TSR [Let's Read] Dungeons & Dragons Basic Rules, by Tom Moldvay

[Iosue]

Spells
Ah, spells! The attraction of D&D and its bugaboo. We start with Vancian magic, as Moldvay describes it:

A spell is a formula for collecting and using magical energies with a memorized set of words and hand motions: the spell. Each spell has its own set of words and gestures. Only magic-users, elves, and clerics can learn these formulas, and thus only they may cast spells.


Spells must be memorized before an adventure begins. The character will remember the spell for any length of time until it is used. When a magic-user, elf, or cleric memorizes a spell, the words and gestures are printed on his or her mind, much in the same way that writing is put on a blackboard. When the spell is cast, the writing is "erased", and he or she may cast that particular spell again. A spell caster may, however, memorize the same spell twice if he or she is of high enough experience level to do so. If so, only one is "erased" when the spell is cast; the other remains and may be used later. As characters increase in level the number and type of spells they may memorize increases (their space on the blackboard increases).

That's a nice succinct, slightly flavorful way of describing it. The fact that the spell was "printed" on their mind and then "erased" seemed quite magical to me. But truth be told, the first few times I played this with my sister, I completely skipped over this part. I'm sure I skimmed it, but the fact that a wizard could only cast 1 spell per day was completely passed over. My first level magic-user spammed magic missile. Sure, it always hit, but OTOH my magic-user had no armor! Rereading the book one day I finally went, "Ohhhhhhh....."


To re-memorizing a spell, the character must be "well-rested, usually an uninterrupted full night's sleep." Characters need hands and voice free to cast spells, but there are no vocal, somatic, or material components. Spells that are reversible are marked with an asterisk, but rules for reversing spells are saved for the Expert rules.


Here's Holmes' on spells in Moldvay:

Magic and spells: The new rules specify that if an adventure lasts longer than a day, the Magic-User can get his or her spells back through a period of rest and concentration. I’m glad to see this securely placed in the rules. All of us who act as Dungeon Masters have had to allow this on longer adventures. Actually, the “spell book” is often a needless complication and can be dispensed with. Of course, a particular DM can make spell books a vital part of the game— suppose evil Magic-Users hired a high-level Thief to steal the player characters’ books?

Cleric Spells - Like equipment, I think Moldvay's Basic (and Cook's Expert, for that matter) have the perfect balance of variety and quantity. Each spell lists the name, range, duration, and short description. Sometimes, rereading B/X spells and comparing them to AD&D spells, I wonder why the AD&D spells are so long.


Because clerics don't get 2nd level spells until 4th level, only 1st level Clerical Spells are listed. There are eight: Cure Light Wounds, Detect Evil, Detect Magic, Light, Protection from Evil, Purify Food and Water, Remove Fear, and Resist Cold. Some notes:


Detect Evil - I like this: "The exact definition of 'evil' is left to each referee, and players should discuss this point so that all are in agreement; 'Chaotic' is not always 'evil'."


Protection from Evil - Last twelve turns, so 2 hours. Provides a +1 to saves, and a -1 to opponents' to-hit. Enchanted creatures can't attack. But if the cleric breaks the protection by attacking the enchanted creature, they still keep the +1 and -1. Interestingly, here 'evil' is defined as "attacks from monsters of some alignment other than the cleric's". A literal reading suggests that a Chaotic cleric would then be able to use this against Lawful opponents.


Purify Food and Water - Very holy and cleric-y. But seems of limited use in a dungeon adventure.


Remove Fear - In the Basic set, seems very out of place except as a role-playing kind of spell. There are no monsters that cause magical fear, so it's really only applicable to regular fear.

 

[LostSoul]

Alignment

I think Alignment is there because of the inherent intra-party tension baked into the rules. XP is divided up amongst "the surviving characters." There's an incentive to be the sole surviving member of the party, through cowardice or treachery or other methods. Players who are going to take this approach with their PCs should be labelled "Chaotic", and other players should keep an eye on them (and not take it personally when they act according to their nature - they already told you they were going to betray you!). If players don't succeed in playing to their alignment, "the DM may suggest a change of alignment or give the character a punishment or penalty."

 

[Hussar]

This is the game I started with too. Bookmarking for future reading.

