A quick note, where coins are indicated in the lair treasure of the treasure table, the table refers to that number in thousands of coins, not individual coins.

@becmiberserker

6 ай бұрын

Yup. You’re right. I’ll pin this post. One day I’ll get things 100% right. 🙂

@JohnPalb

6 ай бұрын

@@becmiberserker No worries! Perfection is an aspiration rarely, if ever, achieved. Especially so in D&D. I just heard that a Beserker Lair had a 35% chance of having 1d3 gold coins, and, from my experience, I have found that BECMI Beserkers in particular ought to be valued far greater than that. Enjoying your content, thanks for putting it out there.

While I like a lot of modern D&D design, I always found the compactness of old school stat blocks pleasingly efficient.

@blockmasterscott

6 ай бұрын

Same here.

@ObatongoSensei

6 ай бұрын

The compactness of old school stat blocks was mostly allowed by the simplicity of the characters and creatures themselves. There were not complex class structures and lists of more or less special features and abilities. The worst complication back then was the spell list of an enemy magic user or cleric, even if it was just the remaining prepared ones.

Morale checks are absolutely essential - Bandits Keep has a great video on it. If intelligent monsters always preserve their lives, it makes a great contrast with monsters who do fight to the death - including Berserkers of course. Ty BB as always

Great video to listen too as my rules cyclopedia was delivered yesterday and I'm pouring over the pages

@CptDrake

6 ай бұрын

Mine fell apart back in the 90s and lost when I went to the Army.

@TheBasicBrit1989

6 ай бұрын

@@CptDrake got the PoD as the originals were way out of my price range

Lol I initially thought quickly seeing the title this was a review of the different people who make up the osr. Thanks for keeping it unreal or focused on the fantasy world that is BECMI.

@becmiberserker

6 ай бұрын

Never thought of it that way. Hmmm….🤔

With regards to the berserker's stats, there are some synergies that may not be obvious at first glance: Their movement speed is equal to that of an unencumbered adventurer. And they never fail morale rolls. That means they will always pursue you if you flee, at a speed at least equal to the average adventurer. And they will never flee themselves. This makes them risky opponents, especially with their deceptively good attack rolls. But they are also predictable - easy to lure into ambushes, or fool with tricks and illusions. (I'm risking writing this before having finished the video - we'll see how obvious I've been.)

@Giles29

6 ай бұрын

Well, they are meant to be tough, though low level opponents. Although the DM can always make them with enhanced stats when you get higher level. The BECMI Berserker is of course in a class by himself...

5:00 I always assumed the M stood for 'medium' : )

Great video. I've always found the older monster statistics to be way better presented. The information you need is very legible and close at hand. The newer editions, specifically 5e, always deliver each statblock on the same focus as a piece of art. Its meant to stand out and look pretty, but I feel this often comes at the cost of beign either way too large or difficult to read at speed during play. I also find that older editions do more to support the idea of D&D being an adventure game (treasure type, number appearing, lair quantities, ect) over purely combat assets. Being easily over 1/3 of the core rules books, how you deliver the creatures that act as obstacles is going to enforce the style of play. Fantasy Adventure/Horror vs High Fantasy Combat can easily be seen in the presentation of information regarding them.

@becmiberserker

6 ай бұрын

Good point on the focus of newer stat blocks being presented as art rather than just information. I mean you’re right, they do look lovely, but they can take a lot of page space and have you trying to focus on the information you need. As for the older information you refer to, it does suggest a more world building element rather than just a combat stat.

In curating a campaign for 1-5 level, low magic, less fantasy, I pulled out all monsters needed to my own mini-manual, since its human centric I use more human "monsters" and like KotB more NPC humans, with humans capped at 3d8 hit points (+ from stats allowed) to keep it deadly. I use the same condensed block as you show, I find putting the NAME (character or monster) in all caps and bold, the [stats] in brackets to follow with a few items italic or bold to catch my eye. It makes dropping them in my text easy.

Great explanation. One could really learn to play the game with just the information given in this video. Cheers!

