Arduin, you saucy Beast!...and falling in love with D&D.
I blogged recently about playing in Dungeon Master (here after DM) jay_zer0's Arduin Arcade The Howling Tower! Session #2 ( https://zer0.bearblog.dev/arduin-arcade-session-2-the-howling-tower/ ). This has got me thinking about Arduin TTRPG through my gaming life, and about why I am falling in love with D&D.
The Arduin Adventure boxed set designed by David A. Hargrave. I bought it somewhere in 1981-3 when I was about ten, was my introduction in most ways to an almost comprehensible basic D&D. In fact the front cover looks in many ways like the front cover of the Holmes basic set. The inside rules are a simplification of the Arduin Grimoire Trilogies' rules applied to OD&D. (You don't get as many of the following cool choices as the Arduin Grimoires, unfortunately. It's toned down to what we now call Vanilla fantasy.)
I didn't visually click with the (Tom Moldvay) Basic D&D set I had, or the (David Cook) Expert set. I liked the Earl Otus covers though, and some of the other illustrations. But the Arduin Adventure boxed set had this scene on the front cover of a male human Warrior, an Amazon, and a Green insect creature fighting a Monster like an Alien from Alien, the movie. Here are some links to images of the boxed set I'm talking about (http://www.waynesbooks.com/arduin.html & https://www.nobleknight.com/P/2147343275/Arduin-Adventure-The). As I flip through the Arduin Adventure game book reprint's pages today while writing this, I'm inspired again to game. The interior art was awesome quality (to me), it just tugs at forty year old memories of lying on my Grandma's floor with the boxed set open, and the first three Arduin Grimoires scattered around me.
Nice and cute, but why so interested in Arduin? For me it boiled done to being able to play more than the Vanilla fantasy cast of races and classes than I saw in Basic D&D, Expert D&D, and AD&D 1st ed. In Arduin playing an Insect man/Phraint, a Lizard man/Saurig, or undead Dark Elf/Deodanth were just a few of the choices. There was more though. Playing as an awesome funky Class that D&D didn't touch (not couldn't, just didn't): Barbarian, Techno, Star Powered Mage, Rune Weaver, Witch Hunter. Oh and did I mention all the other player extras available in the Arduin Grimoires, Special abilities, physique, and wealth based on random social status. It was like Vanilla AD&D met late 70's Comics, and together they had weirdly pretty children. (Historical note; most of these options existed at the time in D&D, whether in the Holmes D&D set, or in other publications. I was at that time unaware of them.)
So what does all this have to do with loving D&D? Keep following my twisted tale, I got into the Arduin Grimoires from the Boxed set. Much later I wanted to really understand the Arduin Grimoires in their fullness, and I realized that I needed to know more about D&D (OD&D particularly because that's what David A. Hargrave wrote them to accompany). This all led me to the OSR as a movement, and ultimately the Big purple, gay server (that's no longer purple).
Why am I falling in Love with D&D though? Two reasons pop to mind. One reason is abstraction. The concepts of Class and level invoke archetype so well. I think I just need to stuff special abilities under the Class hood, indicate what level they trigger at, and Bang! Warrior, Mage, Samurai, Telekinetic Cat person, Greek Demigod, Waste land Warrior, or Mutant, they all just kind of float beautifully out like fall leaves. Tuning a Class is tricky, but there are a lot of guides now. (I hope, my research and experience is limited). In the hands of good Dungeon Master homebrew D&D has a lot of flavor.
The Second reason why I am falling for D&D? Speed of play resolution is a dial. I mean stuff happens under other game rules, but other rules systems I'm most familiar with don't seem to resolve things to my satisfaction as quickly. Don't get me wrong I still love Runequest 2, for it's bizarre granular approach. I also really like OpenQuest RPG because I can DM my Runequest 2 adventures and campaign books more easily. However neither game resolves things as quickly as D&D, when dialed in.
I'm learning to love D&D more by playing it, and seeing how other D&D DM's have played with the dials on their homebrews. Three years ago with Gus L. who was the DM for several of us through his Crystal Frontiers setting using OD&D rules (https://alldeadgenerations.blogspot.com/2022/12/a-fistful-of-crystals.html) for two sessions. Our exploits were blogged about here https://widdershinswanderings.bearblog.dev/hinterlands-of-empire-session-5/ & https://widdershinswanderings.bearblog.dev/hinterlands-of-empire-session-6/ by Naeolin/Derek. Then a few months after gaming with Gus L. (still about three years ago) I was able to play more in the Crystal Frontiers setting with dgb/diregrizzlybear as DM. Lately, jay_zer0 is the only DM I had the interest and chance to play with. Now I'm really interested in D&D gaming with more people.
Shout out for help with the D&D research for this post to Mr. Mann (https://bluemountain.bearblog.dev/), matf the tourist, and Justin H. Thanks to Oldhawkeyes (https://unturnedhovel.bearblog.dev/) for recommending The Littlest Brown Book by idraluna-archives (https://idraluna-archives.bearblog.dev/), this looks like a great read.