Few Questions: The Cooshie; Basic/OD&D

[AFGNCAAP]

Have a few questions that I was wondering I could get some answers/help on:

*The Cooshie: Where can I find stats for the elven dog, either/both for 2nd Ed. & 3rd Ed.?

*Basic D&D: I know the basic classes were cleric, fighter, magic-user, thief, dwarf, elf, & halfling; mystic was an additonal class, & paladin, knight, avenger, & druid were essentially prestige classes. Were there any other classes for Basic D&D, or rules to make the "prestige classes" available for 1st-level characters?

*I recall that basic D&D elves could cast magic-user spells. I know they could cast spells in armor, but did they have to have spellbooks?

*Did basic D&D spellcasters have a limit on how many spells they could learn?

Appreciate any help you can provide.

 

[Stormprince]

* The Cooshie, if I remember correctly, was first introduced in the Complete Elves Handbook for 2nd Edition (thus, by TSR)...

* Basic D&D was never my strong point... but I think I remember the monk in the D&D Hardbound they released a few years back (or did they call it the mystic? o.o; )

* Dunno...

* I think so

*chuckles* Sorry I couldn't be of much more help than that o.o;

Christopher

 

[Maerdwyn]

A conversion of the Cooshee, or Cu Sidhe, is right here on EN World:

http://www.enworld.org/cc/converted/beast/cooshee.htm

 

[BluSponge]

Actually, the cooshee was in the Monster Manual 2 (1st ed). It was introduced in an earlier issue of Dragon (featuring monsters planned for that book).

The mystic, et al. weren't so much prestige classes as they are known in 3e. They were more like the bard or thief acrobat from 1st ed. You had to reach a particular level of a certain class before you could switch to that class. Once you switched, there was no going back. It wouldn't surprise me if they were an inspiration for Prestige classes, though.

Elves in ODnD were essentially fighter/magic-users. So yes, I believe they could cast spells and wear armor. They also had to have spell books, just like all magic-users -- though spell books, IIRC, were never a big deal in ODnD.

I don't remember if ODnD magic-users had limits on the spells they could learn.

Tom

 

[Akunin]

Mystics had an option to add acrobatics to their repertoire, at an experience penalty, so I suppose that makes for yet another "subclass". Fighters, Wizards, Thieves, and Clerics of 9th level had the option of being land-owners (and build a stronghold) or travelers, with separate benefits depending on the choice made. Only traveling Fighters could be one of the "prestige" classes. Demihumand had the option of building a stronghold, but received nothing if they chose to be travelers.

Elves did need spellbooks (mentioned in the text just before the M-U / Elf spell list). There was no limit to the number of spells a M-U or Elf was allowed to learn.

 

[Maniac]

The Cooshee first appeared in Dragon magazine 67. Though it lists 1st edition stats of course. It does in fact appear in the 2nd Edition Complete book of elves. In both versions it had 3+3HD an AC of 5 and the ability to camoflage and overbear.

Your list of classes is correct. I am not aware of any additional classes in the main rulebooks or of any rules to make the "prestige" classes available to 1st level characters. Most of the variant class rules dealt with allowing non-human characters to advance beyond their level limits.

The mystic as you probably know was an add on class and was essentiall the Basic D&D monk. One interesting feature was that you could choose to add acrobatic skill to you character for a 20% experience penaltiy.

Elves use spell books just as Magic-Users.

There does not seem to be any limit to the number of spells known, only on how many could be memorized

Let me know if you have any more questions.

M.

 

[Maniac]

Dragon Mazagine 109 had an article allowing customization of the classess. The article listed various experience costs for certain abilities and percentage based modifiers.

Some sample classes were included like the Orc, Viking, and Fairy.

M.

 

[arwink]

There were rules for druids as 1st level characters released in a dragon magazine article - part of the Voyage of the Princess Arc. It likewise had a number of extra race/classes - Rakasta, lupin, gatorman and other races, including a really cool race that was a crossbread of ogre and elf that rode around on giant pelicans. It also had a druidic knight int eh same series of articles, which was like the neutral equivelent of paladins and avengers for high level fighters.

