Theo and Sam nod gravely as I describe how the last skeleton collapses into a heap of bones at the crushing force of Odo II's war hammer, its arm still grasping the cruel shining sword that falls at Black Mary's feet. "So the sword is shining?" says Theo. "It's not rusty? I'm asking if it's rusty because I want to take it out of the dungeon and sell it?" Anything that's not tied down my boys will try and take. I have to be careful setting the scene with old armories or hallways lined with suits of armor, as the game drags while the boys carefully inspect every item in the dungeon that might possibly fetch some coin at the local market. They are not content just to grab the silver candlesticks from the mantlepiece; they ask me to appraise the mantlepiece itself, if it's just wood or perhaps quality marble, and if it could be removed without damaging it. I suggest that is too heavy to be worth the trouble of carrying out of the dungeon,...

Reinhardt's Fast Retreat Magic-User, Level 1 The caster and up to (level)d4 chosen companions within an arm's reach are pulled out of combat in a puff of smoke to safe (or safer) destination within 60'. This is not a teleportation spell. Reaching the destination cannot involve travelling through any walls, over unbridged chasms, etc, although the spell is able to open and close doors as long as they're not barred too heavily. The caster does not control the destination, the DM should generously choose an obvious path of retreat. If there is no nearby room, the party may end up under a convenient table or inside a nearby cupboard. If any opponents wish to pursue the caster, it takes 1d4 + level rounds to sort out what happened, and then a save vs spells to avoid charging off in the exact wrong direction. Opponents may continue to fight anyone remaining without penalty.

My boys are instinctively interested in weapons and fascinated by all choices. While descriptions of swinging battle axes does a lot to reward their enthusiam, I feel I need reward their interest mechanically in the game, while keeping lightweight old-school-style combat. I like the Swords-and-Wizardry idea of using separate defensive, to-hit and damage bonuses for using a shield, two weapons and two-handed weapons, respectively. However, I also dig splintering shields, and figure that gives too much of an advantage to shields. Particularly when considering how fragile low-level characters are, the ability to cheat death for one round is too appealing compared with a mere +1 to hit. So I've adopted the following. Shields shall be splintered . After any attack, a character can specify that the shield took the blow. Non-magical shields are immediately splintered. Magical shields are splintered on a 1 from a d8 roll (for +1 shields), or a 1 on a d12 (for +12 shields). I may adjust t...

Sam was outraged that silver holy symbols cost 25gp. He refused on principle to buy any, and all the clerics were equipped with wooden symbols instead. He is duly impressed the first time the clerics are able to turn a group of skeletons. He asks if he can throw a wooden holy symbol along with a flaming flask of oil to make holy fire. I'm shocked and pleased with this idea. I tell him either it's blasphemy, and the Lord's anger will turn on him, or it will indeed cook the undead. I'm still calculating what die to roll. Whatever the result I want it to be memorable.

Theo and Sam have a posse. Character generation is fun. Abilities are rolled in order, 4d6-drop-lowest-die, which gives a random distribution of classes. In order to keep them from being discouraged by weak characters I let them roll several each, which got out of hand, and so they're entering the dungeon with 12 characters. One thief has 7 strength and 8 constitution and is named French Frie. The magic user is class-appropriate with 6 strength and 7 constitution and 15 intelligence. We decide he's obese and name him Smarty Lardlo. One fighter has 17 strength and 14 constitution and Sam chooses the name Sir Muscly Muscle. I'm running a modified version of the old Dungeon Magazine crawl Keep of Koralgesh, relocated to Reignac and transformed into an Egyptian pyramid. The entry corridor ends in two secret doors, which, thanks to their gang of 5 thieves (French Frie, Badflea, Black Mary, Troublesome Niceguy and Rukus) are both easily found. The first one they open leads to a...

For the first set of characters that they've rolled up, my kids are spending a lot of time deciding what kind of helmets each will have. For most characters the choice is between leather and metal helmets, although for the fighters there is some discussion about a spiked helmet versus one with a plume. I'm answering their questions with nuance and details while frantically wracking my brains for a mechanic to use with helmets. The boys have no idea what the rules are around helmets; Theo just bought a knight's helmet with a visor during our trip the previous week to Rocamador and they both assume something so important to them as a helmet must have an equally important part of the game. I'm not going to let them down. Grognardia's rule of opponents automatically targeting bare heads seems a little too much. I'm planning on using a variation of jrients' exactly-how-dead table: instead of negative hit points, when a character dies, they're out of the ...

My campaign setting is inspired by a recent trip to the Perigord where Sam bought me a Maison Fort de Reignac notebook. We also first got onto the idea of D&D during this trip, and I started using the notebook to keep track of ideas. I thought I'd pay homage by naming my campaign after the notebook. The region in general has a rich history and seemed like a good place to base a campaign setting on. It's also riddled with limestone caves so is already well-stocked with dungeons. The following timeline is almost, but not completely, factual. 20,000 BCE  Prehistoric man roams the frozen tundra, hunting mammoth and smaller goblins. Record of their activity is left in cave   paintings  and buried in the ground. Drawings of goblins are all erased during the great purge of 10,000 BCE. 1200 BCE  Egyptian colony established at Cargegnac during the late Bronze Age collapse. Some time later, a rogue priest of Anubis tries to open a portal to A Bad Place. The priest i...