 

[Iosue]

Spells, Part 2


Now we move to magic-user spells. Moldvay uses a system unlike any other edition. As near as the OD&D rules make it, magic-users are like clerics: they have all the spells listed to choose from, they simply have to choose which ones they memorize before adventuring. They get one spell book per level. This may have been different in actual play, but I could find no place where it mentioned where magic-users acquire spells. Maximum/minimum level and Chance to Know are in the Greyhawk rules and Holmes Basic. Again, Greyhawk makes no mention of how they acquire new spells, so Holmes assumes says they can choose from the spells on the lists, rolling to see if they can learn them, keeping in mind maximums and minimums. In AD&D Gygax would finally expand on spell acquisition, noting that they came from scrolls and captured spellbooks. Mentzer notes that magic-users have more spells to choose from than they can cast, and the DM gives them a new one with each level, plus whatever scrolls or capture spellbooks they find (no Chance to Know roll).


With Mentzer, it's dirt simple. The number of spells you can cast in a day is the number of spells you know. Go up in level, choose a spell. This in essence removes much of the "rock-scissors-paper" aspect of magic-user play. Instead players are implicitly encouraged to create generalists so that the spells they know can be applicable in broad applications. In essence, a much simpler magic-user than the AD&D magic-user, not unlike say, a 4e Essentials Fighter and PHB1 Fighter. Magic-users can still double-prepare spells, so it doesn't remove all choice, but much more than Mentzer or AD&D. Another effect is that suddenly Read Magic becomes very important! In effect, Mentzer and Gygax (in AD&D) kill the need for Read Magic. They give it to magic-users automatically, which insures that any scrolls found can be read, if only after the party returns to home base/finds a place to rest. Really, the only use for it becomes if reading magic runes is necessary to find a clue, or if a party wants the option to use found scrolls right away. In B/X, however, a magic-user needs to eventually burn one of his 1st level slots on Read Magic if he wants to use scrolls!


Some notes on spells -
Hold Portal - A creature 3 or more HD greater than the caster's level can break open a held door in one round.


Magic Missile - Does 2-7 points of damage. Magic-users get an extra 2 missiles every five levels. There's no limit, so a 14th level magic-user can cast 5 magic missiles, for 10-35 guaranteed damage. If he used all 4 of his 1st level slots on magic missile, that's 40-140 points of damage. Pretty unbalanced. It's even worse in Mentzer, where the spell remains the same, but magic-users can go up to 36th level, and eventually memorize 9 1st level spells. Did this ever come up in anyone's game? It didn't in ours, and I never even realized it or heard about it until quite recently. Interestingly enough, the spell was nerfed in AD&D, doing only 2-5 points of damage, but wasn't capped until 2e.


Sleep - No saving throw! Another thing I never noticed. I always just assumed that affected creatures had to save vs spells. But, a nice subtle limitation. Rather than a save, it only effects creatures with 4+1 HD or less, and for multiple enemies it's 2-16 HD worth. This makes it a nice Big Gun when you're low level, but less universally useful at higher levels. I get a certain fantasy novel vibe from that.


Invisibility - Attacking or casting a spell makes you visible. A necessary restriction.


Levitate - I don't like the duration of this spell: 6+level, and since it's a 2nd level spell, that means a minimum of 90 minutes (9 turns).


Here's Holmes on Phantasmal Force

Phantasmal force has been added to the available spell list. The list is still much shorter than that in the original D&D rules or in the AD&D books. Phantasmal force has been appropriately weakened in the new rules, however; even if the victim fails a saving throw, he or she is not permanently harmed by the phantasm. If determined to be killed, the character actually only passes out, and recovers in 1d4 turns. Presumably, hit points lost in this manner are also restored after 1-4 turns. This makes the phantasmal force a much fairer attack. With the old spell, the M-U could summon a dragon or demon and, if the poor victim failed his saving throw trying to disbelieve it, he was as good as dead. A phantom, it seems to me, should indeed be terrifying, but basically harmless.

These are just what occur to me during a cursory reading. If you want to know about a spell, but don't have the book, feel free to ask, and I'll take a look at it!


The last page of the Spells section contains higher level spells for DM use: Bless, Hold Person, and Silence 15' Radius for clerics, and Dispel Magic, Fireball, and Fly for magic-users. Unlike in the Mentzer book, where this was in the DM's book, in Moldvay this was out for all players to see. And my first real character was a magic-user. No advertisement ever made me want to get the Expert Book as much as that little taste of next level spells!

