Got an in person game coming up soon, gonna run OD&D(TLBB) with some house content for some chruch friends. Any advice on just like, playing irl? I haven’t done it since I was 19, and I’m now….. 25 this may. It’s been a sec. Any general tips would be appreciated, as well as specific advice on helping people completely and utterly new to older games(my players), albeit with some lightly heroic house rules(death saves and a personal combat system).
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To introduce players, I always love to get them through a suitable adventure, not an immediate meat-grinder as some old content is. My two favourites for this are Prison of the Hated Pretender (when I have little time) and Tomb of the Serpent Kings. I’m considering adding The Black Wyrm of Brandonsford to the rooster, although it packs even more stuff than the Tomb.
In general, I let players interact with the game world and its underlying assumptions on a small scale, with lower stakes (like the False Tomb in TotSK) and slowly increase scale and stakes as they get more familiar with the whole thing (like the small quests in Brandonsford). Let them move around in a way that matters, but which won’t completely doom their characters if the first step they ever take is a misstep.
As for playing in person, I find it a lot less chaotic than online. The one thing I struggle with when I moved back from online was handling table space: I used to have my desk all for me when I played, now I have to share a table with the players, so I need to limit the space I take up with maps, notes and other stuff. In the end, a good tablet with a pen or, even better, good old pen and paper are a good solution.
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I have all of those and I’ll give em a good ctitical study. Sadly none of those would jive with the setting "(Anachronistic alternate fantasy earth in the 1910’s) but they provide a great example for low level adventure design.
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For a critical study, I think TotSK is the best subject, since it gives you design notes and comments. I think it could be pretty easy to use it as a reference to derive your own starting adventure from that (I’ve done something similar). The only thing I’ve found it really lacks is comfortable starting town/village/hamlet nearby - something the other two do very well.
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Have handouts for everything (equipment lists, spells, charge.n rules, etc.) Have pregens available. Have a map of the setting they can look at. Set expectations for what your game is, don’t define it by what some hypothetical other game isn’t (if you find yourself talking about specific editions of OD&D for more than five words, or saying things like “5e play culture” or giving manifestos or links to blogs you’re going overboard).
Have extra pencils and dice. Since its folks from church you probably know them but keep in mind potentially accessibility issues you may not be aware of in your situation.
Start at the dungeon with everything ready to go and assume the best setup from the players to start.