Tag Archives: original d&d

How I Run OD&D Combat

06 Sunday Jul 2025

Posted by in DM Resources

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , ,

Link to discussion

Over the years I’ve settled on a way to run 0e/OD&D/White Box combat that keeps the action moving and is pretty simple, while covering many cases that come up. I use this basic system for other games also, maybe with some of the details changed (like weapon damage or rate of fire in B/X-style games), but the core system remains the same.

Surprise

If surprise is in question, I use the standard d6 roll per side, with 1-2 meaning that side is surprised. Opponents get a free attack in that case.

Initiative

I use side-based initiative, with a tied roll meaning simultaneous action, but with the caveat that the initiative roll is modified by DEX in the event of a tie. So a PC with a low DEX (8 or less) would go last on a tied roll, while PCs with an above-average DEX (13 or more) will go first in that case. I re-roll initiative each round.

Missiles

I allow two bow shots per round for stationary archers, one if they choose to move and then fire (or vice versa). Elves can always fire two shots, however, even if moving.

Shooting into melee is at -4 to the attack roll, with no range bonuses allowed. On a natural 1, an ally is hit, determined randomly.

Other missile weapons can be fired once per round, except for crossbows, which can be fired every other round.

Melee

Combatants can choose whom they want to attack. Attacks from behind are at +2, except for thieves, who get +4 when unnoticed.

Moving in combat is at 1/3 of the base movement rate times 10, so a leather-armored PC with a base move of 12 can move 40 feet per combat round. Leaving combat can be done slowly with a fighting retreat without penalty – but the opponent can always follow. Fleeing combat outright gives opponents a free attack at +2.

Charging into combat with initiative will give the attacker +2 to their attack roll, but if they miss, their opponent gains +2 on the return attack.

Spears and pole arms can attack from the second rank as thrusting weapons, and spears do an extra point of damage when used two-handed.

Position can be important, for example if three PCs are attacking an Orc, and the Orc is using a shield, one of the PCs will be attacking the shieldless flank.

Sometimes PCs want to switch weapons in the same round, like from bow to sword at the start of combat. I allow this, as long as the weapon in hand is dropped. Otherwise, it takes a full round to stow the first weapon and ready the second.

Crits & Fumbles

I don’t like detailed critical hit/fumble tables. I keep it simple – a natural 20 always hits (barring magic or silver required) and does maximum damage, while a roll of 1 is an automatic miss (but see above for shooting missiles into melee).

Death and Wounds

Binding wounds can be done after any combat and will heal 1d3 hp.

PCs die at 0hp or less, however they do get a save versus death in that case, adding any CON bonus/penalty to the roll. If they succeed, they are left with 1hp and cannot regain any hit points that day without the use of magic, nor do they get a second chance if they fall to 0hp again.

Spells

Spells can be prepared and held in that state until cast. Prepared spells go off before any melee or movement actions for that PC’s side. Otherwise, any spell takes one combat round to prepare (scroll spells go off first the round after the scroll is dug out of a pack or pouch and opened). If it is important to know if one spell goes off before another on the side that wins initiative, I compare DEX scores of the spellcasters.

I assume that keeping a spell prepared does take some small level of concentration, so if a spellcaster is hit by an attack, any prepared spells are lost (but can be re-prepared starting the next round in that case, they are not lost from memory). It is not possible to prepare or cast a spell from memory while in combat, but spells cast from magic items can be used in combat.

Gaze Attacks, Magic Items and Breath Weapons

Gaze attacks always take effect first, followed by spells cast from magic items (like wands, rings or staves) and breath weapons, which will both take effect before melee or movement, but simultaneous with prepared spells. So all told, this is the order of actions per side:

  • Gaze attacks
  • Prepared spells, spells cast from magic items, breath weapons
  • Missile fire, melee & movement

I don’t care whether movement takes place before or after an attack, or when missiles are fired. For a given side, I’ll just go around the table (or VTT) and combatants will act in order. Depending on circumstances, I let players hold their PC’s action, so for example they can charge in to attack just after their companion fires a bow.

Musings on the Original Thief Class

26 Monday May 2025

Posted by in Musings

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

, , ,

Link to discussion

The story of the Thief class is well-known by now, with the idea being given to Gary Gygax by a D&D fan named Gary Switzer by phone, then appearing in the Great Plains Newsletter around May of 1974 (although the original idea came from Daniel Wagner).

This original version of the Thief class, with d6 hit dice and meant for use with the 3LBB, is only available as poor quality scans of typewritten pages. Allan Grohe (Grodog) did an amazing job of transcribing the copies, but his transcription is no longer available online.

