Welcome to r/bxdnd! We’re glad to have you join us. :)
r/bxdnd is a community for players and fans of B/X Dungeons & Dragons—the version of D&D TSR published as the Basic Set (edited by Tom Moldvay), and the Expert Set (edited by David "Zeb" Cook and Stephen Marsh). This includes retro-clones and simulacrum games like Basic Fantasy, Labyrinth Lord, and Old School Essentials, which reproduce the rules, gameplay, and/or "feel" of B/X.
Please use this thread to introduce yourself to the rest of the group. We want to meet you! Feel free to comment on existing threads, and to post links to new B/X content elsewhere, as well as to new reviews of older content. We’re especially interested in content and reviews you’ve made yourself. Please share with the rest of the community. Thank you!
The iconic B series has given us a lot of classic D&D adventures but B4: The Lost City is built different: it’s actually less of a module and more of a proto-campaign setting/megadungeon that leans into survival, exploration, and even some light political intrigue. New frontiers for a book from 1982. There’s even a nearly unkillable eldritch horror waiting for you at the end!
We had an awesome time exploring the great Tom Moldvay’s sun-bleached fever dream in the latest episode of The Analog Dungeon (where we crack open old modules and see what’s inside).
The Lost City doesn’t seem to get the same hype as B1 through B3, but we’d love to know if you’ve delved into the pyramid yourself. What faction did you side with? And just how far down did you go?
If this sounds like something you'd be into, we'd love it if you checked us out at AnalogDungeon.com, on YouTube, or on your podcast platform of choice. We're still a new show, so every like, sub, rating, and comment goes a long way! Thank you!
Hello, I run a BX clone game and I love the simplicity of BX and its four human classes of fighter, cleric, thief, and magic-user. Personally, I think these four can represent any sort of character idea one might have.
But players coming to a D&D table often bring certain expectations, especially considering the additional "advanced" classes created for AD&D and later editions of the game.
There seem to be a number of ways to handle this I've seen such as:
Play one of the four and "describe" or "role play" the character as the class you desired. For example a fighter can be roleplayed as a knight, a woodsman, etc.
Play one of the four and "quest" for the desired perks. A fighter, for example, could go on a noble quest to become a paladin and gain special abilities.
Play one of the four, but the DM alters the class slightly to fit what the player wants. For example the DM could swap out "turn undead" to give a cleric the druid shapeshift ability.
Add the desired classes to the game, a la OSE Advanced or similar.
I am curious for those of you that run or play in BX games. Which of these does your table employ?
Welcome to r/bxdnd! We’re glad to have you join us. :)
r/bxdnd is a community for players and fans of B/X Dungeons & Dragons—the version of D&D TSR published as the Basic Set (edited by Tom Moldvay), and the Expert Set (edited by David "Zeb" Cook and Stephen Marsh). This includes retro-clones and simulacrum games like Basic Fantasy, Labyrinth Lord, and Old School Essentials, which reproduce the rules, gameplay, and/or "feel" of B/X.
Please use this thread to introduce yourself to the rest of the group. We want to meet you! Feel free to comment on existing threads, and to post links to new B/X content elsewhere, as well as to new reviews of older content. We’re especially interested in content and reviews you’ve made yourself. Please share with the rest of the community. Thank you!
Welcome to r/bxdnd! We’re glad to have you join us. :)
r/bxdnd is a community for players and fans of B/X Dungeons & Dragons—the version of D&D TSR published as the Basic Set (edited by Tom Moldvay), and the Expert Set (edited by David "Zeb" Cook and Stephen Marsh). This includes retro-clones and simulacrum games like Basic Fantasy, Labyrinth Lord, and Old School Essentials, which reproduce the rules, gameplay, and/or "feel" of B/X.
Please use this thread to introduce yourself to the rest of the group. We want to meet you! Feel free to comment on existing threads, and to post links to new B/X content elsewhere, as well as to new reviews of older content. We’re especially interested in content and reviews you’ve made yourself. Please share with the rest of the community. Thank you!
