#Expert D&D

[oldschoolfrp]

In the beginning there was Dungeons and Dragons™ -- Original Dungeons and Dragons, later called the Collector's Edition. Then there were Greyhawk and Blackmoor and Eldritch Wizardry, which were essentially Expanded Original D&D. Then came Advanced D&D (which was advanced Original D&D), and Basic D&D (which was basic Original D&D). And ultimately, we have Expert D&D, which is expert Basic D&D, not expert Original D&D, or expert Advanced D&D; and Expert Basic D&D brings it all to the same approximate scope as Original D&D. One gets the impression that the TSR crew spends its off-hours designing mazes for rats to become lost in.

Aaron Allston summarizes the history of D&D editions through the first 8 years, from the opening paragraph of his review of Cook & Marsh's Expert D&D rules in The Space Gamer 38, April 1981. His review is generally positive, noting that it is much better edited while fixing some but not all problems with the original game:

I wish I had had the Basic D&D series when I began gaming. The rules sets are legible, indexed, punched for 3-hole notebooks, reorganizable, and, best of all, understandable. One actually can learn the game from the rules, something not possible with Original D&D. That is, however, perhaps the most annoying part about this set of rules. With sufficient playtesting, it could have been released seven or eight years ago, instead of the original set. This series is the product of hindsight.

The complete 1981 B/X D&D (Moldvay's Basic and Cook & Marsh's Expert) remains one of the best-loved early versions of D&D, directly inspiring many of the OSR clones like Labyrinth Lord and Old School Essentials.

#Aaron Allston #Dungeons & Dragons #D&D #gaming history #dnd #The Space Gamer #Dave Cook #Steve Marsh #Expert D&D #OD&D #BX D&D #Dungeons and Dragons #Space Gamer #1980s

[jennortegas]

ONE PIECE (2023) IN COLOR:

Monkey D. Luffy + pirate king

#oplaedit #opla #monkey d. luffy #iñaki godoy #one piece #useropla #useremu #alexisedits #netflixedit #not me starting another color palette series lmaooooo #thats how you know im obsessed when i dedicate the time to make these for a show #ngl this was tricky cus i wanted to include so many scenes but this boy moves sm!!! and my coloring skills are not expert level #i cant be mad though i love him and loved the colors it suits him well

[bluewonderer]

So, Luffy is actually hyper competent when it comes to outdoor survival.

Fire, of course, is so essential to this. He remembers fire on the quiet beaches of Foosha--remembers Makino's slim, calloused hands building a curious stack of wood, remembers the smell of smoke and the spark of warmth and light. The chocolate from the s'mores she made him got all over his cheeks, in his hair. His sticky fingers picked up a coating of sand and Makino washed his hands in the ocean.

That didn't happen too often. Makino was often dead on her feet, running her bar. But, when Luffy got a little older, when he got curious enough to ask "how do you do that?", she guided his little, chubby hands through the steps to build a fire. He was clumsy, and impatient, and in the end, she had to do it.

It was quiet, it was Makino all to himself surrounded by the stars and the sea and the warmth of the fire.

Shanks and the others never showed him how to build a fire, but their fires were different than Makino's quiet, private ones. The bonfires were huge--taller than Luffy! Even when Benn carried him on his shoulders! It was loud, and so bright it hurt his eyes, and so hot his hair would curl with sweat around his forehead and temples. And the men played so much music, and ate SO much food, and drank so much booze until they sloppily danced with each other and the young men and women from Foosha who were attracted by the fire.

Luffy loved those fires so much--he would feel full for days and days.

Grandpa tried to teach Luffy, maybe. Or maybe, Grandpa believes that he tried to teach Luffy. Really, he just said, "you build a fire like this, see? you need this, and you need to do that, make sure you do NOT do this, and done! there! now you know how to build a fire!"

Luffy did not know how to build one. It would have helped him in the ravine Grandpa threw him in afterward.

Ace and Sabo taught Luffy. Ace taught Sabo before Luffy ever met them. And it was good, because Ace taught a lot like Grandpa. "It's simple, Luffy. You just get this, do this, and don't do, no! I said don't do that! Ugh, why are you crying now?" But Sabo was there. And he wasn't more kind than Ace, but he was a competitive little shit. "You can't teach worth a damn, Ace--this is what happened when you tried to show me. I bet I can teach Luffy faster than you." And Ace, of course, had gritted his teeth and said, "you're on."

