My RPG History \ Old School Adventure Reviews and Podcasts

 I do not clearly remember the year I started playing Dungeons and Dragons, but it was around 1980 give or take a year or two.  I was a player a little, but almost exclusively ran games as a Dungeon Master.  I collected TSR books, adventure modules, and games, and dabbled a bit with Traveller, but D&D was my primary game.   I wrote custom adventures and created homebrew worlds through college, and stopped a few years after as friends drifted away and adult life set in.  Computer games scratched the itch for role-playing from the mid-1990s until around 2016.  I even wrote adventures for the Neverwinter Nights 1 and Neverwinter Nights 2 computer games based on Dungeons and Dragons. My kids were old enough that I could sneak out of the house once a week or an open game at Titan Games, a local gaming store.   The open group grew steadily until it was quite large and hard for the DM and store owner to run each week.  He knew I was itching to start running a game again and invited me to take half the group, and split off into a standing weekly game.  The faces in that weekly group have changed a bit since 2016 and the game is now run online or out of my home, but I've had a steady weekly Dungeons and Dragons game for nearly six years now.  I love it!

During the past six years, I have released a few original adventures and many 5th Edition conversions of old late 1970s and early 1980s D&D adventures originally published by TSR over on DMsGuild.  Conversions of old Advanced Dungeons and Dragons adventures from my youth have cropped up in my homebrew campaign.  This was a nice way to reconnect with great memories from my childhood, but with a fresh perspective.  I learned and understood more about these old classics than I ever did when I was the first reading and running them.

I have also read many blogs, listened to hours of gameplay podcasts, and watched many videos on YouTube all frequently focused on old-school-style play, D&D retro clones, and old-school adventures.  The proverbial pond of content and reviewers is wide and deep.   For those that are curious, there are several, I would highly recommend, particularly if you are looking for a review of older adventures, or someone with old-school sensibilities.   Here is a suggested list in no particular order.

• YeOldGeek - YouTube channel with reviews of classic adventures and thoughts on adjusting the 5th edition to give it an old-school feel. 
• RPG Retro Review by Captcorajus.  YouTube channel with reviews of classic adventures and gaming systems as well as newer retro-clones.   Videos on the classics are here as well as a number of adventures I have never owned or run.  
• Dungeon Craft by Professor Dungeon Master.  YouTube channel by a gentleman who grew up playing when I did.  He frequently focuses on helping viewers run the ultimate game of Dungeons and Dragons.  Many of the ideas and suggestions have an old-school senstibility.  
• Greyhawk Grognard: A blog and YouTube channel focused on the world of Greyhawk.  This guy really knows his lore and I think he has ready every old rule book, module, and novel related to Greyhawk.  Buckle up for a deep dive into Greyhawk lore.

I consume many other blogs and youtube channels, but these four will really help you reconnect with the early days of Dungeons and Dragons.

Stay safe and happy gaming.