AD&D Initiative and Combat Table

[Numion]

THE GOGGLES! THEY DO NOTHING!

 

[buzz]

This doesn't mean that AD&D was unplayable (far from it).

If the rules are almost universally getting tossed out, then I'd say it's fair evidence that the game, as written, is at least nigh-unplayable.

It's interesting to look at the OSRIC document and see that the rules therein, rather than conveying AD&D1e as it was, conveys a version of AD&D1e that's pretty much the usable version many groups managed to hammer out.

That said, the init document still makes me want to run it again, as written. Sorta like Mt. Everest staring a climber in the face.

 

[Philotomy Jurament]

If the rules are almost universally getting tossed out, then I'd say it's fair evidence that the game, as written, is at least nigh-unplayable.

Yeah, that's probably why nobody played 1E...

 

[Henry]

Yeah, that's probably why nobody played 1E...

However, it DOES explain why my group never used those init rules, just like no one we knew ever used the grappling or overbearing rules. We wound up using a 1d10 for inits, same as everyone else we knew (we modified by DEX and spell segments), and this was before 2nd edition ever hit the streets. Seems like Plane Sailing told me once that the 1d10 business was in a fanzine or something years back, and people picked up on it?

 

[buzz]

Yeah, that's probably why nobody played 1E...

As Henry indirectly points out, it's probably why almost no one (that I've ever encountered) played AD&D1e as-written, including Gygax himself. Ergo, my point that 1e was certainly playable in that lots of people managed to work a functional game out of it, but as-written, it was fairly problematic.

Of course, these problems are probably what spurred on many people to try and do it better, partly resulting in all the RPG goodness we have today.

 

[buzz]

However, it DOES explain why my group never used those init rules, just like no one we knew ever used the grappling or overbearing rules. We wound up using a 1d10 for inits, same as everyone else we knew (we modified by DEX and spell segments), and this was before 2nd edition ever hit the streets. Seems like Plane Sailing told me once that the 1d10 business was in a fanzine or something years back, and people picked up on it?

There was a new init system in Dragon 50-something (52?) that I sued for a little while that was pretty good. It still used weapon speeds, but was simpler and more intuitive than what was in the DMG.

 

[thedungeondelver]

Yeah, that's probably why nobody played 1E...

Philotomy...shhhhh. You're in the place where people think that's true... :\

 

[Henry]

Philotomy...shhhhh. You're in the place where people think that's true... :\

It'd be a heck of a surprise to me, considering that a little over half of the people here used to play it or Basic D&D back in the 80's.

 

[Philotomy Jurament]

...my point that 1e was certainly playable in that lots of people managed to work a functional game out of it, but as-written, it was fairly problematic.

Yeah, I agree that the 1E initiative rules left...ahem, something to be desired (like clarity and consistency). I house-rule 1E initiative, too.

 

[buzz]

I'd love to see a 1e discussion someday where the thread wasn't split between "1e sucked" and "1e was perfect".

1e was a glorious mess. Within that mess was a metric dorkload of fun. How you approached that mess defined the kind of fun your group got out of it. Anecdotal evidence shows that said approaches varied wildly; some cleaned up a little, some cleaned up a lot. The cleaning itself seems to be the only constant.