Thanks BB! Another great video. In trying to streamline the game to attract new players, much of the flavour and nuance was lost. Can't wait for the next video.

Thanks for the video.

@becmiberserker

5 ай бұрын

You are welcome!

Looking good with the new profile picture BECMI Berserker!

@becmiberserker

6 ай бұрын

Thanks, mate. I had to leave the Creative Commons image behind at some point. It will be fondly remembered! 🙂

@ITSaTRAP0001

6 ай бұрын

@@becmiberserker Ofcourse my friend, it had its place in your journey :)

Great video, I've played BECMI for years and just automatically take in the data represented by a stat block, it's only seeing it laid out here that brings home how much information is held in two or three lines of abbreviations.

I remember finally giving up on 3E D&D when the Expeditions To adventures were released and certain NPC's statistics took up an entire A4 page. I'd sit there trying to work out how their powers would combine with their skills and with their feats, how their different class abilities could be used and what spells they could memorise, how their basic ability scores would give them certain bonuses and whether this had already been applied to their attack and damage or not. It was a nightmare to DM, and when you go back to BECMI and see those simple statistic blocks its such a weight off your mind as a DM. You can then start considering more interesting things like how the monsters are deployed, what their motivations are, how they might react to the party. You can't do that with an A4 page worth of information to digest.

@becmiberserker

Ай бұрын

@@neillennon5694 I remember those Expedition books. They had an entire page dedicated to tactical room information that the DM’s attention was drawn towards minutia instead of story.

Nowadays I can just look at a character sheet or a stat block and know if I'll enjoy a game. The bloat in both across the editions, especially monster stat blocks is truly eye opening and reveals underlying design principles.

Great video. I think these are all the stats you need. It's not called Dungeons and Admin. But I do find the old abbreviated Stat Block (new term for me), a bit tight fisted. I've put this down to more expensive printing costs back then. But did they have to be that parsimonious? A lot of the old adventure modules didn't give the XP. So you have to look that up yourself. It's not a game-breaking chore, but for the sake of 4 to 8 extra characters - why so tight?! But in terms of gameplay I do get all I need. If I wear my reading glasses.

@johnstuartkeller5244

6 ай бұрын

Props for use of the word "parsimonious," boss. I haven't heard that word used in ten years!

I vastly prefer the stat presentations from older versions of D&D. Starting with 3rd ed., they got so complex, and long; it was easy to miss abilities, making it more difficult to use monsters to their fullest. The abbreviated stat blocks were also so handy; now you need to have the whole thing, which can run to several pages, which is decidedly unhandy.

@becmiberserker

6 ай бұрын

I remember writing 3.x scenarios and still using the old school stat block method because it was easier for me to read.

I miss the "% in Lair" and think the exploration aspect of the game has been done a grave disservice by its exclusion.

This is the best thing I ever saw.

At last! There was much rejoicing.great stuff.

@becmiberserker

6 ай бұрын

You’re welcome. ☺️

Good stuff, BB!

Regarding treasure types, the number of coins for treasures in lair are to be multiplied by 1000 as indicated above the chart. So 10% (1d8) sp would represent 10% chance of finding 1000 to 8000 silver pieces. This is why finding treasures was the fastest way to gain experience in BECMI as 1 gp would get you 1 experience point.

@becmiberserker

2 ай бұрын

Yup. This oversight was mentioned in the pinned post. 🙂

Great video Berserker, I love the depth of mechanics you are willing to explore. I'd love a breakdown of weapon/armor choices and equipment for new characters of each class. What should I be buying to stay alive? How much encumbrance is too much for a given class? How do various common weapons "level up" with additional weapon mastery? Otherwise, keep up the excellent work.

@becmiberserker

6 ай бұрын

Great ideas!

@matthewmarek1467

6 ай бұрын

@@becmiberserker Also, perhaps the greatest question possible, torches or lantern?

If the berserker has a magic sword in its stash.....why didn't he have it on him and using it to fight you?

@EriktheRed2023

6 ай бұрын

I've never played with a DM that did not have enemies use their own treasure if it made sense to do so. But if you're rolling treasure after a fight (maybe you're improvising), you now have an interesting question to answer.