 

[Iosue]

Part 4: The Adventure (I)
Finally, character generation comes to an end, and we get to meat of the game.


Party Size and Composition - As noted previously, the game recommended for 3 players, so 2 players and a DM. In this section, Moldvay recommends parties be made up of 6-8 characters. Variety is recommended: fighters for fighting, clerics for auxiliary fighting support and buffs, magic-users for thinking, problem solving, and powerful spells, thieves for opening locked doors and scouting ahead, and demi-humans for their special powers. Moldvay writes, "Most DMs allow a player only one character at a time. Sometimes a person may play more than one character at a time, such as when there are only a few persons playing." Players and the DM are encouraged to keep multiple PCs played by one person from getting too close, passing magical treasure and money between themselves. Here Moldvay also suggests hiring retainers.


Organizing a Party - Here Moldvay first suggest that "marching order" be decided. The people in front scout ahead, the people in the middle search, and the people behind guard the rear. Most common order is ranks two-by-two. Armored folks should be in the front and back, and magic-users and thieves in the middle.


Regarding the caller, Moldvay writes:

THE CALLER: One player should be chosen to tell the DM about the plans and actions of the party. This player is the caller. The players may tell the DM what their characters are doing, but the game runs more smoothly when the caller relays the information. The caller should be sure to check with each member of the party before announcing any actions (such as "We'll turn right" or "The thief will check for traps"). The caller is usually a character with a high Charisma score, and should be near the front of the party, where the character would be able to see what the DM describes.

Couple interesting things here. Once again, it is made clear that the caller doesn't necessarily hold any special leadership in the party, but merely announces what the party is doing. What is somewhat unexpected is that that while the caller is a metagame role, he seems expected to have an in-game role, as well, needing to be near the front to see what DM describes, and of high Charisma, presumably for reaction rolls.


Next we talk about the mapper. Since this has become something of a lost or dying art, let's quite Moldvay in full again:

MAPPING: One player should draw a map of the dungeon as it is explored. This player is called the mapper. Normal movement includes the time spent exploring, measuring, and mapping the dungeon.


Maps are drawn to help players visualize the area their characters are exploring and to provide a record of sections of a dungeon they have already explored. A good mapper should listen closely to the DM in order to draw a good representation of the dungeon. It is important to record proper direction, shape, and approximate size, rather than spending a lot of time determining exact measurements and filling in minute details. It is also a good idea to make brief notes about where traps, monsters, and unusual features are encountered. A map should be simple and easy to read.

These roles certainly reinforce the concept of D&D as a game of dungeon exploration. An significant amount of playtime is thus given to the caller checking with everybody to figure out what the party is doing, and a mapper plotting out the explore areas.


The next section talks about Figures, suggesting they be used to show marching order, changing position in certain situations. Then Time is covered: turns of 10 minutes, it takes one turn to explore a 10x10 space, and to move one's movement rate. Speaking of Movement, the next paragraph details with it. Unencumbered characters move 120' per turn. 1/3rd of this rate is how fast one moves in a round. Running is the same speed of 120', now counted by round. It is assumed the 120' per turn is due to carefully mapping, searching, and trying to move quietly. On to Resting: characters must rest 1 turn for every 5 they explore. Finally the page wraps with a paragaph on Scale Movement. Here Moldvay suggests 1 inch = 10' scale. However, in a later section he will suggest 1 square inch represent 5 square feet, quite in line with what 3e and 4e use.

 

[Iosue]

Before we move on, I need to add a bit that Holmes wrote about the Caller:

Organizing a Party, The Caller: I think this rule should have been thrown out. I put it into the first Basic Set because it was in the original invention. I have never seen a successful game where one of the players was elected caller and actually did all the talking to the DM. Usually everybody talks at once. The resulting confusion is much more lifelike; one can hear the characters dithering at the cross corridor as the monsters approach. “Run this way!” “Charge them!” “Get out of the way, I’m throwing a spell!” “Here goes the magic crossbow bolt!” “Not from the rear of the party!” “I’m climbing the wall!”

The thing is, you can get the confusion with the Caller as Moldvay describes it. After all, he needs to canvas the other players before he makes any decisions. And if its a combat situation, the DM will be talking with each player individually anyway.


