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

[ThrorII]

Haven't played AD&D since Middle School in the 80s (except for a short campaign in the 2000's using OSRIC).

That being said, in the 80s, we:
1. Ignored Weapon Speed
2. Ignored Weapon vs. Armor
3. Used B/X initiative, combat rounds, and surprise. (Basically B/X combat rules).

We essentially played B/X (or Holmes) with 1e races, classes, spells, treasures, and monsters. Not surprising since we all cut our teeth on Holmes and had the PHB over a year before we had the DMG.

 

[Simon Miles]

We put all our homebrew rules and ideas into our Player's Guide to Dunromin; this includes hit location systems, percentage statistics, thief skill customisation (similar to 2nd ed), aging and death and lots more. New character classes too. And there's even more in the GM's Guide to Dunromin like more character classes (potentially NPC only), poisons, magic items and monsters.

 

[Emirikol]

Here's what my NEW AD&D rules are. They mainly just replace clunky stuff.

1. NO LEVEL LIMITS by race, but you stop gaining new class hp's (only con bonus) over the traditional level limit.

2. NO ABILITY SCORE REQUIREMENTS OR LIMITS for class/race/sex. Constitution: any class can get +3+4 hps. Strength: Any non-fighting class can get up to 18/50 (it is a category, not a percent). Half-orcs with +1 STR can push higher into percentiles by category. Characters gain 2 points in two different scores each 5 levels.

3. ANYONE CAN DUAL CLASS. No multi-classing. Can start after level 3. Cost to gain is the total of new levels (e.g. Ftr 3 wants to gain wizard-1. Cost is Wizard level 4 to start and goes up from there). XP tracked separately. Yes you can go back to old class.

4. NO STUPID CLASS STUFF: Barbarians: no-magic user hatred. Bards ok as starter class. Monk class from Dragon Magazine. No "training" crap. No "gotta wait for your master to die/move up" monk/assassin/druid limits.

5. EXPERIENCE POINTS: DM gives at the end of the game by accomplishments. XP is not gained any other way.

6. COMBAT: One movement and one attack. No weapon speed nonsense. If you want to use weapon vs. AC, okey dokey. Death at negative CON score.

7. ALL SPELLCASTERS get bonus spells same as clerics+wisdon; use appropriate ability.

8. ABILITY SCORE CHECKS: Roll under the score. These are the "skill checks" of AD&D. Affected by roleplay and logic. Non-weapon proficiencies are fine as modifiers. (20 always fails, 1 always succeeds)

9. UNEARTHED ARCANA: No double weapon specialization.

10. UNARMED COMBAT: Punch/kick is 1d2. Grapple is opposed ability score rolls (can use STR, CON, or DEX) and closest to their score wins.

11. EVIL IS STILL EVIL AND THAT HAS NOT CHANGED:. Drow and orcs are evil by both their anti-humane culture and innate universal status. There are few exceptions..and they still aren't allowed as PCs.

12. LEVEL LOSS FROM WIGHTS, ETC.: Not permanent unless you fail a Charisma (yes, Charisma) ability score check at the each of the session for each level that was drained.

13. SAVES EVERY ROUND (ghouls paralysis, etc.). Spell stuff is adjudicated by the DM.

14. COMBAT: Critical hit on natural 20 (roll weapon damage twice and add + strength/dex bonus once). Option on natural 1: Drop weapon out of reach, or Destroy Weapon (or drop a plus), to gain a crit.

15. HERO POINTS from Dragon Magazine #118

16. ABILITY SCORE GENERATION: 74 point buy. You get an extra point for any ability score of 7 or less and 2 extra points if you take a 3 or 4. Warrior classes at Percentile Strength cost 1 point per "category" of percentile.
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I still have really fond gaming memories of AD&D and recently ran it for some SLAVERS stuff.

 

[Lanefan]

Here's what my NEW AD&D rules are. They mainly just replace clunky stuff.

12. LEVEL LOSS FROM WIGHTS, ETC.: Not permanent unless you fail a Charisma (yes, Charisma) ability score check at the each of the session for each level that was drained.

While I'm not keen on some of your changes, I have to say this one could really be on to something. (says he, making notes for next campaign's rules makeover...)

I'd still have level loss from more major undead - Vampires, Wraiths, etc. - be permanent, but having level loss from lesser undead be reversible on a save allows more undead to have such abilities; and making it a Charisma-based save is brilliant. I think I'd have it that if you fail a certain number of saves (three? five?) then it becomes permanent; you're just not going to recover on your own.

I also wouldn't tie the saves' timing to the metagame concept of the "session"; the timing would be in-game based e.g. at each sunrise, regardless of how many sessions it took (or didn't) to get there.

And one somewhat-messy question I'm already asking myself and thus I'll ask you too. Consider this scenario (xp numbers are arbitrary as I can't be bothered to look 'em up right now):

Jocantha meets a Wight and loses a level, going from 5th (at 24,367 xp) to halfway through 4th (at 16,001 xp).
Later that day she gets into all sorts of mighty endeavours and in so doing gains 2300 xp, not enough to bump her back to 5th (at 20K).
Next morning she makes her save and the level loss is undone.

What happens now? There's four possibilities, and an argument can be made for each:

She wakes up at 20,001 xp (i.e. back at 5th but right at the start of the level, much like a Restoration)
She wakes up at 22,301 xp (i.e. back at the start of 5th plus what she earned after the loss)
She wakes up at 24,367 xp (i.e. back where she started, overwriting her later gains)
She wakes up at 26,667 xp (i.e. full recovery plus keeping what she earned after the loss)

And a corollary question: what happens if a Restoration spell is cast on Jocantha in the meantime?

