From the pages of 1e

[Kannik]

While I was home over the holidays, I cracked open my first edition PHB and DMG to just read bits for fun. I started with the forewords and introductions and... I don't think I had ever read them before. When I started playing the group of experienced players explained the game to me, perhaps that's why I never felt the 'need' to read them -- at any rate I read a lot of things that struck me in reading these opening pages. I thought I’d share for amusement some of the passages that stuck with me the most, without commentary...

This is often no more than a matter of simple etiquette, and following a few simple guidelines will suffice to make the game experience more fun for everyone concerned, to wit:

1) Be an organized player; have the necessary information on your character readily at hand and available to the Dungeon Master.
2) Cooperate with the Dungeon Master and respect his decisions; if you disagree, present your viewpoint with deference to his position as game moderator. Be prepared to accept his decision as final and remember that not everything in the game will always go your way!
3) Cooperate with the other players and respect their right to participate. Encourage new and novice players by making suggestions and allowing them to make decisions on courses of action rather than dictating their responses.
4) If you are unable to participate in an adventure, give the other players and the DM some concrete guidelines if your character is going to be included in the adventuring group; be prepared to accept the consequences, good or bad, in any case.
5) Get in the spirit of the game, and use your persona to play with a special personality all its own. Interact with the other player characters and non-player characters to give the game campaign a unique flavor and "life". Above all, let yourself go, and enjoy!

It is important to keep in mind that, after all is said and done, ADVANCED DUNGEONS & DRAGONS is a game. Because it is a game, certain things which seem "unrealistic" or simply unnecessary are integral to the system. Classes have restrictions in order to give a varied and unique approach to each class when they play, as well as to provide play balance. Races are given advantages or limits mainly because the whole character of the game would be drastically altered if it were otherwise. Everything in the ADVANCED DUNGEONS & DRAGONS system has purpose; most of what is found herein is essential to the campaign, and those sections which are not — such as sub-classes of characters, psionics, and similar material — are clearly labeled as optional for inclusion.

Each character has a varying number of hit points, just as monsters do. These hit points represent how much damage (actual or potential) the character can withstand before being killed. A certain amount of these hit points represent the actual physical punishment which can be sustained. The remainder, a significant portion of hit points at higher levels, stands for skill, luck, and/or magical factors. A typical man-at-arms can take about 5 hit points of damage before being killed. let us suppose that a 10th level fighter has 55 hit points, plus a bonus of 30 hit points for his constitution, for a total of 85 hit points. This is the equivalent of about 18 hit dice for creatures, about what it would take to kill four huge warhorses. It is ridiculous to assume that even a fantastic fighter can take that much punishment. The same holds true to a lesser extent for clerics, thieves, and the other classes. Thus, the majority of hit points are symbolic of combat skill, luck (bestowed by supernatural powers), and magical forces.

If the game is not challenging, if advancement is too speedy, then it becomes staid and boring. Conversely, a game can be too deadly and become just as boring, for who enjoys endlessly developing new characters to march off into oblivion in a single night of dungeon adventuring?!

It was initially contemplated to term character power as rank, sp complexity was to be termed power, and monster strength was to termed as order. Thus, instead of a 9th level character encountering a 7 level monster on the 8th dungeon level and attacking it with a 4th lev spell, the terminology would have been: A 9th rank character encounter: a 7th order monster on the 8th (dungeon) level and attacked it with a 4t power spell. However, because of existing usage, level is retain throughout with all four meanings, and it is not as confusing as it may no seem.

Read how and why the system is as it is, follow the parameters, and then cut portions as needed to maintain excitement. For example, the rules call for wandering monsters, but these can be ;not only irritating — if not deadly — but the appearance of such can 'actually spoil a game by interfering with an orderly expedition.... . Rather than spoil such an otherwise enjoyable time, omit the wandering monsters indicated by the die.

A few brief words are necessary to insure that the reader has actually obtained a game form which he or she desires. Of the two approaches to hobby games today, one is best defined as the realism-simulation school and the other as the game school. AD&D is assuredly an adherent of the latter school. It does not stress any realism (in the author's opinion an absurd effort at best considering the topic!). It does little to attempt to simulate anything either. ADVANCED DUNGEONS & DRAGONS is first and foremost a game for the fun and enjoyment of those who seek to use imagination and creativity.

What passages (of those above or other ones) strike you and have stuck with you over the years (or in recent reading, like me )?

 

[Wik]

I remember that hit point one pretty clearly - I used to bring it up whenever someone would wonder why I was describing an attack as "It hit your armor, but failed to cut you... you take six points of damage".

