I have not found any other channel that goes so in-depth with old school TTRPGs! The way you present things is so understandable and informative, please keep up the amazing work!

I am trying to get back into D&D after playing 35 years ago. Your reviews have been very helpful in finding some OSR games to look at and the attention to detail you present is not found in most other reviews. Thank you for your great work.

@captcorajus

4 жыл бұрын

Thank you! Gland you find them helpful! I love hearing those stories and kind words!

I've gotten into a Labyrinth Lord game last month, and I found the ruleset to be very elegant and convenient. Good review.

Your reviews are always the highlight of my feed!

Definitely still my favorite retro clone implementation overall. I say that with the caveat that if all you want is a freshened up presentation of B/X, OSE is just that little bit slicker. In my case, though, I was always fond of incorporating classes, monsters, spells, and other assorted material from AD&D into my D&D games. That's where ALL holds the edge. I feel that it represents the AD&D side of the equation much more faithfully than OSE's Advanced Fantasy supplement does. Just my own two cents, of course.

It makes me happy every time you release another video.

@MrRourk

5 жыл бұрын

Oh yes he better not think of stopping :)

So far among all other rpg reviewers I've watched, you are the most well-researched. Great work!

It's nice to start the year with a video from one of my favorite KZreadrs. Keep 'em coming, Capt!

Nice! Thanks for this thoughtful and informative review, Captain!

Happy New Year Cap.Lookin forward to more of your stuffs this year.

Good Review. I have been thinking about getting this and now I will at least get the PDF. Oh and Happy New Year!

Great stuff! Many thanks for this! Happy new year!

Thanks for the review, Cap. Even my 5E group wants to go back to a 1E. So, we're giving LL a shot.

I got the red Steve Zieser cover, and I can say, it's totally cool :)

Happy New Year to you as well Cap

Happy New Year Capt

I wish OSRIC had been expanded upon, but I hear it was only created to serve as a template for other OSR clone writers to follow and avoid lawsuits

Another fine video from captcorajus! Just the way I wanted to ring in the New Year! Best of luck and may you have a blessed New Year!

Thanks for that. This is a system I'd not encountered until now, looks very interesting indeed.

That happened to me and my friends, We thought that we go from the basic box to the advanced, we didn't have an idea that is two separate games, we believed that the order was basic, advanced, then expert.

@captcorajus

4 жыл бұрын

yes, it wasn't until i got all three books and red them in depth that i realized it was a separate game.

My new year's resolution is to DELVE into more DUNGEONS.

@captcorajus

5 жыл бұрын

Be careful not to delve too deep, for who knows what vile and horrific things you might find crawling around in the deep places of the earth! :D

@tatuira93

5 жыл бұрын

@@captcorajus Nah... just an aboleth... aboleths are harmless, I know it because the voices in my head told me.

Happy new year

Perfect start to the new year!!

Picked this up for many of the same reasons you mention. Our group tired of Castles & Crusades after a couple years and wanted a more old school experience. But not quite straight basic D&D. So this hits the sweet spot. And since I backed on kickstarter, I got the hard copy and the pdf, which I can share with players who don't want to buy the hard copy. We created a full party and will start Operation Unfathomable in the next week or so, I hope.

@captcorajus

5 жыл бұрын

Yeah, it does hit a sweet spot, I agree. Simple enough to keep the B/X style, but with the advanced options complex enough to interest players a bit more. Have fun!!

Another wonderful review. I almost backed this edition but finances were too tight at the time. I do love Labyrinth Lord.

@captcorajus

5 жыл бұрын

Yeah, there's a lot to love there. I'm going to run some 'Igpay' adventures with it. :)

Now look what you’ve done. Don’t worry about me being broke, gimme another review of a game I now just won’t be able to do without. Thanks a lot, Cap!

Happy New Year Cap!

Looks very promising, as many of us leave WOTC behind it's as great a time as any to open ones eyes and ears to these systems

I'm 38 and we played a mix of basic/ad&d when I was a 9 year old, so many good times were had slaying monsters and becoming Lord's with followers, drinking as much fizzy as humanly possible. So thank you for making these amazing videos and have a great New year! P.S. Will you cover Spelljammer, Boothill or Carwars? I played those too and enjoyed them a lot.

