Official NAP Tournament Reference Bible

Salutations NAPsters. With NAP II outperforming its predecessor by a considerable margin and NAP III on the horizon (after which I will get the companion volume out I promise), I wanted to compile a comprehensive list of permitted retroclones and sourcebooks for the NAP tournament format, to reduce attrition by technical knockout in any future contests. Therefore what follows is the complete list of permissable source material.

For the purposes of the contest, some ruffians will occasionally try to import monsters from one system into an adjacent system. As the curtailed list is comprised almost exclusively of variants of the worlds most succesfull roleplaying game, such subterfuge, while frowned upon, is not illegal. We nevertheless ensure that any such conversions are done as faithfully as possible. Grave deviations from the original creature might result in penalties, banishment, death threats and acid attacks.

The goal is of course not to fight against layout or art or to curb all creativity but instead to channel it in directions that are actually useful and contigent with the game of oldschool d&d that represent the focus and foundation of the OSR. Creation should be considered in terms of adding to an extant and living library of material, adventures and game systems and being of use and enjoyment to fellow participants. If artistic flourishes contribute to that, then all the better! Conversely, self-expression can never be the primary goal of a healthy and active hobby, and persons seeking to indulge in fantasies of participating in some sort of bizarre table-top games themed artists commune are encouraged to move to game systems or other expressive media more in line with such proclivities.

Note that if you select a system, use of any supplementary material beyond the Core Rules is not mandatory. Use of AD&D does not neccessitate that you use Unearthed Arcana also. Deviations from the core rules are extremely discouraged, piecemail borrowing or selective porting from elements in supplementary material is permitted. Using, say, a Robe of the Stars from Unearthed Arcana in your NAP entry does not force you to accept or take into account the existence of Half-Drow Cavaliers. Items, creatures or classes may be imported from setting specific reference material without bringing with it any obligation to abiding by the conditions of that setting. These are supplementary tools meant to enable, not restrict.

Official Canon:

OD&D
– Original 3 Brown Books.
– Supplement I-IV
– Swords & Spells mass combat system/
– Chainmail for mass combat only

AD&D 1e
– Player Handbook & Dungeon Master Guide
– Monster manual I, II & Fiend Folio
– Legends & Lore, Deities & Demigods
– Wilderness Survival Guide, Dungeon Survival Guide, Manual of the Planes & Unearthed Arcana
– Oriental Adventures
– All official TSR modules for said system
– The Battlesystem rules

Basic D&D
– Any version of the Holmes, Moldvay, Mentzer, Denning authored core rules of Basic/Expert Dungeons and Dragons game
– The BECMI boxed sets
– The AC supplementary works (most of these are horrible, but AC9 The Creature Catalogue is an excellent supplementary bestiary for B/X)
– The Rules Cyclopedia
– The Gazzeteers, Wrath of the Immortals boxed set, Voyage of the Princess Ark and Champions of Mystara (at your own peril)
– All TSR modules written for the above are permissable

AD&D 2nd Edition.

2nd Edition remains a contentious addition to the tournament and represents one of the first deviations from the spirit of the original game. Under its decade long reign, D&D would indulge in all manner of unwholesome experimentation, including railroading, storygaming, excessive simulationism, excessive lore, metaplot, splatbooks and other directions that, while occasionally interesting, are no longer fully aligned with the spirit of Fantasy Adventure Gaming of the original game. It also has an immense library of material for consideration, representing an additional challenge to any would be NAP judge. Nevertheless, excluding 2nd edition based on its direction, rather then its contents (which is the closest game to 1st edition Advanced Dungeons & Dragons and is almost fully compatible), seems cruel and unusual. Therefore 2nd edition material and submissions are grudgingly tolerated, and somewhat curtailed. Petitioners wishing to use 2e material beyond that mentioned below must petition the Judge via Email using the following format only.

Oh wise and benevolent NAP Judge,

Know that I stand before you, a lowly worm, steeped in sin and unworthy of notice. A million lifetimes would not be enough to repay the debt of your attention. I beg you, for my NAP entry, permit me the use of {insert name and TSR code of 2e supplement} and in the next life you will be blessed with a thousand camels.

I patiently await your just verdict, in full recognition of its righteous and irrevocable nature.

Your willing servant,
{name}

The plethora of exotic settings for 2e might represent an alluring challenge but aspiring NAPsters are urged to refrain from submitting material explicitly set in any of them for legal and fantasy adventure gaming related reasons.

– The 2e PhB & Dungeon Master Guide
– Tome of Magic, Book of Artifacts
– The Complete {-} series
– The Monstrous Compendia, The Monster Manual
– The Historical Reference Sourcebooks
– TSR 9506 Chronomancer
– The Players and DM’s Option books
– The Battlesystem rules for 2e
– The DMGR series
– Legends & Lore

Additional material:
– Dragon Magazine #01 – 273
– Dungeon Magazine #01-81

Retroclones:
Any core ruleset just described may be substituted by one of the following Oldschool retroclones. As a rule of thumb, core bestiaries containing a few new entries are permissable, bestiaries of entirely new creatures are not. Expansions and sourcebooks fo the respective systems are NOT permitted unless explicitly canonized.

AD&D 1e: OSRIC, Adventures Dark & Deep Phb, DMG & Bestiary
OD&D: Swords & Wizardry Complete, Swords & Wizardry White Box
B/X, BECMI, RC: Basic Fantasy Roleplaying, Labyrinth Lord, Advanced Labyrinth Lord Companion, OSE: Basic Rules, OSE: Advanced edition, Rules Compendium
AD&D 2e: Gold & Glory

Additional oldschool games permitted:
– Adventurer Conqueror King and any supplementary material
– Worlds Without Number and any supplementary material

It should herein be mentioned that Worlds Without Number is permitted as a favor to one of my readers and represents occasional problems fitting within the contest stipulations. If you are a devoted fan of the system, your contributions are welcome, but otherwise, other options are more compatible.

Additional material permitted:
– White Dwarf #01 – #104

In accordance with the living nature of the hobby, each year of NAP the presiding judge shall canonize one work of the OSR for permanent inclusion in the listings, unless no worthy material may be found. For this year the following work shall be canonized.

– Monsters of Myth (OSRIC)

NAP III conditions to follow soon-ish. The original idea of high level gaming will remain in force.