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From my own archives, I have dug up a collection of moments to share with you! As far as I can tell, the book is continuing to write itself, words and concepts injecting themselves into the pages. The origin of this tome itself is beyond me, and this library of mine is far older than myself. This is just as much a journey for me as it is for you. The opening passages have been torn out, although the latter half of the book seems largely untouched by age or wear.
I haven't yet deciphered everything, but I shall attempt to regail you with its innards.

In pursuit of some unkowable meaning, a collective delves into the Labyrinth below. Vast and infinite, it spreads thickly into the crust of our now accursed Earth. Its maw welcomes them gently, into cold red slumber.
The first, a small yet spry man wreathed in leather binds and regret. The second, a man of God chiefly donning his black suit. The third, a timid yet skillful cybernetic seeker of otherworldly power. And the fourth, a one-armed stout warrior of steel and fire.

--Now it appears as though these individuals had made a wager between each other, although the details of this wager are beyond me. It seems as though they are seeking some kind of mystery or solution to a puzzle, wherever they might be? As far as I'm aware, there's no labyrinth or big maze under our feet, and numerous times in this text it describes the "timid one" as casting magic and other wizardly things. Practices such as these are uncommon in the real world, however the description of them being "cybernetic" is accurate.

Harrowed by the beast of terror borne of unnatural animation, their curiosities are satisfied as they uncover a metal cage. Within a concrete pit, a small orb of glowing light hangs from the chasse. It falls with grace into the abyss below, carrying their haggard forms. One says to the other, "I've seen these. An apparatus, although from which world is beyond me."
They drop deeper and deeper, until the cage comes to a screeching halt and they stare out into halls, laden with smoke and fog. Within the proceedings they discover a monk of unusual proclivities. He sits aloft a pile of bricks, his silhouetted form ringed by the red veins and flesh of Oraiza, bulging through the cracks in the stone walls.

--I am unfamiliar with who, what, why or how "Oraiza" is, and despite all of my searching, there is no god or deity associated with this name or any similar to it.

The man warns them of coming fear and blood. Water will rise and razors will bloom, vicious animations of rage and undeath. He warns them not to be pulled over, and not to be torn asunder. They take his advice, and continue forth, crawling on their bellies through tight crawlways of moisture and mist
Soon they are faced with the frigid waterfall flowing from high above them, the pale blue light of chambers high barely reaching their pallid faces. The Mad Blackguard is nowhere to be found, and must have been swept away by the deep rivers of water.

--There is no earlier mention of any "Mad Blackguards" before this passage, although I believe he must have been a past character. Perhaps he fell down here from some higher precipice or something? The text seems to imply that they knew of the waterfall from previous floors perhaps.

Soon, their peace is disrupted. Shrieks and high pitched scraping rips through their senses. Skull Raptors were upon them, larger than before. The Bravierre steps forth first, swinging his axe wildly at his prey. The Priest assists, whispering blessed ears into the vapor of life. The Cutthroat flings bolts and daggers, perforating his targets. The Surveyor stands back, returning the beasts to their watery form with scripts of water and heat.
They fight valiantly, but the largest of their foes stands tall amongst the crowd, cleaving through their efforts. Swift, like a dragon, it slices the Bravierre nearly in twain. His life only barely clinging on to scraps. The Surveyor, caught and dragged into the inky blackness below, never to be seen again. The Priest, so close to victory, gripped by a dying beast and rended, his insides turned outwards. The unscathed soul stands, awash with shock and terror. His cohorts dead or dying. He rushes to the aide of the Bravierre, and is barely fast enough to save his being. The other two, far beyond repair, were left behind.
Past the watery graves of the Skull Raptors lay a tower, scaling infinitely high and infinitely low. Wordlessly, the two remaining heroes step deeper, and yet deeper. Solemn be their work and sorrowful be the work of Devils, ye hopeless souls!