 

[Mannahnin]

While I'm not keen on some of your changes, I have to say this one could really be on to something. (says he, making notes for next campaign's rules makeover...)

I'd still have level loss from more major undead - Vampires, Wraiths, etc. - be permanent, but having level loss from lesser undead be reversible on a save allows more undead to have such abilities; and making it a Charisma-based save is brilliant. I think I'd have it that if you fail a certain number of saves (three? five?) then it becomes permanent; you're just not going to recover on your own.

I also wouldn't tie the saves' timing to the metagame concept of the "session"; the timing would be in-game based e.g. at each sunrise, regardless of how many sessions it took (or didn't) to get there.

This whole discussion reminds me of how I liked what 3E did with level drain.

Having each instance of energy drain impose a Negative Energy Level, which was basically -1 to hit, to save, and to skills & ability checks, -5HP (and the undead got 5 temp HP per level drained), and lose your highest level available spell slot (and highest level overall if preparing spells with a negative level). Which is easy to calculate and impose as a penalty in the middle of combat. And then after 24hrs you got to make a Fortitude save or it became an actual lost level, with all the appropriate calculations, loss of xp and so forth. Of course, if you ever had total negative energy levels equal to your level, you were also instantly killed.

 

[haakon1]

Here's what my NEW AD&D rules are. They mainly just replace clunky stuff.
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I still have really fond gaming memories of AD&D and recently ran it for some SLAVERS stuff.

To me, this sounds like 3e. I run 3.5e, in Greyhawk, and I run mostly AD&D 1e modules and things with “similar feel” from sources like Dungeon magazine.

The only thing significantly different for me from what you do is that I go with 3e on alignment - Drow and Orcs are “Usually“ evil, but as sentient beings with free will, individuals can choose. Creatures like Demons or Elementals are “Always” whatever they were created to be. But let’s not get into that - a matter of opinion on all things alignment and de gustibus non est disputandum.

 

[Lanefan]

To me, this sounds like 3e. I run 3.5e, in Greyhawk, and I run mostly AD&D 1e modules and things with “similar feel” from sources like Dungeon magazine.

Question: do you find that the treasure some of those 1e-type modules gives out throws your 3.5e wealth-by-level out the window?

When I played 3e using both 1e and 3e modules, that was more or less our experience. It didn't take long before the DM had to account for us being considerably wealthier than the game wanted us to be.

 

[overgeeked]

Question: do you find that the treasure some of those 1e-type modules gives out throws your 3.5e wealth-by-level out the window?

When I played 3e using both 1e and 3e modules, that was more or less our experience. It didn't take long before the DM had to account for us being considerably wealthier than the game wanted us to be.

Stuff like that made us switch to XP for gold spent rather quickly.

Found out later that’s how Arneson ran things.

From the Introduction to the First Fantasy Campaign:

“Character motivation was solved by stating that you did not get Experience Points until the money had been spent on your area of interest. This often lead to additional adventures as players would order special cargos from off the board and then have to go and guard them so that the cargo would reach their lodging and then the player would get the Experience Points. More than one poor fellow found that his special motivation would literally run him ragged and get him killed before he got anything.”

Seems a bit harsh, but definitely prevents murder hobos and gets the PCs out into the world doing more than looting.

 

[Lanefan]

Stuff like that made us switch to XP for gold spent rather quickly.

Found out later that’s how Arneson ran things.

1e didn't have wealth-by-level guidelines, though. 3e did, which is why I was asking as to @haakon1 's experience with it.

From the Introduction to the First Fantasy Campaign:

“Character motivation was solved by stating that you did not get Experience Points until the money had been spent on your area of interest. This often lead to additional adventures as players would order special cargos from off the board and then have to go and guard them so that the cargo would reach their lodging and then the player would get the Experience Points. More than one poor fellow found that his special motivation would literally run him ragged and get him killed before he got anything.”

Seems a bit harsh, but definitely prevents murder hobos and gets the PCs out into the world doing more than looting.

I get the sentiment, but my issue with it is that it really hurts the PC who doesn't spend now because she's saving up for something big later e.g. a stronghold.

I've never used xp-for-treasure anyway, but this variant doesn't exactly encourage me to want to start.

 

[haakon1]

Question: do you find that the treasure some of those 1e-type modules gives out throws your 3.5e wealth-by-level out the window?

Hasn’t been an issue for me, because I don’t care about wealth by level. Part of my 1e attitude to DMing,

My PC’s are mostly pressed for money, with expenses like trying to build fortifications, paying for refugees to move to their territory, etc. Also a 1e idea.

For PC’s from level 1 (which is most characters in my two campaign), money differences between characters are mostly small.

For new PC’s in my email campaign, I don’t start them with wealth by level, but close to nothing. The newest PC’s were both picked up in the Temple of Elemental Evil’s Nodes as survivors who used to be NPC bandits, with almost no gear but light armor and weapons. The Rogue started with two masterwork daggers at level 3, and the fighter/archer with a masterwork bow at level 2, added to a party of PC’s ranging from 5th-9th.

Obviously, balance between PC’s isn’t something I’m concerned about. Everyone is having fun surviving a challenging, deadly place they’re trapped in but have a plan to escape. Both of the newest characters are played by folks who are new to D&D, so it fits they have less experienced characters than the PC’s of people who have been playing their PC’s in this campaign since 1998. The new PC’s are now a 4th level Rogue and 2nd level Fighter/2nd level specialist Wizard. Both having fun detailing more on their background and dealing with kind the dungeon, so I see them having fun.