The Case for ADAD

Adventures Dark & Deep and OSRIC are mostly the same game.

But why play ADAD? OSRIC has a lot of support, but one of the best things about the OSR, first-edition, and B/X is that the games and numbers are mostly compatible. OSRIC adventures work perfectly with ADAD, so at this point, it is just a system preference.

Do you like the original, basic first-edition game? Play OSRIC.

Do you like a tuned, 1.5 Edition game with more stuff? Play ADAD.

ADAD has the better combat system, streamlined with weapon speed tied into initiative. This is nice, and the game plays more like the original creator wanted. Slower weapons will hit later in the combat round. ADAD also has an expansion skill system for roleplaying and between-session activities, and the skills do not control your turn-by-turn decisions. Anyone can try influencing people, and a referee may rule that a low CHR score is a bonus when trying to scare off others.

Rulings matter.

Not rules.

ADAD has the most stuff: new classes, more monsters, more magic items, and lots of expansion content pulled from magazine articles and forum posts. This keeps with the original Gygaxian intent and expansion wish list but sticks with the first-edition style. We get modernized classes, such as the bard and barbarian. It is hard to argue with more stuff since there is not much hardcover expansion content for first-edition games (outside of monsters).

The only argument against ADAD is wanting a simple game. Starting with OSRIC may be easier if you are new to the first edition. You will have a lot of 5E to unlearn, such as feeling the need to roll for everything. If there is no time pressure or real difficulty, just let the thief climb the wall or pick the lock without a roll! You don't need to make charisma checks for every interaction! Sometimes, hiding in shadows will work 100%, especially if your plan and hiding spot are excellent.

5E gives referees this horribly toxic habit of "using the dice to punish the players" and it sucks. Climbing a wall with a rope and grappling hook in exploration? Sorry, failed the roll! You fall and die! Ha-ha!

What are you doing?

5E also has the toxic concept of "passive skills," which protect players on their phones who ignore what is happening in the game. In the first edition, there is no passive skill for anything. You pay attention, tell the referee where you search, and you can find the scroll hidden under the cabinet without a roll.

90% of the die rolls in a first-edition game should be combat. The rest of the game is mostly "talk it out" and "make plans." You are not rolling dice every minute in a first-edition game session unless you are in combat.

In fact, your character can die without a single die roll in a first-edition game! You see a pit. My character jumps in! Your character dies.

In 5E, that will require 10 minutes of rules reference and probably six to twelve die rolls. Someone will levitate down with a healer's kit and revive you. Other players around the table will say, "Well, what about this rule or that action?" Someone will devise an ingenious plan way after the fact and try to force you into allowing them to attempt it, 30 minutes after everyone heard the thud.

What are you doing?

But you are not being fair by disallowing us to use the rules to retcon what the referee said happened! This game is about you and your choices, not the rules. Power does not come to you in this game by knowing the rules and how to abuse them. Your success or failure will not be decided by that book.

The dice are not toys that are constantly rolled for every action and interaction. You will never see a "game show roulette wheel" pop up with a musical d20 every time your character interacts with people or the environment. This is not a pen-and-paper mobile phone game.

I like what ADAD brings to the table. This game is also nearly identical to OSRIC if you just play with the OSRIC-familiar things. The extra stuff is ultimately optional, but it helps fill out the game to appeal to some of the later additions, such as the bard class. This game also has some of the Creative Commons' familiar 5E material converted to 1E.

The game is also written by a Greyhawk expert, so it feels right at home in classic settings. And since this is first-edition, nobody will become an unkillable GMNPC or immortal player character. People needing to fear the world, monsters, traps, and dungeons is perfect. Even the highest level wizard is not invincible, so high-level player characters must still play smart.

Don't cheat the rules; you will have a world where everyone is at risk and needs to be careful. Even the highest-level Elminster could be killed anytime, blow his resurrection roll, and the world would change. Action does not come without risk. Change will happen. This means a spot for the next hero will open, and that position as the "high magister" will be open for you.

Do not cheat or fudge rolls! This is how we get unkillable, no-fun, super characters! And I loathe the term "fantasy superheroes" as an excuse for poorly designed rules where no risk or danger exists. You don't need a game or rules at that point; just toss dice on a table and say what you want to happen.

Every version of D&D from the 2nd Edition has GMNPCs, and everyone was encouraged to "cheat the system for player fun!" What ended up happening was that players were the ones who were cheated out of the original game's fun. In 5th Edition, you get to play an invincible GMNPC.

You don't want to be an invincible supercharacter. Trust me, it is boring.

I leave those games and return to what I know and love.

ADAD would make a fantastic system to run a Forgotten Realms campaign with a sense of realism and deadly consequences. If you look at the cover of the original boxed set, you will see that the first edition was the setting that it was designed for. This is how we played our original Forgotten Realms setting. Greyhawk was the super-character playground, with a level 100 setting, while the Realms were supposed to be low-magic, realistic, and gritty dark fantasy.

What is the case for ADAD?

You have it all in two books, everything you need for a classic Greyhawk or Realms campaign, before they were spoiled by power gaming, fantasy superheroes, or modern "character build" gaming. You get a good selection of classes, some new, and others people expect. You get the CC-licensed content converted back into first-edition. You get a streamlined combat system that emphasizes weapon speed and initiative. Unlike every modern version of D&D, the game doesn't self-destruct after ten levels.

You can play a first-edition game in a first-edition world.

You can really go back to those days.

The chance to go back in time is a more memorable gift than most books you can buy in gaming.