So, on to...
Encumberance
Listed as "optional" in the rules, I daresay the least opted into of all the optional rules. Many folks cringe at the word, "encumbrance", but to be honest I don't see much bad in these rules. Weight is given in coins (cn). This makes sense to me. The game is specifically designed to be about looking for treasure. You easily find your initial carried weight in coins, and then every time you pick up some treasure you know how much more you can carry. The encumbrance movement table is quite simple. You can choose to use four simple states: Unarmored, leather armored, metal armored, or metal armored and carrying treasure. For more detailed tracking by coins, unarmored is equivalent of up to 400 coins, leather armored is equivalent to 401-600 coins, metal armored is equivalent to 601-800 coins, and metal armor+treasure is equal to 801-1600 coins. The movement rates for each state are also quite regular. Normal movement starts at 120' per turn, and goes down by 30' with each heavier state. Encounter movement starts at 40'/round and goes down by 10' each heavier state. Running movement is the same as normal movement, except by round instead of turn. If you're not counting coins, carrying treasure knocks your state down by one, e.g., unarmored plus treasure is the same as leather armored.


Mules can carry up to 2000 coins at normal movement, or up to 4000 coins at half-movement. Small sacks carry 200 coins, a backpack carries 400, and a large sack carries 600. A fighter in full plate (500 cn), with sword and board (150 cn) and miscellaneous equipment (80 cn) has a total of 730 cn, putting them at 60'/turn, 20'/round. He can carry one large sack (total 1330 cn) and one small sack (total 1530 cn), so he could conceivably haul out 800 experience just in coins (more, of course, if he found gems).


The encumbrance page ends with an example of Morgana Ironwolf's encumbrance, and then the iconic picture that many assume is her. There's also another pic of what looks like a fighter with an ugly mug.


Light - Torch and lanterns, as well as the light spell, throw out light for 30' in all directions. Torches last 6 turns. This fits well with the movement rules that a group must rest for a turn after moving for 5 turns. Light up a torch, move for 5 turns, rest, and light up a new torch before setting off again. Lanterns burn for 24 turns (4 hours). Moldvay says, "It's important to remember which characters are carrying light sources. A character could not, for example, carry a lit torch, a drawn sword, and a shield at the same time." I think in our first adventures we gave the light source to the magic-user and never thought about light sources again. In my games these days I try to keep track of them better.


It's noted that infravision can't be used to read without light, and all non-human monsters have it. Talk about stacking the deck!


Doors - Doors usually closed, often stuck or locked. Locks need to be picked, and stuck doors can be forced on a 1 or 2 on 1d6, adjusted by strength. Here's a bit from OD&D, that Philotomy noted was an obscure bit of flavor: "Once a door is opened, it will usually swing shut when released unless it is spiked or wedged open. Doors will usually open automatically for monsters, unless the door is held, spiked, or closed with magical spells."


Secret doors - Found on a 1 in 6 chance, with elves getting 2 in 6. Not rolled for unless looked for. One character, one chance.


Listening - All characters hear things on a 1 in 6. Demi-humans get a 2 in 6. Thieves start out with a 2 in 6, and go up to a 3 in 6 at 3rd level.


Next time, RETAINERS!

 

[pemerton]

There's also another pic of what looks like a fighter with an ugly mug.

Because of what seems to be leather armour, I've always assumed this to be a thief. (No weapon restrictions for thieves in Basic.)

 

[Bullgrit]

I'm a fan of this thread, as much as I'm a fan of the Moldvay/Cook BD&D. (To make it clear: I'm a big fan of Moldvay/Cook BD&D -- check my Total Bullgrit blog for evidence.) Moldvay BD&D is where I started with D&D.

Something that didn't seem to phase me at the time, but now strikes me as very odd, (even misleading), is how the artwork often didn't match the actual game. Often it was one or two characters fighting a dragon, when the game was actually designed for many characters fighting things that are not a dragon. Even the forward describes one character fighting a dragon.

I don't think any Basic (levels 1-3) modules had a dragon as a monster encounter. The adventure that comes with the Basic box (B2) has just about every monster from the rule book, but no dragon. (The cover of B2 is actually a good representation of what Basic D&D looked like.)