Zenopus Archives did an overview of this class back in 2016, and made a one-page reference sheet of the original Thief available (re-worded and without the example of the Thief in action).

However, since I had downloaded a copy of the original transcription before it was taken down, I wanted to at least go through that document and comment on the various sections with relevant quotes, adding my own views.

Thieves are always _neutral_. Their prime requisite is _dexterity_. Men, Dwarves, Elves, or Hobbits may become thieves.

In subsequent editions, Thieves can be evil or chaotic as well. Restricting them to neutral paints the thief as more of an opportunist. There are no skill bonuses for the demi-human thief in this version, but also no stated level limits.

Thieves are generally not meant to fight, although they are able to employ magic swords and daggers (but none of the other magical weaponry), and the only armor they can wear is leathern [sic].

This is interesting, letting Thieves use magic swords, which can be very powerful in OD&D and were normally the sole province of the Fighting Man. There is no mention of shields being prohibited.

original thief advancement table

Looking at the advancement table, we see the XP was originally the lowest of the original classes (1200xp to 2nd level and a lot lower at higher levels), and closely matches that of Greyhawk and B/X up to 8th level or so. So advancement is very fast, assuming the Thief survives (see below on disarming small traps). The use of percentage skill checks is new, and of course hit dice are d6-based.

Open locks (by picking or even foiling magical closures)… however he cannot open the lock… so it must be forced open — a very time-consuming process.

Remember that if you have to force a lock, wandering monster checks occur every turn in OD&D. Also we see the language that lets thieves pick magically closed locks. Does this include countering the wizard lock spell? This is quite powerful if so, and paints more of a picture of the thief abilities as preternatural.

Removal of small trap devices (such as poisoned needles)… Assume that a fifth level thief (Cutpurse) is a member of an expedition… the thief goes into the area and examines several chests in the room.  He notes that two have traps – which he has a 35% chance of successfully removing. He succeeds on the first, and a vial of poisonous gas is removed… Failure to remove a trap, incidentally, activates it with regard to the thief and any others within its range.

So detecting small traps is presumably automatic (the same as in Greyhawk and Holmes, but not in Moldvay), and one only has to roll to attempt to disarm the trap. The note about failure is interesting, and would make higher level thieves rare, given the 10% chance of success at 1st level.

Listen for noise behind a closed door

Note this is 1-2 in 6 at 1st and 2nd level, giving human Thieves the same chance to hear noise as Elves, Dwarves and Halflings at low levels.

Move with stealth… moving with absolute silence.

Steal items by stealth and/or sleight-of-hand… removing the object, be it from the person of the owner or from his immediate vicinity… the same likelihood as he has of moving with absolute silence.

So moving silently and stealing are lumped together, and note the detailed wording that was dropped in subsequent editions and has confused players of those editions for decades: “the same likelihood as he has of moving with absolute silence” (emphasis added). The thief abilities are extraordinary. This explains the low chance of success, and allows the referee to allow a second, non-extraordinary roll as a non-thief would get to succeed in some lesser fashion.

Stealing items is not limited to picking pockets, or even from the target himself, but within the target’s immediate vicinity. This is a much more compelling view of the Thief class than the one presented in future incarnations.

Strike silently from behind… If the thief strikes silently from behind he will do two dice of damage for every four levels he as attained, minimum damage of two dice, and hit probabilities from behind should be increased by 20% (+4 on numbers shown to hit).

Note there is no weapon restriction with this ability – it’s not a backstab, but an attack from behind. Also note the word “silently”, which implies a “move with stealth” roll, but not a hide in shadows roll.

Hide in shadows… chance to remain undetected when hiding or moving through shadows… hide without being seen provided he wasn’t observed prior to hiding, and there were shadows, of course.

Again with the emphasis on a preternatural skill, the “chance to remain undetected”. This explicitly allows moving through shadows as well, the thief does not have to stay in one place (again, unlike in Moldvay).

Climb almost sheer surfaces rapidly, up or down.

No chance of success or failure is noted here, so we have to assume the climbing skill is automatic. In the Greyhawk supplement, Thieves had a 13% of failure while climbing at 1st level, reduced by 1% per level. In Moldvay, this is “Climb Steep Surfaces”, which has a totally different connotation.

Third level thieves (Robber and above) are able to read languages, so treasure maps can be understood by them without recourse to a spell.

Ninth level thieves (Thief and above) are able to understand magical writings, so if they discover a scroll they are able to employ any spells thereon, excluding clerical spells.

Again, no chance of success is mentioned, so we have to assume these are automatic. Greyhawk added some limitations for these skills.

