Old Men Rolling Dice

Old Men Rolling Dice A Dungeons & Dragons, OSR, TTRPG podcast.

For my 52nd trip around the sun my family got one of my giclée canvas prints stretched onto a frame for me. Now I need a...
09/27/2026

For my 52nd trip around the sun my family got one of my giclée canvas prints stretched onto a frame for me. Now I need a place to hang it. Got this at GaryCon a few years ago. Mr. Easley signed it and did a doodle for me too. It’s been safely stored in a cardboard tube until now. Love it! 😍

The three best things about 1983’s Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Monster Manual II.1. Jeff Easley’s Cover Art: Possibly on...
09/21/2026

The three best things about 1983’s Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Monster Manual II.

1. Jeff Easley’s Cover Art: Possibly one of Easley’s finest AD&D covers. It has everything you want from the era: an adventurer who appear to be in serious trouble, a huge monster dominating the scene, and that wonderfully dark fantasy atmosphere.

2. Expanded Encounter Tables: One of MMII’s most useful contributions at the table. Organizing encounters by terrain and dungeon level makes it much more than another collection of monster statistics. You can actually use the book to populate wilderness journeys and dungeon expeditions on the fly. It’s quintessential AD&D: roll the dice and discover what is out there.

3. High Danger Level: This is the book that brings some serious heavy hitters. Arch-devils, demon lords and the Tarrasque give high-level characters things they can legitimately fear. I also think this is one of the books that contributed to satanic panic. “Why is your 12 year old reading about the Dukes of Hell?” LOL😆

MMII reinforces an important AD&D principle: just because the DM puts something in front of you doesn’t mean you’re supposed to fight it.

BONUS — Page offers up a 35 name-drop list!
This is one of those wonderful little pieces of old-school D&D lore. Page 35 drops the names of additional demon lords without giving them full write-ups. They’re essentially tantalizing hints at a much larger Abyss beyond what the book describes. Several of those names would receive considerably more attention in later D&D material.

What do you think of my top 3? What book should I do next?

Had some friends over to play an old favourite this week! Nine of us crowded around the table to play Battletech. Some l...
09/18/2026

Had some friends over to play an old favourite this week! Nine of us crowded around the table to play Battletech. Some learning to play, some remembering how to play and some refining. For a game from 1984 it held up well. Good game, good food and good people!

Photo credit to Jennifer DeJong

The three best things about the 1980 AD&D Deities & Demigods.1. Mythology became a part of your campaignGreek, Norse, Eg...
09/10/2026

The three best things about the 1980 AD&D Deities & Demigods.

1. Mythology became a part of your campaign

Greek, Norse, Egyptian, Celtic, Babylonian and other mythologies were turned into AD&D material. Zeus, Odin, Thor, Anubis and countless legendary beings suddenly had a place at the gaming table. It also served as a mythology rabbit hole. This would lead many gamers to want to learn more about real ancient mythos.

2. The Legendary Cthulhu & Elric Printing

The famous early 144-page printings included both H.P. Lovecraft’s Cthulhu Mythos and Michael Moorcock’s Melnibonéan Mythos — including Elric. Licensing complications followed, and both sections disappeared from later 128-page printings, making those early copies legendary among AD&D collectors. (Sadly my copy is the 128-page version.)

3. You could fight the gods or adventure with Arthurian heroes!

The gods had AD&D statistics: Armour Class, Hit Points, attacks, abilities and more. Suddenly players could look at Thor or Cthulhu and think the most wonderfully foolish thought in D&D: “I wonder if we can take him?”

Deities & Demigods made mythology something you could explore, borrow from and, against all good judgement, roll initiative against.

Bonus: Corellon, Moradin and Gruumsh appear here as early foundational D&D gods, helping establish divine lore that would remain part of D&D for decades.

I’d love to hear your thoughts about my top three and what book should I feature next?

The three best things about the 1987 Forgotten Realms Campaign Boxed Set.For D&D and AD&D players who spent the ’70s and...
09/07/2026

The three best things about the 1987 Forgotten Realms Campaign Boxed Set.