It took weeks for Luffy to properly build a fire on his own, under their competitive tutelage. He actually figured it out much fast than that. He just liked the attention of his big brothers. Besides, it was really funny whenever Sabo's sharp comments always made Ace lose control and tackle him into a wrestling match. Luffy always, always gleefully joined them.

Years later, Luffy's sort of surprised to find himself being the one to teach his crew how to build a fire and other things to survive out in the wilds. Zoro's shaped himself for survival in the bars and back alleys and the underground of East Blue's bigger towns and cities. He's never had to hunt for food before, but that was no problem. Luffy only had to teach him how to track prey, how to read the signs in the thick brush and camouflage of the wilderness. For someone like Zoro, who had something primal and hungry under his skin, the hunt comes naturally.

...Luffy should have maybe told him to stay away from those mushrooms, though. Zoro threw up for hours, and Luffy kind of felt bad about that. In his defense, he thought everyone knew about them. Like he thought everyone knew how to track an animal and build a fire.

"Oh," Nami says, puzzling over the thick stew Luffy makes one night under a forest's canopy. It's not as wild as Mt. Colubo, which is kind of boring. "This is actually good? I thought you were just pulling random bits of grass and leaves and mushrooms to throw in this. I was so hungry though, I wasn't going to care. Was just going to avoid the mushrooms in case you gave me poisonous ones."

"Yeah," Zoro grouses. "Nice to know about those, huh?"

"I can cook!" Luffy insists, not sure if he should be offended or flattered.

"Well, no," Nami says. "You blew up the last kitchen we were in. And somehow turned curry into a noxious gas."

"Ovens are hard!" Luffy insists, now sure that he's supposed to be offended. "And why were there so many ingredients? You just need meat! It was confusing!"

And so it goes. Gradually, Luffy shows them how to build a fire in the snow, how to build a shelter against the rain. He points out mushrooms that are safe to eat (and the ones that make you laugh and laugh, even if you don't particularly feel like laughing--Chopper hadn't been as amused with those as Luffy thought he would be). Good berry bushes and bad, what to do to make water safer, and how to hunt. He shows them how to trap small game, though that's not something he and his brothers did as often. They were always so hungry, and big game was always so much more fulfilling. But winters were hard, and sometimes trapping was they only way they ate at all.

Luffy likes to think he's a better teacher than Grandpa, but he's not sure by how much. How do you teach someone something that was once as normal as breathing to him? His friends are so smart, though. Smarter than him. (Except Zoro, who can build a sturdy shelter and then be trusted to never be able to find it again.)

He can tell not everyone particularly wanted to learn. But they're outlaws now. And when they're not facing the wilds of the Grand Line, they're pushed to the outskirts of civilization, camping out on beaches and on the outskirts of forests. These skills none of them thought they would need are suddenly essential.

But it's alright. Luffy's their captain. He'll always be with them, and can take care of them in this way.

(His favorite by far, though, are the beach bonfires. He's sure to build them as big as he remembers from his childhood. He insists on food and music and dancing and booze and s'mores each time. They're loud, and they're warm. And it's all his.

And he feels full for days and days.)

#one piece #monkey d. luffy #rorona zoro #one piece nami #asl brothers #one piece asl #one piece headcanons #i wrote a throwaway line about this headcanon in a fic i'm writing #and it's not enough i needed to ramble about it #forever haunted by luffy stuffing himself full of mushrooms after saobody to numb his feelings #i just think luffy is like The survival expert #and probably actually cooks a decent meal out in the wilderness #this turned long #blue writes

[collieii]

i'm sure it's been said but i do love how trimax handles wolfwoods death. i've seen so many stories that have characters die and they just go away after. i'm really used to stories where the other characters aren't allowed to grieve, the story keeps going and it feels like the other characters aren't really affected or get over it really easily. but in trimax wolfwoods death is so important. we see other characters grieving him. vash protecting the orphanage, expanding his power when he really shouldn't, because it was wolfwood's home, even though wolfwood is already gone. he gets an actual burial. vash and livio eating their way through the grief, which is more comedic but still shows us how important he was to the two of them, sets up how in many ways they're fighting in his memory.

