AD&D 2E First example of official max hp at first level?

[Mannahnin]

Thanks, Moldvay B/X Basic was what I started D&D with and I only got a Mentzer basic boxed set decades later when a friend was downsizing their collection prior to a move, so I am not familiar with its specific unique bits other than the little bits I have flipped through or looked up specifically and this is sort of a tucked away passage.

1983 is well before the 2e era and the 1989 Complete Fighter's Handbook.

A quick scan of my Rules Cyclopedia PDF does not show a similar suggestion there, but it might be similarly tucked away in a non-obvious area.

The Rules Cyclopedia is 1991 and the Complete Fighters Handbook 1989 anyway.

Mentzer vs Moldvay has all sorts of interesting little tweaks and differences. One I just was reminded of last week was that Mentzer gives you a slightly more explicit definition for what Holmes and Moldvay call "hopeless characters" who should be re-rolled.

Holmes Basic p8 and Moldvay B13:

Compare to Mentzer, B48:

 

[Voadam]

The Rules Cyclopedia is 1991 and the Complete Fighters Handbook 1989 anyway.

I was thinking of whether it carried forward in the later basic line books. From the RC it looks like it was just Mentzer Basic but I don't have the other later basic starter sets either to check, just the RC PDF.

 

[Voadam]

Mentzer vs Moldvay has all sorts of interesting little tweaks and differences.

I did get the (BECMI) Companion set to go along with my B/X Basic and Expert sets so the one that stood out for me is the thief skill advancement being reduced in BECMI to stretch it out over more levels instead of the expected new thief abilities that B/X Expert hinted would come for higher level thieves.

 

[Mannahnin]

I did get the (BECMI) Companion set to go along with my B/X Basic and Expert sets so the one that stood out for me is the thief skill advancement being reduced in BECMI to stretch it out over more levels instead of the expected new thief abilities that B/X Expert hinted would come for higher level thieves.

Yeah, even Mentzer has acknowledged that was a mistake and apologized publicly for it. It would have been much better to give them new abilities and ways to use existing ones in Companion, as was suggested would be the case in Cook/Marsh Expert.

It's a shame they didn't catch and fix that error in the RC.