Overall, I’d say this is a fairly playable class for your 3LBB games. This version of the Thief is similar to Moldvay’s version, at least on the surface (XP requirements, percentage skills). However, the wording used to describe the skills makes it a very different class when played. I much prefer this original version – I like the emphasis on the Thief as having preternatural skills to open magical locks, move with absolute silence, move undetected in shadows, or climb (almost) sheer surfaces – things non-thieves could not even attempt. It would be easy to pull in little house rules from Greyhawk like the chance of failure for climbing, if you thought the class was too powerful. But I don’t see it, especially given the note about how a failure to disarm a trap sets it off. Congratulate any player that gets a Thief to higher levels using this rule.

Musings on Sleep in OD&D – Is it Over-Powered?

25 Saturday May 2024

Posted by in Musings

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

, , ,

Link to discussion

Let’s look at the sleep spell in Men & Magic:

Sleep: A Sleep spell affects from 2–16 1st-level types (hit dice of up to 1 + 1), from 2–12 2nd-level types (hit dice of up to 2 + 1), from 1–6 3rd-level types, and but 1 4th-level type (up to 4 + 1 hit dice). The spell always affects up to the number of creatures determined by the dice. If more than the number rolled could be affected, determine which “sleep” by random selection. Range: 24".

My own opinion is that this is not over-powered, especially given the limited number of spells that low-level Magic-Users (MUs) have available per day, even assuming no save is allowed. I would concede that it is too powerful if you allow the spell to affect all of the hit dice (HD) groups at once.

Note that Holmes Basic D&D has the same mechanics, apart from specifically stating that no save is allowed. Holmes also allows MUs to create spell scrolls for minimal cost and time outlay (at least for 1st level spells), so after the first few adventures, MU PCs are likely to have lots of sleep scrolls. I like this scroll-making rule, and I know other OD&D referees also incorporate it into their games. So you might think the sleep spell itself is not over-powered, but that the availability of spell scrolls makes it too powerful in this case.

Whatever the circumstance, if you do think the sleep spell is over-powered or too plentiful, you can try any of the following changes or interpretations to the mechanics to help address the situation.

  • Allow a saving throw.
  • Have the spell affect anyone within range, not just enemies.
  • Randomly roll to see which hit dice (HD) group is affected in multi-HD groups.
  • Keep in mind that in OD&D, the range of the sleep spell is specified (240’), but not the area of effect (AoE). You can take the 10’ diameter AoE from Swords & Spells, which will limit its effect quite a bit (to perhaps no more than six man-sized creatures). With this method, you may wish to allow the MU to target a specific HD group within the AoE, or even specific foes.
  • Adopt the sleep spell mechanics from B/X – so have the spell affect the lowest HD creatures first, to some total number of HD.
  • Exclude the highest HD (up to 4+1) class from being affected by the spell. No sleeping Ogres!
  • Avoid the issue altogether, and be creative with encounters. It’s certainly ok to throw undead, fae, constructs, enchanted or as many other sleep-immune creatures as you can imagine at the party.
  • Once creatures are asleep, you can make them easy to wake up if they are in a chaotic environment like melee. Perhaps give an increasing chance per round of a sleeping creature being accidentally jostled awake by an errant kick. Also don’t forget that intelligent opponents will try to wake up sleeping allies if they can.

While you can opt to exclude the spell entirely from your games, with the above options, I don’t think it’s necessary.

The option I like to play with when I am running OD&D games is to roll randomly for the affected HD group, and allow the spell to affect any and all creatures within that group (within range), to include party members and allies. This will make a mixed group of, say 10 Orcs (1HD each), all of whom are in melee with the party, and two Ogres (4+1HD each) watching from afar (but still within the 240’ spell range) still dangerous. In this example, I have two HD groups – 1 and 4+. I roll a d6 and get a 1-3, so the spell will affect 2-16 1HD creatures, possibly including 1st level party members. If I had rolled a 4-6, the spell would affect just one of the Ogres, but no one else. If I had some 2nd level fighters in the party, I would now have three HD groups – 1, 2 and 4+, leaving a 1 in 3 chance that only the 2nd level fighters would be affected (or 2-12 of them anyway)!

In the end, the imprecise nature of OD&D helps you here as a referee – just decide on the sleep spell mechanics and effects ahead of time and make it work for you and your gaming group.