even after he's gone he's still present in the story in such a strong way. we can see how he's affected the other characters, even when they don't explicitly mention him it's obvious that they're thinking about him. what he did when he was alive, and his death itself, are so important to the story even after he's not there. not just in a really abstract "this is someone we lost" way (though there are a lot of times his death and sacrifice motivate vash and livio to fight harder!) he's present in the finale in a material way to livio, who uses his serums to help fight against elendira, which ofc also ties into the way wolfwoods choice to ally with vash and fight against knives gave livio strength to do the same. wolfwood showed him that there are things worth fighting for, things worth protecting. that your body is a weapon, but you can choose what to do with it, use it for something meaningful.

and the way vash kills legato in order to save livio? vash outright says that he did it to protect what wolfwood fought for, sacrificed his life for. it's tied to the ongoing arc between vash and wolfwood, their conflict over the necessity of killing others. wolfwood pushed vash into having an understanding of his views when he was alive, demonstrating the necessity of that violence. simultaneously, vash inspired wolfwood to follow his path, a kinder one. vash remembers what wolfwood said to him, and his death gives those words added poignancy. wolfwood well and truly sacrificed everything to protect what he loved and fight for what he believed in. how can vash let that go to waste? he sacrifices something just as meaningful to himself, and he pulls the trigger. it brings him closer to wolfwood in a way he never was before. he understands now, fundamentally, what motivates people, motivated wolfwood, to act as he did when he took lives. there are so many other ways wolfwood is present in the story after his death i can't talk about all of them but it makes me so crazy

#trigun #trigun maximum #nicholas d. wolfwood #not to say that there aren't lots of stories that handle character death well bc there are! #i am by no means an expert in media but in my experience esp with like #action anime in particular it can be p common for important characters to die and then their death is just not processed at all #i know that stories have to keep things moving but it feels so weird when characters don't grieve or even cry at least a little! #like that was a person that you knew! are you not affected in any way! #it can feel so dehumanizing to me imo when characters bounce back so quickly after someone they knew died like c'mon #at least to me anyways #that's why i love the scene where vash cries after ww dies in 98 too. maybe i just don't consume enough media where characters die #but i was really surprised that they included that! surprised and pleased. it felt like such a human thing for him to do #to try and pretend everything is ok but he just can't ignore the fact that ww is dead and it just hits him #right there in the street in the middle of the day. and there's not anything he can do but cry. ugh #.lieii #trigun analysis #trigun livio #vash the stampede #trigun meta #.lieii txt #honestly i haven't read the finale arc in a while so i don't want to talk too in depth about it #but it is really excellent how present he is. without being present #talking about trimax is so hard bc there's so much. so many themes #me when a story has themes: GRAAH #like every post i make this is rambling and doesn't have much of a point but do you get what i'm saying #come to collieii hq where you get an essay in the post and another much worse essay in the tags #trimax spoilers

[chrrywvea]

[slider is filming]

*to the camera*

iceman: okay, ready? today i'll show you how to care of a sad person

*he walks over to the couch where mav is curled up, & begins laying out a blanket*

iceman: you get your blanket, and pick up your ball of depression...

*picks up mav*

iceman: lay them on the blanket and...

*mav yelps when ice starts to roll him up*

iceman: you get your own sushi roll!

iceman: now you place them somewhere comfortable and get your supplies...

*dumps mav back onto the couch & returns with snacks and drinks*

iceman: you hug your roll close and watch a movie that the roll enjoys

*starts mean girls, meanwhile slider is one laugh away from passing out*

iceman: now this part is important! you feed and hydrate the roll, because tears leave the roll dehydrated.

*mav blushing heavily, hiding in ice's side while he gets his share of chips*

iceman, smiling at the camera: there we go, a happy roll!

[ slider can't help the sappy grin on his face, their little pilot buddy all tiny & wide eyes peeking over the blanket is just adorable ]

---------------------------------------------------

inspired by the happy sushi roll meme i just found again:-D

#tom iceman kazansky #pete maverick mitchell #top gun #top gun maverick #ron slider kerner #wingmen #icemav #sad mav gets aaaall the love♡ #ice's expert field: maverick caretaking 101 #slider is enjoying all of it greatly:-D

[lightbulb-warning]

The way your art is so stylized and scrunchy makes me wanna eat it. ESP TE WAY YOU DO KOKICHIS EXPRESSIONS AND HANDS IN GENERAL!! It's so exaggerated in a cartoony way i love it sm, i wanna draw like you so bad

i dont know if pixels have ANY positive nutritional values hehe but AAAAAAAAA THANKYUUUUUUUU!!!! THAT MAKES ME SO HAPPY TO HEAR!!!!

