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A Pathfinder Group Tries Old-School Essentials
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<blockquote data-quote="cavalier973" data-source="post: 8193173" data-attributes="member: 91595"><p>Re: Ability Scores</p><p></p><p>The Mentzer Basic set DM Book says that the DM can allow a player to switch scores in order to play a preferred class. If, for example, the ability scores are better for a thief (high DEX), but the player wants to play a cleric, then the DM can allow the player to exchange the DEX and WIS scores.</p><p></p><p>The Mentzer Player Book has a list of premade characters, and they all use an array, apparently. Even the fighter that is in the "choose your own adventure" introduction.</p><p></p><p>For humans, it is 17, 16, 14, 11, 9, 8</p><p></p><p>For demihumans, it is 16, 14, 11, 9, 9, 7</p><p></p><p>If your players still want to roll for random scores, but dont want the hassle of adjusting them, or rerolling dozens of times, use 2d6+6. You can still get random numbers, getting an 18 is still possible, but the lowest score will be an 8.</p><p></p><p>One other option is to have items and elements (magic pools and the like) that give permanent boosts to stats. That way, the characters "earn" their 18 strength through adventuring.</p><p></p><p>Moldvay is up front in saying to change or add rules as you like. That means houseruling in Basic D&D is part of the core rules.</p><p></p><p>My favorite rule change, after ability score shenanigans, is to keep the "d6 damage for all weapons", but with 2 handed melee weapons and crossbows, roll 2d6, and use the higher number.</p><p></p><p>For thieves, you could advance the table they use for skills by the DEX modifier. A thief with 13 DEX uses the table for a 2nd level thief, etc.</p><p></p><p>One last thing: in my opinion, the first adventure should yield enough treasure to advance the characters to 2nd level. Then slow advancement to the pace expected by the rules.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="cavalier973, post: 8193173, member: 91595"] Re: Ability Scores The Mentzer Basic set DM Book says that the DM can allow a player to switch scores in order to play a preferred class. If, for example, the ability scores are better for a thief (high DEX), but the player wants to play a cleric, then the DM can allow the player to exchange the DEX and WIS scores. The Mentzer Player Book has a list of premade characters, and they all use an array, apparently. Even the fighter that is in the "choose your own adventure" introduction. For humans, it is 17, 16, 14, 11, 9, 8 For demihumans, it is 16, 14, 11, 9, 9, 7 If your players still want to roll for random scores, but dont want the hassle of adjusting them, or rerolling dozens of times, use 2d6+6. You can still get random numbers, getting an 18 is still possible, but the lowest score will be an 8. One other option is to have items and elements (magic pools and the like) that give permanent boosts to stats. That way, the characters "earn" their 18 strength through adventuring. Moldvay is up front in saying to change or add rules as you like. That means houseruling in Basic D&D is part of the core rules. My favorite rule change, after ability score shenanigans, is to keep the "d6 damage for all weapons", but with 2 handed melee weapons and crossbows, roll 2d6, and use the higher number. For thieves, you could advance the table they use for skills by the DEX modifier. A thief with 13 DEX uses the table for a 2nd level thief, etc. One last thing: in my opinion, the first adventure should yield enough treasure to advance the characters to 2nd level. Then slow advancement to the pace expected by the rules. [/QUOTE]
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