnd is just the system and you can do what you want with it#that’s the beauty of trrpgs and why dnd is so popular imo. dms can change what they want#add in new mechanics that suit their worlds and characters and whatnot

These tags just demonstrate the issue that this post is about: people think D&D is a completely unopinionated game that you can just take whole systems out of without altering the gameplay. But D&D is a game that is opinionated about many things, resource management being one of them, and once you remove the resource management out of it you end up with a worse game with no tension and DMs suddenly having to fix a bunch of new problems that arise out of that, like having to suddenly figure out ways to challenge their party when tracking resources (this includes stuff like spell slots and daily uses of abilities) is no longer an issue except on a per-encounter level.

And honestly "DMs can change anything" is not unique to D&D. If I wanted to run a game that doesn't care about dungeon-crawling and resource management I would much rather run a different game. And I wish people in the D&D playerbase realized this as well, because not only is it bad for their game and its play culture, it also stifles creativity within the hobby.

All of which is to say: if you don't like resource management there are hundreds of games out there that don't care about resource management.

[steamfucksithlord]

This sounds a whole lot like "You're having fun wrong!"

You can totally change any rule you don't like. In D&D, or any other game. You can change the rules in Sorry! if you want. You don't have to play Chutes and Ladders instead.

I've noticed over the years that WotC and Hasbro have changed the game from encouraging players and DMs to change rules they don't like, to severely discouraging them. (I assume this is to sell more minis, and now D&D One subscriptions.) We used to call people like that rules lawyers, and most of us stopped inviting them to our tables.

By all means play another game. I haven't given Hasbro any of my money since 3.5, and I don't intend to start. But don't complain about the way others are playing. The only way to do it wrong is by NOT having fun!

[thydungeongal]

I'm sorry but this is such a pissing on the poor reading comprehension take.

This post is about observations of a play culture where people clearly are not having fun, as attested to by hundreds of GMs trying to run the game in a way it's not optimized towards and suddenly having to do a bunch of work to patch over those newly discovered issues! That's what the first post in this chain is about: people have self-inflicted a playstyle onto themselves which simply does not harmonize with D&D, but because the current play culture of D&D doesn't consider the GM's fun a factor they need to deal with toxic memes like "a good GM can fix it" when they shouldn't, in fact, have to fix things if the game were fit to purpose!

So yes, this post is about people who clearly are, by your definition, having fun wrong while playing D&D, because they have made the job of running the game way too stressful for themselves! And the purpose of this post is to say "You don't have to run the game like that. You can just take the game at its own word and let the game take the reins. That way you, the GM, will also have to do less game design on the fly."

[thydungeongal]

Also while this old post is going across the dash: the idea that WotC is somehow trying to discourage people from changing the rules they don't like is demonstrably false. The current culture of play of D&D is very much based around the idea that the latest edition of D&D very much gives explicit license to people to change the rules they don't like and treats this as a somehow unique feature. Meanwhile the emergent player culture of the game sees the license to change the rules of the game as their first line of defense against any criticisms of sloppy game design or lack of clear design goals. WotC and the D&D community both cultivate the idea that it's okay to change any rules you don't like and the fact that you can means that any issues you have with the game are your fault.

[thydungeongal]

Also also: someone in the tags was like "sometimes people really don't want to play a dungeon crawl and it feels unfair to jump one on them, so what do I do" and my personal suggestion is that you run something other than the dungeon game for them. Seriously, if you take D&D out of the dungeon it gets uncomfortable. There are hundreds of fantasy games out there and while many of them do feature dungeons a lot of them are much more conducive to non-dungeon-related gameplay than the dungeon game.

[thydungeongal]

#i do think 5e is capable of running a political game though#i wouldnt know ive GMed

D&D 5e is capable of running a political game in the sense that the game won't actively prevent you from doing so, but this is the absolute bare minimum in terms of actually having support for running a political game. In the context of a political game D&D characters can fall back on a bare bones social skill system and if your gameplay is mostly politicking you will have to suspend disbelief for the fact that the player characters will be largely growing in terms of combat effectiveness. In these ways, yes, you can absolutely run a political game in D&D 5e, but the game itself will end up doing very little of the heavy lifting and such gameplay will ultimately end up being something where the group (and most likely the GM) does most of the work to make it function at all.

You know what D&D 5e does have lots of mechanical support for so that the group won't have to do most of the work? Fighting monsters in dungeons. There are other games that will serve you much better if you want to run a political game.

Like, due to the nature of the possibility space in TTRPGs, there is very little that TTRPGs can actually prevent you from doing. I could run a dungeon crawl in Monsterhearts. It would be extremely silly and shortsighted of me to do so when games that much better support that playstyle exist and if I were to argue "I do think Monsterhearts is capable of running a dungeon crawl" people would think it's a really weird statement to make. This statement, however, is taken as gospel by many D&D player when applied to D&D's supposed flexibility, which is, I'm sorry to say, mostly a marketing lie.

[3d34-2]

Look, I've played traditional D&D with dungeon crawls and encumbrance and henchmen and hex mats and painted lead miniatures and railroading and math. And it was fun.

But what I love is story-based games. I think my current 5e game has had three major combats in two years. And my players love it anyway because it's character-based and has a cool, complex story but is also an open world and has player freedom.