For D&D and AD&D players who spent the ’70s and early ’80s adventuring in Greyhawk, the legendary “Old Gray Box” offered something exciting: an entirely new world to explore.

1) A NEW REALM OF ADVENTURE
Faerûn felt enormous, mysterious and largely unexplored. New kingdoms, strange ruins, powerful factions and distant lands were waiting beyond the next road. For players of the ’80s, the Realms felt like a fresh frontier.

2) THOSE INCREDIBLE MAPS
Four huge colour maps made the Forgotten Realms feel like an actual place. Add the hex overlays, pick a destination and start travelling. The maps alone could inspire an entire campaign.

3) THE WORLD STILL BELONGED TO YOU
The Gray Box gave you lore, NPCs, gods, rumours and history — but didn’t explain everything. There was still plenty of empty space for the DM to make the Realms their own.

Bonus: Greyhawk helped define D&D in the ’70s. The Forgotten Realms gave a new generation of adventurers somewhere new to explore in the ’80s.

And almost 40 years later, the Old Gray Box still makes you want to roll up a character and hit the road.

I’d love to hear your thoughts on the Old Grey Box and what book should I do next?

This one has been sitting on my shelf for a while. Finally getting around to reading it and so far it’s been great. Real...
09/02/2026

This one has been sitting on my shelf for a while. Finally getting around to reading it and so far it’s been great. Really enjoying the dystopian, “Escape from New York” vibes. This could turn into fuel for an upcoming TMNT RPG campaign. Nice to relax and get into a book.

The three best things about the 1981 first edition Fiend Folio 1) It’s origins are not American. The majority of monster...
08/31/2026

The three best things about the 1981 first edition Fiend Folio

1) It’s origins are not American. The majority of monsters in the Fiend Folio were designed by British contributors. It was proof that Dungeons & Dragons had a wider appeal and a wider audience. Although, it was published by TSR (America) it launched the UK division.

2) An astonishing amount of later D&D lore has roots here. The githyanki and githzerai, slaadi, death knight, drow, demilich, bullywug, ettercap and others either debuted or received important early AD&D treatment in the Folio. You can flip through it today and repeatedly think, Wait... that came from this book?

3) The creatures within have an unsettling atmosphere. The original Monster Manual often feels like a fantasy bestiary. The Fiend Folio feels like the DM opened a door that should have remained locked. The black-and-white artwork ranges from grotesque to surreal, and many monsters have strange abilities that players aren’t likely to anticipate.

Bonus: The Fiend Folio is perfect for the Underdark. Between the drow, kuo-toa, hook horrors, grell, derro and other subterranean nightmares, you could practically build an entire old-school underground campaign from this book alone.

I’d love to hear your thoughts about my top three and what book should I do next?

The three best things about the 1978 first edition AD&D Players Handbook.1) It feels like an artifact from the old schoo...
08/27/2026

The three best things about the 1978 first edition AD&D Players Handbook.

1) It feels like an artifact from the old school game world. It’s written in Gygaxian, with dense text and strange tables. For many this would be a drawback, but I think it’s a perfect representation of its time.

2) The interior Illustrations and artwork are evocative. The clean, black and white lines are stunning. 🤩

3) It doesn’t explain everything. A lot of the machinery of the game is in the DMG which invites players to experiment, to ask questions, and learn through play rather than rule memorizing or lawyering.

My Hot Take: Many of my fellow gamers would say the cover art should be in the top three things. I disagree. I think the cover is a little plain and Trampier’s art doesn’t make it pop. The “paladin in hell” illustration would have made a better cover.

I’d love to hear your thoughts about my top three and what book should I do next?

Against the Giants holds some of my favourite Dungeons and Dragons memories. So many great encounters and character deat...
08/24/2026

Against the Giants holds some of my favourite Dungeons and Dragons memories. So many great encounters and character deaths.

I have not run Against the Giants: The Liberation of Geoff, but have always thought it would be a cool addition to flesh out the original G series.

Finally, I think Storm King’s Thunder is a good homage to the G series, but I have never had the opportunity to DM it. It’s one of the 5E campaigns I’d like to take a crack at.

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