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Ah but you forgot one of the most formidable weapons in the magic-user's arsenal — burning oil. In BD&D, flaming oil does 1d8 the first round and 2d8 point of damage the second round! While I only played a few BD&D games, in every OD&D game I played in or DMed, the magic-user always carried...

WRONG. AD&D 1st Edition does indeed have weapon proficiencies! 1st level fighters are proficient in 4 weapons and gain a new proficiency every 3 levels thereafter. So in your example, nobody in the party uses the longsword since it is not an automatic proficiency. But in fact your example is...

Thanks. It's there in the SRD as well. I guess I'm still in the AD&D frame of mind expecting to find the rules at the beginning of the magic item section rather than in the scroll.

In older editions of D&D, a spellcaster could attempt to read a scroll of a spell higher level than normally castable. The chance of success or failure was dependent on how many levels of difference there were between the minimum caster level for the scroll and the actual level of the caster...

In the Summer of 1978 (pre-AD&D PHB) I banned raise dead and resurrection with the approval of most of my players in the game at the time. Since then, very few new players have complained at the loss. In the Summer of 1987 I brought back raise dead and resurrection but made them empathic and...

Same here. Oh I like them just fine. I just find the effect to be quite fantastic and therefore should be higher level. I believe that evocation magic is a manifestation of personal power rather than external power. I have no prohibitions on sorcerers casting evocation magic. I even allow...

All cure spells and inflict spells are combined and made empathic. For example, a cure light wounds will not cure any damage unless the caster or a convenient scapegoat incurs the damage to be healed. A single die roll determines the amount inflicted upon the scapegoat or cleric and the...

Inspiration for talking and magic-using dragons? Hi Gary, Starting with OD&D (1974), all dragons had a % chance to talk, and all but the white dragons a % chance to use magic. What was your inspiration for talking and/or magic-using dragons? I'm at a loss to find any European mythological or...

Herœs are celebrities In Grymwurld™ PCs are treated like celebrities. They get invited to parties by various nobles who in turn attempt to use the PCs for their own political machinations. Oh there have been many offers of land (usually frontier) and titles but almost always turned down...

I've been looking for a good d20 resource on megafauna, especially the mammals. So many books focus just on the dinosaurs. I'll be purchasing this tonight.

And why in your opinion, is this the worst possible way to do it? Please explain and offer your opinion of the ideal way to do it.

Armour as DR ( DR = AC)? Check. Class Defence Bonus (CDB = BAB) Check. Feats every other level and Ability points ever 3 levels? I use the ability bonus from CONAN and grant a feat for every level that doesn't give an ability score boost. EXP chart is 2× core? Check. Masterwork weapons up to...

Excellent suggestion! I completely forgot about Dungeon! I remember when it came out but for whatever reason I never bought it (probably too busy playing OD&D).

Sad, but probably true these days. :( I agree about the disagreements regarding arming-swords, longswords, broadswords, backswords, war-swords, et al. And I know there is some controversy when comparing falchions and cutlasses. But where is the historian that calls a two-handed scimitar a...

While my daughter is only 4 years old at the moment, I'm planning ahead for when she is ready to play D&D. Which version of D&D would you recommend for young children? Basic D&D? Which version? Or is OD&D (1974) the One True Game™ for all ages?

I've never seen a lance with a handle perpendicular to the shaft. Do you have a URL or picture to share?

The short answer is that a lance does double damage on impact because the rider has the lance (or spear) couched under his arm and he is standing in the saddle when the horse charges. Whereas if the spear/lance is not couched and/or the rider is in the wrong kind of saddle (e.g. no stirrups) he...

Morrus — I renewed in August but while I paid for the renewal, it didn't take. In September, PirateCat fixed my account for me and it worked for some time. But now I can't search anymore (not sure how long ago my account broke again as I don't search often). Can you take care of this? Thanks!

Take no prisoners, give no quarter. My advice is to “take no prisoners and give no quarter.” In other words, play it straight by the rules. If the party deserves an EL 4 encounter then give them the EL 4 encounter and run it fairly. If the players don't run their characters properly, that's...

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