The OD&Dyssey

Fantastic Homeric Adventure

Concept 

A sandbox campaign set in a fictionalized analogue of the Archaic period (circa 800–500 BCE) of ancient Greece, using the original rules for Dungeons & Dragons. (That is, the three “little brown books” and Supplement I from 1974–75. Plus Supplement IV for the Greek, Egyptian, Celtic, and possibly Norse deities!)

Aim

Sail or row your penteconter across the wine-dark sea in search of adventure, fame, and fortune. Choose whether to serve the gods, or defy them. Explore the Cyclopean ruins of the ancients in search of wondrous relics. Venture into the Underworld to bring fallen companions back to the land of the living. 

There is no overarching plot: the only story is the one your characters forge for themselves. Experience points are earned by treasure sacrificed, foes vanquished, locations explored, and oaths fulfilled. 

Emmanuel Rodier's gorgeous map of Mythika, the setting for Oliver Legrand's Mazes & Minotaurs.

Tone

Tragicomic, obviously, although a happy ending for the characters is in no way guaranteed. The world is full of human suffering and we must take it seriously but, goddammit, we have to laugh if we’re not to always be crying. We trust that there is some meaning to our struggles, even if it amounts to very little in the grand scheme of things. There is also irony: the deathless gods, who are pretty much all jerks (coming as they do from a large and exceedingly dysfunctional family), covet the worship of fragile mortals whose chutzpah they can’t help but admire. Conversely, feeble humans envy the gods their lives of beauty, ease, and luxury; yet they must also seek the gods' help, propitiating them to avoid disaster and to preserve their lives. (Sacrificing treasure is the key means to getting their attention.) Serving a god may bring great rewards but may also make you a pawn in their intrigues. How much do you want to be indebted to a huge immortal jerk? The choice will be yours.

Characters

To illustrate the principle that your characters' destinies are controlled by the Fates (and to put into practice the original rules for character creation), a table of 99 randomly-generated  ability-score arrays has been created. (3d6 down the line, as the gods intended.) Each player will roll randomly, three times: select one array to be that of your main character. The two remaining ones become 0-level NPCs who form part of the crew of the penteconter. You may employ them as hirelings from time to time to ensure that they gain experience and possibly advance to 1st level and beyond. You may also wish to identify one to inherit your wealth and possessions should you die. If one of them perishes, you may roll for a new array to represent their replacement.

When a main character dies, you will also roll to acquire a new array from the table. You can use this to create a new 1st-level character; alternatively, you may choose to play one of your hirelings, in which case the newly acquired array becomes a 0-level NPC (and perhaps a future follower). Thus, at all times each player will have a main character as well as two NPCs that can serve as replacements. In this way, character death should not unduly interrupt play (except for the traditional mourning and funerary rites). Resurrection is unlikely unless you have the ear of a god or know the location of the gates to Hades. 

In addition to their class, characters are further defined by their culture of origin (see the lands and realms on the map of Mythika, above), their family background (occupation and social status), the alignment of celestial objects at their birth, and one or two things they happen to be good at.

Aboard the penteconter, 0- and 1st-level characters are members of the crew; a handful of 2nd- and 3rd-level characters serve as lieutenants and advisers; and characters of 4th-level and above are heroes and possibly captains. Once one or more PCs take command of the penteconter and are fully in charge of its use and maintenance, it loses whatever fragile plot immunity it may have possessed previously. 

Rules and house rules 

OD&D being what it is, some interpretation is required. We will use Daniel R. Collins’ Original Edition Delta house rules. The lowdown is, there are three classes: warrior, mage, and thief. All d20 rolls are the same: add modifiers, hope to roll high. 

Communication tools

Lines and veils; x-card; frequent check-ins.

But really ...

This campaign framework is just an excuse to dive into The Caverns of Thracia which, along with several other classic location-based adventures such as The Lost City, will be seeded around the map.

When is this happening?

Realistically, probably not until 2027. I have yet to finish Emily Wilson's translation of The Iliad and, more importantly, need to think about the future of my Traveller campaign set in the Distant Fringe, now entering its fourth year....