D&D 1E Common House Rules for AD&D?

[Snarf Zagyg]

Think I missed that one.

 

[Kannik]

The ones I remember:

• Wizards gaining bonus spells like the Cleric based on Int
• No level limits
• Death at -10 HP
• Not using weapon vs AC/armour adjustments
• Crits/Fumbles

There were also additional spells and items from external sources, and our DM eventually introduced a lot of additional classes and ideas mostly of their own devising, such as revised psionics and monk and the like. But I wouldn't consider those house rules, more so supplementary/additional material.

 

[Voadam]

Anyway, it reminded me of one of my favorite and more obscure rules from REAL D&D, er, 1e, which is that Cleric's spellcasting was limited by the power of their deity. Specifically-

Clerics get 1st and 2nd level spells through study and faith.
Demigods could give spells from 3rd to 5th level.
Lesser gods could give 6th level spells.
Only greater gods could give a cleric seventh level spells.

Fairly certain that rule was almost entirely ignored at most tables.

My experience was it was just factored in. 1e already capped off maximum level for clerical spell casting at various wisdom scores and non humans had level limits baked in.

If you were in what you were expecting to be a long term game that might go to high levels (or a short term starting at high levels) and you had an 18 wisdom and unlimited level limits you looked first at the pool of greater gods for possible selection to see if anything appealed. Most campaigns had plenty of Greater God options from Greyhawk or Deities & Demigods, or FR or whatever.

If you had limits from wisdom or race like the maximum fourth level half-orc clerics, you did not sweat it and chose from the broad pool of greater, lesser, and demi-gods.

 

[Voadam]

It is funny with multiple free casting cleric house rules.

I played in an AD&D game with mana point rules where it was sort of like 5e spellcasting or 3e sorcerers or psionics, you used slots to prepare a spell then used your pool of mana points to power them with different spells costing different amounts depending on type of spell (offensive cost more) and spell level.

The closest I came to that in games I ran was using the 3,5 UA spontaneous divine caster options as a house rule in my 3.5 and pathfinder 1e games. My 1e games were fairly by the book with core stuff like classes, just allowing lots of official options.

 

[haakon1]

Because it's now-standard nomenclature and convenient shorthand. Not just ENworld dialect. Using just "AD&D" is fundamentally ambiguous, as there are two versions of AD&D.

So when I see folks assert that 1E should just be called "AD&D", I push back a little. Hopefully with reasonable courtesy.

To recap…
I replied to a bunch of stuff and included a terminology aside about AD&D (1e), you replied disagreeing and pointing to a cover as proof of your point about AD&D 2e, and I replied to you commenting on what editions call themselves on their covers.

bill91 replied to me saying “Does any of that matter …”

I replied to that, “If it doesn’t matter, why post about it?” Which is perhaps rude, but I think a valid point semi-agreeing that it doesn’t matter.

And you replied to me by repeating your original thesis.

And then I replied with new pointlessness.

I submit now: none of this matters.

 

[haakon1]

Agree completely!

That's why I call 1e "Real D&D" and the other versions "FALSE IDOLS!"

That's what you were getting at, right?

Well, I hate 2e and 4e, but not all editions post the real thing.

How ever did you guess I Iike AD&D more than AD&D 2e?

 

[PHATsakk43]

OD&D, Holmes, B/X, or BECMI are “real”. AD&D was never really a separate entity, and likely would have never forked had Gary not tried to create a legally implied distinction.

AD&D was effectively going over Uncle Gary’s D&D house rules in a very long winded session zero.

 

[rgard]

Fairly certain that rule was almost entirely ignored at most tables.

We actually used it. Made you pick your deity carefully if you wanted higher level spells. Also, we played it that if the cleric was out of favor with his or her god, the cleric could still cast 1st & 2nd spells.

 

[Lanefan]

We actually used it. Made you pick your deity carefully if you wanted higher level spells. Also, we played it that if the cleric was out of favor with his or her god, the cleric could still cast 1st & 2nd spells.

I've never liked the gradations of spell-granting deities that 1e presented.

The way I see it, if a deity can grant spells at all and a Cleric to that deity somehow gets powerful enough to cast high-level spells then the deity can grant those high-level spells. If nothing else this allows me-as-DM to throw in high-level Clerics to minor deities the PCs have never heard of, while also giving PC Clerics to minor deities something to aspire to.

Now if the Cleric's Wisdom isn't up to snuff, that's a different matter.

 

[Mark Hope]

Soooo many houserules...

• Ability score mods start at 13, like BX, but flatten out like AD&D
• Some new races
• Bonus spells for wizards
• No race/class limitations or level limits except sometimes
• Humans get +1 to any stat and 2 background powers from a big list
• Clerics prepare spells from a large list, speciality priests cast spontaneously from a small list
• Monks from Dragon magazine
• Assassins
• Bards that don't suck
• Weapon spec for fighters only but nerfed (no extra attacks) but mastery, grandmastery etc added in at higher levels
• Barbarians that don't suck
• Cavaliers that don't suck
• All classes get some extra class powers from High-Level Campaigns or stuff I stole from other editions
• Sorcerers
• Like about fifty different spec wizards
• Magic rules sprinkled in from Spells & Magic
• Weapons have qualities with stuff nicked from other editions or Combat & Tactics
• Consolidated NWPs into a more meaningful and useful list
• More fighting styles than is probably sane
• Cultural weapon groups and fighting styles
• Tons of extra equipment
• CMB/CMD to handle all combat maneuvers
• Dying at -1, can't swallow potions from -6, dead at -10
• Drinking potions is a bonus action fight me
• Turn undead tables extended to 20th level
• Cure light (1st), cure moderate (2nd), cure serious (3rd), cure critical (4th), heal (5th), raise dead (6th) - it is not easier to raise the dead than it is to heal wounds, thank you
• XP for gold but only if you spend it on whatever I don't care
• Stronghold and dominion rules cobbled together from AD&D1e, Castles Sourcebook, and BECMI
• Overly complicated spell lists
• Glyphs of Warding from that one cool Cerilon article back in the day

I am sure there are more. I am not looking them up.