Rules I don't use in B/X (or plan not to)

For all its glory as the epitome of old-school D&D, B/X still remains a product of its time, proposing rules and mechanics that today might seem frustrating, outdated, and do not bear any relevance today. This is due to the system still clinging to wargaming trappings and perception (check the combat round, for instance), coming in stark contrast with the evolving nature of D&D gaming, especially post-2000 era, that turned the game away from its wargaming roots and towards a more narrative experience. Most of my group has been gaming since the mid-90s (our youngest member started gaming about five years ago, while the oldest one used to play AD&D in the late '80s) so while we lean towards old-school sensibilities, we do bring a variety of gaming notions in our table, primarily thanks to our involvement with other genres and hobbies (board games, war games, video games, you name it games). Thus far, I've collected a few rules in B/X that I find unnecessary in my game. The party is still at low levels, so I have yet to touch on stronghold and army building, a character process that has since 3e been totally switched from being a core mechanic to a more or less situational affair.

First and foremost, the role of caller is nowadays redundant. Since we're talking groups of four or five at each sessions, there is no need for a coordinator between players, a single voice to dictate what each character does at any given time. Occasionally, a player occupies this role when we want to make haste while venturing a not so dangerous location or to briefly proceed with mundane actions. As for the role of mapper, my group is usually happy to just wander about and the few times someone sits down to draw a map is more likely to use it as reference, not tied to a certain character with mapping skills.

Second, alignment as presented in the book is in my opinion too restrictive and unimaginative. My take on the world's alignments deals with the cosmic struggle between Law and Chaos and which faction each character sides with, instead of a representation of one's morality and general behaviour. While quite distinct in theory, not much is different in function, except that now lawful characters don't switch to chaotic if they witness or participate in an "evil" act. Lawful now means that your character strives to uphold and defend the power of human civilisation and the ways of the Age of Man, whereas as a chaotic you try to undermine and eventually overthrow it in favour of wild nature and ethics of the Old World. A good analogy would be lawfuls coming from "civilised" lands whereas chaotics call the wilds home.

Third, resting after 5 turns of constantly moving in the dungeon (or other enclosed areas) seems odd. I can see that characters being stressed out for 50 minutes need to relax for a while, and I would also assume that since time is of the essence in dungeon delving, especially when wandering monsters may appear, I get the urgency of the group to make haste and rush the place. So, forcing the party to rest every 5 turns makes sense in this way, but feels weird to my players, who are used to a more narrative style of dungeon crawling. So far, we haven't run a true dungeon to test it, but I plan not to use it if it turns out more a chore than increasing tension.

Fourth, spell research severely limits magic-users and elves and, along with magic item crafting, can be quite an expensive affair for spellcasters. Judging by the amount of treasure my group recovers from adventuring, it almost feels impossible to have enough for spells or magic scrolls, essential items for the otherwise restricted spellcasters. I've borrowed Holmes' rules for magic scroll crafting, in that it requires 100 gp and one week per spell level of each spell; additionally, the spellcaster can craft magic scrolls at any level but must be able to cast the spell they want reproduced. As for spell research, magic-users and elves can use it to pick spells from the list at the cost of 100 gp and one week per spell level but must make a successful Intelligence check.

There are the evasion rules which we haven't even tried yet, stronghold, dominion and army rules which I don't think we will ever touch since we run a short-term campaign, and waterborne adventures which we might not check unless the group decides to board a ship to explore the river and its vicinity. As we test out more aspects of the game, and face the various rules and mechanics proposed, I shall update the blog accordingly.