D&D 1E Favorite Obscure Rules from TSR-era D&D

[James Gasik]

The heck with it, here we go:

 

[James Gasik]

I'd like to blame UA for all that ailed D&D ....

But then I remember the very first Sage Advice in Dragon Magazine ... in 1979 ... had this question-

In GODS, DEMI-GODS AND HEROES it says that a forty-plus level character is ridiculous. In our game we have two characters that are at one thousand-plus level. This happened in “Armageddon,” a conflict between the gods and the characters. Of course, the characters won. What do you think about that?

So, um, yeah. Pretty sure the first powergamers and munchkins were birthed around the time of the Big Bang.

40th level characters? Pfft. That's nothing!

 

[el-remmen]

Cast that sucker in a dungeon and watch it fill up and burn everything and everyone within it... including yourself!

I still run it that way in 5e.

 

[el-remmen]

I always had an unreasonable love for the gemstone tables in the DMG--both suggested magical effects of, and the random rolling for gemstone value with its long-tail distribution, and the occasional spell or magic item that requires whole gemstones of a certain value to work, not just powdered.

I still use these!

 

[zenopus]

I always liked the cryptically intelligent monsters in the 1E Monster Manual. So much that I put together a list of them a few years back:

d20 Unexpectedly Intelligent Monsters in the Monster Manual

 

[JEB]

Okay, here's another obscure rule that makes little sense to modern players.

The DM, not the player, rolls for all thief ability checks and rolls them secretly, not revealing the result to the player. (DMG p. 19).

This is actually more player-friendly than the original boxed set, where the referee (not DM, the term didn't exist yet) rolls dice for everything except combat. Searching for secret doors? The ref rolls the dice. Listening at the door? The ref rolls the dice. Break down a door? Yep, still done by the ref.

The biggest one of all? The referee also rolls up your character for you. 3d6, in order, Str-Int-Wis-Con-Dex-Cha, plus 3d6 x 10 starting gold. (The player still picks their class and race and everything else, but still...)

EDIT: In case anyone asks for receipts...

OD&D, Book I, page 10:

Prior to the character selection by players it is necessary for the referee to roll three six-sided dice in order to rate each as to various abilities, and thus aid them in selecting a role. Categories of ability are: Strength, Intelligence, Wisdom, Constitution, Dexterity, and Charisma. Each player notes his appropriate scores, obtains a similar roll of three dice to determine the number of Gold Pieces (Dice score × 10) he starts with, and then opts for a role.

OD&D Book III, page 13 (part of "EXAMPLE OF THE REFEREE MODERATING A DUNGEON EXPEDITION"):

CAL: Listen at the door — three of us.
REF: (After rolling three dice) You hear nothing.

CAL: Two of us (specifying which two) will throw our weight against the door to open it. All will be ready for combat.
REF: (After rolling two dice) The door opens!

 

[Kannik]

Hey, how about we tell the young 'un's the tale of Waldorf, the Wizard who destroyed the world of Greyhawk with his custom Power Word, Nuke spell and wrote to Dragon asking for the xp total of the entire planet so he could ascend to 356th level?

Hahahahaha, wow, I had almost forgotten about that one! I remember reading it in the letters section (I think it was the letters section?) when that issue of Dragon came out... true classic.

 

[Lanefan]

Okay, here's another obscure rule that makes little sense to modern players.

The DM, not the player, rolls for all thief ability checks and rolls them secretly, not revealing the result to the player. (DMG p. 19).

That one makes perfect sense to me: for most abilities, most of the time, you don't and wouldn't know whether you failed due to bad luck, or because of unknown factors, or because what you're trying to do is simply beyond you.

I'll narrate the result as it would look-sound to the character but won't show the roll.

 

[Kannik]

40th level characters? Pfft. That's nothing!
View attachment 365458

Module H4, the Throne of Bloodstone! A module that I have so wanted to run for something like 30 years. Three campaign attempts, and furthest one made it through H3 before the group dissolved.* (Not on account of the Bloodstone campaign... at least, I don't think it was due to that!) Alas!

* Amusingly, as we rotated through campaigns and DM, we started H1 in 3e (with 2e Battlesystem rules), H2 was 3.5e, H3 was 4e (and no Battlesystem scenarios).

 

[Lanefan]

IIRC, one of the Gygax adjacent folks (Mentzer, I think, or maybe Mornard) stated that Gary played it that the radius would even go through walls, possibly tipping off enemies in other rooms to your presence.

We have it that Darkness works this way, as the Darkness "originates" from everywhere in the area of effect. Light, however, originates from a single source at the effect's centre, and behaves like ordinary light from there.