Sleep - No saving throw! Another thing I never noticed. I always just assumed that affected creatures had to save vs spells. But, a nice subtle limitation. Rather than a save, it only effects creatures with 4+1 HD or less, and for multiple enemies it's 2-16 HD worth. This makes it a nice Big Gun when you're low level, but less universally useful at higher levels. I get a certain fantasy novel vibe from that.

Something I never noted way back in my BD&D days, but it stood out as an obvious problem when I ran a BD&D game in recent years: what is the range and area of effect of the sleep spell?

Bullgrit

 

[JeffB]

Horror on the Hill(B5) has a Dragon encounter, IIRC.

 

[Iosue]

Retainers - One of the interesting aspects of B/X that has largely fallen out of style is role-play based consequences. A primary example is the Cleric, of whom the Expert Set recommends denying prayed for spells, or changing granted spells, or XP penalties if the Cleric is not playing their alignment. (The AD&D Paladin is another example.) We find another one, somewhat stressed repeatedly, in the retainers. The very third sentence in the retainer's section is, "If a retainer is not well-treted, he or she is likely to stop working for the PC and will tell others of the mistreatment." The paragraph goes to explain that retainers are expected to share in the same risks as the PCs, not take unreasonable ones.


When we get to the Hiring section, this is again expected to be role-played. The PCs have to find the retainers, interview them, and make an offer. (It also suggests that there should be a guaranteed minimum fee and a partial share of treasure found. Employers are also expected to pay for food and gear. Once the pay rate is offered, the DM rolls on the reaction table, "[adjusting] the reaction roll +1 or +2 for a very good offer or -1 or 2 for poor offers or if the PC has a bad reptutation." (My emphasis.) A 2 on the reaction roll means a -1 when talking with other prospective hires in that town. A 12 means the retainer gets a +1 to morale.


Retainers can be any level or class, but not higher than the PCs. Dwarvish retainers are rare, and Elves even rarer. Halflings are not mentioned, so I guess they're a dime a dozen!


Retainer loyalty is based on Charisma, from 4 for a Cha 3, to 10 for Cha 18. Man, if you're playing with retainers, Charisma is a huge stat. If you've got an 18, that's a +2 on reaction rolls. Make an impressive offer, and that's another +1 or +2. Let's say you get a total of +4. Because of the way the reaction table is set up, you will never be refused. A roll of 2 will be adjusted to "roll again". A roll of 3-4 will get you a roll again. A roll of 5-7 will have the offer be accepted, and a roll of 8 or better will get the accepted offer with morale adjustment. Since Charisma 18 sets retainer morale at 10, the +1 makes it 11, meaning the retainers will break only on a 12 rolled on 2d6.


Regarding XP, retainers get only 1/2 of earned XP. Meaning, if the total party is 6 (PCs and NPCs), and the XP total at the end of the adventure is 6600, then everyone gets 1100, except for the retainers, who get 550. But apparently generous PCs can throw additional treasure to the retainer for additional XP.


Finally (actually, just before the XP section), Moldvay says this,

USING RETAINERS: Retainers are often used to strengthen a party which is attempting an extremely dangerous adventure. It is recommended that the DM not allow beginning players to hire retainers. New players tend to use retainers as a crutch, letting them take all the risks. If a dungeon is very difficult, the DM should let players have more than one character apiece before using retainers, at least until players are more experienced.

And this basically sums up why we never used retainers. In the beginning, we figured we were beginning players, and used extra PCs rather than retainers. By the time we were experienced players, our characters were powerful enough to not need them. Ironically, the above would be switched in Mentzer, with the recommendation against using retainers not included, and DMs strongly recommended that players not play two characters at once. Interestingly, he also suggests that if the players want retainers, the DM just include them, and only roleplay the hiring and decide the pay rate if both the DM and players want to.


After retainers comes a short section on Traps, of the "rug over a pit" kind and that ilk. It's suggests that traps trigger only on a 1-2 on a 1d6. All characters have a 1 in 6 chance of traps if looking for them, with dwarves getting a 2 in 6 chance. Whether monsters trigger traps in the same way as PCs, or if they are immune, is left to the DM.


Finally, a short section on Wandering Monsters. This just mentions their existence, and notes that they may be chosen by the DM, or rolled randomly, with more information to come in Part 8: Dungeon Master Information.