The creacher crucible series introduced a whole host of races as PC's. The first, Tall Tales of the Wee Folk, dealt mostly with fiary races. The second, Top Ballista, dealt with avian races and gnomes. Probably the most interesting race from there was the pegataur - a pegasus-centaur crossbreed.

Finally, there were the gazeteer series, which introduced the humanoid races (orcs of Thar), the merchant (The republic of Darokin), Shadow Elves (well, shadow elves), and the forester (a human class that was essentially an elf, released in the supplement detailing Alphatia and Thyatis that escapes my memory at the moment).

Finally, there was immortal, which was kinda the prestige class you took when your character became one of the gods.

That's what I can remember off the top of my head. I can get in contact with the guys I used to play with and get a more complete list if its for something really important.

Arwink

 

[SableWyvern]

Finally, there was immortal, which was kinda the prestige class you took when your character became one of the gods.

Arwink

But immortals aren't really gods. To become a god you have to become immortal, then go back to first level and work your way up to immortal again.

 

[Thorvald Kviksverd]

I use a character class creation template for my Basic D&D campaign. I'm currently in the process of refining it, but you can check out the older version at my website below--just go to the "village" once you're there.

Here's a sample of the current working version. It's less campaign and house-rules specific, so hopefully it can be slotted into any existing OD&D campaign...

To create a character class, assign a rating to each category, such that the ratings total 4 points.

[color=red]

RATING   HD   COMBAT   THIEVERY   DIVINE   ARCANE

  4     (d12)   N/A    (3/2lvl)    (x2)     M-U

  3     (d10)  (Mon)    Thief     (x3/2)    2/3lvl

  2      d8     Ftr    5 Skills    Cleric   1/2lvl

  1      d6     C/T    3 Skills    1/2lvl   1/3lvl

  0      d4     M-U      none       none    none

[/color]

NOTES:

--(--)--Values in parentheses exceed normal abilities, and may be disallowed in a particular campaign. For example, I dont allow a character to have a rating greater than 2 in combat (but I do allow him to increase his melee or missile ability as noted below).

--x/y lvl--Multiply character's level by this value; the character is then treated as being of this level wrt the relevant abilities. IMC, I round 1/2 up and 1/3 down.

--xN--Multiply the available spell slots by this number. So, a 4th lvl Priest (Cleric) with a Divine Rating of 4 could prepare 4-1st lvl and 2-2nd level spells per day (as opposed to 2 and 1).

--X Skills--Player chooses this many skills from the Thief abilities and improves in them as a Thief of equivalent level. You may allow a player to trade 2 skills in order to obtain the backstab ability. Note: You may either disallow the use of these skills in any armour other than leather, or you may instead simply apply a penalty to their use.

--Specialist Option--I allow a character to improve his melee ability by ONE step, at the cost of reducing his missile/thrown ability by TWO steps. Similarly, I allow a character to improve his missile/thrown ability by ONE step, at the cost of reducing his melee ability by ONE step as well. The Combat Rating does not change however. No ability may be raised above "Monster", or reduced below "Magic-User", in this fashion. Allowed weapons and armor are determined by the character's Combat Rating (note: spell and skill use may be prohibited or hampered by certain armours).

SAMPLE "PALADIN" CHARACTER

• (1)HD: d6
• (2)Combat: (see below)
• (*)Melee: as Monster
• (*)Missile: as Magic-User
• (1)Divine: as Cleric of 1/2 level

SAMPLE "FORESTER" CHARACTER

• (1)HD: d6
• (2)Melee: as Cleric/Thief
• (*)Missile: as Monster
• (1)Thievery: HS, MS, HN

BTW, ignore the method for figuring advancement found on my website--I've finally come up with a system that models the experience tables found in the game

Enjoy!