Joethelawyer's Analog Mancave

In Old School D&D, you got most of your XP for treasure. Not for kills — for gold. You leveled up by dragging loot back to the village, and it changed everything about how your 5e D&D sessions actually played at the table. In this video I make the case that GP-for-XP is the single most underrated rule in Old School D&D, why 5e D&D's milestone and combat-XP systems quietly train...

DarkCon is the first, in person, convention dedicated to the Dark Sun setting. The first DarkCon will be held at the Knoxville Airport Hilton in Knoxville Tennessee on Saturday the 24th and Sunday the 25th of October 2026.Watch my live conversation Chris Moneymaker, founder of DarkCon, and Greg Christopher, aka the Chubby Funster, author of ShadowSun. If you want to see what's coming next in t...

Castle Naerytar is the 6th chapter of Hoard of the Dragon Queen, the first book of a two book D&D 5e Adventure including The Rise of Tiamat. I break down the adventure chapter by chapter to show you how to run it in a more old school way, bridging the gap to the OSR for 5e players. If you want to see what's coming next in the D&D game I'm building, my Patreon has all the work-in-pr...

WotC didn't lose the hobby because of bad dice math or edition creep. They lost it because they treated DMs like a revenue stream instead of the engine that drives D&D forward — and when DMs burned out and walked away, nobody at WotC noticed or cared. In this video I break down exactly how that happened, why it matters, and what we in the OSR are doing about it. If you want to see what&#39...

Hi Guys! Join Erik Tenkar of Tenkar's Tavern, Joe Bloch the Greyahwk Grognard, and myself for our Sunday Knight Special! This week we discuss Skill Checks, an issues that often divides old and new school D&D players and DM's. We will get together on the first and third Sundays of every month and do a deep dive into an interesting topic that transcends Old School versus New School and e...

You’ve been roleplaying this slimeball of a merchant for 30 minutes. The Players are into the scene! They’re listening to every word you say, looking at every facial expression you make, trying like hell to figure out if he’s lying. You’re roleplaying your ass off, giving an Oscar-worthy performance of a lifetime. They think he’s lying….THEY KNOW HE’S LYING…and one player is just about to call him...

Hi Guys! Join Erik Tenkar of Tenkar's Tavern, Joe Bloch the Greyahwk Grognard, and myself for our Weekly Collaboration Video! We will get together on the first and third Sundays of every month and do a deep dive into an interesting topic that transcends Old School versus New School and edition wars. We hope to bring gamers together by talking about the things that interest everyone who rolls d...

Hi everyone! I'm Joe, and though I'm one of the original OSR guys (40+ years as a DM running all editions of D&D games, and had one of the founding blogs of the OSR) I also ran 5e D&D extensively. My longest campaign ran almost 5 years. I've had multiple other campaigns that went on for a couple of years. How did I keep the games going so long, getting the players into mid-20th...

I'm finally talking to the Troll Lords! Steve and Davis agreed to spend a couple hours Sunday night with us to talk about everything! From Gary and Zagyg, to killing your brother with dice. Join us! Be sure to back the new addition to Castle Zagyg! Gary's famous megadungeon finally brought to life. https://www.backerkit.com/c/projects/troll-lord-games/castle-zagyg-galleries-of-the-arch-mag...

Before we had thieves. Now we have Rogues. Let me tell you what was lost because of that...Hi everyone! I'm Joe, and though I'm one of the original OSR guys (40+ years as a DM running all editions of D&D games, and had one of the founding blogs of the OSR) I also ran 5e D&D extensively. My longest campaign ran almost 5 years. I've had multiple other campaigns that went on for a...

It was the first D&D Adventure for 5e. It had flaws. I fixed them. Here's the Playlist I mentioned!https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLCDIAG-LxuqOKeBBCc2viF7HBzOExav8OThis is the second in a new series of Sunday videos where I put into practice everything I talk about in my Monday videos series. On Mondays I talk about the theory of how to make your 5e D&D games more Old School. On...

Hi Guys! Join me for an interview with Peter and Jayson! We'll talk about their game company, what its like to work with some of the greats in the RPG industry, and especially about their new convention Mod Con! Tabletop Weekly YouTube Showhttps://www.youtube.com/@solariangamesMod Con: https://tabletop.events/conventions/modcon-2026Solarian Games:https://solariangames.com/Hi everyone! I'm...