@gregbanks5624

5 жыл бұрын

Star Frontiers, OGRE, Villains & Vigilantes (and now Mighty Protectors!), Traveler, Gamma World, Deities & Demigods (w/ C'thulu mythos and Melnibonean gods plz), Dawn Patrol, 007....when you have time, of course!😎

Great review Cap!

@captcorajus

5 жыл бұрын

Thank you!

nice need to get me a copy

I'm going to have to use Kokuyo tack memo index sticky notes or Stalogy thin page markers to compensate for the index then, blah. At least it'll be more usable then.

I had the paperback editions and they fell apart, can't see investing in this again since the Rules Cyclopedia & 1-2E AD&D from WoTC are both up for PODS now. I got the DnD Rules Cyclopedia it is sweet.

I never had that particular basic version of D&D, so I ended up getting myself a copy of ALL. Advanced Labyrinth Lord is a quality fantasy roleplaying game that should not be ignored, and I recommend it as well. I like to have my RPG books in print, and this one is worth adding to the shelf. When I read through it, I'll have to take some index notes, but should be no problem.

@captcorajus

5 жыл бұрын

Well, you know its not a complete disaster if you have the PDF as its searchable. I definitely prefer print myself, but searchable PDFs are darn handy.

More modules plz!

Table of contents fixed yet? or do they plan to? I love classic advanced as a game but prefer newer versions that are cleaned up and organized however,love your videos!

@captcorajus

5 жыл бұрын

Yes, I just redownloaded the pdf and its fixed, though there's still no index.

Have you done a review of Night Below?

@captcorajus

2 жыл бұрын

Not yet, but I will!

Year's off to a good start!

Question, is this old THAC0? or is the AC more D&D3+?

@captcorajus

5 жыл бұрын

Labryinth Lord uses the old school method of Armor Class... Descending, i.e. lower = better. While certainly not in keeping with more modern interpretations such as Basic Fantasy or Castles and Crusades, the advantage here is the direct compatibility with both basic and advanced D&D supplements and modules.

@RichardKurbis

5 жыл бұрын

@@captcorajus Ah ok, thought they might have C&C'ed the combat in this new version. I've played a lot of 2nd Ed along with the original in 77... I've stuck it out with C&C as my goto, but I've heard a lot of good things about 5th so I'm waiting for my 5th ed Giftbox foil set to come in. Thanks for the video share.

@captcorajus

5 жыл бұрын

@@RichardKurbis Its a very faithful reproduction of Moldvay/ cook D&D, with combat working pretty much how it was done then. I don't think this is 'bad'. I'm a minimalist. 5E is good, but to keep it 'old school' there's a bit of nerfing to be done. Otherwise, you're playing the table top version of WOW. Some people like that style of play. However, the system is robust enough that you can totally scale it back, and the DMG even has rules to do just that. I did a 5E review which you might find helpful.

@Seoulwanderer

5 жыл бұрын

@@RichardKurbis I was hesitant about 5E after the debacle that was 4E. I just tried it out this last year and my first thoughts were, "Huh. Not bad." But I struggled a little with the Monster Manual at first... (Goblins have a default 14 DEX? Wha...?) but as I tried the game out more, I realized it's actually a lot more balanced than I first realized. Also, 5E feels more old school than any other edition since 1st/2nd... I can't even really explain it, but maybe it was just the crunchiness of 3rd (all those feats!) and the WoW-esque feel of 4th that put me off. I do like 5E, with minimal tweaking.

Let me know if you'd be interested in reviewing Cha'alt.

@captcorajus

4 жыл бұрын

Absolutely! Looks awesome! I'd love to look it over. My email is captcorajus@gmail.com.

@VengerSatanis

4 жыл бұрын

Great, will send you an email. Thanks!

