Never Played 1st Edition

I went from the red box Basic D&D straight to AD&D 2nd Edition, skipping AD&D 1st Edition entirely.

Well, I recently acquired the 1E core books + MM2, Dungeoneer's Survival Guide, Oriental Adventures, and Fiend Folio and I'm seriously thinking about giving it a try.

Problem is, just paging through the DMG gives me a headache with the lack of organization and copious tables and such.

For those with experience with AD&D 1E, what exactly should I be concentrating on if I'm trying to learn the game and run it? In other words, where do I begin?

The Dungeon Master's Guide certainly was easier to read back when there weren't any alternatives. Give it a try, ignore and gloss over the irritating bits and take in the thing as a whole. It's a very good book.

I'd say the best way to learn is to play in someone else's campaign. That's getting harder and harder these days.

In my experience, the "best" way to use 1E books is as supplements to red box or 2nd edition anyway. I've heard many people say their group essentially ran basic D&D with AD&D1 charts and tables and I think we did something similar.

(1) Best case: Seek out a 1E or OSRIC group in Colorado Springs and ask them to hang out and play...bring pretzels and their cleric will likely bless you.

(2) After you write an adventure or choose one of those far out old school modules, walk through the encounters considering the choices the PCs will make. Seek out rules to deal with these possibilities so you can avoid having to digest all that tiny print and Gygax prose. This provides real imaginary world situations to which you can anchor the rules as you learn them, or you can get a group together and LARP the rules in which case you will have real non-imaginary world situations to which to anchor the rules. You will also no longer have friends. Use the sample dungeon in the DMG to become proficient in the combat mechanics.

(3) When reading the rules, you should definitely be wearing appropriate late seventies attire in order to catch the vibe.

(4) Memorize the combat insanity table on page 83 of the DMG...perhaps turn it into a jingle so you can use it to easily recruit more players to the AWESOMENESS OF 1E.

Don't worry about using the RAW. Just learn the core systems- to-hit rolls, saving throws, etc. and run with it. Most 1e DMs don't use all the rules. Stuff like psionics, weapon vs. armor modifiers, bards, etc. really aren't that important.

When situations come up in the game, don't worry about scouring the rulebooks for an answer - just make a ruling and keep the game going. DMing 1e is an art, not a science.

crazy_monkey1956 said:

I went from the red box Basic D&D straight to AD&D 2nd Edition, skipping AD&D 1st Edition entirely.

Well, I recently acquired the 1E core books + MM2, Dungeoneer's Survival Guide, Oriental Adventures, and Fiend Folio and I'm seriously thinking about giving it a try.

Problem is, just paging through the DMG gives me a headache with the lack of organization and copious tables and such.

For those with experience with AD&D 1E, what exactly should I be concentrating on if I'm trying to learn the game and run it? In other words, where do I begin?

Click to expand...

I think it is fine to start with the PHB and find the key tables in the DMG as they are needed. The DMG is a GREAT book but it's more a collection of essays and a patchwork of ideas for specific things that Gygax did in his campaigns than a systematic document. The Gamma World and Boot Hill conversion rules are emblematic of what he was trying to accomplish (give guidance for a DM to be creative). His essay on monsters as player characters, for example, is useful even today!

Frankly, with the considerable compatibility with 2e, you really have played 1e mechanics. 2e's improvements (surprise rule cleanup, thief skills, non-weapon proficiencies, initiative cleanup) don't make it a very different game.

I would suggest plugging the 1e ranger into 2e, using the 1e DMG for flavor and game running advice and practice, and that's about it. You've got experience with 2e, harness it by using 1e adventure ideas and style and I think you'll have the basis of a great game.

billd91 said:

Frankly, with the considerable compatibility with 2e, you really have played 1e mechanics. 2e's improvements (surprise rule cleanup, thief skills, non-weapon proficiencies, initiative cleanup) don't make it a very different game.

Click to expand...

2E is about 97.3% the same game as 1E. As billd91 says, 2E just cleaned up a few things.

As others have said, ignore most of it. Players handbook, "To hit" tables, saves, treasure, and MM are pretty much the meat. If you've played 2nd edition, you've played the best of 1st edition -- though the kits and proficiencies only exist in the much later stuff (Oriental Adventures, and the Dungeoneer's/Wilderness survival guides -- maybe the world books...can't remember).

We recently went back to 1st edition after experiencing "edition fatigue" over the last few years. And it's been great fun. The best thing about 1st edition is that you don't need to look up a rule for every situation. Use your judgment. If a character is trying to move across a muddy room, there aren't three rules and five exceptions, plus a feat to offset the bad effects. The character just gets muddy boots and might slip if a kobold ambushes her from a ceiling trap door.

The Dragonsfoot forum is a great resource, though there are "mullahs" there, as with any RPG forum. They may have better advice on beginning small and expanding into the DMG's more esoteric rules essays. Oh..and don't mention Unearthed Arcana over there...

Welcome to Dragonsfoot