TSR Why would anyone want to play 1e?

[Maxperson]

Which is funny, because every game of 1e and 2e I ever played, the DM always set the trap off on a failure. One of those things where no one really checked the rule I guess.

I wonder if a Dragon article said something along those lines, because all the DMs I played with did the same thing.

 

[Mannahnin]

Maybe there's an example in a popular module?

Or maybe it's just folks extrapolating from Gary's guidance in the 1E DMG to never cut a Thief a break.

 

[el-remmen]

That "risk disarming" bit, though, implies that you guys run it that a failed disarm roll automatically sets off the trap? I know neither edition of AD&D says that happens.

Only on a roll of 96-00 on the percentage roll as part of the actual disarm attempt. But traps can still be accidentally set off by the actions of other characters while the thief does their thing AND taking the time to do it could lead to an additional wandering monster roll, all three of which is what I meant by "risk."

 

[el-remmen]

No, not always. There was no "Find traps" ability in OD&D or Holmes Basic. It wasn't introduced until the 1978 PH.

My bad for assuming. I never played either version. Can't remember what the actual rule was for B/X (which is what I started with), as except for the GLARING differences (no multiclassing, race as class, etc), I get a lot of pre-3E stuff mixed up, since well, we generally played with stuff from all three editions (B/X-CMI, 1E and 2E) at once, as we were exposed to them/they came out.

 

[Mannahnin]

Only on a roll of 96-00 on the percentage roll as part of the actual disarm attempt. But traps can still be accidentally set off by the actions of other characters while the thief does their thing AND taking the time to do it could lead to an additional wandering monster roll, all three of which is what I meant by "risk."

Makes sense. As Max and Sacrosanct illustrated, a fair number of DMs ruled more harshly, which strikes me as pretty brutal given how the odds are already against Thieves even just playing strictly by the book, but I figured I'd confirm whether you were among them rather than assuming. I prefer to house rule to help them out, as well as erring on the kind side in rulings.

My bad for assuming. I never played either version. Can't remember what the actual rule was for B/X (which is what I started with), as except for the GLARING differences (no multiclassing, race as class, etc), I get a lot of pre-3E stuff mixed up, since well, we generally played with stuff from all three editions (B/X-CMI, 1E and 2E) at once, as we were exposed to them/they came out.

Yeah, totally normal. People who are as obsessed as I am with the old editions and who habitually keep PDFs handy to reference for these discussions are rare.

 

[fuindordm]

Being more lenient with thieves comes with age... I was harsher when I was young and my friends would try to convince me that their character could climb a wall, move silently, and backstab Tiamat simultaneously.

Today I just think that if the rules discourage a player from using their abilities, then the rules must be wrong. Hence my first post in the thread: if the PH does not describe a consequency of failing the roll, then I do not penalize the thief for failing the roll.

 

[Mannahnin]

Being more lenient with thieves comes with age... I was harsher when I was young and my friends would try to convince me that their character could climb a wall, move silently, and backstab Tiamat simultaneously.

Today I just think that if the rules discourage a player from using their abilities, then the rules must be wrong. Hence my first post in the thread: if the PH does not describe a consequency of failing the roll, then I do not penalize the thief for failing the roll.

Yeah, I think Gary was definitely writing from a context with more adversarial/opportunistic players.

In retrospect, though, "have an adult conversation about expectations and mutual fun" is better advice for that than "hit them with invisible mummies and bolts from the blue if they get impertinent."

 

[Flights of Fancy]

In retrospect, though, "have an adult conversation about expectations and mutual fun" is better advice for that than "hit them with invisible mummies and bolts from the blue if they get impertinent."

But much less fun for DMs.

 

[Jahydin]

First, there is a lot more missing but the hits count more.

One of the reasons I like OSR combat more. It's not really roll to "hit" as much as it's roll to "kill". Makes encounters a lot more tense and missed rolls more manageable IMO.

 

[jdrakeh]

For me, it was the copious amounts of malt liquor and the Manowar (played on 10, of course).