i hope you'll join me in the (figurative) "expressive hands"-artstyle corner one day!! ill be waiting with open arms! and hands! >:3c

#hands and hand expressiveness is so important to me!! :D #im not an expert or anything but if you have questions about the way i draw things ask away!! #might take a while to replybut im always happy to offer art study thoughts! :D #ask maiora #kokichi ouma

[sneepity-snoop-snorpity-sneep]

The Royal Navy in the Sea Beasts had NO BUSINESS trying to hunt sea monsters - even aside from the propaganda in the background

the first-ever time the movie introduces us to the Navy, its through an Admiral bragging about a ship built to kill sea beasts which Captain Crow pretty quickly sizes up as not the right tool for the job

"fixed cannons are useless (and her captain is an Ass)"

But its not just that they didn't know how what kind of ships and weaponry would efficiently take down massive ocean critters!! They also didn't seem to bother giving their men any drilling or training to prepare for the job itself!

This guy:

saw Red pop over the crest of the island and immediately went to shoot *without alerting anyone else* on the shore that the Red Bluster was in charging range of them! Note how as he goes to shoot at her, most of the other soldiers in the background remain unawares

aside from like the one (1) guy (bottom left) who also sees and actually goes "hey there's the Red Bluster!" the soldiers and the ship remain unaware that Red is there until she's actually charging them because this chucklehead shot at her

So by the time these poor sods find out that this massive, pissed-off unicorn seal thing is coming for their asses, she's already halfway to them and it is way too late to take effective precautions! The musketshot and cannonfire doesn't slow her down at all - it just seems to smother the ship in her own smoke so nobody can see anything at all by the time Red hits them

Like from the top down, nobody in the navy was given adequate preparation or training for this job, and it shows

POV: u fucked up

like for my part-time job I work with heavy and dangerous machinery, and one of the things that was really emphasized when I started was: tell someone if something's not right: mechanical problem, something breaks, whatever it is, communicate it to someone

and this is just for working with industrial machinery! which is a lot less unpredictable than a giant, powerful animal that can and will tear you and your ship a new porthole. It highkey seems like Admiral Hornagold literally didn't do any training or prep for this mission with his soldiers, and just assumed that they'd suceed "because we are

The Royal Navy

Bruh.

like what a massive waste of time, money, manpower, and lives for such a stupid oversight!! 'cuz....they HAVE people who've been successfully hunting beasts for centuries!!! if even one commanding officer in the navy had been like 'hmmm, perhaps I should hire some retired hunters or off-duty hunters to do some consulting before I commission a ship and assign recruits to man it" the whole thing could've been avoided!!

it was SO STUPID TO NOT DO THAT whether or not the naval officers in charge were in on the propaganda machine!

#like i cannot stress how important it is to Know if you Don't Know something when the relevant context includes shit that could kill you #the sea beast #admiral hornagold is trying to substitute authority for expertise and that why he didn't survive the movie kids :D #i would be SO MAD if i was one of his soldiers #the red bluster #admiral hornagold #it is so weird to me that this guy didn't even think of doing any research from field experts before building a ship and sailing off #like the hunters have been doing the job for a couple hundred years but u didn't think to consult them at all???????? BRUH #captain crow u were so right her captain IS an ass

[haaaaaaaaaaaave-you-met-ted]

Dungeons & Dragons Expert Set Cover Art by Erol Otus

#Dungeons & Dragons #D&D #Expert Set #Covers #Cover Art #Erol Otus #Fantasy #Art #TSR #Wizards of the Coast

[goshyesvintageads]

TSR Hobbies Inc, 1982

#Dungeons & Dragons #ad #1982 #D&D #advertisement #1980s #game #adventures #campaign #expert #magic #wizard spell #comic #illustration #Gary Gygax #advertising #gaming #adventure #tactical studies rules #journey #games

[dootznbootz]

Do we have any idea how old Odysseus was when the trojan war started? Like I'm actually curious, Ive always imagined him to be sth around 20 but then I tried to find it online and the the range goes from 20 to mid 40s so like im so confused, do you know anythig??

My dear Anon, the timeline is a mess and I wouldn't bother trying to find the "real ages" as...it's just straight-up impossible. :'D I literally made a meme about it a LONG while back.

