D&D 1E Favorite Obscure Rules from TSR-era D&D

[Voadam]

If a helmet is not worn, 1 blow in 6 will strike at the AC 10 head, unless the opponent is intelligent, in which case 1 blow in 2 will be aimed at the AC 10 head (d6, 1-3 = head blow).
Okay? So ... you can aim your (abstract) attacks?

It is not in the best interests of an adventure game, however, to delve too deeply into cut and thrust, parry and riposte. The location of a hit or wound, the sort of damage done, sprains, breaks, and dislocations are not the stuff of heroic fantasy. The reasons for this are manifold. As has been detailed, hit points are not actually of measure of physical damage, by and large, as far as characters (and some other creatures as well) are concerned. Therefore, the location of hits and the type of damage caused are not germane to them.
...
With complex combat systems which stress so-called realism and feature hit location, special damage, and so on, either this option is severely limited or the rules are highly slanted towards favoring the player characters at the expense of their opponents.

Um... Welp, consistency is the hobgoblin of small ... goblins?

Not to mention just hitting the second monster in the Monster Manual:

"I uh, try to hit the underside."

In addition there is the bulette, the carrion crawler, etc.

 

[CleverNickName]

I miss the rules for strongholds and mass combat. The Siege Engine rules in the Companion Boxed Set, and later included in the Rules Cyclopedia, were simple and straightforward, and didn't feel like you were stopping your D&D game to play an entirely new game for an hour like some of the more modern mass combat rules.

I even loved the 1E Battlesystem Fantasy Combat Supplement that was recommended for (but, frustratingly, not included with) X10: Red Arrow, Black Shield, and I can't seem to find a copy of it anywhere. Sure, I can find PDFs of the 2E Battlesystem rules, but never 1E.

 

[Alzrius]

Right? I mean, let's recall that Odysseus was a farmer and a king.

And how much of The Odyssey was about him working his farm?

Seriously, if your PC takes up an interest in farming, they should do it like Odysseus: pay someone else to manage the fields while they go adventuring.

 

[Reynard]

And how much of The Odyssey was about him working his farm?

Seriously, if your PC takes up an interest in farming, they should do it like Odysseus: pay someone else to manage the fields while they go adventuring.

I think it is good, in all forms of media and entertainment, to sometimes embrace the quiet moments too.

 

[Alzrius]

I think it is good, in all forms of media and entertainment, to sometimes embrace the quiet moments too.

Sure, but I question if you the best way to do that is with two pages of rules outlining a multi-step process to determine the farm's yield for a given year.

To be clear, there's nothing wrong with having such a thing; what I question is the assumption that a PC in a game of D&D would take up an interest in farming, as opposed to adventuring. There's a reason why being a farmer is considered to be the stereotypical "not an adventurer" job.

 

[General_Tangent]

PHBR13 The Complete Druid's Handbook had expanded rules for agriculture, which you could use "if a PC takes up farming." Yes, it actually said that.

I'll reiterate now what I said back when I first made note of this: if your player wants to take up farming, they're running an NPC.

And does Javair now get a +4 bonus against you?

 

[Reynard]

Sure, but I question if you the best way to do that is with two pages of rules outlining a multi-step process to determine the farm's yield for a given year.

To be clear, there's nothing wrong with having such a thing; what I question is the assumption that a PC in a game of D&D would take up an interest in farming, as opposed to adventuring. There's a reason why being a farmer is considered to be the stereotypical "not an adventurer" job.

D&D has always been bigger than adventuring.

 

[Gradine]

I loved the original Wild Magic table where the number to trigger a Wild Surge randomly changed based on your level; so a 5th level Wild Mage would trigger a surge on a 7, 6th level they'd trigger a surge on a 19, 7th level they'd trigger a surge on a 13, etc.

 

[Staffan]

And how much of The Odyssey was about him working his farm?

Seriously, if your PC takes up an interest in farming, they should do it like Odysseus: pay someone else to manage the fields while they go adventuring.

Ah yes, the famous well-paid farm workers of ancient Greece.

 

[Alzrius]

Ah yes, the famous well-paid farm workers of ancient Greece.

I figured it was gauche to say "your PC should take some slaves and have them work your farm."

D&D has always been bigger than adventuring.

Whereas farming has always been too small for D&D.

EDIT: In an effort to put this tangent to rest, I'll reiterate that I don't think there's anything wrong with rules for farming per se. It's the assumption that a PC would take that much of an interest in farming, to the point of doing it themselves for a sustained period of time, that I found funny. In over three decades of playing RPGs, I've never even heard of anyone who wanted to play a non-adventuring character (except for that one guy in Skyrim), so the presumption in this book seemed amusing to me.