@Liethen

6 ай бұрын

@@EriktheRed2023I would use that as an opportunity to introduce a cursed weapon.

@becmiberserker

6 ай бұрын

If I’d rolled a magic weapon in its treasure then it definitely would have been using it.

@anarionelendili8961

6 ай бұрын

In the modules, most of the humanoid enemies do use the magic weapons if they have them as well as other magical items, like healing potions.

@ianlamont9434

6 ай бұрын

That surely would hinge on the berserker knowing that the sword had magic properties. Berserkers, as far as I know, have no Detect Magic abilities so could potentially just loot a defeated victim, pile the stuff in their lair and carry on using their own, tried and tested weapon. Why would you want to use the weapon of a defeated foe, it could be unlucky and only worth hanging onto to sell at a later date?

I think modern stat blocks are superior. They are bigger, but they present everything the gm could need to know to use them in any way. They also include special abilities inline so you don't need to consult a separate page to figure out what they do.

I felt that the abbreviated stat blocks made it easier as a DM to improvise, as it was less to read. Current versions of the game require a bit of read-ahead to play the monster intelligently.

@becmiberserker

6 ай бұрын

A really good point!

In my opinion, challenge rating has been used wrongly since it was introduced with 3rd edition. It should have never be used to determine how many experience points you got from an encounter, but only how difficult that would have been. Like in BECMI, most experience should have come from things other than just killing mobs, such has succeeding in quests and reaching objectives. The very concept of "to rise in level you have to kill this many creatures of that CR" just feels wrong to me. It forces you to build encounters based on numbers instead of plot or setting. Back then, killing 1000 goblins would have given you only enough XPs to be around 3rd level, while today would make you an epic hero. This difference made a DM free to put all kinds of encounters in an adventure without having to worry about giving out too many XPs or having to do too much math. It was really easy to put up an encounter on the spot when needed.

@becmiberserker

6 ай бұрын

I agree with all of this.

I like the simple stats a lot. Back in the day, I made a table of the most common enemies' stats, and I could go for whole sessions without needing to look them up in a book. My much numbler* teenage brain barely needed the table after a while. I also like that the simple stats imply that fighting may not be the best response to encountering a monster. If you add the 'Movement' and 'Encounters and Evasion' chapters together, they take up as many pages as the 'Combat' chapter. *: Old man's way of writing 'nimbler' in this case.

@becmiberserker

6 ай бұрын

Oh the irony in your misspelling of “nimbler”! I share your pain, and numb brain… 😌

Obviously, the BECMI Berzerker is a Unique creature with an Intelligence of 13+, and higher AC due to maille. Question: Would a female Berzerker wearing barding be a Valkyrie Ponygirl?

@becmiberserker

6 ай бұрын

I don’t know, but now I want to meet one!

Old School is the best School.

didn't monster type appear first in Dragon magazine? like most rules that were later added.

I love Basic, but I find it very difficult to quickly interpret monster stats at a glance of the abbreviated stat lines. Modern books published for stuff like OSE handle it much better.

Someone who is in a berserk state is going to have less _effective_ intelligence than someone remaining calm in the heat of battle. It's a tactic mostly used to break the morale of opponents, and frequently fails against well trained or well equipped opponents. Slightly below average fits, particularly if standard soldiers and bandits are listed with 10. You can be an above-average berserker who has intelligence which is simply not helpful for berserking and not in use while berserk, but on the whole a berserker can get away with a lower average intelligence than other types of fighting-man.

I always thought the number appearing were for random encounters or in their lair.

Much prefer the simpler star blocks. Modern star blocks have a lot of superfluous information which adds more and more cognitive load on the DM as the monsters became meaner and meaner.

5e stats don't include sufficient descriptions of monsters, especially average size in real units. "Medium" size is anything from dwarf to half ogre. But we only know those relative sizes from previous editions.

As usual, the old way is better.

I wonder what would be an example of a "Lowlife" Monster type?