Can you still find a copy of the basic rules set

@captcorajus

3 жыл бұрын

yep, sure can. Drivethrurpg www.drivethrurpg.com/product/64332/Labyrinth-Lord-Revised-Edition?src=hottest_filtered&affiliate_id=118139

@7:00 The 'a' is silent in "Pea" -- like the green little vegetable -- but everyone makes that mistake. --The artist himself

Would you recommend this or Old School Essentials more?

@captcorajus

3 жыл бұрын

That's a good question. I'm currently working on an evaluation method that might just answer that question for you. Stay tuned.

@EtherealDoomed

3 жыл бұрын

@@captcorajus Already happily subscribed. :) Looking forward to the video as I am an OSR newbie just starting to find my way.

Is Labyrinth Lord a stand alone game or is it be used with D&D. Have never heard of it before. Can I use it with currently played AD&D games 2e

@captcorajus

3 жыл бұрын

Its a stand alone game.

@jctxcboy36

3 жыл бұрын

@@captcorajus Would it be comparable to Castle and Crusades as a stand alone game..Are there modules for it or is it more of a home brew type setting.

@captcorajus

3 жыл бұрын

@@jctxcboy36 There tons of modules writte for it.

@jctxcboy36

3 жыл бұрын

@@captcorajus Oh really, had no idea....would they be listed as Labyrinth Lord in a way to locate them. I am amazed that I had no idea as I have been playing AD&D since the 80's, etc...Do you have any videos on a review of these modules by chance?

BX Advanced is a good choice as well. Works great in Wormskin Magazines Dolmenwood Campaign

@dansantospirito5310

3 жыл бұрын

Old School Essentials is about to release the Advanced tome. Really looking forward to it. I have OSE as well as the Advanced supplements and it's about as good as it gets! Which is to say : awesome

Do you have any liveplay sessions planned?

@captcorajus

5 жыл бұрын

That's definitely a project I'd love to tackle. I need players, and then I need to understand how to set up a live stream, so, we'll see.

@markhumphries6020

5 жыл бұрын

That would be great!

@waltwhitmanleaves

3 жыл бұрын

captcorajus join my game

Merry New Year! I've seen some OSR games and frankly, if I wanted to be that retro, I'd just house-rule the Hells out of AD&D. Nevertheless, Advanced Labyrinth Lord does look great. But I'll wait until they put in an index. Thanks!

@captcorajus

5 жыл бұрын

Well, you can always search the PDF in a pinch, but yeah, the lack of an index just stunned me. Its a nit for me. When considering buying a game, that's the first thing I look for. Do not make a 300 page game, and NOT include an index! This is especially annoying since LL and Advanced had one. It might be an error of omission. Hopefully, they fix it in a pdf update. Yeah, you can 'house rule the hell' out of AD&D, but and I know we all did 'back in the day', but now, with OSR games, you don't have to! :)

@southron_d1349

5 жыл бұрын

@@captcorajus Oh, I have fun doing so. I don't like pdfs. I can't read masses of text on a screen - it's tiring and annoying. So I keep them to a minimum.

@ronaldsanfran

4 жыл бұрын

@@captcorajus Likewise I was very unhappy to find no index in Razor Coast and Rappan Athuk, two big sandboxy campaigns. So basic and essential!

One little thing I've noticed is that Labyrinth Lord is a bit tougher on PCs than the original Moldvay in one aspect: the platemail is too expensive for 1st-level characters, which generally precludes PCs from getting the typical "meta" of plate+shield AC of 2 from Moldvay. Also, no mention of the "moving ability points around" rules from Moldvay, either (although, arguably, this prevents the munchkinism of making a frontline of heavily-armored Dex 18 halflings. AC -1 all the way XDDDD). On the other hand, movement speed being, by default, only based on total encumberance, and not armor, makes staying at at least 90/30 speed much more plausible. Magic Users getting 2 spells at the beginning is also nice - although, because in LL they aren't teached any additional spells upon levelling, one of those spells *must be* Read Magic, or the M-U in question will be locked at those 2 starting spells forever XD (unless I've missed something). Clerics getting spells right off the bat is debatable - I see why people say the Cleric was good enough without magic at 1st level, but them having at least that single heal at the beginning still kinda smoothens out their reduced utility when there are no Undead about. Also, one weird thing about B/X is that the combat procedure is generally presented clearly - yet, the combat example shows things like blatantly shooting at charging enemies completely out of turn order, while LL - or most similar retroclones - still don't make even a clearly understandable mention about any possibilities of interrupting enemy's turn or things like that. I generally rule that a side winning initiative, characters which didn't do something precluding attacking in melee (like using the full running speed, or making a ranged attack, or being busy otherwise), but couldn't get to the enemies themselves, can still strike first at approaching enemies who've lost initiative against them and then moved to the party themselves, unless the approaching enemies, for example, joined a combat in progress and managed to benefit from the suprise. LL and B/X being modular as they are though...