Here's one from the Cook Expert BECMI set that I thought was kind of neat:

A player character party with a wide range of abilities can usually defeat any single monster opponent. Thus, monsters will often team up for mutual survival. Special groups of monsters combining missile, spell, and melee attacks can be set up. Also, monsters can be given special leaders with more hit dice (or maximum hit points) and other special abilities. For example: a magic-user with two apprentices, a bodyguard of bugbears, and a charmed manticore; or an orc leader with clerical spells leading a party of bow-armed orcs with trained hunting lizards; and so on.

Kind of makes me think "shades of 4e" for some silly reason.

 

[Man in the Funny Hat]

What passages (of those above or other ones) strike you and have stuck with you over the years (or in recent reading, like me )?

All of those and more. I don't always agree on certain details but he seems to have always had a keen grasp of the broad strokes. Time and again I see only trouble arise when someone is being dismissive of things that Gary wrote over 30 years ago.

 

[jaerdaph]

One thing that always stuck with me from 1e (the DMG, IIRC) was when Gary described the difference between Intelligence and Wisdom with an example of how he had the intelligence to know that smoking causes lung cancer, but lacked the wisdom to quit smoking.

 

[Aurumvorax]

4) If you are unable to participate in an adventure, give the other players and the DM some concrete guidelines if your character is going to be included in the adventuring group; be prepared to accept the consequences, good or bad, in any case.

This this and this some more. I've always hated the concept of a player not showing up to the game and his character mysteriously disappearing in a shroud of mist or being called away on a quest.

No. Your character becomes an NPC and the DM controls him based on how you roleplayed him. If you banged your head on every door and kicked halflings in the berries, the DM will play your guy exactly the same.

I don't remember who began the "character disappears" thing but the first time I saw it was in the 3E DMG.

 

[ExploderWizard]

This this and this some more. I've always hated the concept of a player not showing up to the game and his character mysteriously disappearing in a shroud of mist or being called away on a quest.

No. Your character becomes an NPC and the DM controls him based on how you roleplayed him. If you banged your head on every door and kicked halflings in the berries, the DM will play your guy exactly the same.

I don't remember who began the "character disappears" thing but the first time I saw it was in the 3E DMG.

First place I remember seeing this was in the 2E Campaign & Catacomb guide.

 

[Holy Bovine]

This this and this some more. I've always hated the concept of a player not showing up to the game and his character mysteriously disappearing in a shroud of mist or being called away on a quest.

No. Your character becomes an NPC and the DM controls him based on how you roleplayed him. If you banged your head on every door and kicked halflings in the berries, the DM will play your guy exactly the same.

I don't remember who began the "character disappears" thing but the first time I saw it was in the 3E DMG.

Oh do i ever agree with this! The only problem with your solution is that I, as a DM, have more than enough to do without playing a PC on top of everything else. Atleast that was what I thought until I came across the 'companion character' rules in the 4E DMG 2. I have since created 'companion character' versions of the PCs whose players aren't there reguarly (mutually agreed to beforehand) and now the PCs know that when 'Mary' can't show up her PC is still there, still helping in fights and skill checks but never takes the spotlight. Also it makes running the PC way easier as you only have a few powers & skills to know.

 

[howandwhy99]

It was initially contemplated to term character power as rank, sp complexity was to be termed power, and monster strength was to termed as order. Thus, instead of a 9th level character encountering a 7 level monster on the 8th dungeon level and attacking it with a 4th lev spell, the terminology would have been: A 9th rank character encounter: a 7th order monster on the 8th (dungeon) level and attacked it with a 4t power spell. However, because of existing usage, level is retain throughout with all four meanings, and it is not as confusing as it may no seem.

What passages (of those above or other ones) strike you and have stuck with you over the years (or in recent reading, like me )?

Holy ... ..moly!!! That Gygax quote just rocked my world. I came up with one of those terms over a year ago recognizing it as absolutely more indicative of what level meant in that case. And the rest included make just as much sense in my understanding even if they are not equally definitive.

Where in print is this? I would love to know.

 

[grodog]

One thing that always stuck with me from 1e (the DMG, IIRC) was when Gary described the difference between Intelligence and Wisdom with an example of how he had the intelligence to know that smoking causes lung cancer, but lacked the wisdom to quit smoking.

LOL: Joe Bloch and I were chatting about that very same quotation last night!

 

[M.L. Martin]

First place I remember seeing this was in the 2E Campaign & Catacomb guide.

It was presented as an option, there, and not one of the best--the preference was for "PC becomes NPC" or "PC generally stays in the background ", IIRC.