And now, to take a moment to address the fallacious "all teh page count is combat in early D&D" argument, I'll quickly dissect the 1e DMG's page count, starting on page 9, the Introduction.
Page 9-20: Introduction; talking about dice, minis, pc backgrounds (secondary skills, age, height, weight), disease & parasitic infestation (NOT combat-related), death due to old age, ability scores, racial tendencies, followers and other class features (spying, warhorse, thief skills, etc). Not a whit of combat until the last 1/5 of pg. 20, and that's being generous (allowing that the discussion of poison can be used in combat, so we'll count it). 1/2 page of combat stuff so far, 11.5 pages noncombat.
pg. 21-26: Discussing monsters as pc, alignment, alignment languages, money (including gems & jewelry): no combat stuff. .5 combat total, 17.5 noncombat.
pg. 27-28: Finishing jewels and gems, but moving on to Armor, AC and weapons for half of page 27, which I'll allow can be seen as combat rules under a sufficiently generous reading (although it's actually almost entirely description). This continues to the first half of page 28, so let's call this 1 page of combat stuff. The other half is hirelings. So far, our total is 1.5 pages of combat, 18.5 noncombat.
Pg. 29-37: More hirelings, including expert hirelings, which include mercenary warriors. But there's nothing about actual combat there. It's all about how many serjeants a lieutenant can command and stuff like that. Then we move to henchmen and loyalty/morale. Again, being generous in my assessment, I'll count the "Situation Modifiers" chart (which is 10 lines long, including the heading) as combat stuff... by my finger-measuring, that's about 1/10 of the page. Then onto time in the campaign. Total so far: 1.6 combat, 27.4 noncombat.
pg. 38-39: More on time. Then notes on how pcs acquire spells, recover them, and all about casting. I guess you could argue (if you're reeeeeally stretching) that the slightly less than half-page description of tribal spellcasters (meaning humanoids, e.g. goblins and orcs) is combat stuff, though I wouldn't; but in the interest of fairness, I'll count it- it's about .4 of a page. Total so far: 2 combat, 29 noncombat.
Pg. 40-46: Spell commentaries. This requires a bit more in depth reading, so we have some mixed stuff, combat and noncombat. Re combat, we have discussions under a good number of spells that do, or arguably can, pertain to combat. I was actually making a list but it was getting too long and unwieldy. I'm going to just be sloppy and say about half of this section is combat-related, though I think it's probably more like 35%. So let's say we're at 5.5 combat, 32.5 noncombat.
pg. 47-53: We start with about 1/3 page that finishes up the spell commentaries, but only a tiny bit is combat related. Nonetheless, we'll stick to our "half of this is combat" estimate and say approx. 1/6 of page 47 is combat-related. Then we move onto wilderness exploration and getting lost and aerial adventures. Page 50 is about 45% combat-related, because it's where the discussion of aerial combat starts, and this continues through half of page 53 (the second half is a discussion of waterborne adventures.) So let's say 3.6 pages of combat here- this brings our total to 9.1 combat, 35.9 noncombat.
pg. 54-57: More waterborne adventure notes, including hull points, repairing damage and other combat related stuff- about 1 page's worth on 54-55. From there we move on to underwater adventure info, which runs from the end of 55 through most of 57. Here we have another 1.25 pages of combat stuff. So our total is 11.35 combat, 37.65 noncombat.
pg. 58-60: Adventuring on other planes or the moon, outdoor movement, infra/ultravision, invisibility (this bit is combat-related), detecting good or evil, listening at doors. Just over half a page of combat- we'll say .55. Total: 11.9 combat, 40.1 noncombat.
pg. 61-84: Combat! Interestingly, insanity and intoxication come in this section, which arent' actually about combat. I'm not counting a discussion of kleptomania as a combat rule, despite my generous reading in general on this. The last quarter of page 84 is about xp, but specifically as regards combat, so I'll count that as combat rules. Nonetheless, there are 2 pages of intoxication and insanity rules. So total: 33.9 combat, 42.1 noncombat.
pg. 85-100: Another page of xp stuff, most about combat, but about 1/4 page about xp for gp. Stuff about gaining levels. Then discussion of the campaign, climate, ecology, governance, economics, monster and treasure placement, territory development, peasants/serfs/slaves, sample dungeon, example of play. I'll be generous again and count the ghoul's attack in the example of play as combat related material. The rest of page 100 is all about personae of npcs. So about .3 pages of combat stuff. Total: 34.2 combat, 57.8 noncombat.
pg. 101-105: More about npcs. Languages. Hiring npcs to cast spells (notably, all are noncombat spells, with the exceptions of bless, earthquake, protection from evil and silence), monsters and organization- how several groups of monsters will respond to attack and retreat tactics. That, again, I'll count as combat stuff. The final third of 105 is about nonhuman troops, but is all about managing them, not combat. So 1.75 combat. Total: 35.95 combat, 61.05 noncombat.
pg. 106-110: Humanoid racial preferences, followed by construction and siege. The actual siege notes start on 108 and continue through much of the first half of 110. Then we move on to Conducting the Game. 2 pages worth of combat. Total: 37.95 combat, 64.05 noncombat.
pg. 111-119: More conducting the game, including the infamous crossover with other genres section. Again, being generous, I'll count all of this as combat related. Creation of holy/unholy water. Spell research, fabrication of magic items, potion miscibility and a wee bit on energy drain. The latter is clearly combat related, so about 2.5 pages of combat stuff. Total: 40.45 combat, 69.55 non.
