End of year thoughts on 2023

A quick year-end update, since I’ve been busy with holiday and hunting season activities. I want to wish all of you a very Happy Holidays and Happy New Year! If you celebrate, have yourself a Merry Christmas! I did finish my Dungeon23 project! Here’s the details: https://chgowiz.substack.com/p/finishing-dungeon23-i-did-it Want to comment/ask questions? * Leave a voice message on Speakpipe: ⁠https://www.speakpipe.com/MichaelChgowiz⁠ * Leave me an audio clip on Discord to user: chgowiz  *...

Callins and answers from October

October was a much busier month than I anticipated, so these Q/A call-in answers are a bit late, my apologies! I answer questions/comments about OSR October, OD&D alignment, and module deconstruction from: * Jason of Nerd’s RPG Varietycast podcast ( ) * Bosman Bos of Tales from the Border Baronies ( https://borderbaronies.bearblog.dev/blog/ ) * Menion/Rob of Wee Tim’rous Bushie podcast ( https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/menion ) Want to comment/ask questions? * Leave a voice...

How I deconstruct modules into sandboxes

In this episode, I go over how I deconstruct modules for my own use, whether in my campaign or as one-shots. This is how I get around the linear (and sometimes railroad) designs of many modules. I’m sorry I wasn’t able to get to call-ins, as this was recorded while I was attending GameHoleCon in mid October 2023. Full credit for the phrase “Chgowiz’s Infinite Barrel of Monkeys” goes to Menion/Rob of the podcast “Confessions of a Wee Tim'rous Bushi”...

A quick update on my move and October

I’m in the middle of a physical move from one side of Illinois to the other, so this is just a quick update and some thoughts on what I’ll talk about in October. Full credit for the phrase “Chgowiz’s Infinite Barrel of Monkeys” goes to Menion/Rob of the podcast “Confessions of a Wee Tim'rous Bushi” (https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/menion) Want to comment/ask questions? * Leave a voice message on Speakpipe: ⁠https://www.speakpipe.com/MichaelChgowiz⁠ * Leave me an audio clip on Discord...

OSR October is coming - what do I do?

This episode, I ask what YOU want to hear about in OSR October, and I discuss some great call-ins with more about Holmes Basic and OD&D. Help! I’d like to participate in OSR October, but I’m not sure what you’d like to hear about! If you have ideas, suggestions - please let me know! Either comment on chgowiz.substack.com or leave a voice comment (see below). Thank you! Call-in guests Jason of Nerd’s RPG Varietycast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/jason376 Daniel of Bandit’s...

A look at Holmes Basic and OD&D

This episode, I take a look at how I’ve used Holmes Basic with my OD&D (and AD&D) games, and a quick comparison of differences between the influential Basic set and the original game. Links mentioned: The Zenopus Archives - a fantastic resource of all things Holmes! https://sites.google.com/site/zenopusarchives/ ---- Want to comment/ask questions? * Leave a voice message on Speakpipe: ⁠https://www.speakpipe.com/MichaelChgowiz⁠ * Leave me an audio clip on Discord to user: chgowiz  *...

Questions and answers about my campaigns and Chainmail

In this episode, I answer an email with questions about running my D&D campaign, with some thoughts on 3 hexes and classes. I also answer Chainmail callins! Referenced resources Grognard - a “retroclone” of Chainmail, organizing the rules into a more coherent and modern layout. Effective for deciphering what a phrase or rule might be.  Call in guests Jason of Nerds RPG Variety Cast: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/jason376⁠⁠ John of Red Dice Diaries podcast:...

In this episode, I talk about how I adapted the Classic Traveller chargen to my Battlestar Galactica universe. This is my first podcast episode from substack, so we’ll see how it goes! Mentions: Joe/Dekahedron Podcast - https://open.spotify.com/show/48PrG9H7mDbdzdxtET1sI6 ---- Want to comment/ask questions? * Leave a voice message on Speakpipe: ⁠https://www.speakpipe.com/MichaelChgowiz⁠ * Leave me an audio clip on Discord to user: chgowiz  * Email me at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠[email protected]⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. I...

Adapting Classic Traveller chargen for my campaign

In this episode, I share how I do missile fire in my adaptation of Chainmail for OD&D. Plus, call-ins! Show Notes Old School RPG Planet: https://campaignwiki.org/osr/ Call in guests Daniel of Bandit's Keep podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/daniel-norton Jason of Nerds RPG Variety Cast: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/jason376⁠⁠ ---- Want to comment/ask questions? * Voice message on Speakpipe: https://www.speakpipe.com/MichaelChgowiz * Leave me an...

How I do missile file in my Chainmail combat for OD&D

I share four key resources that I think will help anyone who is trying to learn how to play along with the original three little brown books of Dungeons & Dragons as printed back in 1974. Plus, probably one of the most unusual call-ins from a fellow podcaster that you’ll hear! ---- OD&D Proboards Forum - https://odd74.proboards.com/ Philotomy’s Musings - https://www.grey-elf.com/philotomy.pdf Delta’s D&D Hotspot Blog - https://deltasdnd.blogspot.com/ Wayne Rossi’s Original...

Four awesome resources for understanding OD&D

How AD&D does treasure for monsters

AD&D can be confusing on how to place treasures with creatures in the wilderness and dungeons, and what's up with all those letters for Treasure Types? In this episode, I go over how AD&D tries to lay this out, and what tips/tricks I use to make the process simple -- at least for me! Plus, I have a great call in from a new listener, Trevor! ---- Swords & Wizardry White Box, 3rd printing:...

Third time's the charm! I finally was able to get this episode recorded! In this episode, rather than talking about how I use Chainmail, I give some thoughts on how Chainmail, in some way, expects you to mold it into what you want to do with it. The companion blog post to this episode goes into some specifics of how I use Chainmail in my OD&D games: https://chgowiz-games.blogspot.com/2023/06/chainmail-in-my-od.html And you can find the amazing work that Daniel does with Chainmail...

How Chainmail continues to be relevant and useful