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

[James Gasik]

Huh,
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I wonder if my PDF is from some weird printing of UA that was missing some stuff. It dates back to when WotC ran their own PDF store for D&D stuff in the early 2000s before shutting down and sending everything over to rpgnow.

Sorry it starts on page 8, actually::

 

[Undrave]

One great example-

The fruit in the Forgotten Temple of Tharizdun.

There was a room with five trees, each with fruit of a lustrous black color. The five trees were coded to classes (one was F, one Cl, one TH, one MU, and the last one was everyone). If a character from the correct class picks a fruit, then they have to make a system shock check.
If they fail, they are turned to black ash, forever gone. If they succeed, they gain a point in their main ability.
If they do it a second time, they have to make a system shock. If fail, death. If succeed, the LOSE two points in their main ability.
If they choose the wrong tree, they take 3-30 damage, and must make a system shock as above.
Another wrong tree? 3-30 damage and reverse system shock.
Third wrong attempt? Just death.

The "bonus" tree will give anyone either a point in constitution or charisma. No check required! But if they try again, or if this is their second tree, they need to do a reverse system shock roll (or die forever) AND lose a point every ability.

Okay and after three fruits?

This naughty word's not only a sucker trap, it's complicated as hell for no reason.

 

[Snarf Zagyg]

Okay and after three fruits?

Death, of course. When in doubt, the answer is always death.

This naughty word's not only a sucker trap, it's complicated as hell for no reason.

Look at the bright side! No table.

 

[TwoSix]

Sorry it starts on page 8, actually::

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I’m not super familiar with 1e, but aren’t those level limit tables, not a list of MC combinations?

 

[Undrave]

I'm given to understand that goes for PCs also, i.e. you might have them for years and years across a campaign...or they might die in the next room.

A principle that has sadly been almost completely discarded over the editions since.

If it wasn't a game of luck, it wouldn't use dice.

Yep, and that's just how I like it!

This is the way I've always seen it and still see it today: the party is the thing, while individual characters come and go.

I kinda want to create a board game that works like this, where you recruit heroes, delve into a dungeon and try to go as far as possible into a deck of monster and then run away when everybody is battered with your loot. then you can spend turns healing or recruit more heroes to go delving again. Each hero would just have 1 special ability to make it quick and easy. I got a bunch of mechanic in mind already. Thinking of the name 'The Treasure of Meatgrinder Castle' or something like that.

Gygax believed in a "muscular neutrality," so I understand where this came from.

What does that even mean?

 

[James Gasik]

I’m not super familiar with 1e, but aren’t those level limit tables, not a list of MC combinations?

I...I don't know what to say. I'm positive it was in there, but now I can't find it. Mandela Effect strikes again?

 

[Kannik]

They were super abusable. You could make a specialty priest with all armor and weapons, fighter THAC0, and various spells and/or granted powers... that used the cleric xp chart. In other words, a fighter+ who advanced quicker than a standard fighter.

Huh, coupled with taking some wizard schools as a sphere, I bet this would be the perfect way to make a good 2e gish!

 

[James Gasik]

But while trying in vain to verify my sources, I did find another fun rule in UA on page 13.

Once again, how much your character weighs is an important stat! I know a few female Elves who might be surprised they're a sandwich away from being able to use two handed weapons!

 

[Snarf Zagyg]

What does that even mean?

Gygax believed in "muscular neutrality."

In other words, neutrality that was a real force, acting against both evil and good, in order to preserve the balance.

Not the apathetic, "Whatever, man," neutrality, but an ethos of taking to the other alignments.

(The Circle of Eight in Greyhawk, for example, would work secretly to preserve the balance between Law and Chaos, Good and Evil, and would assist evil when necessary.)

 

[billd91]

Only if Aragorn is the only Ranger in the setting.

We don't get to see many (or any?) other examples of Rangers in Tolkein's works, to see how they might have varied from the one example we do get.

We do - we have Aragorn's people, the Rangers of the North like Halbarad, who come to help him and ride with him through the Paths of the Dead. And they're all largely like him in outlook. But that's their calling. A ranger isn't just a guy living in the wilds. They're defenders of civilizations from threats coming out of the wilds (particularly wild beasts, giants, trolls, orcs, etc). In Aragorn's stomping grounds, that means the Shire, Bree, and any other town where Arnor used to hold sway.

And for the Rangers of Ithilien, they defend Gondor from Sauron's forces and his allies.