Musings on OD&D’s 50th Anniversary

22 Monday Jan 2024

Posted by in Musings

≈ 9 Comments

Tags

, , , ,

Forum discussion

Late January of 1974 marked the first printing of Dungeons & Dragons. I’ve seen various dates, but the last week in January seems to be commonly cited. I was six at the time – a bit too early for me to have been aware of it – but it was still widely available in hobby shops when I started playing AD&D in 1979.

odnd-mm-og-cover

I had an Original Collector’s Edition (OCE) “white box” set at one point back then, along with Greyhawk and the other supplements, but I didn’t really get into 1974 OD&D (3LBBs) until the OSR and retro-clone movement gained steam and brought me back into the hobby. It was Swords & Wizardry White Box that really made me take a closer look at OD&D when the former was published in 2009. Since then, I’ve played or run more hours of OD&D or OD&D clones than any other RPG – it’s far and away my favorite iteration of the game.

Image

Wayne Rossi called OD&D “lightning in a bottle”, and I think this is the most accurate phrase I’ve seen to describe the 3LBBs. It brings to mind the open-ended nature of the game, the ability the 3LBBs give you to create something unique and fun from the framework presented in the booklets. Not that other RPGs are or were not fun to play, but many have been forgotten, while just reading the little OD&D booklets to this day, 50 years later, still inspires me to play it (by the way, Wayne’s compiled “OD&D Setting” posts are a neat look at the implied world as presented in the 3LBBs).

odnd-uwwa-og-cover

What I love most about OD&D is the simplicity of the “alternative” combat system, the detailed exploration rules, as well as the relative unimportance of ability scores to PC class choice. Everything is simple and play is fast – game prep can be minimal. Role play and exploration trumps the character sheet, and in my experience, when the referee and players embrace that play style, great things can happen.

The OD&D PDFs are available on DTRPG or via creative searching, and if you haven’t at least read them, I encourage you to do so, if nothing else for the creative inspiration.

My Approach to the OD&D Elf

03 Wednesday May 2023

Posted by in Class Tweaks

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

, , , ,

Link to discussion

There is lots of ambiguity as far as how the Elf works in the original incarnation of D&D from 1974. Elves were a blend between fighter and magic-user (MU), although you had to choose a class to play each adventure, and it was anyone’s guess how saves, hit dice and level advancement worked.

Elves: Elves can begin as either Fighting-Men or Magic-Users and freely switch class whenever they choose, from adventure to adventure, but not during the course of a single game. Thus, they gain the benefits of both classes and may use both weaponry and spells. They may use magic armor and still act as Magic-Users. However, they may not progress beyond 4th level Fighting-Man (Hero) nor 8th level Magic-User (Warlock). Elves are more able to note secret and hidden doors. They also gain the advantages noted in the CHAINMAIL rules when fighting certain fantastic creatures. Finally, Elves are able to speak the languages of Orcs, Hobgoblins, and Gnolls in addition to their own (Elvish) and the other usual tongues.

Men & Magic, p. 8

That’s pretty much it, other than a paragraph about Elves in Monsters & Treasure which you may want to pick and choose bits from to apply to PC Elves:

ELVES: … Roll a four-sided die for level of fighting and a six-sided die for level of magical ability, treating any 1’s rolled as 2’s and 6’s(magical level), as 5’s… Elves have the ability of moving silently and are nearly invisible in their gray-green cloaks. Elves armed with magical weapons will add one pip to dice rolled to determine damage, i.e. when a hit is scored the possible number of damage points will be 2–7 per die. Elves on foot may split-move and fire…

Monsters & Treasure, p. 16

This lets you know that the Fighter and MU levels don’t progress in sync, at least as far as NPC Elves. Anyway there have been tons of variations on Elves and how they work over the years, many being based on splitting XP and averaging hit points as levels are gained. I have settled on something simpler, so here in a nutshell are my OD&D Elf house rules, including my take on the Chainmail abilities mentioned above.

Elves: Elves start as a combined Fighter/M-U, both at 1st level. They can allocate earned experience to either class, or to both as desired. Hit points are calculated normally  when a level is gained in one class, rolling all hit dice for that class (e.g. roll 4d6 for a 4th level Fighter) and keeping the previous total if it is higher (at first level, take the better of the two rolls). They have the benefits of the stronger class for saves, weapons and armor use, but can only cast spells in magical armor or Elven chain.

  • Elves of 9 or higher INT can speak the languages of Orcs, Hobgoblins, and Gnolls
  • Elves are immune to ghoul paralysis
  • Elves impart +1 damage with magical weapons
  • Elves on foot armed with bows may half-move and fire without penalty
  • Elves spot ‘something is amiss’ on a 1-2/d6 when passing near a secret or concealed door, and detect secret doors 1-4/d6 when actively searching

So there is no dividing hit points by two, which is how Gary Gygax famously said he handled Elves (a variation of that is what I used in my first OD&D campaign). I also don’t allow anything like the Moldvay B/X Elf, which tracks a single hit dice and XP total and allows all weapons, armor and spells to be used together. I now find the former is too fiddly, and the latter misses the feel of the original rules, despite being a bit simpler. I also don’t allow infravision for Elves, the original rules don’t mention this until the Greyhawk supplement.