For example, The Apple of Discord happened during Thetis' and Peleus' wedding. They decided Paris would chose, he chose Aphrodite, so he got to kidnap Helen.

The War starts....How tf is Achilles old enough to go to war if his parents just got married? I have never seen anything that said they waited until Paris grew up.

Thing is, so many people throughout history have their own versions and if we were to try and make sense of all of them, these heroes would probably be around 200 years old.

If you're worried about this stuff for writing? MAKE IT UP!!! :D There's technically no "real age"

One of my favorite examples:

Left to right: Menelaus, Paris, Diomedes, Odysseus, Nestor, Achilles, Agamemnon.

...WHY DOES MENELAUS AND DIOMEDES HAVE MORE WRINKLES THAN FUCKING NESTOR?!?!

Old man Nestor. Achy breaky back Nestor. "Back in my day" Nestor. Grandpa fucking Nestor!!!

(Paris, Odysseus, Achilles, and Agamemnon look pretty good imo but the others don't feel like their faces match their ages.)

It's because of the fact that there's not a distinct specific age, and therefore artists and muses could make it whatever!

BUT! Considering some things, Penelope, Helen, Menelaus, and Odysseus were all most likely around 20 when they got married.

I'm no expert. I am absolutely not. But from what I've read, Women in Sparta got married when they were around 20 years old. Part of the reason why exercise for women was a thing was because of the idea of "strong mothers have strong sons". Fully grown women are less likely to have health problems if they get pregnant compared to "girl who just got her first menstrual cycle". I don't know if this was the case during the Mycenaean/Minoan eras but it's what we're given.

Men were around the same age BUT with military stuff, they'd be in the barracks most of the time and had to "sneak away" in order to be with their wife for the night.

In many other places, men got married when they're around 30. But with all this happening in SPARTA, I think Tyndarius would probably hope to "keep to his own Spartan rules". I think a lot of young men saw this as an opportunity or even a "Mom, Dad, This is the chance of a lifetime!!! Even if I am technically too young to get married, this is the chance to marry the most beautiful woman in the world!"

The Iliad mentions Odysseus being older than Menelaus however!!! (personally, I have Odysseus older by a few months and him pulling the "I'm the older of the two of us!")

Hermione is said to be 9 years old when Helen is kidnapped. Most likely, making them around 29, give or take. (Personally I changed Hermione's age to 7, making them more around 27) Odysseus at around 28 and Penelope at around 27 about to turn 28 shortly when he has to leave.

#Mad rambles #shot by odysseus #I'm in no way an expert!!! but it's actually quite neat that Odypen and Menelaus and Helen are actually couples who most likely are #very close in age! :D #ask #anon

[oldschoolfrp]

Erystelle of Dorneryll, famed elfin champion and magic-user, in the Misty Hills (Jeremy/Jes Goodwin, D&D module O2: Blade of Vengeance by Jim Bambra, TSR UK, 1984)

#D&D #Dungeons & Dragons #Jes Goodwin #Jeremy Goodwin #elf #Blade of Vengeance #dnd #BECMI #Expert D&D #Erystelle #mist #1980s #TSR #TSR UK #Dungeons and Dragons

[breezypunk]

my new pc is coming on saturday and im so excited ive waited so so long :''''''')

i can't wait to take my current laptop out on the road and smash it to bits ugh.

#personal #ive decided on a newer laptop thats in my budget but my moms bf is a tech expert and helped me pick a good one that's gonna run way better #i am feeling so good right now it's coming after i get off work saturday so i have something to look forward to :D

[sikyurame]

Some snippets of this hellish donro fic I’ve spent waay too long on

It’s been more than a year fellas and Sikyu still hasn’t figured out an ending 👌✨

#ASDFGG #yeah it’s the rain wip #guess I’ll suffer and forever be in a revising loop lol #also…like I highly doubt the way I wrote Donald and Gyro in this story is close to canon?? #I’m not an expert on 17 lore to properly write the characters #and I’m afraid to start over again bc of it LOL #so y’know I’m close to slam dunking this wip in the trash #very close but I have an urge to keep it #I guess for the .00001% I actually finish and post this d:

[tea-and-secrets]

not a system but my favorite coping mechanism for. it all. is pretending to talk to toddler me. comfort her and make her food and tuck her into bed. but really im just taking care of myself lol. its pretty nice! makes me feel like i have someone to care abt me lol

.

#im not an expert but preddy sure this is a legit self care tool :D