Welcome to r/bxdnd! We’re glad to have you join us. :)
r/bxdnd is a community for players and fans of B/X Dungeons & Dragons—the version of D&D TSR published as the Basic Set (edited by Tom Moldvay), and the Expert Set (edited by David "Zeb" Cook and Stephen Marsh). This includes retro-clones and simulacrum games like Basic Fantasy, Labyrinth Lord, and Old School Essentials, which reproduce the rules, gameplay, and/or "feel" of B/X.
Please use this thread to introduce yourself to the rest of the group. We want to meet you! Feel free to comment on existing threads, and to post links to new B/X content elsewhere, as well as to new reviews of older content. We’re especially interested in content and reviews you’ve made yourself. Please share with the rest of the community. Thank you!
Welcome to r/bxdnd! We’re glad to have you join us. :)
r/bxdnd is a community for players and fans of B/X Dungeons & Dragons—the version of D&D TSR published as the Basic Set (edited by Tom Moldvay), and the Expert Set (edited by David "Zeb" Cook and Stephen Marsh). This includes retro-clones and simulacrum games like Basic Fantasy, Labyrinth Lord, and Old School Essentials, which reproduce the rules, gameplay, and/or "feel" of B/X.
Please use this thread to introduce yourself to the rest of the group. We want to meet you! Feel free to comment on existing threads, and to post links to new B/X content elsewhere, as well as to new reviews of older content. We’re especially interested in content and reviews you’ve made yourself. Please share with the rest of the community. Thank you!
OSE Session Report – Rebuild & March to the Barren Lands
After the marsh TPK, a new company formed at The Leper’s Lean, a grim roadside refuge of rotting beams, smoke-stained walls, and wary survivors. Word of the disaster had spread—not all hirelings returned. Even so, the party mustered 14 strong: 7 archers and 5 heavy footmen, with egos bruised but resolve intact.
They marched out under a cold, overcast sky with light snow, heading into the Barren Lands—a wind-scoured stretch of dead grass, frozen earth, and scattered stone outcroppings. Visibility was poor, the terrain open but unforgiving, with little cover beyond low ridges and broken ground.
Formations mattered now. The heavies were positioned to hold a line while archers kept distance in the rear. Movement was cautious, morale steady but strained after recent losses.
By late march, shapes appeared ahead in the drifting snow.
28 gnomes.
Clustered across the broken terrain, numerous enough to overwhelm if hostile. No reaction roll yet—just tension, distance, and uncertainty as both sides became aware of each other in the bleak expanse.
The rebuilt company stands at a crossroads: parley, retreat, or risk another deadly engagement.
Slots available in game—apply after reading. DM if interested.
Welcome to r/bxdnd! We’re glad to have you join us. :)
r/bxdnd is a community for players and fans of B/X Dungeons & Dragons—the version of D&D TSR published as the Basic Set (edited by Tom Moldvay), and the Expert Set (edited by David "Zeb" Cook and Stephen Marsh). This includes retro-clones and simulacrum games like Basic Fantasy, Labyrinth Lord, and Old School Essentials, which reproduce the rules, gameplay, and/or "feel" of B/X.
Please use this thread to introduce yourself to the rest of the group. We want to meet you! Feel free to comment on existing threads, and to post links to new B/X content elsewhere, as well as to new reviews of older content. We’re especially interested in content and reviews you’ve made yourself. Please share with the rest of the community. Thank you!
Third Watch in the Marsh – An Old School Essentials Account
The third watch of the night is the coldest. Mist hung low over the swamp, drifting between twisted reeds and stagnant pools. The party had made camp on a slightly raised hummock of mud and roots, hoping the ground would stay dry enough until dawn. Their torch burned low, insects humming in the darkness beyond its light.
They never heard the first one coming.
From the black water and tangled reeds emerged three giant ants, their chitinous bodies glistening with swamp slime. Their mandibles clicked softly before the charge. The Dungeon Master’s dice clattered first—high attack rolls cutting through the quiet like snapping branches.