And what about the ‘split-move and fire’ ability? In my OD&D games, stationary archers can fire twice per round, or half-move and fire once. Elves can do a half-move and still fire twice.

This is all subjective of course, but after having an Elf character in my Nolenor campaign use these rules for a few dozen sessions and ending at level 4/4, I felt these rules definitely played better in practice than my prior approaches.

The Chronicles of Nolenor Play Report #28 – The Harvest Fair

16 Monday Aug 2021

Posted by in Play Reports

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , ,

Real dates: 11/10/19 In-game dates: November 23rd, EY632

PCs:

Ambrose (Swashbuckler – Fighter L5)

Roger (Woodsman – Warden L4)

Hirelings:

Retainers

Figgish (Thief L1 – Squire to Ambrose)

Link to prior sessions

Link to Discussion

Ambrose and Roger stayed in town for a few days after they returned from their wilderness trek, and heard some troubling rumors. First, they heard that Addrazias the wizard had disappeared. His tower was dark and he had not been seen in a week. No one knew where he had gone. Second, Ayla – who is the Warden for the Greendale region – visited town and warned Sir Wil of increased Giant and Bugbear activity south and east of town.

Ambrose unloaded himself of some of his coin, first by donating to the local orphanage, under construction since the Balrog incident, then by hiring and equipping a squire named Figgish, a former-but-now-hopefully-reformed thief.

Meanwhile Roger saw a posting for the annual Harvest Fair tournament, and decided to compete. Ambrose joined him, competing in the jousting tournament, while Roger chose archery.

Roger handily won the archery tournament, however Ambrose ended up in fourth place, having been beat by Sir Griffon, a knight in the Earl’s employ, Sir Boris, visiting from the city-state of Bryn, and Sir Hasturt, a traveling knight.

A bit of drama ensued after the tournament, when it was discovered that Sir Hastur did not cap his lance (one knight was wounded as a result), and tried to flee the town on his horse. Ambrose chased him down on his own horse, and was able to subdue and capture Sir Hastur, presenting him to Sir Wil for whatever justice the Earl deemed appropriate. In the end, although Ambrose did not win the tournament, he distinguished himself by capturing and bringing to justice the cheating knight.

Referee notes:

The tournament was a fun change from the usual adventures. For the archery I simply had Roger making attack rolls against a target at medium range, with points accrued for rolling closer to 20 (20 being a bullseye). He had to beat out several other competitors and did so.

For the jousting, we used the WB FMAG jousting rules which worked well, in a basic elimination-style ladder. I added the wrinkle in about the knight who cheated by uncapping his lance, which resulted in some excitement with the chase on horseback and the man-to-man combat.

Random OD&D Dungeon Solo Play Report #1, Delth’s Folly

21 Monday Jun 2021

Posted by in Play Reports

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

, ,

Forum discussion

I’ve been running OD&D solo sessions on and off for the past few months, as I have some time and the inclination I roll up a PC and run through a random dungeon crawl. I’m sticking to the three 3LBBs with some other bits from the same time period:

  • The Strategic Review Issue #1 “Solo Dungeon Adventures”.
  • D&D Monster and Treasure Assortment (useful not only for monsters and treasure, but for the “Treasure is contained/guarded/hidden by/in” tables.
  • The revised underworld wandering monster tables from the Greyhawk Supplement (this is all I’m using from that supplement), just to give a bit more variety.
  • Various unstocked maps, as needed.
monster-treasure-assortment

If I have a question that needs to be answered (like which path to choose or whether to search for a secret door), I just pick an appropriate probability and roll on the spot.

The first PC I rolled up was a Dwarf Veteran, Delth Thicktooth. He was able to afford plate armor, and wielded a spear and hand axe, but had only two hit points.

The random dungeon generator assumes a single staircase down to a room to start. So I hand-waived the trip to the dungeon and Delth descended a staircase beneath some nearby ruins into darkness, lit a torch and saw an empty 20×20 room… with no exits.

Delth spent 3 turns searching the walls for a secret door, finally finding one in the southeast corner. No wandering monsters happened down the stairs during that time, thankfully.