So why do I run 5e? Who not something story-oriented like Ultraviolet Grasslands or something that accommodates both styles like GURPS? Or even something 5e but story-oriented, like Obojima?

Those are the games I want to run. But there are two reasons I run 5e.

The minor reason is that although D&D Beyond is profoundly flawed, it makes dealing with game mechanics infinitely easier.

And the major reason is that my players only want to play D&D. I've pitched other games, and they're not interested. This is a real problem, but one I can't fix. Back in the 80s we played dozens of different RPGs. Everyone today wants D&D.

But here's the thing. It's actually not hard to adapt D&D to story-based. I've been doing it for decades. It's work, but fun work. Yes, other systems would be better. But I work with what I've got. And importantly, it works.

There's no "right way" to run an RPG. There's no "right way" to run D&D. All that matters is that you and the players are having fun. That's the only rule.

[3d34-2]

Best homebrew?

Crits for skill checks.

Cursed Magic Item Warlock.

Extra Attunement slots.

The Rule of Cool.

Healing potions as a Bonus Action.

Ignoring Encumbrance.

Fumbles for natural 1s.

Large Player Characters.

Max damage on Critical Hit.

Rewarding players with extra Feats.

Players who roll the same Initiative act together.

Something else (mention in reblog)

Voting ended onDec 13, 2025

[3d34-2]

If a player character has two hands at the end of their right arm, can they use a two-handed weapon with a shield?

Yes.

No.

What?

Voting ended onNov 14, 2025

[3d34-2]

Bad RPG Ideas vol. 1

A cleric who is actually a confused warlock, and when the other players notice they are casting the wrong spells have to explain to them that Lord Oberon is not actually a god.

A rogue who is a Robin Hood type and forces the party to give all their loot to the poor.

A gelatinous cube familiar that crawls ahead of the party and clears the dungeon for them.

The innkeeper at the start of the campaign who tells the party about the dragon’s lair is actually the shapeshifted dragon who wants the dungeon cleared followed by a tasty barbecue meal.

A displacer beast that actually has Misty Step.

A mimic that just ate a real treasure chest so the party gets the loot anyway.

A warlock whose patron is just the party’s wizard, who has to do double duty.

An atheist cleric, whose powers are all science-based.

A bag of holding with a huge castle inside of it where the PCs can spend their downtime.

An intelligent sword as a player character.

[3d34-2]

What's the BEST original D&D monster?

Beholder

Blink Dog

Bugbear

Displacer Beast

Gelatinous Cube

Green Slime

Lich

Mimic

Mind Flayer

Owlbear

Rust Monster

Something else (mention in reblog)

Voting ended onJul 3, 2025

[3d34-2]

In D&D 5e, critical hits and misses are only for attack rolls. Do you as a DM (or does your DM) use criticals on every d20 roll, no matter what it's for, like skill rolls?

Yes.

No.

No, that's stupid.

No, but I/they absolutely should!

Voting ended onJun 21, 2025

[3d34-2]

Miniatures are best when they're made of...

Lead

Plastic

Thermoplastic (3D printing)

Thermoplastic (3D printing) and come already colored

Some other metal

Something else (mention in reblog)

Voting ended onJun 15, 2025

[3d34-2]

I prefer to call the class:

Thief

Rogue

Something else (mention in reblog)

Voting ended onJun 8, 2025

[3d34-2]

You can only play one variety of game for the rest of your life.

Tabletop RPGs and Board Games

Video/Computer/Console/Phone Games

Voting ended onJun 1, 2025

[3d34-2]

What's your favorite official D&D campaign setting?

World of Greyhawk

Ravenloft

Dragonlance

Forgotten Realms

Spelljammer

Planescape

Eberron

Exandria

One of many others (mention in reblog)

Voting ended onMay 15, 2025

[3d34-2]

Should WotC create an East Asian themed supplement for D&D?

No. It's racist and Orientalist.

Yes, but it should be written by Asian-Americans and East Asians.

A different answer (mention in reblog)

Voting ended onApr 27, 2025

[3d34-2]

[3d34-2]

What do you think of D&D Beyond?

I pay for it and it's brilliant.

I pay for it, it's useful but flawed.

I pay for it and I hate it.

I don't pay for it and it's brilliant.

I don't pay for it, it's useful but flawed.

I don't pay for it and I hate it.

I play 5e and I don't use it at all.

I don't play 5e.

I don't know what it is.

Something else (mention in reblog).

Voting ended onMar 17, 2025

[3d34-2]

Made this GIF for my game's group text chat.

[3d34-2]

If I were absorbed by a Gelatinous Cube, I would...

Cut my way out with a sword.

Wait for my party to pull me out.

Blast my way out with a spell.

Eat my way out—mmmm yummy gelatin.

Wait comfortably while I slowly dissolve.

Come up with a clever way to trick the Cube into ejecting me.

Force my way out, but first inspect all the valuable items trapped in there.

Teleport out (or Misty Step or whatever).

Call on my god or goddess or patron to smite the Cube and save me.

Telepathically enslave the Cube and become an humanoid/slime hybrid.

Blow up myself and the Cube with an alchemical bomb.

Something else (mention in reblog).

Voting ended onMar 7, 2025