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"TO THE WORM that first gnawed at the cold flesh of my cadaver"

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(Despite the awesomely metal-sounding title, this post is about the literature of real-world Brazil) Back in 2020, The Posthumous Memoirs of Brás Cubas , one of the major works of Brazilian literature, was released in the United States under the Penguin Classics label, in a dazzling new translation by Flora Thomson-DeVeaux. In that year,  The Posthumous Memoirs  became one of the bestselling works of Latin American fiction in the U.S.—a remarkable feat for a 19th-century novel. As it became a bestseller (the first print run sold out in a day), the editorial triumph of Machado de Assis—and of his translator—quickly reverberated in Brazil, sparking media coverage, opinion columns, and, to some Brazilians, a wave of national pride.  In 2024, tiktoker Courtney Henning Novak gave Thomson-DeVeaux's translation a raving review , re-igniting interest in the book that starts with this amazing dedication: “TO THE WORM that first gnawed at the cold flesh of my cadaver I de...
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Alignments, part 3: unfolded alignments

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The history of how the origin of alignments can be traced to fantasy armies suggested for a wargame can be found in  Part 1   of this series on  OD&D alignments . In  Part 2  we looked at the problems of the alignment system as written in the 1974 version of the game. A possible solution: "unfolded alignments" In this third part of the series, we will look at how to tweak the OD&D alignment system in order to solve most of it's issues while preserving two important things it brings to the game: spells and other magical effects that presume the existance of the cosmic or metaphysical forces of Law, Neutrality and Chaos; and the faction play centered on the interactions between the factions that are inspired by the aforementioned forces, but not synonymous with them. At the same time, I would like the morality and behaviours of characters and monsters to be independent from the two elements above, even if sometimes informed by them. Having this in mind, O...
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Alignments, part 2: the problem

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The history of how the origin of alignments can be traced to fantasy armies suggested for a wargame can be found in  Part 1   of this series on  OD&D alignments .  In this second part, we will look at the issues the created by alignment system as written in the 1974 version of the game. Factions and morals: the alignments of OD&D When  Dungeons & Dragons  was first published in 1974, the factions suggested by  Chainmail 's Fantasy Supplement carried over but took on additional meaning, blending military allegiance with moral and metaphysical elements.  OD&D  changed the framework of  Chainmail's  fantasy alignments   in two ways: Firstly, it expanded both the number and the scope of the fantastic factions, turning Neutrality into a fully-fledged faction and giving each of the three groupings its own  divisional language : Law, Chaos and Neutrality also have common languages spoken by each respectively ( M...
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Alignments, part 1: the origins

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You're probably familiar with the  nine-box-style alignment system  found in modern versions of  Dungeons & Dragons . Widely (and rightly) criticized for various reasons, that system is a perennial source of in-game awkwardness and has become its own  meme format .  This post is not about the nine-box system.  The goal of this series of posts (parts 2 , 3 and 4  here) is to explain how alignments worked in the 1974 version of the game (known as original D&D, or OD&D for short) and to present a workable solution around its limitations.  OD&D's alignment system was quite different from its modern counterpart, and had its own problems and incongruencies. The original system is worth looking at not so much because of how it ended up in the published game, but because of the things it was trying to do, especially in regards to faction play and to non-combat interactions between player characters and monsters.  Before OD&D...
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OD&D Retro-clones

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OD&D (see Acronyms ) has inspired the creation of many retro-clones over the years. These modern recreations of the 1974 classic preserve the loose, open-ended mechanics and tone of the original to varying degrees, often with tweaks for clarity, balance, or ease of use.  Below are the main OD&D retro-clones that I have played (or at least gave a good read). They are all really good! However, since there are so many, I decided to highlight two as  highly recommended  companions to the original game: B., Marcia. 2023a.  Fantastic Medieval Campaigns (FMC) . Traverse Fantasy ( A faithful restatement of the original game.  Free to download ) B., Marcia. 2023b.  Fantastic Medieval Campaigns Basic ( FMC Basic ) . Traverse Fantasy ( An excellent little game that manages to be both comprehensive and  very  concise. Meant to serve as a companion to the title above, it can just as well be played on its own.  Free to download  and  hig...
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Sources

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Here is a list of the main sources that will be used on this blog. They are organized into three broad categories: primary sources , secondary sources , and additional material . PRIMARY SOURCES In the jargon of academic research, primary sources  are original, firsthand accounts of an event, topic, or time period: they come directly from the source and have not been filtered through interpretation or evaluation.  Since this blog is about playing OD&D (see Start Here), I chose my  primary sources  to be the original game itself as well as the two other games that it heavily references and builds upon. Together, these three sources are: Dunnigan, Jim. 1972.  Outdoor Survival . Avalon Hill ( A survival board game that lays the foundation of  OD&D 's  wilderness adventures. Specifically, OD&D recommends the use of Outdoor Survival 's hex map for conducting "off-hand" wilderness adventures ); Gygax, Gary, and Dave Arneson. 1974.  Dun...
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House Rules Index

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This is an index of the house rules that have appeared on this blog. HOUSE RULES FOR OD&D  (alphabetical) A Alignments (both as Cosmic Forces and as Factions) C Character Names D Dice Notation
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