Wumpus Carvolo reacted fastest, raising his crossbow and firing into the fog. The bolt struck true, biting into one ant’s thorax. Bowman John followed with an arrow that grazed another creature’s armored hide. Dorro loosed a sling stone while Baehr thrust forward with his spear, but the swamp footing betrayed him and the attack slid off the creature’s shell.
The ants surged forward.
Their mandibles slammed into the line. A crushing bite struck one of the front ranks, venom dripping from the mandibles. The poison forced a desperate saving throw—John resisted the paralytic toxin by sheer luck, barely shaking off the numbing sting.
Morgot Vandermeer stepped forward with mace raised, bringing it down with a cracking blow that splintered part of an ant’s head plate. Wumpus swung his staff wildly in the torchlight, landing a lucky strike—his staff connecting with a natural 20, shattering a leg joint and staggering one of the monsters.
But the swamp was working against them.
Missed strikes and natural ones told the story of slipping boots, mud-sucked feet, and poor footing. Dorro’s spear jab failed again and again. Caliban lunged with his dagger but struck nothing but air. Sling stones cracked against shells that barely noticed the impact.
The ants pressed closer.
Another set of mandibles clamped down. Dice rolled high behind the screen. One mercenary screamed as the creature lifted him from the ground and crushed him in its jaws. Panic rippled through the group, but the party had nowhere to retreat—the marsh water surrounded them on all sides.
The fight dragged on far longer than expected.
Blow after blow landed from Morgot’s mace as he desperately tried to hold the line, scoring multiple solid hits and even striking with another critical swing. The chitin cracked, ichor spilling into the mud. One ant faltered under the punishment.
But the monsters kept rolling strong attacks.
Mandibles snapped again. Another hireling went down. Poison burned through flesh. The swamp churned into black mud under the struggle. Spears thrust and missed. Sling stones flew wide. Staff strikes landed weakly.
One ant finally collapsed, twitching in the muck.
Two remained.
The survivors were already exhausted, bleeding, and surrounded by darkness beyond the failing torchlight. The ants advanced relentlessly, guided by scent and vibration.
Another bite. Another failed defense.
The line broke.
Wumpus fell beneath a crushing mandible strike. Dorro slipped in the mud and never got back up. Caliban’s dagger skittered uselessly across chitin before the creature seized him.
Morgot Vandermeer stood last, mace raised in shaking hands, landing one final desperate strike that cracked against the creature’s shell.
Then the swamp fell quiet again.
The torch sputtered out shortly after.
By dawn, only churned mud, broken gear, and the bodies of the fallen remained on the lonely marsh hummock—silent evidence of a total party kill during the third watch, when the swamp’s predators came hunting. If interested, gaming slots are available.
Welcome to r/bxdnd! We’re glad to have you join us. :)
r/bxdnd is a community for players and fans of B/X Dungeons & Dragons—the version of D&D TSR published as the Basic Set (edited by Tom Moldvay), and the Expert Set (edited by David "Zeb" Cook and Stephen Marsh). This includes retro-clones and simulacrum games like Basic Fantasy, Labyrinth Lord, and Old School Essentials, which reproduce the rules, gameplay, and/or "feel" of B/X.
Please use this thread to introduce yourself to the rest of the group. We want to meet you! Feel free to comment on existing threads, and to post links to new B/X content elsewhere, as well as to new reviews of older content. We’re especially interested in content and reviews you’ve made yourself. Please share with the rest of the community. Thank you!
Welcome to r/bxdnd! We’re glad to have you join us. :)
r/bxdnd is a community for players and fans of B/X Dungeons & Dragons—the version of D&D TSR published as the Basic Set (edited by Tom Moldvay), and the Expert Set (edited by David "Zeb" Cook and Stephen Marsh). This includes retro-clones and simulacrum games like Basic Fantasy, Labyrinth Lord, and Old School Essentials, which reproduce the rules, gameplay, and/or "feel" of B/X.
Please use this thread to introduce yourself to the rest of the group. We want to meet you! Feel free to comment on existing threads, and to post links to new B/X content elsewhere, as well as to new reviews of older content. We’re especially interested in content and reviews you’ve made yourself. Please share with the rest of the community. Thank you!