@captcorajus

4 жыл бұрын

I have my own initiative proceedure that actually allows EXACTLY what you mentioned there, and it works like this: Roll initiative as per normal.. but rather than having each side go, and then the other, each side alternates PHASES. Movement is further broken down into short little phases as well, based on the size of the largest group. The winner of initiative decides who moves first (As it can be advantageous to see what your opponent will do) For example if both sides of 6 figures.. one side moves three, then the other side moves three, then the first side moves again, and then finally the second side finishes. Then the winner of initiative fires missiles, apply damage, and effects (i.e. deaths) Then the loser fires missiles. Then the Winner casts their declared spells, and then the losing side casts any declared spells. Finally, if in range the winner initiates melee attacks, and then the loser initiates melee attacks. Obviously, this tends to work best when miniatures are involved, but you get the idea. In this way, you can match the descriptions in the rules where an elf's bow can interrupt a shaman's spell, and so forth. I also doesn't make losing initiative such a devastating thing, which causes people to want to move to an individual initiative system. As far as the platemail thing goes, new characters certainly aren't going to have the 'best' armor to start. They're going to have to go on some adventures before they can get the 'good stuff'. :) Thanks for the great comment!

@adzi6164

4 жыл бұрын

@@captcorajus yeah, I know about this houserule about the combat procedure - although it itself still doesn't adress the question of a character losing initiative, but firing at the approaching enemies (again, like in the combat example in Moldvay's Basic book). It definitely allows to implement the often ignored rule of certain weapons losing initiative in B/X with much less weirdness. I hope that you allow spellcasting and using ranged weapons for people standing directly behind the frontline... while the phase system is realistic, it also makes the life for spellcasters a lot worse when enemies have any sort of ranged capability (maybe, going by-the-book, Orcs aren't bow people, but a spare hand axe can go a long way) That reminds me of the procedure from Swords & Wizardry Complete: Phase 0: declare actions, *especially spellcasting* Phase 1: Movement and missile weapons (it's one or the other for any character) Phase 2: Melee and magic (assuming that casters in question weren't hit earlier, either in Phase 1, or in this phase after losing initiative) Phase 3: final ranged shots (for weapons with firing rate greater than 1) Have your heard about a "Seven Voyages of Zylarthen" neo-clone of OD&D?

It's Labyrinth Lord... and it was Advanced....

Are you the XP to Level 3 guy?

I started off with Basic Fantasy rpg (after a long hiatus from rpg'ing) then went to LL, and came right back to original B/X D&D...im scratching my head as to why i didnt just go D&D right away?...All of these retro clones to try and recapture the classic...why not just go right back to the source?

@captcorajus

5 жыл бұрын

There are several reasons to use a retro clone. 1) preserve you actual D&D books. 2) Everything in one place 3) Its inexpensive/ free to use. 4) you find the approach/ tweaks of of the retro clone to your liking. Granted, the addition of the Rules Cyclopedia to POD nullifies a few of the points above. In the case of D&D basic, which i always preferred over AD&D personally, I could never really get people to play it. "The races are classes" and that would be that. LL's approach is great as it provides a way around that objection, but also KEEPS it as well offering the best of both worlds.

@Aaron-mj9ie

5 жыл бұрын

Some people prefer retroclones not because they emulate the old games, but because they expand upon them. In some cases it's just more convenient, too. I can actually afford to give my entire group copies of BFRPG!