--This was about as far as I got before I began to feel the sting of hunger and the yearning for celestia. I paused my work, and lay it now in front of you, for your own enjoyment. Perhaps yet some day more of this journey may be unearthed.

>>4504
what story is this from? it's really neat

>>4523
Thank you for asking! Unfortunately, I cannot tell you "where" this story might be from. I simply don't know. I was perusing my collection of literary and gamist works and in one of the back, oft' unused and forgotten corners I found this book. As I mentioned previously, the opening passages have all been torn out, however the book itself is of a respectable size and bound in traditional decorated leather. On the cover is engraved only two words; "Mirror Mirror". In its own unfamiliar pictographic language, of course.
I reckon it's the title of some form of fiction book from years past, perhaps one I purchased and found to be so impenetrable that I tore it up in frustration. However I consider that proposition entirely unlikely, as I consider my collection to be sacred and wouldn't tear up even a work I despised. I also have no recollection of ever purchasing a book written in such a manner, and the cover itself is alien to me. There is no author nor' any credits for penmanship. I cannot comment on what the opening pages of the book might have had, but it ends abruptly on a single left sided page face towards the back.

Of all the examples within my collection, this one is potentially the strangest. This is why I found it pertinent to post first, before others of interest.

>>4498
Are single player tabletop games a thing?

>>4570
They are! Although primarily they are a social hobby, there are a variety of games that you can play alone.
Of course, many can simply be homebrewed to work when played solo. Depending on what you desire, you can use random dungeon generations and random event tables in classic AD&D books as a strong base. However, I would recommend Scarlet Heroes: Sword & Sorcery Adventures for a Lone Hero. Doing this however is far from an ideal solution.
I myself am not extremely well versed in the wizardries of solo gaming, however if you seek this realm of interest, then there's a wide variety of options provided by sites like itch.io, which is referenced in the OP. If they fit your desires, then may you find and enjoy your works, and be sure to share what you choose here!

>>4498
If i had to get a version of d&d, which version should i buy?

>>4628
Ah yes, the age old question! A question with a very simple answer:
Don't buy one. They're PDF files, they're books! You can find them at "libraries" in countless places across the ether.
If you're looking for recommendations, your pickings are somewhat slim. I myself lie more in the taste of the earlier works-- I would personally recommend AD&D, however if you're looking for something slightly more modern that still fulfills the hunger for classic Sword & Sorcery, then 3e or 3.5e is your next best bet!

Now, if you could give me some time, I'm sure I could find one of these in my own collection for you. Which one do you seek, o' wanderous one?

Got lucky recently and won a little bidding war, It's from the 3.0 version of D&D, The three core books, Players guide, DMs guide, and monster manual. There's a couple others but i feel like those are the ones worth mentioning. My mom used to play a hell of alot of dnd, specifically Advanced D&D 2.0, and when she moved out to collage, her dad sold all her shit dispite actually wanting to come back later and bring that shit with her. She was always pissed about it because it was alot of books and she was very passionate about it. She told me about her adventures when i was like roughly 17 or so, so ever since then i've craved PNP rpgs and even miniature wargaming without ever getting a single taste for ages. To make matters worse i think the main issue is being a poorfag and not being able to buy one, measly handbook for 49.99, then you have the other problem of not having a social group to play with. Hell i really expanded my options, like i heard there was a really cool alien RPG and when the book finally came out it was 70$. I got heavily addicted to reading Warhammer 40k and listening to audiobooks on youtube before they nuked everything from youtube, and white dwarf had a really fucking awesome black and white comicbook series that kicks ass. Priced too much, If they seriously resold fucking spacehulk though i will throw away 114 dollars or whatever it costs, the 50 dollar kit they sell at target DOES NOT begin to compare to how cool spacehulk is and the amount of shit you actually get from it. Had a really hard time in general finding a little wargame with minis but i stuck gold with a little battletech essentials kit. I also found a couple of old battletech comics and the lore looks neat.
Recently things are picking up, lorewise i bought and read the hell out of the entire run of D&D comics from DC (minus spelljammers), Good shit, too bad it was canceled because it could have been something.
Recently read the dragonlance comic adaptions of the original novels, Again outstanding works, would have been a hell of a movie. Recently a new local comic shop opened up, and they have these little dnd/wargaming meetups so i think i can sign up one of these days.
>Which one do you seek
I seek what you can provide, within reason.
Free is free, so i cannot complain, and i'm awfully curious. I was reading a dnd history book and they said that the Ravenloft campaign setting, and Dark Sun, are outstanding works and anything i can learn from in general would be appreciated.