@becmiberserker

6 ай бұрын

Lowlife refers to non-intelligent creatures (plants, fungi), so lower lifeforms. Perhaps not the best choice of words. It doesn’t refer to punks who hang around in alleyways, although maybe it could… 🤔

@Giles29

6 ай бұрын

A specific monster for Lowlife would be like a carrion crawler or giant rat

@becmiberserker

6 ай бұрын

@@Giles29 Carrion Crawler, yes. Both normal and giant rats have the type Animal.

I'd love a text version of this, or a blog post. Did you say these details were found in the Rulescyclopedia?

@becmiberserker

6 ай бұрын

Yup. Most detailed in the Monsters chapter, with reference to other rules throughout.

What are some key differences between B/X DnD and BECMI, other then the extensive high level content provided by C-I?

@becmiberserker

6 ай бұрын

Too minor to really mention. The biggest is the scaling of Thief abilities. That’s pretty much it in terms of anything of consequence.

@matthewmarek1467

6 ай бұрын

Really, the presentation style of Moldvay vs Mentzer. They have different ways of writing a Basic ruleset, some will argue for one over the other, but I quite enjoy them both.

Stat Block Name: AC ; HD ; Hp ; Att ; THAC0 ; Dmg ; MV ; Save ; ML ; AL ; SA ; SD ; XP

Dying because no halfling vid

@becmiberserker

6 ай бұрын

🤣 Not long now…

Im not a maths person but honestly decending armour and thac0 are not hard and ive been running it for years since moving away from 3.5

What do you think of 3rd and 3.5 editions?

@becmiberserker

5 ай бұрын

I’ve often admitted to having a soft spot for 3.x.

@doublebassman123

4 ай бұрын

I think it's the last true d&d experience. New modern rpg mechanics with still a little of the brutality of classic d&d editions.

That's because your one of the good guys of hobby and devoid of petty issues.

I don't suppose you would consider posting a video of you playing a solo game would you? You have a really good speaking voice that makes listening to easy. The only thing I think you would need to change would be your speaking speed, I think for a game you are a wee bit too fast. The reason I suggest running a solo game is to cut the chatter that happens in the normal gathering of friends at a table. While I love games I am NOT a fan of listening to other groups play because of all the chatter/discussions/rules refering/____ that happens, if it is just you most of that time is either not there or much more quickly delt with. Things are tighter. I personally would love you to play a game in the vain of Tails of The Manticore or Solo Dungeon(??? Toms channel). Thank you for posting.

@andrewhaldenby4949

6 ай бұрын

Great idea

@becmiberserker

6 ай бұрын

I sped up my speech a little from earlier videos, but a lot of my “speed” is actually done in edit, when I compress things a little bit to bring the video length down. I’ll consider a solo play but can’t promise anything. Maybe if I could put Ghost of Lion Mountain on my VTT…

On XP, I still prefer XP for gold rather than rating the monsters. I do like the asterisk for special abilities, but some are so wildly better than others it is hard to trust them. For example, and insta kill poison is far more dangerous than +2 to hit, but both are just one asterisk and both give the same xp bonus. And some creatures like spell casters have low hit dice but high danger which doesn't get represented well. CR has all of its own problems, so in the end, I find that XP for gold just works best for me.

@EriktheRed2023

6 ай бұрын

To be clear, in the Rules Cyclopedia you also get XP for gold, good roleplaying, and 'achieving goals'. As for monster XP not being representative, I don't really care. You could make a system that comes close to being CR clearly equating to XP value and danger in fighting the monster. But that's something of a strait-jacket. PF2e has this problem. I like that some monsters are easier to fight than their XP warrants, and clever players would leap at the opportunity to fight these. Conversely, some monsters are far deadlier than their XP value is worth, so you should learn to avoid them.

@gavinruneblade

6 ай бұрын

All solid points.@@EriktheRed2023

Take the 9 as low DM cunning BB, most of those Magic user types are too darn clever to sit the right way round on a Privy Seat...... consider it not.... you have your 1+1* HD and +2 to hit to shut them up!

@becmiberserker

6 ай бұрын

Damn straight!! 🤣