@captcorajus

5 жыл бұрын

@@Aaron-mj9ie Right? I like that aspect too, the expansion of some games. The little tweeks are a lot of fun, and yes, WAY more practical than trying to get 3 copies of B/X.

@user-ci1wg5gh2t

5 жыл бұрын

@@captcorajus Yes indeed, the Rules Cyclopedia and that most of the classic D&D stuff is either pod or pdf made it a lot easier for me to make the switch right back to my D&D roots. You make some excellent points though. Thanks for all the work you do cap! I very much appreciate your vids, both the content and the production. Keep up the great work!

@gmee123

Жыл бұрын

OP I really resonate with the thought of going back to the source. It's kind of like when I played Pathfinder 1E for the first time....yes, the rules were basically dnd 3.75, but the feel of the book just wasn't the same. I;ve been rebuying all the POD dnd books I can get my hands on in hardcover and loving it!

So, negative armour class? It is the only thing of OSR that really annoys me, for many other purposes I find it far superior, as an experience, to many "contemporary" systems.

@captcorajus

4 жыл бұрын

See my review of Old School Essentials. Very cool system, written in a 'bullet point' style and has an option for inverted AC.

@SebastienlovesCookieswirlc

4 жыл бұрын

@@captcorajus Sounds like my cup of tea, will check the review, thanks.

No index? What is this, WotC?

I played AD&D starting in 1981 and I loved it. That said, in 1985 our group was fed up with some things that go on in AD&D and we made our own system which we called "Blackblade." One of the main problems we had with AD&D was that dreadful combat pre-THACO combat system where every attack required the DM to look up the result on a table. It appears that the Labyrinth Lord screen had those kinds of tables on it. Please tell me they don't. I get the OSR kick fully, but why would you revive rules that suck? :/ PS - Happy New Year! :D

Chick with a turquoise hair on the cover. NO! The only good thing about that cover is that dragon is totally stoned. The way he looks at her talking to the wizard: "Jeez. I must be to stoned. I see chick with weird hair broooo!"

Great vid but i disagree 4:41. I think Lamentations of the Flame Princess is better, even if it is more controversial and NSFW the rules are just beautiful.

@captcorajus

4 жыл бұрын

I know there are a lot of fans of LOTHFP, and I like the skill rules, but it can not be the 'rosetta stone' of OSR for several reasons IMHO. Which I would get to when i get around to doing my review of the system... but my primary gripe is that all that 'flavor' in the art is not reflected in the rules. There's no DM section. No monster section. Its really just a player's book, and not a complete game.

@misomiso8228

4 жыл бұрын

@@captcorajus I think it is a complete game! It doesn't have GM instruction sid though you're right on that. I guess Rosetta stone is a bit of a difficult term. I get what you mean, it's just for me LofFP is the best expression of the rules of a b/x style DnD that we've ever had. I just love what he did with them.

@captcorajus

4 жыл бұрын

@@misomiso8228 Sure, there are a LOT a great things there no doubt. I think its a wonderful addition to the OSR community at large, and as I said, I know a lot a people like it, and its gotten great reviews online. I'm a bit dubious of the fighter being the only one to improve in fighting. I... don't like it. lol I also found the entry into the game a bit daunting. I paid for the full pdf, but i could not figure out why the game was called Lamendations of the Flame Princes. i.e. who is this damn Flame Princess and why is she Lamendating?? lol (Finally finding the web page where its explained as the title of his death metal band). The title and the art suggested to me that there was a gothic/ cthulhuesk style campaign setting to go with the rules and of course that wasn't there, and the rule book never explained any of it, which I found rather annoying. So for me, its a mixed bag of things i like and other things that i'm just not in love with. IMHO, the game could use a complete update, with all the rules, the monsters, the setting specific magic items and a background to justify all that weird artwork.

I backed this and no index is just the beginning of this hot mess. It's 2021 put the spells in alphabetical order for starts .

@BrianScottGameNight

Жыл бұрын

Boy what a year does. OSE all the way. This just sits on my shelf. At the most, IF characters get beyond 14th level I might use this though there are several others that fill in the spaces.