D&D 1E The indispensible 1e

[Andor]

Potion Miscability tables!

Granted most modern players would probably have their heads explode (result 01 on the chart) if the GM used one, but I kind of miss that sense that magic was weird and unpredictable and you screwed around with too much of it at your peril.

I'd rather see funky charts of weirdness from too much bling rather than "If you wear more than 2 rings they all stop working." Booooring!

I'm probably alone however.

Edit: Ironically I keep suggesting a ready availability of healing potions or poultices or some such fudge as a fluff-acceptable way to implement 4e style character driven healing within the 5e framework, but the point stands. Unpredicable interactions of magic make magic more mysterious, and thus magical.

 

[Lanefan]

Hmmm. No one's mentioned the different damages of S-M and L. I suppose no one thinks it's worth carrying to 5E (I don't)?

I forgot this one. There's many things ahead of this in 1e I'd like to see carried forward, but if variable damage dice came forward I wouldn't mind at all.

Lan-"never mind that longsword vs. large gave the d12 something to do"-efan

 

[Ed_Laprade]

Hmmm. No one's mentioned the different damages of S-M and L. I suppose no one thinks it's worth carrying to 5E (I don't)?

I quite forgot about it. Which is hardly surprising as we usually did even when the rule was supposed to be in use!

 

[Toric_Arthendain]

I quite forgot about it. Which is hardly surprising as we usually did even when the rule was supposed to be in use!

My players never forget this. The fighter with the two handed sword is always asking if a monster is large so he can pull out the 3d6 for damage.

 

[DMKastmaria]

1. A Naked Succubus pic in the Monster Manual.

2. Strict Rules for Spell-casting in melee:

"Spells cannot be cast while violently moving - such as running, dodging a blow, or even walking normally."

"Thus, casting a spell requires that a figure be relatively motionless and concentrating on the effort during the entire course of uninterrupted casting."

"It can thus be understood that spell casting during a melee can be a tricky business, for a mere shove at any time can spoil the dweomer!"

-The DMG p. 65

3. The majority of X.P comes from Treasure. Because it Works!

 

[hanez]

I'm trying and failing to see how that doesn't apply to every other RPG up to and including FATAL.

I have seen good DMs brought down to bad DM status by systems with too many rules, and to monotonous of a structure, so balanced and flavorless that it effected the DMs abilty to make things exciting. I can totally see how 1e really enabled good DMs, and possibly another system (guess) was designed for bad DMs (just follow the rules, everything is balanced, ect)

 

[Blackwarder]

I love 1E, but are people seriously nostalgic for weapon speed factors and weapon vs. AC adjustments? They were one of the first things we ditched for over-complicating the combat system.

In a system where you roll initiative for every round and creatures and character don't have ungodly amounts of HP weapon speeds can play a big roll, other wise it will make the big two handlers the ultimate weapon since you will be able to use it as quickly as you use a dagger.

The problem with weapon speed factors is that they are quite blatantly unrealistic to the point of being almost exactly backwards. I've no problem with the idea of weapon speed factors - but the pike should be faster than the halberd should be faster than the longsword, faster than the dagger - with the fist being slowest of all. You need to move your wrist slightly to move the head of a halberd a foot - but to move your fist a foot you need to move your whole arm that much.

You choose a dagger because it's more concealable and throwable and a longsword so you can also use a shield. And melee should be faster than range.

Your analogy is wrong, a 10ft pike is one of the most unwieldy weapons you could ever use, it's one of the main reasons why they were only used in formation fighting, a lone pike man on the open won't be able to keep the dagger/sword/mace wielding enemy at bay...

It's much easier to move a dagger around, especially if you throw it.

As for weapon types vs AC, on,y reason why we didn't use it was because housing it wil thac0 in the middle of the night wasn't the easiest thing to do, but it's a very cool rule that should remain an optional rule (like it originally was in 2e) for the groups who wants to use it.

Warder

 

[Neonchameleon]

Your analogy is wrong, a 10ft pike is one of the most unwieldy weapons you could ever use, it's one of the main reasons why they were only used in formation fighting, a lone pike man on the open won't be able to keep the dagger/sword/mace wielding enemy at bay...

A pike is for formation fighting only. But even one pikeman vs a swordsman, the pikeman gets to hit first. Unfortunately he's taking a significant penalty to hit because the pike is so unwieldy. What the pike wielder can't do is bring the pike back - when the swordsman has stepped past the point of the pike then the pike is more or less useless. (This effect - too long weapon striking first, being parried, then more or less useless when someone steps past the point was also why the smallsword drove out the rapier).

It's much easier to move a dagger around, especially if you throw it.

Yes. But you can't move it as far unless you throw it (and thrown is a different matter entirely). Speed is about how far you can move it and in what time - and which will hit first if it connects. For speed the dagger sucks. Take your dagger and put it into a guard position. I'll do the same with my smallsword. Each of us lunges and we'll see who hits first. The dagger isn't that easy to move around because you need to move your entire arm. I need to move my wrist or straighten my arm. We can also try placing a set of targets on a wall or playing wack-a-mole across a wide area. The smallsword is going to beat the dagger as I just need to roll my wrist for almost all the strikes. (The pike on the other hand is going to miss the moles - not a lack of speed, but a lack of control).

 

[Blackwarder]

Yes. But you can't move it as far unless you throw it (and thrown is a different matter entirely). Speed is about how far you can move it and in what time - and which will hit first if it connects. For speed the dagger sucks. Take your dagger and put it into a guard position. I'll do the same with my smallsword. Each of us lunges and we'll see who hits first. The dagger isn't that easy to move around because you need to move your entire arm. I need to move my wrist or straighten my arm. We can also try placing a set of targets on a wall or playing wack-a-mole across a wide area. The smallsword is going to beat the dagger as I just need to roll my wrist for almost all the strikes. (The pike on the other hand is going to miss the moles - not a lack of speed, but a lack of control).

Ahhh, now I see the problem. You see you seem to forget that prior to 3e the combat round used to be one minute long and the combatant were considered to spend most of their time parrying and feinting, all of that swinging was abstracted to a single attack roll (with multiple attack rolled per round simulating the fact that a more skilled warrior would lend more hits in a given amount of time), the weapon speed factor simulated the fact that all that swinging takes time.

It's easier to dart in and out with a knife than it would be with a sword (I happen to know this from experience).

Warder

 

[Zustiur]

Hmmm. No one's mentioned the different damages of S-M and L. I suppose no one thinks it's worth carrying to 5E (I don't)?

What WAS the point behind that? I never got it. I could almost see what they intended, but the way it was implemented made no sense so far as I could see.