Surviving low-level old school D&D

[S'mon]

Although it's a good concept, death at 1st level in old school D&D can come even when Special Forces tactics are used. I mean, when one hit could kill a fighter...

Of course in the real world Special Forces soldiers can each survive dozens of hits before dying...

 

[rogueattorney]

I cannot adjust my strategy after the first hit, as I likely am dead.

Which is why a 3 hp character should do everything in his power to avoid getting into a melee. Adjust your strategy before the fight ever begins.

PC death at first level in my B/X campaigns has been about a 50/50 proposition historically. A ton of it is luck, but you can do things to sway the dice in your favor.

But the main thing to remember is that once the dice hit the table. you're basically already dead. The key is to do whatever you can to get the dice out of the DM's hand, while still moving towards the ultimate goal of getting enough gp (or whatever it is you give out xp for in your campaign) to make it to the next level.

I've said before, O(A)D&D, as written, was not about killing things and taking their stuff. It was about taking their stuff without getting killed.

 

[S'mon]

Hell, winning initiative was a 50/50 chance.

Nope. You use reach weapons - spears or pole arms. The orcs come at you with their axes & swords; your spears have longer reach so you get to attack first and skewer them. In AD&D they'd be -2 AC and you'd do x2 damage, too.

Anyway, war dogs (AD&D guard dogs) + missile weapons. Few monsters have missile weapons. Don't go into melee.

 

[ExploderWizard]

Several folks have mentioned in this thread that PCs should use specific strategies to avoid death in old-school D&D combat at first level.

"Using choke points, doors, and other obstacles to your advantage such that you don't get swarmed under by the hordes." is just the latest.

Although it's a good concept, death at 1st level in old school D&D can come even when Special Forces tactics are used. I mean, when one hit could kill a fighter (not even a crit, or max damage, just a normal, average hit) there was no sure-fire safe tactic. Hell, winning initiative was a 50/50 chance.

All the "listen at the door," "draw them out," "throw flaming oil," etc. advice sounds wise (and smart alec), it doesn't ensure survival.

For instance, what did Frederick do wrong in this example of BD&D combat:
http://www.enworld.org/forum/general-rpg-discussion/250815-example-basic-d-d-combat.html

What did Morgan do right that kept her alive? Or was it all mostly luck that made the difference for them?

Bullgrit

Dungeon adventuring is a dangerous, risky undertaking. Luck has a lot more to do with survival at level 1 than just about any other time.

One thing the party could have done after seeing the parley fail and being outnumbered would have been to feign intimidation and carefully withdraw when the hobgoblin told them to leave. Remember that the encounter started with the group kind of being caught unaware (though not suprised in game terms) by a group that outnumbers them by a lot. The best thing to try would be a withdrawal ( which the DM gave them as an option based on the hobgoblin's dialogue). The party could explore elsewhere, note the location of the hobgoblins and return when they were more prepared.

The lethality of those early dungeons was part of the fun. It was easy to believe all the stories about previous unsuccessful adventurers after becoming one a few times. That same tired story doesn't carry the same weight in "balanced" adventures. After completing one you can't help but wonder how pathetic all those would-be heroes that came before you really were.

 

[Mallus]

The thing I find most amusing about old-school D&D survival advice is the assumption that local markets, well stocked with Greek fire, well-trained combat dogs, and a near-endless supply of unemployed, idiotic lackeys perennially at-the-ready to marched to their doom into the Caves of Chaos or the Keep on the Borderlands, exist.

Apparently most D&D-world economies produce these as a matter of logical course .

 

[rogueattorney]

The thing I find most amusing about old-school D&D survival advice is the assumption that local markets, well stocked with Greek fire, well-trained combat dogs, and a near-endless supply of unemployed, idiotic lackeys perennially at-the-ready to marched to their doom into the Caves of Chaos or the Keep on the Borderland, exist.

Apparently most D&D-world economies produce these as a matter of logical course .

Any less logical than the well-stocked magic shops of later editions?

 

[Mallus]

Any less logical than the well-stocked magic shops of later editions?

'Bout the same.

The magic shops are markedly less amusing, however, because they don't involve heartlessly commoditizing the underemployed into disposable, multipurpose tools.

 

[S'mon]

The thing I find most amusing about old-school D&D survival advice is the assumption that local markets, well stocked with Greek fire, well-trained combat dogs, and a near-endless supply of unemployed, idiotic lackeys perennially at-the-ready to marched to their doom into the Caves of Chaos or the Keep on the Borderlands, exist.

Apparently most D&D-world economies produce these as a matter of logical course .

No, you buy up stuff as a part of character creation. That 3d6 roll for starting gold and the following equipment purchase is as much a part of your character as the 3d6 for his STR. If you didn't buy guard dogs in character gen, don't be surprised when the GM points out the local village has no guard dogs for sale, that your PC has no experience in use of guard dogs, and that training them would take weeks or months anyway.

 

[Lanefan]

The thing I find most amusing about old-school D&D survival advice is the assumption that local markets, well stocked with Greek fire, well-trained combat dogs, and a near-endless supply of unemployed, idiotic lackeys perennially at-the-ready to marched to their doom into the Caves of Chaos or the Keep on the Borderlands, exist.

Apparently most D&D-world economies produce these as a matter of logical course .

Perhaps.

Or, more likely, after the second or third request for more unemployed lackeys the townsfolk are going to ask what happened to the first lot, and then run you out of town on a rail.

We always used to have this problem when trying to find an extra Cleric for the party. They kept dying. Eventually, we ran out of towns that would even talk to us...

Lanefan

 

[Harlekin]

Nope. You use reach weapons - spears or pole arms. The orcs come at you with their axes & swords; your spears have longer reach so you get to attack first and skewer them. In AD&D they'd be -2 AC and you'd do x2 damage, too.

Anyway, war dogs (AD&D guard dogs) + missile weapons. Few monsters have missile weapons. Don't go into melee.

I am kind of amused by the constant mention of war dogs. I cannot imagine a dog that is trained well enough that it will follow a stranger into a dark alien smelling hole, attack with fiendish intelligence Undeads and Monsters and sacrifice itself for the life of the party. If I GM you would need to raise the dog yourself and pass some checks on dog training if you ever wanted to expect such behavior.

Moreover, dogs and wolves are stated up as way too powerful in all editions of D&D. If I was to pit even a Mastiff against a trained fighter in heavy armor with a decent weapon, I would expect to fighter to win 19 times out of 20.

I guess this goes to show that one groups smart strategy is another groups silly attempt at rules abuse.