Hi Guys! Join Erik Tenkar of Tenkar's Tavern, Joe Bloch the Greyahwk Grognard, and myself for our Weekly Collaboration Video! We will get together on the first and third Sundays of every month and do a deep dive into an interesting topic that transcends Old School versus New School and edition wars. We hope to bring gamers together by talking about the things that interest everyone who rolls d...

We get blamed for a lot as DM's. PC Death shouldn't be one of them. Hi everyone! I'm Joe, and though I'm one of the original OSR guys (40+ years as a DM running all editions of D&D games, and had one of the founding blogs of the OSR) I also ran 5e D&D extensively. My longest campaign ran almost 5 years. I've had multiple other campaigns that went on for a couple of year...

It was the first D&D Adventure for 5e. It had flaws. I fixed them. This is the first in a new series of Sunday videos where I put into practice everything I talk about in my Monday videos series. On Mondays I talk about the theory of how to make your 5e D&D games more Old School. On Sunday I show you how to do it. Hi everyone! I'm Joe, and though I'm one of the original OSR guys (4...

Hi Guys! Join Erik Tenkar of Tenkar's Tavern, Joe Bloch the Greyahwk Grognard, and myself for our Sunday Knight Special! This week we discuss Skill Checks, an issues that often divides old and new school D&D players and DM's. We will get together on the first and third Sundays of every month and do a deep dive into an interesting topic that transcends Old School versus New School and e...

Hi Guys! Join Erik Tenkar of Tenkar's Tavern, Joe Bloch the Greyahwk Grognard, and myself for our Weekly Collaboration Video! We will get together on the first and third Sundays of every month and do a deep dive into an interesting topic that transcends Old School versus New School and edition wars. We hope to bring gamers together by talking about the things that interest everyone who rolls d...

Thanks EVERYBODY for making this possible! Without your support, comments and overall coolness, I'd have stopped doing this a looooong time ago :) Come celebrate with me! I figure a few random peeps will stop by too. :)Hi everyone! I'm Joe, and though I'm one of the original OSR guys (40+ years as a DM running all editions of D&D games, and had one of the founding blogs of the OSR)...

Hi Guys! Join Erik Tenkar of Tenkar's Tavern, Joe Bloch the Greyahwk Grognard, and myself for our Weekly Collaboration Video! We will get together on the first and third Sundays of every month and do a deep dive into an interesting topic that transcends Old School versus New School and edition wars. We hope to bring gamers together by talking about the things that interest everyone who rolls d...

Hi Guys! Join Erik Tenkar of Tenkar's Tavern, Joe Bloch the Greyahwk Grognard, and myself for our Weekly Collaboration Video! We will get together on the first and third Sundays of every month and do a deep dive into an interesting topic that transcends Old School versus New School and edition wars. We hope to bring gamers together by talking about the things that interest everyone who rolls d...

Hi Guys! How are the big Twitch and YT Streamers screwing up and changing the essence of the kitchen table D&D game? This is a collaboration video with DM Angelo of the DM and Friends YouTube Channel. Check out his take on it as well! Here's his video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZVn8cYn3zWEHere's the X post:https://x.com/Grand_DM/status/2028818497438966273?s=20Here's Tim Shorts...

It's funny how much the various stages of life affect the stages we go through as D&D players and DM's. Hi everyone! I'm Joe, and though I'm one of the original OSR guys (40+ years as a DM running all editions of D&D games, and had one of the founding blogs of the OSR) I also ran 5e D&D extensively. My longest campaign ran almost 5 years. I've had multiple other cam...

Hi guys! Join My Brother and I and his dog Roscoe Squirrel-bane as we shoot the shit around the pit. We'll discuss all D&D and be taking questions from the audience. By Popular demand, here is the link to my new Analog Mancave Discord Server!https://discord.gg/RHxTCq3mzTHere's the link to my first Substack post!https://open.substack.com/pub/analogmancave/p/joethelawyers-analog-mancave-...

Hi Guys! For some reason this livestream didn't go out on YT a couple weeks ago. So I got a copy for you to watch. Enjoy! We will get together on the first and third Sundays of every month and do a deep dive into an interesting topic that transcends Old School versus New School and edition wars. We hope to bring gamers together by talking about the things that interest everyone who rolls dice...

Hi Guys! Join Erik Tenkar of Tenkar's Tavern, Joe Bloch the Greyahwk Grognard, and myself for our Weekly Collaboration Video! Join us this Sunday at 9 pm EST as we fight it out! We will get together on the first and third Sundays of every month and do a deep dive into an interesting topic that transcends Old School versus New School and edition wars. We hope to bring gamers together by talking...