He proceeded through the door into another small room, and was met by two Hobgoblins playing cards at a table. No one was surprised, and the reaction roll was negative. Delth lost initiative for the first round. The Hobgoblins rushed him and attacked with swords, but missed with their attacks. Delth stabbed at one of them with his spear, wounding him. Emboldened, Delth decided to press the attack! But while he was gloating about his certain victory, one of the Hobgoblins moved in and stuck him with a sword doing 6hp of damage. RIP Delth.

Referee notes

No Exits

The random dungeon tables have a couple of places where you can roll a room with no exits, with associated rules regarding secret doors. I could have just re-rolled after getting an entry room with no exits, but it seemed interesting to have a secret door in the first room, and I reasoned that anyone coming into such a room with no visible exits would certainly suspect a secret egress somewhere. OD&D vol. 3 mandates a check for wandering monsters at the end of every turn, so the search for secret doors would have been risky if it went on too long.

No Infravision

PCs cannot see in the dark in OD&D prior to the Greyhawk supplement, but all monsters can, unless they are in the service of PCs. Hence Delth needing a torch.

Wandering Monsters

Using the by-the-book tables in vol. 3, on the 1st dungeon level it’s possible to encounter a 1st through 4th-level monster. The Hobgoblins are on the 2nd level table. While Delth had plate armor and shield and the Hobgoblins needed 17+ to hit him, he did only have two hit points. I think he was doomed from the start unless he was smarter, but in this case (losing first initiative) he did not even have a chance to parley, retreat or close the door before being attacked.

Reaction Rolls

However, a positive reaction roll would have turned this into an entirely different encounter. The Hobgoblins might have let him pass for a fee, for example. In vol. 1, charisma is said to influence monster behavior (see below for the really awesome wording). If you take this to mean it influences reaction rolls, then charisma can be a very important stat for a beginning PC. However, Delth’s charisma of 7 did not offer any adjustments either way.

In addition the charisma score is usable to decide such things as whether or not a witch capturing a player will turn him into a swine or keep him enchanted as a lover. – OD&D vol. 1, p. 11

Spell System Overhaul, Overhauled

28 Wednesday Oct 2020

Posted by in Class Tweaks

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

, , , , ,

I’ve been thinking about my “Spell System Overhaul” and realized that it did not sit well with me. For one, it places too much emphasis on ability scores. Also, I think the spell bonuses are too high – more akin to AD&D than OD&D. And I think it’s worth keeping the goal in mind of having more useful low-level spell-casters. So I think a simpler solution is this:

  1. MUs or Clerics with a prime requisite of 13 or more get a bonus 1st level spell.
  2. MUs or Clerics can store one spell in a staff, wand or holy symbol.

For #2, one known spell can be stored and used per day, or, in the case of Clerics, they can instead (regardless of WIS score) store “Divine Energy” in their holy symbol, such that it gives them a +1 bonus to turning attempts. The stored spells or energy can be replenished when the spell-caster learns or prays for her spells each morning.

I think it is still worthwhile to not allow MUs to memorize duplicate spells, to encourage variety, and to allow read magic as an additional spell each day. MUs can be provided with a study scroll of all 1st level spells, but must find, buy or research spells of higher level.

OD&D Clerics have such small spell lists, I think it makes sense to still allow them to free-cast and have access to all the spells of a level they can cast. Clerics can also use a book or study scroll if the referee desires, or the spell slots can just be granted divinely each day.

Just thinking about how this would play in practice, Murray the Mage has an above-average intelligence (14), and so at 1st level gets a bonus 1st level spell. He is not allowed to memorize duplicates, but he has access to a study scroll of all 1st level spells provided to him by his mentor. The day he plans to go on an adventure, he memorizes charm person and hold portal. He also imbues his oaken staff with the magical energies needed to cast a sleep spell, and finally he has read magic memorized.

So this gives Murray a decent variety of spells – one utility, two offensive, and one defensive spell. Because the bonus is just one 1st level spell, this baseline set of spells doesn’t change – at subsequent levels he just adds spells as per the normal advancement chart. If nothing else this makes him much more useful at low levels, and the staff also gives him a slight boost at higher levels.

Murray’s companion Lana the 1st level Cleric is not as wise as her peers (10 WIS), but she can still prepare her holy symbol with the divine energy needed to aid her undead turning attempts. If she had a WIS of 13 or more, or was 2nd level, she could instead choose to store a 1st level Clerical spell in her holy symbol. Also with a WIS of 13 or more, she could cast any one 1st level spell as needed each day, independent of how she had prepared her holy symbol.

