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[Let's Read] Dungeons & Dragons Basic Rules, by Tom Moldvay
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<blockquote data-quote="Iosue" data-source="post: 6078039" data-attributes="member: 6680772"><p><strong>Spells</strong></p><p>Ah, spells! The attraction of D&D and its bugaboo. We start with Vancian magic, as Moldvay describes it:</p><p></p><p>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....."</p><p></p><p></p><p>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.</p><p></p><p></p><p>Here's Holmes' on spells in Moldvay:</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p><strong>Cleric Spells</strong> - 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.</p><p></p><p></p><p>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:</p><p></p><p></p><p>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'."</p><p></p><p></p><p>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.</p><p></p><p></p><p>Purify Food and Water - Very holy and cleric-y. But seems of limited use in a dungeon adventure.</p><p></p><p></p><p>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.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Iosue, post: 6078039, member: 6680772"] [b]Spells[/b] Ah, spells! The attraction of D&D and its bugaboo. We start with Vancian magic, as Moldvay describes it: 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: [b]Cleric Spells[/b] - 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. [/QUOTE]
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