pg. 120-136: Treasure! Especially magic items. This section, like the discussion of spells, above, is a mix. Of potions, animal, dragon, giant, undead, plant and human control; healing & extra-healing; fire resistance; giant strength; heroism and superheroism; giant strength, invisibility, invulnerability, oil of slipperiness and speed, I'll count. That's 1.25 pages worth of potions. I'll count all protection scrolls, as well; that's .75 pages of scrolls. Rings: I'll count elemental command, fire resistance, free action, human influence, invisibility, mammal control, protection, regeneration, shooting stars, spell turning, telekinesis and wizardry. That's 2 pages of rings. Rods: I'll count absorption, beguiling, cancellation, lordly might, rulership and smiting. That's 1 page of rods. Staves: I'll count command, the magi, power, serpent, striking and withering. 1 page. Wands: I'l count conjuration, fear, fire, frost, illumination, illusion, lightning, magic missiles, negation, paralyzation, polymorphing and wonder. 1.5 pages of wands. Miscellaneous magic items start on page 136, but just in terms of a general description. 7.5 pages of combat stuff. Total: 47.95 combat, 79.05 non.
pg. 137-147: Miscellaneous magic items. I'll count the amulet of life protection, apparatus of Kwalish, bag of tricks, beaker of plentiful potions, book of infinite spells, boots of speed, boots of striding & springing, bowl commanding water elementals, bracers of defense and defenselessness, brazier commanding fire elementals, brooch of shielding, broom of animated attack, censer controlling air elementals, cloak of displacement, cloak of the manta ray, cloak of protection, cubes of force and frost resistance, drums of deafening and panic, dust of appearance, sneezing and choking and disappearance, efreeti bottle, eyes of charming, figurines of wondrous power, gauntlets of dexterity and ogre power, gem of brightness, girdle of giant strength, helm of brilliance and underwater action, horn of blasting, collapsing, the tritons, and valhalla. Because I'm blanket-counting the figurines as combat, I'll leave out ioun stones. So in this section, looks like about 5.1 pages of combat stuff. Total: 53.05 combat, 84.95 non.
pg. 148-155: More magic items. I'll count all the instruments of the bards, iron flask, javelins (all), jewel of attacks, mattock of the titans, maul of the titans, mirror of opposition, necklace of missiles, nets of entrapment and snaring, periapts of proof against poison and wound closure, pipes of the sewer, robes of the archmagi, blending, eyes, powerlessness and scintillating colors, ropes of constriction and entanglement, rug of smothering, scarabs of enraging enemies and protection, sphere of annihilation, stones of controlling earth elementals and good luck, talismans of pure good/ultimate evil, and tridents of fish command, submission, warning and yearning. 3.65 pages of combat stuff, total: 56.7 combat, 89.3 non.
pg. 156-163: Artifacts and relics! Almost all have some application in combat, but none are really about combat. Moreover, most of them are almost entirely full of "pick your powers" lists. I'll count the armor and weapons, plus a few others that include combat stats- the Axe of the Dwarvish Lords, Baba Yaga's Hut, Invulnerable Coat of Arnd, Mace of Cuthbert, Mightyt Servant of Leuk-O, Orbs of Dragonkind, Sword of Kas and Wand of Orcus. 1.5 pages. Total: 58.2 combat, 95.8 non.
pg. 164-169: More on artifacts, then magic armor and weapons, which I'll count all of, including the discussion of magic weapon intelligence. There are .75 pages of artifact stuff on 164 and half a page of appendices on 169; the rest is all combat here, so 4.75 combat here. Total: 62.95 combat, 97.05 non.
pg. 170-193: Various appendices, including lots of charts. None of this relates directly to combat. Total: 62.95 combat, 121.05 non.
pg. 194-214: More appendices, but these do relate to combat. Most of 194-195 involves random fiend generation, and I'll go ahead and count the section wherein Gygax discusses strength and attacks onward as combat material. Then 196 through 214 are quick monster stats- not enough to run a complex monster, but it's all stats, and continuing my policy of generous assessment, I'll count all of it as combat. So here there's only 1.4 pages of noncombat stuff. Total: 82.55 combat, 122.45 non.
pg. 215-221: About half of 215 (again, being generous) finishes off the abbreviated monster stats, then we move on to gambling, traps, dungeon dressing, herbs and spices and other descriptive charts. That first .5 is combat. Total: 83.05 combat, 128.95 non.
pg. 222-230: Charts for summoning spells and the like. I'll count this as combat stuff. Inspirational reading, not so much. Encumberance? Nope. Spur of the moment party creation? Nope. Finally, a glossary- I'm not going to count the index. 2.5 pages of combat. Total: 85.55 combat, 135.45 non.
Doing the math, I have 221 pages, but my analysis (of 224 pages) starts on page 9. So somehow I've added an extra 6 pages in there. Let's say, because it was my bad, that they were all noncombat pages, so I'll knock six pages off the noncombat side.
I still end up counting 85.55 combat to 129.45 noncombat, nicely putting to rest (I hope) the notion that early D&D's page count was all, or even mostly, about combat. If anyone would care to perform their own counteranalysis, I welcome it, but if you're not going to do the work, I'm afraid I can't call a flat statement that the page count is all about combat credible.
EDIT: And to reiterate, I was extremely generous in what I counted as "combat" material. I mean, I counted the gem of brightness because it has one ability that can be used in combat compared to its two non-combat/exploration focused abilities, for Freja's sake! The index lists the following pages under "combat" and all its subheadings: 87-88, 61-84, 104-105 (in the PH), 50-53, 73-78, 56 and 54-55.