Chronicles of Nolenor Play Reports #26-27 – Death in the Wilderness

23 Tuesday Jun 2020

Posted by in Play Reports

≈ 6 Comments

Tags

, , ,

Real dates: 5/25/19, 5/26/19 In-game dates: November 21st-22nd, EY632

PCs:

Ambrose (Swashbuckler – Fighter L5)
Roger (Woodsman – Warden L4)
Imric (Swordsman/Theurgist – Fighter L3/MU L4)
Zort (Curate – Cleric L5)

Hirelings:

Vol (porter/torchbearer)
Sundarr (porter/torchbearer)
Vog (Veteran – Fighter L0)
Halfrim (Veteran – Fighter L0) Squire to Ambrose

Retainers

Webris (Vicar – Cleric L4)

Link to prior sessions

In town the party learned from the sage that the black dragon emblem on the shield used to be sigil of Rue the Fierce, an evil wizard who lived centuries ago. He is known to have made alliances with Dark Elves and was defeated by Sir Ignatius the Valiant – former prince of Nolenor. The sage commented that it does not bode well if Rue’s sigil is emblazoned on the shield of an evil warrior some 300 years later.

The party set out the next morning, intent on exploring more of the wilderness to the southeast. They gave the old Hobbit village a wide birth after spying three Manticores feasting on a bear carcass, and continued on.

crone

Eventually the forest turned to marsh, and the party found themselves in a gully facing a small hill and cave entrance. An old woman was walking along the path towards the cave when they arrived. She turned and greeted them, inviting them into her cave for some tea. The party was reluctant to join her, so she turned and entered her cave. As she did so, a thick fog enveloped the gully, obscuring sight of the entrance. Now on high alert, the party was not surprised when a large, purple-skinned ogre emerged from the mist and attacked! In the ensuing battle, Ambrose was wounded but the party prevailed.

fire-trap

The mist soon cleared and the party entered the cave, now empty save for a pile of bones and a fire pit. They found nothing obvious, but Ambrose decided to check the fire pit, and saw underneath the burned wood and ash pile was a large, flat stone. He directed Vol and Sundarr to lift it so he could see what was underneath. This turned out to be a bad decision – a fire trap went off as soon as the rock was moved, engulfing and killing both Vol and Sundarr, and singeing Ambrose and Zort, who were farther away. The magical fire also melted a pile of gold and silver coins, although there were some intact gems. The party decided to bury their porters, and rest for the night in the cave.

In the morning they headed west, towards drier and higher ground. At one point, a Green Dragon flew overhead, but the party was obscured by the tree canopy and was not spotted.

They eventually approached a curved cliff face dotted with white flowers. About 40 yards ahead, they could see a pair of feet sticking out from the cliff face. A body perhaps? They could not be sure from their vantage. Roger and Zort approached, but as they did so, they both had an overwhelming urge to sleep. They shook it off and continued, finding a pale, dead Dwarf laying against the cliff. They began to loot the body, but were interrupted by shouts form the rest of the group. They ran back to find them under attack by a wandering band of Gnolls and a giant wolf.

The initial surprise attack from behind had been deadly for Halfrim, who had his throat ripped out by the Worg. In the ensuing battle, Vog was killed by a Gnoll spear, but the party eventually defeated the Gnolls with a few more wounds. They decided not to tempt fate with four dead already, and head back to town.

medusa

Heading back the way they came, they camped overnight in a small forest clearing. All was quiet until the early morning hours, when Roger, on watch, was alerted to a noise in the woods nearby. He woke the party and crept off to investigate. From a distance he spied a creature with the body of a serpent and a head of writhing snakes – a Medusa, moving towards the camp! He shook off a chill and loosed a volley of arrows, wounding it. As the others arrived, Roger warned them not to look at the creature. Imric did so anyway, casting light at the creature’s eyes, obscuring its vision. The party was then able to surround and kill it.

The party returned to eat breakfast and break camp. The rest of the journey back to Frostmark was uneventful.

Referee notes:

A very unlucky session for the hirelings, with all four of them dead. After this session I began limiting the party to retainers – classed and leveled help. The zero-level men with limited armor and hit points proved too fragile for the encounters in the OD&D wilderness. In-game, the party was contending with a reputation for killing off the lowly hired help, and would find it impossible to convince anyone to accompany them.

Both Roger and Imric got lucky and made their saves against petrifaction when they first confronted the Medusa. The light spell was clever and I ruled that if the Medusa failed her save (she did), the light would prevent her from meeting anyone’s gaze.

