First Impressions - Artifices, Deceptions and Dilemmas (D&D and OSR)

The cover on AD&D is really nicely done.

Artifices, Devices and Dilemmas (or AD&D hereafter - see what they did there?) is a supplement for D&D style games for the Dungeon Master. It is 160 page book in the small format that matches Old-School Essentials. It has a black and white interior and an attractive colour map based wrap around cover with no spinal text. It is print-on-demand, sourced via DriveThruRPG.

AD&D is gives advice on how to run dungeons in an old-school manner, being fair in how you present the information to the players in such a way that they always get a chance to address traps or challenges without feeling that they couldn’t have avoided things if it all goes horribly wrong. The book is subtitled “Killing Characters Fairly”. This is very much about the early D&D flavour, not the post 3rd Edition hero based D&D that modern players are most used to.

The first section gives options to randomly chose the types of rooms encountered. Each has a summary of what they’re for, keywords that could be used about it and an illustration. In reality, I suspect you’d use it for inspiration when designing a dungeon area rather than slavishly using the tables.

There are then a collection of pages showing what different architectural finishes are like (eg bamboo weave vs. lath and plaster). I found the preceding pages more useful.

AD&D then moves on to talk about Agency and giving players choice; this is where the fairness starts to come into this. It’s very much about DM honesty and making sure that the right clues are given to players in a non-obscure way. This is backed up with examples from early D&D modules. It then discusses the types of traps and their triggers, again backed with examples from past modules. Multiple traps, devices and tricks are described, all excellent food for thought for the DM.

The book finishes with a list of things that can be found in rooms - each item has a selection of keywords to riff off.

The author’s voice is strong and assertive. Initially, it was a bit annoying until I remembered that they’re trying to describe a specific type of play and give direction on how to do it.

Overall, I think this is a useful book if you want to understand a particular style of dungeoneering play (something that D&D5e has moved away from and lacks guidance on). It’s packed with ideas and inspiration. A useful addition to a DM’s arsenal.

3 January 2023