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

[Snarf Zagyg]

I always inferred that the indoor restriction was a simplification of the impact of ceilings and so outside you can arc an arrow farther while inside it has to go horizontally straight.

So I would rule that shooting from inside to outside you have to go straight for the 1/3 range.

I would normally agree, but that's why I used the fireball example.

(I would admit that the change from feet to yards only comes up in very occasional edge cases, but given that it also affects, inter alia, movement, it would affect characters that were moving from outside to inside, and vice versa. In other words, while the rule makes perfect sense especially in terms of range of arrows, it makes considerably less sense in other scenarios.)

The other further complication is that while the PHB takes a stab at making the distinction, the DMG explicitly defines inches as 10 feet indoors and 10 feet outdoors, and there are a lot of things measured in inches that aren't either ranges of missile weapons, ranges of spells, or areas of effect!

 

[Staffan]

I always inferred that the indoor restriction was a simplification of the impact of ceilings and so outside you can arc an arrow farther while inside it has to go horizontally straight.

So I would rule that shooting from inside to outside you have to go straight for the 1/3 range.

I believe that's the canonical explanation for the difference regarding missile weapons in 1e. And this carried over to spells because "otherwise it would be broken, yo" (though I think Gygax used slightly different phrasing).

 

[TwoSix]

I believe that's the canonical explanation for the difference regarding missile weapons in 1e. And this carried over to spells because "otherwise it would be broken, yo" (though I think Gygax used slightly different phrasing).

Probably should have just added a system shock check whenever firing a weapon from inside to outside.

 

[Kannik]

EXCEPT. A spell's area of effect would always be measured at 1" = 10'. This was often overlooked!

So a fireball cast by a 10th level magic user would have a different range if cast indoors or outdoors-
Inside- 200 feet.
Outside- 200 yards (600 feet).

But the area would be the same- it would be a 20 foot radius sphere. I ran across tables that did not know that rule and believed that when cast outside, the fireball would be a 20 yard radius sphere!

Huh! All these years I assumed that the "Fireball radius = always the same" was part of our use of the common house rule of not following fireball's volumetric conformance requirement. And yet our DM was indeed following the letter of (spell) law.

 

[Kannik]

Not sure if this counts as a rule per se, but spell talk reminds me of the fun of lightning bolt's reflective capabilities. Smacking it off a wall to hit the same opponent(s) twice made it not only a bit more challenging to use (gotta be sure you don't smack yourself too!) but really helped give it a reason to exist or to be chosen as a spell, considering that a line originating from you was harder to aim and use (you had to move and potentially put yourself in danger) and it also would often result in hitting way fewer opponents than a fireball. But if you could double the damage of fireball on at least a few of your opponents, then that's quite the incentive!

 

[Mannahnin]

Not sure if this counts as a rule per se, but spell talk reminds me of the fun of lightning bolt's reflective capabilities. Smacking it off a wall to hit the same opponent(s) twice made it not only a bit more challenging to use (gotta be sure you don't smack yourself too!) but really helped give it a reason to exist or to be chosen as a spell, considering that a line originating from you was harder to aim and use (you had to move and potentially put yourself in danger) and it also would often result in hitting way fewer opponents than a fireball. But if you could double the damage of fireball on at least a few of your opponents, then that's quite the incentive!

Lightning Bolt didn't start at the caster back then. You could start the bolt up to 40' away, plus another 10' per caster level.

Lightning Bolt (Evocation)
Level: 3
Range: 4" + 1"/level
Duration: lnstantaneous
Area of Effect: Special
Components: V, S, M
Casting Time: 3 segments
Saving Throw: 1/2
Explanation/Description: Upon casting this spell, the magic user releases a powerful stroke of electrical energy which causes damage equal to 1 six sided die (d6) for each level of experience of the spell caster to creatures within its area of effect, or 50% of such damage to such creatures which successfully save versus the attack form. The range of the bolt is the location of the commencement of the stroke, i.e. if shot to 6", the bolt would extend from this point to n inches further distance. The lightning bolt will set fire to combustibles, sunder wooden doors, splinter up to 1' thickness of stone, and melt metals with a low melting point (lead, gold,copper, silver, bronze). Saving throws must be made for objects which withstand the full force of a stroke (cf. fireball). The area of the lightning bolt's effect is determined by the spell caster, just as its distance is. The stroke can be either a forking bolt 1" wide and 4" long, or a single bolt 1/2" wide and 8" long. If a 12th level magic-user cast the spell at its maximum range, 16" in this case, the stroke would begin at 16" and flash outward from there, as a forked bolt ending at 20" or a single one ending at 24". If the full length of the stroke is not possible due to the interposition of a nonconducting barrier (such as a stone wall), the lightning bolt will double and rebound towards its caster, its length being the normal total from beginning to end of stroke, damage caused to interposing barriers notwithstanding. Example: An 8' stroke is begun at a range of 4", but the possible space in the desired direction is only 3%"; so the bolt begins at the 3%" maximum, and it rebounds 8" in the direction of its creator. The material components of the spell are a bit of fur and an amber, crystal orglass rod.

 

[Lanefan]

Also of note: XP in 0e (for both monsters and treasure) was multiplied by (higher of current dungeon level or monster level)/(character level). In the aforementioned example, a 8th-level magic-user on the 5th level of a dungeon earns 5/8 of the base XP (but would earn 7/8 for defeating a troll, which counts as level 7.)

That hits on another obscure (quasi-)rule that I'm not sure everyone always adhered to: that dungeons were supposed to have clearly distinct and increasing difficulty levels within them corresponding to how many floors underground you were.

Sticking to this idea rather narrows one's options when designing adventures.

 

[Lanefan]

(Bonus question- if you are in a tunnel, and casting fireball to hit people that are some distance outside the tunnel, how do you calculate the range when you have a mixed inside/outside scenario?)

In that case I'd rule you use the outdoor range.

 

[Lanefan]

Lightning Bolt didn't start at the caster back then. You could start the bolt up to 40' away, plus another 10' per caster level.

Yes, but for geometry purposes the line the bolt was on still originated from the caster even though the bolt itself might start some tens of feet away.

 

[fuindordm]

LB is a really weird visual for 3rd parties when you stop to think about it...a MU gestures and incants far away from their target, and "something happens" to release the linear bolt close to the target.
Do they make a little storm cloud appear?
Does a portal open to the quasi-elemental plane of lightning?
Or did the MU just hurl a really shiny cannonball?