Spell System Overhaul for Original D&D or White Box

30 Saturday May 2020

Posted by in Class Tweaks

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

, , , , ,

At low levels, traditional Vancian magic can get a little stale. Most 1st level Magic-Users (MUs) memorize sleep, rarely any other spells. Who can blame the player for this? They get to choose one spell and sleep is the nuke in old-school games. This might even have a subtle impact on the way referees design adventures, so wouldn’t it be cool if the referee could feel free to add tricks, traps or loot that could be defeated or detected by some of the utility spells like read languages or detect magic? So how can we encourage the use of some of these spells? Here is such a system. None of the ideas are new – but taken together they should make the spellcaster much more useful.

Spell Study Scrolls

At 1st level spellcasters are assumed to have a study scroll of all available 1st level spells. They gain study scrolls of spells for each level as they are able to learn them (so a 3rd level MU would be gifted another study scroll of all 2nd level spells from his guild or master). MUs or Clerics must study or pray over these scrolls each morning for one hour to prepare for the day’s spell use. Note these are not typical scrolls and the spellcaster cannot cast spells from them directly. Any new spells or study scrolls beyond those given are per the magic research and book rules (Men & Magic [M&M] p. 34).

Study scrolls are of high quality, but still fragile and vulnerable to damage or destruction by liquid spills, crushing and fire. Because of this, many spellcasters seek out waterproof satchels, sturdy tubes or stronger, magical protection for their study scrolls. Due to the risk of theft, it is not uncommon for spellcasters to carry their study scrolls with them at all times. Higher level MUs will have magical wards and deceptions in place to protect their study scrolls, which will be safely hidden in their strongholds.

Read magic is required for a MU to read the study scroll of another, but once read it is not required again. Clerical study scrolls are written in scripture specific to a Cleric’s church, and so are readable only by Clerics of that church, but any clerical study scroll can be deciphered by a Cleric of another church given enough time (one week per spell level).

Casting Spells

Characters have a number of spell slots as per the spell tables in M&M, modified by the table below for INT or WIS. Casting is ‘free’ for all spell-using classes, meaning the player can choose which spell to cast at the time of casting. However, spells take one round to prepare before they can be cast. One spell can be prepared ahead of time and held in memory indefinitely, but any break in the PCs concentration (e.g. if they enter melee, flee or are hit by a spell or melee attack) causes the spell and associated slot to be lost for that day.

Also see the important note on M&M p. 19 – “A spell used once may not be reused in the same day” (although this does not apply to Clerical casting or to the use of casting scrolls by MUs).

Once prepared, spells go off first in the combat round, (along with gaze and breath attacks or use of any casting scrolls or spell-like devices). Compare DEX scores if it is important to know which spell or effect goes off first among members of the same side.

Casting Scrolls

MUs can prepare casting scrolls of spells they know (i.e are already on on their study scrolls) and are of a level they can cast for a cost of 100gp per level and one week of time per level. Spells can be cast from these scrolls directly, with no preparation time required. Read magic is not required for a MU to identify or make use of such a scroll.

Clerical casting scrolls, however, are extremely rare and the method of scribing such scrolls has been lost to time, although it is thought to include a ritual collaboration with one’s deity.

Bonus spells for Clerics (WIS) or MUs (INT)

Clerics or MUs of above average WIS or INT, respectively gain the bonus spell slots as listed in the table below. Note this is not cumulative, for example a Theurgist (4th level MU) with a 16 INT who normally has four 1st and two 2nd level spell slots would gain two bonus 1st level spell slots and two bonus 2nd level spell slots. This would give them a total of six 1st and four 2nd level spell slots.

[code lang=text]
+——-+—–+—–+—–+—–+
|INT/WIS|1st |2nd |3rd |4th |
+——-+—–+—–+—–+—–+
|13 |1 | | | |
+——-+—–+—–+—–+—–+
|14 |2 | | | |
+——-+—–+—–+—–+—–+
|15 |2 |1 | | |
+——-+—–+—–+—–+—–+
|16 |2 |2 | | |
+——-+—–+—–+—–+—–+
|17 |3 |2 |1 | |
+——-+—–+—–+—–+—–+
|18 |3 |2 |1 |1 |
+——-+—–+—–+—–+—–+
[/code]

Final Notes

While this system does increase the power of low-level spellcasters, it is offset by the need to prepare spells, the possibility of losing a prepared spell, the inability to cast the same spell more than once per day, and the fact that enemy spellcasters will use the exact same rules. The prohibition on casting the same spell more than once per day for MUs also encourages creative spell use.

It also makes describing and playing NPC spellcasters easier – rather than having to list the NPC’s memorized spells, the referee can simply note how many spell slots of each level are available, and can improvise what is cast as needed during play.