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Ah. Unfortunately for all of us involved, I am unable to simply display to you the works I have collected.
However, here I have on hand something that you might find somewhat nostalgic; AD&D 1e!
Found within the more frontwards shelves of my library, this one's one of my favorites. I quite like the "retro" feeling of the work. A land of mystery and grim darkness awaits you, awaft with heroes of legend and magic of mind!

You will simply have to trust the transport of the book itself. If doing something like this breaks the rules of our lovely debate parlor, I am inclined to oblige, although begrudgingly.
https://files.catbox.moe/gappn7.pdf

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>>4647
After reading this, i only slightly regret not personally owning a copy lmao although i have just discovered that drivethru rpg sells reprints and, the free pdf you posted is highly appreciated. (who know's i also might get lucky in the future) Your right about the artwork, it's a mix of silly cartoons you'd see in an old newspaper and more serious stuff with a darker flavor that justs sucks you in.
I was going to ask what supplies i need but i did some reading and it's pretty obvious and it's discussed in the players guide and DMs guide that'll be here on friday. I also got a FREE copy of updates to the 3.0 edition, and FREE character sheets to the 3.0 edition which is availible online via wayback, and there's a fuck ton of free adventures but i don't know if 3.5 adventures are backwards compatible to 3.0. Besides that i realised that i don't think there are any stories that comes with the stuff i'm buying, from what i understand it pretty much tells you how to invent your own, but i would like one anyways so i'm currently eyeballing the "forge of fury" story for 18 dollars on amazon.
I think if i can see how a story is written, then i can kind of figure out how to write my own. I clearly have alot of shit to figure out, i think the first thing is to make my own character via the 3.0 character sheet, read the hell ouf of the stuff i bought, buy some dice, maybe catch a youtube video of a session to see how it's played, maybe play a session at the local comic shop, even if it's 5th edition.
Will i need Miniatures? Or is it possible to play without them? Which versions of D&D do you have fond memories of OP?

>>4651
Counting the amount of free mini adventures, i think there's 49 out of 65 that's compatible with 3.0 (good amount) also i found one actual campaign that's set in Eberron and a little extra web companion to the thing so hell yeah. To make matters better for me i convinced a cousin to play the game with me which is going to be great.

>>4652
Is one of you going to DM for the other or will this be a duo GM-less adventure?

>>4653
Now mind you i've only read the adnd player handbook but lmao is a duo GM-less adventure even possible? I just figured i'd have no choice to be the DM, and i'd throw in my own character too, and if my character dies either i'd make a new one or just focus on DMing

Did anyone play or hear about Castles & Crusades? I heard it was supposed to be like a revival of old DND, but good.

Based on reading the manuals so far the threat of death is ever present, the monsters being dangerous (Owlbear will gut your ass in seconds if your too close) and enemies like the Mohrg being both disgusting and terrifying, google it, holy shit lol. I like that, i like range in stories and i like a good struggle. I was listening to a video about the way death was handled in 5e and they toned down the tone of the monsters and lightened the threat of death, which is a shame. It's not an excuse to present overwhelming difficulty and damage sponges, but still, i really enjoy the tone. I think range of encounters, behaviour, and tactics are important, must be boring for typical encounters of randomly spawning enemies. Maybe the player should meet somewhat tame, or frightened monsters, or tricky ones who ambush the party or lead them to threats, maybe random animal encounters should be thrown in like large angry aligators.