D&D General Experience Points & Leveling: A Brief Primer on XP in the 1e DMG, and Why It Still Matters

[Maxperson]

No, it should be AC -2. Rings of Protection don't work with magic armour to enhance AC, just saves.

That one I knew and we used. It has just been a very long time since I played 1e.

 

[Helldritch]

No, it should be AC -2. Rings of Protection don't work with magic armour to enhance AC, just saves.

I had forgotten about that one. 25 years without playing 1ed makes holes in your memory. Thanks.
Is it me, or am I the only one that itches for a good 1ed game?

 

[Lanefan]

Yep. It sucks for everyone else. Not a problem at the end of the last session in the campaign. Never before then.

Similar to when the dm plays favorites and gives one player a +5 holy avenger when everyone else is yet to find a magic weapon. It’s decisive.

So something that's somewhat random counts as the DM playing favourites?

Sorry, not buying that.

And I can't speak for your game, but were a party with no magic to find a +5 holy avenger* here there's no way in hell one character could afford to claim/buy it from treasury; hence it's ironclad guaranteed it'd be sold during treasury division and the proceeds shared out.

* - a magic item I have never yet DMed lo these 37 years.

 

[JiffyPopTart]

It's always fun to see people extrapolate their personal experiences and try to make them universal. For example, I don't think in all the years I played AD&D and 2e, I ever saw a hold person spell cast. There were far too many times the baddies weren't humanoid. And, well, at third level, with your 3 2nd level spells, slow poison was ALWAYS the go to spell for memorization, with Spiritual Hammer being a close second.

And, well, a cleric was pretty much equal to a fighter in combat in most ways unless the fighter had percentile strength. Otherwise, there was virtually no difference between a cleric and a fighter. And, well, with the claims of "not being guaranteed average HP", I doubt percentile strengths were terribly common.

That's....not my experience. Hold Person has always been a 2nd level instant death spell in my experience.

Contrarily, I've never seen anyone pick slow poison because you usually ended up getting the poison anyway.

 

[JiffyPopTart]

So something that's somewhat random counts as the DM playing favourites?

Sorry, not buying that.

And I can't speak for your game, but were a party with no magic to find a +5 holy avenger* here there's no way in hell one character could afford to claim/buy it from treasury; hence it's ironclad guaranteed it'd be sold during treasury division and the proceeds shared out.

* - a magic item I have never yet DMed lo these 37 years.

In your hypothetical "+1 levelling apple" scenario, effectively rocketing a single character sessions ahead of the rest because of serendipity does strike me as poor GMing. It's not the same as GM favorites, but it is in the same zip code.

I already know we play very different games....but in our games when the party is gearing up to head into the Abyssal Maw to fight some demon hoardes...they don't go to town and pick up some 1st level scrub to follow behind them meekly in hopes they pick up enough scraps of knowledge and treasure so that they can maybe do something useful once in awhile. They go to town and look for someone to add them in their quest as a meaningful full party member.

The world is populated by millions of individuals, some of whom are experienced adventurers. When a player introduces a new character after a PC death they are playing one of those already experienced individuals....not some mage fresh off the factory floor....unless the rest of the party is also factory fresh.

 

[TerraDave]

So GP means XP. Once you have enough XP (based on GP) you can exchange GP for a level advancement.

Why not cut out XP entirely? "Advancing to level X will cost you Y amount of GP. Go out and find some!"

So yes, the way you squared this circle was known, back in the day, as the wine, women, and song rule and it basically worked just like that, XP for money spent. Though, as the tag implies, it did not have to all be spent on training.

 

[TerraDave]

Also, you needed the high level fighter to take out high level opponents with magic resistance, easy saves, and probably additional damage resistance and immunities.

 

[Lanefan]

In your hypothetical "+1 levelling apple" scenario, effectively rocketing a single character sessions ahead of the rest because of serendipity does strike me as poor GMing. It's not the same as GM favorites, but it is in the same zip code.

Still not buying it, sorry.

Then again, I view luck as a big factor in the game - sometimes you got it, sometimes you don't.

I already know we play very different games....but in our games when the party is gearing up to head into the Abyssal Maw to fight some demon hoardes...they don't go to town and pick up some 1st level scrub to follow behind them meekly in hopes they pick up enough scraps of knowledge and treasure so that they can maybe do something useful once in awhile. They go to town and look for someone to add them in their quest as a meaningful full party member.

Of course. If your party's averaging 10th level on a 9-12 range then unless something really weird happened the lowest anyone* would come in at would be either high 8th or raw 9th. I don't make everyone start over at 1st once the party average gets to about 3rd.

If it's an adventuring NPC you're recruiting and you're honest enough to spell out what the proposed mission is, you're not likely to get any interest from lower-level types who realize your mission's way above their pay grade and even if you do your own PCs ought to be able to winnow them out by declining their offer to volunteer.

* - except henches, who are always a few levels lower.

The world is populated by millions of individuals, some of whom are experienced adventurers. When a player introduces a new character after a PC death they are playing one of those already experienced individuals....not some mage fresh off the factory floor....unless the rest of the party is also factory fresh.

Again agreed. It's merely a matter of how experienced vis a vis those characters already in the party.

 

[The Green Hermit]

Yep. It sucks for everyone else. Not a problem at the end of the last session in the campaign. Never before then.

Similar to when the dm plays favorites and gives one player a +5 holy avenger when everyone else is yet to find a magic weapon. It’s decisive.

But if that player had his character search something nobody else thought to do, and had a random roll of that weapon, so be it. Eventually things will even out. Or not. But no matter how many chances you give for loot to be gotten, players have to actually try for it.

 

[The Green Hermit]

So something that's somewhat random counts as the DM playing favourites?

Sorry, not buying that.

And I can't speak for your game, but were a party with no magic to find a +5 holy avenger* here there's no way in hell one character could afford to claim/buy it from treasury; hence it's ironclad guaranteed it'd be sold during treasury division and the proceeds shared out.

* - a magic item I have never yet DMed lo these 37 years.

One of my players found a vicious longsword last session. Nobody else was in a position to even halfway claim it, so it is all his.